By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY--With more than 75,000 volcano-watchers flocking into Albay province this month alone, there were no vacant tables at the Small Talk Café on Sunday.
The Hotel St. Ellis, an expensive establishment that opened only this month, had just one room left on Tuesday night. Hotel Venezia was fully booked for five days until the 29th.
Taxi drivers say they’re averaging only three hours of sleep and car rental services are on round-the-clock operations.
Business is booming in Albay as thousands of adventure-seeking tourists are drawn to the restive Mayon Volcano with many even risking their lives to get close to the spectacular flowing lava, according to provincial authorities.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said 2,400 tourists a day had been pouring into the area since the famously active volcano started oozing lava on Dec. 14, compared with about 200 a day before.
“All the hotels are fully booked, even the cheapest ones,” Salceda said.
He said the tourists typically only stay overnight to view the crimson lava oozing from the volcano’s crater in the dark.
“It is like a slow-moving meteor show. You really feel awe when you see it,” he said.
Courting danger
However, Salceda said many tourists were also slipping past security patrols to enter the 8-kilometer danger zone around Mayon to get a close-up experience of the slow-moving lava column.
“There are enough thrill-seekers and, when you combine them with some enterprising local guides, they find their way in,” he said.
The military heightened security around Mayon on Monday after two foreign tourists were seen over the weekend riding all-terrain vehicles toward the volcano.
Salceda warned that although the lava was slow-moving, there was still a danger from volcanic ash that could mix with rainwater to form a lethal, fast-moving mudflow.
Such a confluence had claimed hundreds of lives in the past, most recently in 2006.
“It’s a big problem. I think the first violation of the zero casualty [record] will be a dead tourist,” said Salceda.
“At the moment of eruption, the local guides will have a better chance of getting out. The hapless tourist will be left behind,” he said.
Businesses here claim that their revenues have increased by as much as 30 percent since Mayon started becoming restive as tourists are drawn to the volcanic show.
Soaring revenues
At the Small Talk Café, diners came nonstop on Sunday. Café owner Bernadette Peralta said it was like Valentine’s Day, the only time of the year when sales would triple.
“We have even surpassed last year’s December sales when there was less competition,” said Peralta, noting that the café experienced similar high sales in 2006, when the volcano last erupted.
One of Small Talk’s specialties, Pasta Mayon, has also become some kind of attraction. The dish is made from the triangular ravioli pasta arranged to resemble Mayon’s nearly perfect cone. It is topped by a sizzling red sauce that looks like flowing lava.
Round-the-clock service
There is round-the-clock demand for car services from tourists asking to be driven to Ligñon Hill whose deck affords a full view of Mayon as well as a 360-degree vista of the city and neighboring Daraga town.
Harvey Santos Mayores, manager of the Early Riser Taxi Services, who drives one of his own units, said he is usually on the road until 2 a.m.
Edward Belda, a driver for the Benmar Transport Services, has been hiring himself out to media organizations covering the natural disaster by day and to lava-watching tourists by night.
The flag-down rate for taxicabs here is P30. Car rental rates range from P3,500 to P4,500 per day, depending on the length and duration of travel.
Tour guides
On ordinary days, 60-year-old Benny Rodriguez is a golf course caretaker in Barangay Padang. Now he earns extra as a tour guide.
He said many tourists wanting a closer view of Mayon would negotiate the rough climb to the Legazpi Golf Course, which is inside the 8-km extended danger zone. The course is just within the 5-km radius of the volcano.
Not being a regular guide, Rodriguez, whose clients include media people, tourists and celebrities, does not charge a fixed rate and accepts whatever the customer is willing to give.
He said local tourists tend to be more generous. Recently, a famous golf-playing television host paid him P1,000.
Chopper rides
Misibis Bay Raintree, a luxury island resort in the Albay Gulf and the Pacific Ocean, has noted a significant increase in revenues from its A-list market.
The resort on Cagraray Island offers to high-end clients a volcano adventure tour package, which includes a one-hour chopper ride or an ocean cruise to view Mayon from a safe distance.
Manager Ian Varona said there are precautions to take to ensure the safety of tourists but Mayon, one of the world’s wonders, should not be feared.
He said letting tourism thrive will help boost the local economy, generate more jobs and bring long-term benefits.
