The provincial government of Albay has so far sent home 45,000 of the 47,000 evacuees, Gov. Joey Salceda said Sunday, adding that only 2,322 from 510 families have remained in temporary shelters. The remaining evacuees are those living in the six-kilometer-radius original danger zone and in the seven-kilometer extended danger zone in Mayon's southeast flank. This includes several barangays or villages in Legazpi City and the towns of Daraga and Camalig. Salceda has said the government found it more difficult to “decamp” evacuees who have relied on the government for daily food rations and health assistance than those who did not depend on any aid. “Even with entitlements and enticements, many families found value in food and health security in their camps, tempering their natural predisposition for going home,” Salceda said. But Sunday, Salceda said the government was able to convince the residents to return home through the “early recovery package, consisting of 15 kilos of rice per family for three days of ration, P1,400 in cash-for-work and livelihood programs, and P15-million farm rehabilitation package for affected agricultural communities. Salceda said they had to assure the residents that the government would help them turn their lives to normalcy after almost 21 days of displacement. “They are Mayon victims whether in the camps or in their homes. Thus, they need the assistance of the state and the community wherever they are,” Salceda said. Last Saturday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology lowered Mayon Volcano's warning level to Alert Level 3, prompting the Albay government to send majority of the evacuees home because an eruption is less imminent. Those in the six-to-seven kilometer danger zones still have to take temporary shelter in evacuation camps. About P55.4 million has been spent for evacuees in the past two weeks, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council. As the evacuees go home, disaster relief officials launched a massive clean-up Sunday as the restive Mayon volcano continued to show signs of calming down. Salceda said he expected all 29 public schools converted into temporary shelters would reopen for classes Monday. “What we are doing now is conducting damage assessment. We are on an early recovery stage,” Salceda told reporters. “We are cleaning up schools and classrooms so that classes can resume tomorrow.” He said firetrucks had been brought in to hose down sanitation facilities that were overwhelmed when more than 50,000 people were evacuated over the past three weeks for fear of a possible major eruption. “It's a massive clean-up operation,” he said. “Right now we are not seeing a new rise of magma,” chief volcanologist Renato Solidum said in a radio interview. However, he warned villagers returning to their farms on the foothills of Mayon to remain wary of lava flows or heavy rains that could dislodge volcanic debris from the slopes. An August 2006 eruption caused no immediate deaths but the following December a passing typhoon unleashed an avalanche of volcanic mud from the mountain's slopes that left 1,000 people dead. The 2,460-metre (8,070-foot) Mayon has erupted 48 times in recorded history. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed when lava flows buried the town of Cagsawa.
