Officials plan to evacuate 20,000 residents near lake

Manila: Local officials and volcano experts presented a major plan to evacuate 20,000 residents near a lake which will overflow if and when a restive volcano in Bicol, in southern Luzon, erupts.

Portions of the eastern mouth of Mount Bulusan in Sorsogon are expected to collapse during an imminent eruption.

Rocks and volcanic debris would fall on Lake Bulusan which is located at the eastern base of the mountain, said Renato Solidum, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

"The lake will be silted with volumes of volcanic debris in hours, placing the entire coastal town of Bulosan under water. If we don't do anything now, 21,000 residents will perish," said Solidum during a disaster-preparedness meeting with President Gloria Arroyo in Juban, at the foot of Mount Bulosan.

The 1,565-metre tall volcano is expected to erupt in days, after it began spitting ash and steam three weeks ago, said Solidum.

Arroyo's visit to Juban signaled the start of a major mobilisation plan to save residents in the identified disaster area.

Engineers have started marking the area for the building of palm-front huts in the new tent city, said Arnel Capili, director of the National Disaster Coordination Council (NDCC).

"We have to finish the building of the new tent city soon so that residents will have a safe place before Mount Bulosan erupts," said Capili.

The proposed tent city is located beyond the dangerous six-km zone of the restive volcano, said Capili.

"We are moving ahead of an imminent disaster so that schools will not be used as a temporary residence for people who will be displaced by the volcanic eruption," said Solidum.

He did not say when the project will be finished.

Leaders of the communities in the affected coastal towns also attended the conference.