Losses suffered
Political economist Carl Ala of the University of the Philippines-Manila, who is now based in Bicol, said that increased business revenues because of the Mayon eruption were still nothing compared to the losses suffered.
“We should also see the calamity’s damage to crops. Many farmers were not able to harvest. The government’s relief spending amounts to P1.5 million daily,” Ala said.
Salceda, who earlier said that disaster tourism was not one of his government’s development strategies, estimated that 75,000 tourists came to Albay in December alone.
This one-month figure has already surpassed the number of tourists that arrived in the province in 2008, he said. With a report from Agence France-Presse
Showing posts with label disaster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disaster. Show all posts
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tourists look for best view of Mayon
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 01:24:00 12/28/2009
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY—Hotel Venezia is fully booked until Tuesday.
When tourists—from Asia, America and Europe—come, they would ask the front desk which part of Legazpi would give them the best view of the erupting volcano, especially at night.
Gail Narramore, a British-South African missionary, has found Mount Mayon a stunning sight when evening falls.
“It looks like a Christmas tree,” said Narramore, who founded the Albay-based charity group Tiwala Kids and Communities.
Front desk officer Pearl de Guzman told the Inquirer that guests checking into the 40-room hotel had increased since the 2,460-meter mountain started spewing lava two weeks ago.
Digvijay Ankoti, 29, came all way from India just to see the eruption. He drove from Manila to Legazpi with two other Indian friends, one of them married to a Filipino.
It was Ankoti’s first time to see a volcano on the brink of a possibly hazardous blast.
He and his companions have gone lava-watching, going to the top of Ligñon Hill, which offers a full view of the volcano when the sky is clear. The hilltop also offers a 360-degree view of this city and neighboring Daraga town.
Barred from danger zone
Marian Lacson-Singh, 32, one of Ankoti’s companions, said the lava trail was “magnificent,” which made their long drive from Manila worthwhile.
Ankoti said his group once tried to venture into a danger zone—an area within an 8-kilometer radius from the volcano’s flaming mouth—hoping they could get a closer look of the eruption.
The military barred them.
Other tourist sites
Manuel Montiero, 57, from Luxembourg, who also went Mayon-watching at the observatory, said he had seen the Taal, Pinatubo and Bulusan volcanoes but found Mayon most captivating.
Montiero voted for Mayon in the 7 Wonders of the World online search.
Tourism department offices were closed for the holidays and the exact number of tourists, foreign and domestic, who have come to Albay to watch the spectacle of an erupting volcano were not immediately available.
Aside from Mayon, other tourist destinations in Albay are the Misibis resort, Embarcadero commercial complex, and the Tiwi and Manito geothermal sites. Neighboring Sorsogon province offers whale shark-watching in Donsol town.
Disaster tourism
While tourists may have been drawn to the sight of lava cascading down the slopes of Mayon, the provincial government is not keen on encouraging “disaster tourism,” Gov. Joey Salceda said in an earlier interview.
“Disaster tourism is certainly not within the contemplation of the provincial development strategy, even if disaster risk reduction and tourism are integral components,” he said.
Salceda said the sudden surge of tourists was an unintended consequence of a volcanic eruption.
He said the increased tourist arrivals were reflected in the number of visitors Mayon-watching at the observatory (where the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or Phivolcs is located), in increased visits by nongovernment organizations and sociocivic groups to evacuation centers, and in wider media coverage of Albay.
Bicol Tourism Director Nini Ravanilla described Mayon as a timeless tourist attraction.
The volcano has erupted 49 times since records began, claiming thousands of lives. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as lava buried the town of Cagsawa.
Deceptive calm
Alert Level 4 remains hoisted over Mayon, meaning a hazardous eruption is possible within days.
Volcanologists yesterday reiterated that while Mayon might be showing less visible signs of unrest, this could be a deceptive calm before a deadly eruption.
“Do not become complacent. The people only see what is coming out of the crater and that is often cloud covered. It is not just the observed phenomenon that matters. We also look at the quakes, the gas emitted and the swelling of the volcano,” warned Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum.
“We are telling the people, ‘Do not just count the number of quakes or what you see from the crater.’ It may look calm but it is not calm. It can still explode,” Solidum said in a radio broadcast.
