THE government has prepositioned P171-million worth of food packs and other assistance to the residents who could be displaced by Bulusan volcano's explosion, a Palace official said Sunday.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said over dzRB Radyo Ng Bayan that the concerned agencies continue to monitor the activity of the volcano in Sorsogon.

"Patuloy ang pagsubaybay ng pamahalaan sa mga kaganapan sa Mount Bulusan sa Sorsogon upang pangalagaan ang kapakanan ng mahigit sa 34,000 apektadong residente mula sa 22 barangay at limang munisipalidad sa lalawigan ng Sorsogon," he said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) estimated that the ash explosion last Friday has affected some 34,000 residents from 22 barangays and five municipalities of Barcelona, Bulusan, Irosin, Casiguran, and Juban.

Based on the report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has distributed over 200 food packs to residents of Irosin and Juban, who were directly affected by the latest explosion.

The Phivolcs had put Mount Bulusan on Alert 1 or abnormal state after steam-driven explosion sent an ash plume 1.5 kilometers into the air at 2:55 p.m. last Friday,

The public has since been banned from entering the four-kilometer permanent danger zone around the volcano. (SDR/Sunnex)