LAPID URGES PRICE CONTROL IN CANLAON CITY

Senator Lito Lapid has urged the government to implement price control in Canlaon City in Negros Oriental after Mt. Kanlaon spewed ash in Negros Island this Monday.

Based on PHIVOLCS forecast, Lapid said it is possible that the Kanlaon volcano will erupt again in the next few days, which has been raised to alert level 2.

Under the law, the senator said local government units (LGUs) can implement price control to prevent the exploitation of cunning businessmen during calamities.

Lapid supported the declaration of state of calamity in the area as announced by Canlaon City Mayor Batchuk Cardenas.

"Our countrymen affected by the eruption need immediate assistance. Sufficient funds should be released immediately for their needs, especially those in health and agriculture sectors," according to the senator.

Lapid also advised LGUs in Negros Island to prepare for a worse situation if the volcano continues to erupt due to its threat to people's health and lives.

The former Pampanga governor said that when Mt. Pinatubo erupted on June 15, 1991, up to 20,000 people were evacuated, 10,000 people lost their homes and 847 were killed. During those period, the cooperation of emergency response agencies, hospitals, pharmacies and other government agencies was needed.

PHIVOLCS recorded 43 volcanic earthquakes and monitored the release of 799 tons of sulfuric acid dioxide that reached up to five kilometers high in Mt. Kanlaon.

In the said explosion, more than a thousand people have been evacuated from five barangays in Canlaon City and other nearby towns that were affected by it.

Aside from Canlaon City in Negros Oriental, ashfall was also experienced in Bago City, La Carlota City and La Castellana, all in Negros Occidental.