THE Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) will form a task working group on volcanic eruption risk assessment.
CDRRMO head Alfredo Baloran said they are going to revisit the city’s volcanic eruption disaster and risk reduction plan following the recent eruption of Taal Volcano, which displaced thousands of families, and destroyed properties and infrastructures.
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), as of Saturday, is still monitoring Taal’s activity.
Baloran said they are not discounting the possibility of a volcanic eruption that might also hit the city.
Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) head Angel Sumagaysay, in a previous report, said that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio had already instructed CDRRMO to coordinate with Phivolcs in conducting extensive research on the possibility of Mt. Apo to explode.
Mt. Apo is considered a dormant or inactive volcano, which according to Phivolcs executive director Renato Solidum, has “high chances” for explosion.
Baloran also said that Mt. Leonard Kniazeff, a stratovolcano between the municipalities of Mabini and Maco in Davao de Oro, also poses a possible threat.
“Mao ni isa ato ginaprepare tungod di nato madiscount ang presence sa volcano areas diria sa ato (We have been preparing since we also have volcanoes in the region),” Baloran said.
The official, meanwhile, said they are also going to plan, in coordination with the City Planning and Development Office, to identify volcanic eruption evacuation areas.