Philippine Red Cross (PRC) chairman Richard J. Gordon on Wednesday directed the PRC to immediately send assistance to some 10,000 residents living within six kilometers of the permanent danger zones of Mayon Volcano in Albay, which is showing imminent signs of a major eruption.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert for Mayon Volcano to level 3, signifying “increased tendency towards a hazardous eruption.”
Gordon convened his team before dispatching the humanitarian caravan. He says the move, which is part of a wide scale humanitarian caravan launched by the PRC in view of the Mayon situation, reflects the organization’s preparedness and immediate response.
“PRC is always ready and prepared to help,” Gordon said, adding that they have tapped RC143 volunteers in Albay, besides their staff, to extend need support on the ground. Gordon, a Red Cross volunteer for 54 years, has been at the helm of PRC since 2005.
Upon Gordon’s instruction, PRC sent four tankers with five water bladders, two water filtration units and tap stands, for food trucks, two Travis multi-purpose vans with health supplies, three trucks with 2,500 sleeping and hygiene kits, and a 6X6 truck carrying 2,500 jerry cans from PRC’s warehouse in Metro Manila, Subic, and PRC Albay chapter, to augment available assets already in Albay. The water tankers will ensure the provision of drinking water at the evacuation centers as sulfur dioxide and other chemicals from volcanic ashes may pollute water sources.
PRC is known as the foremost humanitarian in the world that is able to respond first in countless rescue and similar operations. Gordon has led many such missions over the years.
Gordon said preparations of this kind are unusual for PRC. “We are always ready for any situation. In times of crisis, it is always better to be overprepared, and that is why we are sending this humanitarian caravan as early as now. We want to ensure that logistics are pre-positioned should the Albay situation turns to worse. “PRC is always guided by the principles of 4Ps: Predict, Plan, Prepare, and Practice.”
Meanwhile, PRC secretary-general Dr. Gwendolyn T. Pang organized the PRC team at the soonest time possible. “Our team is prepared and we already moving as early as now to ensure that no one will be displaced,” she said. “Our volunteers and staff in Albay and Batangas, stand ready to assist.”
Dr. Pang urged the residents of Albay and Batangas to remain alert and observant, underscoring the importance of always being prepared to alleviate the suffering of people in the affected areas.
PRC Albay has dispatched its own health caravan with trained medical practitioners, and has already set up first-aid stations and welfare desks, with nebulizers and blood pressure monitors, in evacuation centers.