The Albay Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council  (PDCC) has ordered the return to their homes of  residents within the 7 to 8-km Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) of Mayon Volcano after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) lowered Mayon’s alert level from Level 4 to 3.

Albay Governor and PDCC Chairman Joey S. Salceda ordered, however, that residents from within the 6-km PDZ must remain in the evacuation centers until directed otherwise.

Salceda likewise ordered the AFP-Joint Task Force Mayon to transport  back to their barangays the decamped evacuees and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to  lead the clean-up of schools vacated by the evacuees.

To enable the decamped evacuees to restart more smoothly the normalcy of their lives after almost 21 days of displacement, Salceda also directed the Provincial Social Welfare Department (PSWD) to provide them 15 kilos of rice every three days from the NDCC/OCD.

The decamped evacuees will also receive an additional rice ration from the Worlde Food Program (WFP) once the supply arrives at the DSWD warehouse at NAVFORSOL. The will likewise get an allocation of P1,400 cash-for-work from President Arroyo through DSWD.

To further support the evacuees in resuming their farming activities, the government has set in place a P15-million farm rehabilitation program that includes two tractors from DA originally secured by the provincial government for upland areas but realigned to Mayon barangays.