TALISAY: Residents displaced by an erupting volcano near the Philippine capital were allowed to briefly return home and check on their property as a “stress reliever” on Thursday amid uncertainty about how long they will need to stay away.
The Taal Volcano in Batangas province, which is 66 kilometres south of Manila and located in the middle of a lake of the same name, has been sporadically expelling ash and lava since Sunday, forcing more than 82,000 people to flee their homes.
Many were forced to flee with only a few belongings because the volcano’s activity escalated suddenly.
“We thought we will just be staying overnight,” said Edgardo Mercado, an 80-year-old grandfather from Talisay, one of the towns affected by the eruption. Authorities have ordered everyone to leave.
“Now they are saying that they don’t know how long we need to stay in evacuation centres,” he added. “We can’t leave our homes, our belongings unattended here.”
Police allowed the residents up to four hours to check on their livestock and properties.
The residents shovelled ash from their rooms and yards, cleaned vehicles and chopped off plants that had dried up. Some broken windows were boarded up, while doors were padlocked to prevent burglary.
Some were also allowed to return to the main volcano island, to rescue farm animals left behind in their haste as they left their homes.
“I was able to get 15 horses, but there are more animals that I need to go back for,” said a man herding the weak horses along a dusty road in Talisay. Behind him, a man herded three cows and a horse, all very thin and covered in ash.
“It’s a form of assistance to them as it is already stressful. It’s like a stress reliever to them to lessen their worries,” Batangas police director Colonel Edwin Quilates told a Manila radio interview.
At least four towns around the volcano were on lockdown, with roads leading to them effectively closed. Police manned checkpoints and blocked people and vehicles entering without clearance. — dpa
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