Two weeks after its eruption, Taal Volcano has exhibited a decreasing tendency of eruption, prompting authorities to lower its alert status from Level 4 to Level 3 on Sunday.
As a result, thousands of evacuees displaced by the volcano eruption have been allowed to go back to their homes in order to clean their houses and their communities from the tons of ashes dumped by the volcano since January 12.
“Considering the latest advisory of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology that the alert level has been lowered from Level 4 to Level 3, residents of all towns under lockdown now have the option to return to their respective residences and place of work,” Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas announced in a press briefing in Batangas City.
But Mandanas said that Agoncillo and Laurel will remain under lockdown since some of the barangays of the two towns are within the seven-kilometer danger zone of the volcano.
About 90 percent of displaced residents living outside the seven-kilometer danger zone are expected to go back to their homes, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
“Ang pwedeng bumalik is ‘yung outside of the seven-kilometer danger zone except some barangays sa Laurel at Agoncillo na matindi ang sira, mga fissures, nasira ang bahay,” NDRRMC Executive Director Ricardo Jalad clarified.
Agoncillo has an estimated 40,000 residents while Laurel has almost 39,000 residents.
The areas which were opened to residents were Alitagtag, Balete, Cuenca, Lemery, Malvar, Mataas na Kahoy, San Nicolas, Sta. Teresita, Taal, Talisay, Lipa City, and Tanauan City.
Based on the latest data, there are 408,949 families staying in more than 600 evacuation centers in Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, and Quezon. Batangas has 322,000 evacuees while other provinces host almost 87,000 evacuees.
The figure, however, does not include hundreds of thousands more people who opted to stay with their relatives.
But in allowing residents outside the evacuation center to go back, Mandanas has set three general rules that those who wish to go back should consider.
First, all residents who would go back must be continuously be alert and vigilant since Taal Volcano may still erupt. Mandanas added that those who would go back must make sure that they could evacuate within one hour if the volcano erupts anew or be returned to Alert Level 4.
Second, that they should be wary of the lahar flow due to the ash deposits in higher areas that may suddenly flow in the event of heavy downpour. And third, returning residents must be careful of health hazards due to ashes dumped by volcano and physical hazards that include road and soil fissures, slippery road due to volcanic ashes, and unstable structures due to the effect of volcanic quakes and thick ash deposit on the roof of the houses.
The announcement, however, does not include the specific rules on the decampment of evacuation centers.
Mandanas said the provincial government of Batangas will not provide vehicles to transport evacuees back to their residences. “We will only do that once we are sure that it is already totally safe to go back,” Mandanas said.
He explained that they only gave the residents an option to go back.
“This is for them to really think if it is really safe to go back because they really have to consider the safety of their lives, the lives of their children,” said Mandanas.
“We will not transport them but we will not prevent them from going back,” he added. (Aaron Recuenco)
