MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said he will put a cap on Taal Volcano’s crater after it was placed under Alert Level 3 and released a one-kilometer-high “dark phreatomagmatic plume.”
“Not necessarily. Dumaan man kami kanina, konti lang, siguro lagyan ko lang ng cap, ‘yung butas,” Duterte said in jest during the inauguration of the Light Rail Transit 2 East Extension Project when asked if he will preside a command conference on Taal’s unrest.
(Not necessarily. We passed by earlier, there were only a few, maybe I’ll just put a cap on its crater.)
According to state volcanologists, raising Taal’s status to Alert Level 3 “means that there is magmatic intrusion at the Main Crater that may further drive succeeding eruptions.”
READ: Alert Level 3 raised on Taal Volcano after emitting kilometer-high phreatomagmatic plume
While the government has its measures to address restive Taal, Duterte downplayed the situation saying it is “not a grave concern at this time.”
“We will raise the alert to the level that it should. Now, it’s just rambling and it’s spewing, I don’t know if it’s really the ashes, apektado daw tayo. But it’s not really a grave concern for us at this time, maybe it will generate into something bad, by that time we will know,” Duterte said.
“Andyan na lahat nakaposisyon na ang mga gaya ng DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development]… Pagka pumutok ang taal, meron na doon, naka i-station na ang mga tulong nila,” he added.
(Everything is already prepositioned like the DSWD. If Taal erupts, they are there, their help is already stationed.)
It was not the first time for Duterte to joke about the Taal Volcano’s unrest. Last year, he suggested trying the “primitive way” and making an offering to calm down the volcano.