Manila, Dec 13 (IANS): Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos said on Friday that the government has evacuated over 45,000 residents from villages around the active Kanlaon Volcano, which erupted on Monday.

Marcos said the government targets evacuating around 84,000 villagers within the six-km danger zone from the volcano.

He said the government is ready to assist residents impacted by the eruption, which blanketed several villages with ashes and contaminated drinking water sources in the community, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We will step up. Any escalation in damages and destruction will be met with a stronger government response," Marcos said.

Kanlaon, which straddles the provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental on the island of Negros in the central Philippines, spewed a "voluminous plume" that rose more than 4,000 meters into the sky on Monday afternoon.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert level to three on a scale of five, warning that a "magmatic eruption has begun that may progress to further explosive eruptions," urging residents within the danger zone and beyond to move to safety.

Following this, the Philippine Office of Civil Defence said that an "urgent" evacuation of around 87,000 people was underway due to the eruption of the Kanlaon Volcano.

Residents living within a 6-km radius of the volcano's summit are advised to evacuate, the institute said, adding that the public "must be prepared for additional evacuation if activity warrants."

Marcos appealed to the residents, especially those reluctant to leave their houses and farms, to immediately move to safety by staying in makeshift evacuation centres such as schools that were temporarily converted into shelters.

The Kanlaon Volcano last erupted in June this year. The volcano, which straddles the provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental on the island of Negros, is one of the country's most active volcanoes.