Rebuild, rescue, resettle

This is regarding the news, “Taal’s sulfur dioxide emission increases” (1/25/20).

Since the 1911 eruption, Taal Volcano has been erupting at almost regular intervals of about 54 years (1911, 1965 and 2020). It has been erupting mildly in between. As someone born and raised in San Nicolas town, which borders the southwestern shore of Taal Lake, and grew up on a hilly part of town with a panoramic view of Mount Batulaw in the northwest, Mount Maculot in the southeast with the lake and volcano in between, I was fascinated by the beauty of nature our place was endowed with.

But when it erupted in 1965, my admiration turned to awe and gnawing fear. Looking at it from afar, I imagined it to be a sleeping monster that could wreak havoc and widespread destruction around it.

My fears were made even more pronounced after doing research on the geological formation of the lake and the volcano. I found out that the whole lake was a gigantic crater (caldera) of an even larger volcano. I was terrified at the thought that if the crater was the volcano’s mouth, we are then living on its very “lips.”

My fears have been confirmed by the statements of volcanologists and scientists who have been observing Taal Volcano’s activities. What I now fear more are the cracks on the earth caused by numerous earthquakes in Agoncillo, San Nicolas, Lemery and Taal towns, the recession of the water in the lake and the drying of Pansipit River. These did not happen in 1965.

Volcanoes have very long lives. It can stay active for hundreds or even thousands of years. It is therefore necessary for the government to:

1) Resettle people in the volcano’s immediate vicinity.

2) Facilitate the fast rescue and evacuation of those who live beyond the immediate danger zones.

3) Build evacuation centers equipped with sanitary and medical facilities.

4) Prepare the military and arrange logistics for any eventuality.

5) Devise other plans that may be necessary to save the lives of those who may be in danger.

RAMON MAYUGA, ramon.mayuga49@gmail.com