MANITA, PHIUPPII{ES I WEDNESDAY 22 JANUABY 2O2O

TAAL WARNING UP

Big one comin

If the magma moves uo
faster or if ii mles with
wa.ter, there is a possibilitv
of a strong explosion
o Nei{r pA?€
By Krlstlm alam and Francls L Uhlolleld the.Philippine Insrirute of Volcanolos/ and Seism0lo6/
@tributefi :trhn ann @tulknppt _FfW
@hivolcs) varned on T'r.resday.
this, as the Depatment of the Interior and Local
An eruption by Taal Volcano, more powerfi. than Gwemment (DIIC) placed on standby more than 10,000
the preyious one, remains imminent as indicared by the troops faom the Philippine National police (pNp) in case
continuous magma artiviw undemeafir the island_,vtrlcano,
a violent eruptiontranspires. fwn to pagc Aj|
PU..)
flrAoulE iledsv
(r)
 Fm, WE Al j!\t'& volcartic ariMty. ' much as P60 billion
F*_
-*u*f_S
r 'Shut up and help' '\4b are goingto coodinaie withthe blace to
DILG Under$eadarv EpMo O.** l\&amhilq Folice R@nal Otrce 4A (PR0 gel the ful ddails of rhe sr-eplenental budger,"
said that no less BnPNPchiefGeneralArcNe 4A) ading rcgional Ihig, Cflr \.icste Romualdez said.
Gamboa oldercd a standby force c,omposed of Damo ad,ites tojd buclde dovn Lawmakers from Batangas, including
10.240 police officers i-f fte sihradon raorsens. r0 helping aleviat€ d,hb a&d€d Buhal\ Raneo
Refr€sentatives Uenita. l4ilagos
'Ihe DI16 said rhat currently, there are corffircns iruead, dV Abu ard \4lna Sardos&edo, earlier filed a bill
a totat of 2,820 police personnel taslcd to {'m
c€Iing mapr of Talisay edablishing the Taal \blcano Rehabilitation ad
conduct seaxch and rescue opemtions in the Batangas, Vice Natanauan, not to De!€lopment Corunission ard the thal \blcano
affed€d axeas. encourage goba*tothen rcs@i€
R€hrbilitaiion ard Developmert trlnd arhouting
"h case of eruption or if the situation homes rmtil is ghen by Phivolcs," to P50 bilion to aid individua.ls afbc€d fonowing
. norsens due to the eruption ofTaat our poJice Darun said in a radio intaliew. the eruption of Taal Volcano,
!s rca& to hetp in terr6 of public saJ€ff ard
'Ihe otrrcialwent onbywauring Natanauan As 0f 6 a.ntresdaMthe Nation lDisa$erRisk
public od€r," asswed Densing, illai he will talG drastic action if Talisay nedudion ard Management ftuncil (NIDRRMC)
. As of press time yesl€rdas the Phiydcs residenis a,re placed in harm's way because $ated that ihere arc mfieniv 497.evacuation
maintained the Alert Level 4 which means of his pronouncements. centels housing 2q4% farnilies 2 762 u
that a hazaxdous e4losive eruFion is likeb'
"If ihey go back to their homes and
On the other har4 a total of 22p[ fanilies
to -lappen within houN or dsys something bad haplens to therq if I see you
lirc outside encualion cenien,
lPhiuolcs Diredor R€nato So[dum, in an
alive,Iwiltum (Nltanauan) into an offering
D€nsingsaidthddeQiietlrcru.unbadfrrnilies
broadcast int€rviffi, nd€d that ftesh suppb' for the 'Ihal Volcano," he quipped afbded as a rcsult ofTaal's exudi rihesiMion
of magma or molten mcl€ ftom rmdemeath The DILG has imposed a total locldown dthe svanrarion certe$ rumirs nonnal
Taal is movins tlwads the volcano's cmter, on 199 barangals L$ed by Philolcs as hgltrisk "hteuns ofpublic oder ad sa@ it rcnains
vapodzing the water on its lake ard creaiirg areas within the 14+ilometfl danger zone. lS
peaceful within the evacuation @nte.rs... vE can
steatn mor€ rcsidents ller€ allov€d to mo\€ back to
srythatit'smorethanapassinggadeintemsd
Solidurn orplained that if left unreleased, the villages. public order ard saftiy" Densing saftL
the st€an could tigger pessule buildup that
It waxned that it wi[ issue dloltr caus€ orders
car spaxk a big eruption, ' againd local officials to violate the dt€cti!€. StC poursald
He added thal Phivolcs spotted a sepaxate San Mguel Corporation (SMC) cortinues to
"magma intrusion' or narmw dike of molten DoE tBarn dispatched mobilize r€sortr€es from aqoss the con€lomerate
mclc mwing tnnards the volcano that conld
Mearwhjle, the Depa,rtment of Ener$r provide much-needed assistarce t0 both
to
fue up the rolcano. (DoE) has already sunrcye4 the e!"cuation conununfies imparted by the emption and
