Palace closely monitoring Taal Volcano amid unrest

MANILA – Malacañang assured the public on Friday that it is closely monitoring Taal Volcano, a day after its main crater generated a short-lived dark phreatomagmatic plume that rose 1 km. high.

“We are closely monitoring the situation in Taal after the phreatomagmatic eruptions that occurred in Taal Volcano,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

Roque said evacuation efforts for residents of “high-risk” villages in Laurel and Agoncillo towns, as well as other nearby municipalities in Batangas province, are underway.

The local government units’ (LGUs) Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Offices, with the support of their counterparts in the line agencies, are leading the evacuation efforts, he said.

“We ask residents in the areas surrounding the volcano lake to remain vigilant, take precautionary measures, cooperate with their local authorities should the need for evacuation arise,” Roque said.

He noted that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 4-A (Calabarzon) is on “heightened alert” and has readied stockpiles of PHP1.4-million worth of food packs and PHP11-million worth of non-food items for affected residents.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines Southern Luzon Command has likewise activated Joint Task Force Taal to assist in the operations of the Regional DRRM Council and LGUs, Roque said.

Calabarzon’s regional police has also been placed on alert and is helping LGUs evacuate residents, while the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Logistics Systems Command has deployed vehicles and personnel to support the PCG District Southern Tagalog in conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, he added.

Taal Volcano was placed under Alert Level 3 (magmatic unrest) on Thursday as the volcanic unrest is expected to drive “succeeding eruptions.”

The phreatomagmatic eruption was followed by four short phreatomagmatic bursts that occurred Thursday evening and produced short jetted plumes that rose 200 meters above the volcano’s main crater, according to the 8 a.m. Friday bulletin of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

Phivolcs also warned that magma rising from Taal Volcano’s main crater could cause “explosive eruption.”