The Quick Response Team of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) has interviewed residents and has flown a Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) or drone in areas surrounding the Kanlaon Volcano in Negros Island to document the effects of the ash fall following the eruption on December 9, 2024.

The team also wants to map the pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits, the volcanic hazard that flowed down Kanlaon’s slopes.

The team said it sent the drone into the air with permission from the Mt. Kanla-on Natural Park (MKNP).

“Ang PHIVOLCS Quick Response Team (QRT) ay nagsasagawa ng interview sa ilang mga residente sa palibot ng Kanlaon Volcano at nagpapalipad ng Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) o drone upang madokumento ang epekto ng ash fall at mamapa ang deposito ng pyroclastic density current (PDC) noong December 9. Ang pagpapalipad ng RPA ay may pahintulot mula sa namamahala ng Mt. Kanla-on Natural Park (MKNP),” PHIVOLCS said in a Facebook post.

The interviews were conducted among residents of Canlaon City in Negros Oriental and La Castellana in Negros Occidental.

In La Castellana, more than 9,000 residents have taken refuge at 11 evacuation centers.

Tourism activities like trekking, swimming, and camp site visits have been suspended in LGUs near the volcano, including La Castellana and Canlaon CIty, as well as in La Carlota and Murcia.

The Kanlaon Volcano was placed under Alert Level 3 following the eruption.

PHIVOLCS said it would assess the situation day by day to determine if there is a need to raise the alert level to 4.

However, it urged LGUs to prepare as if the alert level would go up.

“We should prepare as if the alert level will go up,” said Director Teresito Bacolcol on December 11, 2024.

“We will assess this on a day-to-day basis but yung Alert Level 3, ibig sabihin nyan, hazardous eruption is possible in the next few weeks but, of course, we will have to evaluate this one… titingnan natin kung mag-escalate ba further,” Bacolcol said.

PHIVOLCS said it is doing “worst case scenario planning.”

Part of this is considering the possibility of widening the scope of the mandatory evacuation, considering that a tropical cyclone is forecast to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) in the third week of December and heavy rains can carry lahar from the volcano downstream.

Asec. Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV, Deputy Administrator for Administration Education of the Office of Civil Defense, has said this needs careful study because this would mean up to 139,000 residents would now have to be evacuated. This also means that more evacuation centers and more provisions like food will be needed.