Pangilinan appeals to govt to issue more regular Taal Volcano updates

January 18, 2020

ALFONSO, Cavite — Government must issue more regular Taal Volcano updates over the twice-a-day situationer that the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) releases, Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said Saturday.

“Considering that Phivolcs raised alert level 2 to 4 in just two hours last Sunday, we issue an urgent appeal to government to issue bulletins every 1 or two hours to prevent panic and keep the public informed and more aware,” said Pangilinan, who was here to distribute relief goods and portalets from his office and the UP community to affected residents.

“An informed people is an empowered people. Mas makakagalaw nang mas maayos ang ating mga kababayan kung alam nila ang nangyayari. Sa sama-sama nating pagkilos rin natin masisiguro na wala o mababang casualty rate sa pagsabog ng Taal Volcano at sa anumang disaster na kinakaharap natin,” he added.

Phivolcs said nearly 700 volcanic earthquakes have been recorded since Taal emitted plumes of steam and ash six days ago on January 12, indicating continuous magmatic intrusion beneath the volcano.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) initially reported that about half a million people are within the radius of the 14-kilometer danger zone.