Phreatomagmatic activity in Taal Volcano. Screengrab from Phivolcs
MANILA, Philippines — Some residents of various towns in Batangas near the Taal Volcano have started evacuating in the wake of the latest phreatomagmatic eruption on Thursday, affected local government units (LGUs) announced.
According to the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (MDRRMO) of Agoncillo, Batangas, no forced evacuation has been implemented in the town except for two barangays that are within the seven-kilometer danger zone — Barangays Banyaga and Bilibinwang.
The seven-kilometer danger zone was observed after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) hoisted the warning at Taal Volcano at Alert Level 3. In its bulletin earlier, Phivolcs also recommended evacuating some barangays in Laurel, Batangas.
READ: Alert Level 3 raised on Taal Volcano after emitting kilometer-high phreatomagmatic plume
“Sa ngayon po ay wala po tayong pwersahang pagpapalikas sa 19 na barangay maliban na lamang po sa 2 barangay na malapit at sakop po ng 7 Kilometers Danger Zone mula sa isla o pulo kung saan sakop nito ang Brgy. Banyaga at Brgy. Bilibinwang,” Agoncillo’s MDDRMO said in a Facebook post.
(Right now there is no forced evacuation in 19 villages except for two that are within the seven-kilometer danger zone from the island covering barangay Banyaga at barangay Bilibinwang.)
“Sa atin pong mga kababayan, nasa sa atin pa rin po ang pagpapasya kung tayo po ay kusang lilikas para na rin sa kapanatagan ng ating kalooban at kaligtasan,” they added.
(To the rest of my fellow residents in Batangas, decisions remain in your hands whether you will voluntarily evacuate for your own safety and peace of mind.)
Photos uploaded on social media also showed several residents from Laurel, Batangas boarding trucks to transport them outside the seven-kilometer danger zone. At the same time, the Philippine Red Cross have dispatched personnel transporters to ferry residents in hazard areas.
Earlier, during the Phivolcs briefing, Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas said that several evacuation centers and government assets and personnel are already on standby in case there is a need to evacuate more residents.
“Ang atin laging first choice, at ang lagi namang matulungin ay ‘yong public schools, marami naman tayong public schools. Kaya ‘yon ang laging immediate na ginagamit, gayon din ang mga simbahan, lagi rin silang open sa ganyan,” Mandanas said.
(Our first choice always and always there in times of need are our public schools, we have a lot of public schools. That is why we always use these facilities, including churches, they are always open in situations like this.)
“Sa ngayon, ‘yong mga order ng mga evacuation, ‘yan ay dapat ginagawa na ng ating Department of Environment dahil protected area na ‘yan, sila na ang may control and may administration […] pero ang lalawigan ng Batangas lagi ring nakahanda, sinasabi ko nga nagpadala na kami ng mga transportation in case of evacuation na kailangan talaga,” he added.
(At the moment, the order of evacuation should be now being done by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources because the affected area is a protected zone, DENR has a control over that, and also there is an administration … but the province of Batangas is always prepared, I have said that we already sent transportation in case evacuation is really needed.)
Taal Volcano earlier released a volcanic plume around one kilometer high, with seismologists noting the presence of magmatic intrusion near the crater. Still, Phivolcs said that the volcano is not expected to erupt similarly to the last incident in January 2020.
Last January 12, 2020, Taal had a phreatic explosion that sent an ash column — leading into ash fall as far as Metro Manila and Central Luzon, displacing thousands of families in the nearby provinces of Cavite and Batangas.
JPV
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