In the afternoon of Monday the 22 January 2018, the province of Albay in Region V where the Mayon Volcano is situated in the Philippines, was advised to stay vigilant as the alert level was raised to 4 (hazardous eruption imminent), on a five-step alert system, coming from a 10-day increasing unrest. The alert level-3 has been in effect since January 14 after the active volcano exhibits relatively high unrest after the phreatic eruption ejected ash and sulphur fumes accompanied by rumbling sounds. As of January 24, five episodes of intense but sporadic lava fountaining from the summit crater occurred. Frequent phreatomagmatic eruptions, energetic lava effusions, lava-collapse feeding pyroclastic density currents (PDCs), and hundreds of volcanic earthquakes and tremor events were recorded by Mayon’s seismic monitoring network which has affected over 22,000 households / 89,000 individuals in 59 barangays (villages), of which 18,291 households / 69,425 persons are currently being served inside 74 designated evacuation centers (ECs) as of January 30 report.
The ACT forum is now planning on submitting a funding proposal to provide food packs, hygiene kits and NFIs, to ensure that the affected persons’ basic needs are met with regards to EFSL, WASH, NFIs. ACT Alliance is ready to respond, providing immediate needs such as food packs, hygiene kits and NFIs to around 3,000 affected households in the coming months. Furthermore, ACT Alliance will engage in advocacy on the national and international level to ensure that the voices the affected communities are amplified.