"lf tlle magma mwes up faster or if it mb€s centers in Tanauan City to determine the 'to various goyeIrunent and private goups
with waie! there is a possibifu of a strong poner suppb situation in the affected axeas. qearheading rclid ffins
eplmion," Solidum said wer DzMM. Upon the dLective of Ener$ Secretaly So ftr, the corpalq' has pwided olcr
"Iher€ arE Inany acmrufs lile thr, about A]fonso Cusi, asses$rcntteams\aere deplolred milion in relief goods ard donations, nhich
fhal there wre times the fiIst enrption was
to visit vaxious ar€as in Cavite ard Bata4as .include ftod itens sudr as rice, camd goodq
song btt the nad corid e!€n be tronger," he , to determine the energ/ situation ard needs coflee, biscuits, milk ud egF,
added ofthe wa.cuees. Its food unit, San Miguel y .,,
Assislant SecretaryRobert Uy and Electric Foods, accountsfor the !,1.i1"
Not meaft to sow panic Porcr Industry Management Bueau Director bulk of food donations. ?'
For her part, Mada Antonia Bornas, Maxio Marasigan led the DoE contirgent. they has also irunedide! gwidd
chief ol the Phivolcs Volcano Monitomg and immediai€b m€t with local golHnlnent ofricials ftiod, fr{emaslG, blrr cts,
Eruption hedic{ion Divisioq sftessed that the ard volunieers to get all rcbani'iniormatron sleeping mats and
information Phivolcs ls pwidfu the public that 1lould help ihe DoE innediateb addrcss clothing tl thousards of
aje all backed by scientific data ard was not all energr concems, victims in evacuaJion ...
meant t,o sow panic, 'Ihis induded elechica,l irqediorc of s€rvice a,reas and in affected ,
" Bomas issued tlle stdement in rwonse to dmpsr panel conrffrong ard load ryp€s d[ghing, communities. 1l
t$qy ndangas \4ce lvt4trcr Clullie Natanaun ftrq ard cha4ing to ensure thit Foper povrcr SMC's own.r1.
wtii demarded fte agency m chaqe b "opinion" services are being uovided in Ee encrdion employees' donation ,
so tllat affrded residents could alrcafu garn cerfen. drive has also yielded :
accecs to locked doru area,s, the DoE also di#ibut€d em€trg€ncy qd&, various quantities of
l&bnauan sm
aiticized ftirDlcs folidlm frr portaue solzr ps$rcI lalnps, solar poftr b0nl6 other necessities such li
his t€rMixtslized' Fsses<rned ofthe situdio[ ad clcthing to lolunte€rs in apfr€cidion dtlEir as clothes, toiletries, i:
Talisay was anong the haxdest-hii ar€as wEarenng dedicaiion ard had wdr sanitary napkins, ftdqEar,
following the 12 January eruption of Taal In general, mod e'/"cuation centexs yisit€d detergent, powder, and
Volcano. It is situated within the l4kilometer he€ no por.Er ard fuel supph' issues wre rd€d sarfizing alcohoL
darger zone declared by Phinlcs. in their ar€as, "Our businesses ar€
"We can understard thai he (Natanauan) is ilivers€, ard ov€r the paS
tmder so much stress. \4b \aould lil€ io r€spect StryDhnr€ltal brdet yeelq thai has alorcd
the vice mayor's feelings, but at the same time, The Howe of Representaiives vo €d to t ub to help marv p@
re arc firm in our science that ne are doing tritritizethe or{tion of aPSObillionsupplenertal
oul best," Bomas said.
'\!b undeistand their plght. {b wil be the
budgd tx areas afhded by the thal \blcano
eruption \*pu, € NEI'}st/
first one to say. if it's safe to go bark \1& ha!€ Bdh lbuse Spealer AIan Rt€r C4darD ard . (a-)
them in mind a[ the time," she added House Majodty kader ard Lqte R€p. Martin
0n Tuesday, the Phivolcs reported Romualdez on luesday suppot€d h€sident
rcgistedng weaker volcanic earthquakes, Rodrigo Dutefte's r"ques fot a P30 billion
but said ihat the anount 0f emitted sidi supptemental budget hr the rdubilitation of
dioxide (S02) is fluctuating, which means Tbalafttted areas.
magma is actiyely degassing beneath the 'Ihe supplenerdal budgd can help alldate
Yolcano. +he axffitns sf ow lnfubqan (mmpahiots) l
Earlieq it has cautioned thai TarI Volcano ard enable them to rccowr 0om their economic
could onbbe techarging'for abigger eruption losseq' Cardano remarked
and that the alert level rculd onry be bn€red Romualdez, for hjs pa$ said tlte Ibuse, if
once tiere is a consistent dowrM'axd trend in ne€d b€, is rpa4' to incrase the amourt to as