“You might think it is taking a break but the volcano is still swelling,” he said, after the restive volcano produced fewer ash emissions on Sunday than in previous days.
2006 pattern
Solidum said the volcano could stay active for as long as two months, similar to its last eruption in 2006 when it simmered for months, dumping tons of ash on its slopes.
No one was killed by the eruption itself but in December of that year a passing typhoon dislodged the ash from Mayon’s slopes, turning it into a fast-moving mudflow that covered villages and killed about a thousand people.
More than 47,000 people have fled to 29 evacuation centers, although some villagers are known to defy Army security, sneaking out to periodically return home for supplies.
Still restive
Phivolcs said that based on observations over a 24-hour period, Mayon was still in a state of high unrest, unleashing nine ash explosions accompanied by rumbling sounds.
The blasts produced dirty white to brownish ash columns, with lava fragments, that reached heights of up to 1,000 meters above the summit. Forty-four volcanic earthquakes were recorded.
The sulfur dioxide emission rate has decreased from the previous 8,993 tons per day to 2,304 tons per day.
Communications equipment
As part of intensified preparations for a major eruption, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) regional office has issued additional communication equipment to Task Force Mayon (TFM).
According to Capt. Razaleigh G. Bansawan, TFM spokesperson, a total of 900 Motorola handheld radios with complete accessories have been issued to the task force.
The radios were distributed to nine military checkpoints within the danger zones.
Officials said forced evacuation of villagers seemed to be working, especially in view of government assurances to residents that their property would be protected during their absence. With reports from Rey M. Nasol, Inquirer Southern Luzon, and AFP
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 01:24:00 12/28/2009
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY—Hotel Venezia is fully booked until Tuesday.
When tourists—from Asia, America and Europe—come, they would ask the front desk which part of Legazpi would give them the best view of the erupting volcano, especially at night.
Gail Narramore, a British-South African missionary, has found Mount Mayon a stunning sight when evening falls.
“It looks like a Christmas tree,” said Narramore, who founded the Albay-based charity group Tiwala Kids and Communities.
Front desk officer Pearl de Guzman told the Inquirer that guests checking into the 40-room hotel had increased since the 2,460-meter mountain started spewing lava two weeks ago.
Digvijay Ankoti, 29, came all way from India just to see the eruption. He drove from Manila to Legazpi with two other Indian friends, one of them married to a Filipino.
It was Ankoti’s first time to see a volcano on the brink of a possibly hazardous blast.
He and his companions have gone lava-watching, going to the top of Ligñon Hill, which offers a full view of the volcano when the sky is clear. The hilltop also offers a 360-degree view of this city and neighboring Daraga town.
Barred from danger zone
Marian Lacson-Singh, 32, one of Ankoti’s companions, said the lava trail was “magnificent,” which made their long drive from Manila worthwhile.
Ankoti said his group once tried to venture into a danger zone—an area within an 8-kilometer radius from the volcano’s flaming mouth—hoping they could get a closer look of the eruption.
The military barred them.
Other tourist sites
Manuel Montiero, 57, from Luxembourg, who also went Mayon-watching at the observatory, said he had seen the Taal, Pinatubo and Bulusan volcanoes but found Mayon most captivating.
Montiero voted for Mayon in the 7 Wonders of the World online search.
Tourism department offices were closed for the holidays and the exact number of tourists, foreign and domestic, who have come to Albay to watch the spectacle of an erupting volcano were not immediately available.
Aside from Mayon, other tourist destinations in Albay are the Misibis resort, Embarcadero commercial complex, and the Tiwi and Manito geothermal sites. Neighboring Sorsogon province offers whale shark-watching in Donsol town.
Disaster tourism
While tourists may have been drawn to the sight of lava cascading down the slopes of Mayon, the provincial government is not keen on encouraging “disaster tourism,” Gov. Joey Salceda said in an earlier interview.
“Disaster tourism is certainly not within the contemplation of the provincial development strategy, even if disaster risk reduction and tourism are integral components,” he said.
Salceda said the sudden surge of tourists was an unintended consequence of a volcanic eruption.
He said the increased tourist arrivals were reflected in the number of visitors Mayon-watching at the observatory (where the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or Phivolcs is located), in increased visits by nongovernment organizations and sociocivic groups to evacuation centers, and in wider media coverage of Albay.
