Science execs decry theft of cables of seismic gear near Mayon

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Science and Technology on Wednesday revealed that cables and batteries of critical seismic equipment near the Mayon Volcano were stolen last month, disrupting transmission of vital volcano monitoring data to the central station in Quezon City.

Science Secretary Mario Montejo described as “murder” the theft of cables and five 12-volt batteries at unmanned seismic relay stations of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in Sto. Domingo, Albay.

“These unscrupulous individuals are not only thieves, they could also qualify as murderers,” said Montejo in a statement.

“By stealing cables of seismic sensors to sell for a measly sum, they jeopardize the safety and put at risk the very lives of the people of Albay, their property, as well as the resources of the province in the event of a major volcanic activity,” he added.

Phivolcs staff found its station “vandalized” on December. 23, more than a week after they noted that data transmission from Albay to Phivolcs’ main office in Quezon City had slowed down.

Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum said data transmission from Albay relay stations was cut by 50 percent, but quickly clarified that seismic monitoring continued “other relay stations in Albay are functioning efficiently.”

“It is a good thing that Mayon Volcano is not active as of this time,” he said in a statement.

Solidum said Mayon is currently at Alert Level 1 (based on a scale of 0 to 5), under which “several volcanic activities” were observed.

The situation, however, remains relatively calm, DOST said.

Montejo called on villagers near DOST weather and seismic stations to help the government keep watch of critical government equipment.

“The safety of the people is our primordial concern, which is why the government is aggressively installing weather forecasting and other monitoring equipment like rain gauges and water level sensors critical to monitoring flood prone areas,” the science chief said.

“More importantly, people in the areas where monitoring equipment are installed should help safeguard these equipment. After all, their lives, properties, and communities’ safety are all at stake here,” Montejo added.

Montejo discussed the incident with other top government agencies in an interagency meeting on the national flood forecasting and protection program.

As part of stepped-up efforts for flood prevention, DOST is also set to install water level sensors and rain gauges in the country‘s major rivers.