{"id":242400,"date":"2020-01-16T21:23:33","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T02:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=242400"},"modified":"2020-01-16T21:23:33","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T02:23:33","slug":"prrd-satisfied-with-phivolcs-response-on-taal-volcanos-activity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/01\/16\/prrd-satisfied-with-phivolcs-response-on-taal-volcanos-activity\/","title":{"rendered":"PRRD satisfied with Phivolcs response on Taal Volcano’s activity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech during the opening ceremony of the 7th Union Asia Pacific Regional Conference held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on April 23, 2019. KARL NORMAN ALONZO\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— President Rodrigo Duterte is satisfied with the warnings issued by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) about Taal Volcano\u2019s activity, Malaca\u00f1ang said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Despite Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr.’s call for a probe into the alleged Phivolcs failure to inform the public about the volcano\u2019s imminent eruption, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo defended the agency saying that volcanic eruptions cannot easily be predicted.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs if\u00a0malalaman mo kung kailan puputok ang bulkan<\/em>\u00a0(As if you can determine when a volcano will erupt),\u201d Panelo said in a Palace briefing.<\/p>\n

Unlike typhoons which can be predicted before it reaches the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), Panelo said eruptions were unable to determine before it occurs.<\/p>\n

Despite this, Panelo said the Phivolcs is still able to determine the number and intensity of Taal\u2019s volcanic tremors, prompting them to raise the alert level to 4 which means \u201chazardous eruption is possible within days.\u201d<\/p>\n

He praised Phivolcs director Renato Solidum Jr., also Department of Science and Technology Undersecretary, for explaining what was going on inside the volcano.<\/p>\n

\u201cMagaling nga itong si<\/em>\u00a0Director Solidum\u00a0eh, mahusay magpaliwanag eh<\/em>\u00a0(Director Solidum is very good, he explains well),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Panelo also assured that damaged or outdated equipment of the Phivolcs will also be replaced to improve the agency\u2019s capability to monitor volcanic activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat goes without saying.\u00a0Kung may nasira, di kailangan palitan<\/em>\u00a0(If it\u2019s damaged, it needs to be replaced),\u201d Panelo said. \u201cPag nag<\/em>-request\u00a0sila na kailangan nila ang isang bagay<\/em>\u00a0to make them more effective,\u00a0siyempre ibibigay natin<\/em>\u00a0(If they request for equipment to make them more effective, of course, we will give it to them).\u201d<\/p>\n

Panelo, however, said it was the prerogative of the House of Representatives to investigate the Phivolcs\u2019 information dissemination on Taal Volcano\u2019s unrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot stop them or discourage them — that is their call,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

In a Virtual Presser on Wednesday, Solidum denied that there was a delay in the warnings released by Phivolcs, insisting that smaller eruptions are not designed for warning.<\/p>\n

Solidum also said the agency has \u201calways been repeating the possible large eruption of the volcano\u201d as early as March 2019.<\/p>\n

Stricter enforcement<\/strong><\/p>\n

To protect residents living near Taal Volcano from the threat of a hazardous eruption of Taal Volcano, Panelo said the implementation of \u201cno man\u2019s land\u201d should be strictly enforced.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Duterte approved the recommendation of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to declare Taal Island as \u201cno man\u2019s land\u201d or that it has no permanent habitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since that\u2019s supposed to be a no man\u2019s land. Ever since danger zone\u00a0iyon, talagang hindi dapat tumitira doon<\/em>\u00a0(people shouldn\u2019t really live there),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged that the livelihood of the residents there may be affected, but assured that the government would allot funds for their permanent relocation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHahanapan natin kung saang lugar puwede, marami pa namang lupa ang Pilipinas eh<\/em>\u00a0(We will find a place for them to stay. The Philippines has a wide expanse of land),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Panelo, meanwhile, echoed the statement made by Lorenzana that there are enough resources to assist victims of Taal Volcano\u2019s eruption and that there is no need to seek aid from foreign countries.<\/p>\n

Alert Level 4 is still raised over Taal Volcano and a state of calamity has been declared in Batangas and Cavite.<\/p>\n

Solidum earlier said evacuees cannot still go back to their homes, even if Alert Level 4 is lowered to Alert Level 2 or 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— President Rodrigo Duterte is satisfied with the warnings issued by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) about …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":211129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-242400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242401,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242400\/revisions\/242401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}