Bicol Tourism Director Nini Ravanilla described Mayon as a timeless tourist attraction.
The volcano has erupted 49 times since records began, claiming thousands of lives. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as lava buried the town of Cagsawa.
Deceptive calm
Alert Level 4 remains hoisted over Mayon, meaning a hazardous eruption is possible within days.
Volcanologists yesterday reiterated that while Mayon might be showing less visible signs of unrest, this could be a deceptive calm before a deadly eruption.
“Do not become complacent. The people only see what is coming out of the crater and that is often cloud covered. It is not just the observed phenomenon that matters. We also look at the quakes, the gas emitted and the swelling of the volcano,” warned Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum.
“We are telling the people, ‘Do not just count the number of quakes or what you see from the crater.’ It may look calm but it is not calm. It can still explode,” Solidum said in a radio broadcast.
“You might think it is taking a break but the volcano is still swelling,” he said, after the restive volcano produced fewer ash emissions on Sunday than in previous days.
2006 pattern
Solidum said the volcano could stay active for as long as two months, similar to its last eruption in 2006 when it simmered for months, dumping tons of ash on its slopes.
No one was killed by the eruption itself but in December of that year a passing typhoon dislodged the ash from Mayon’s slopes, turning it into a fast-moving mudflow that covered villages and killed about a thousand people.
More than 47,000 people have fled to 29 evacuation centers, although some villagers are known to defy Army security, sneaking out to periodically return home for supplies.
Still restive
Phivolcs said that based on observations over a 24-hour period, Mayon was still in a state of high unrest, unleashing nine ash explosions accompanied by rumbling sounds.
The blasts produced dirty white to brownish ash columns, with lava fragments, that reached heights of up to 1,000 meters above the summit. Forty-four volcanic earthquakes were recorded.
The sulfur dioxide emission rate has decreased from the previous 8,993 tons per day to 2,304 tons per day.
Communications equipment
As part of intensified preparations for a major eruption, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) regional office has issued additional communication equipment to Task Force Mayon (TFM).
According to Capt. Razaleigh G. Bansawan, TFM spokesperson, a total of 900 Motorola handheld radios with complete accessories have been issued to the task force.
The radios were distributed to nine military checkpoints within the danger zones.
Officials said forced evacuation of villagers seemed to be working, especially in view of government assurances to residents that their property would be protected during their absence. With reports from Rey M. Nasol, Inquirer Southern Luzon, and AFP
Sunday, December 27, 2009
‘Damayan’ spirit alive amid threat of big Mayon eruption
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
LEGAZPI CITY—In a world that has gotten smaller for the 47,000 evacuees from Mayon Volcano, everything has to be shared—from food to sleeping mats, from bathrooms to the air they breathe.
And they are living together after escaping a common danger—a possible major eruption of Mayon that, scientists Saturday warned, remained a real threat because of the buildup of magma, clogging the volcano.
In their now smaller world in an evacuation center at Albay Central School, 367 displaced families from Barangay Matanag receive the same amount of food from relief agencies—regardless of the size of each family.
It is in such situations that the damayan (sharing) culture among Filipinos comes to the fore, sociologists say.
“Smaller families would share what they have with bigger families. We would help one another,” evacuee Cynthia Aydalla, a mother of four, told the Inquirer.
“We would buy vegetables from other evacuees. They would bring their harvests here in the evacuation center rather than sell them in the market,” she said.
Sharing little they have
Matanag is one of more than 30 villages within the 8-kilometer danger zone whose residents had to flee their homes to escape the threat from Mayon.
Once it happened that the Aydallas received six kilograms of rice, four packs of noodles, eight canned goods, and a 25-gram pack of coffee that were supposed to be good for three days.
That was also the same ration that Alex Abellena and his family of seven children received—an amount that wouldn’t last them more than two days.
Such a discrepancy has fostered a feeling of generosity among the evacuees.
One big family
In the cramped classrooms of San Roque Elementary School, lack of a comfortable sleeping space was also a problem.
The solution: The evacuees put together, like jigsaw puzzle pieces, whatever mats they had. In the absence of mats, they shared cardboard cartons to shield themselves against the cold floors.
“All evacuees would sleep together like one big family,” said Josie Perez, 41, of Barangay Mabinit.
Since a classroom houses as many as over 100 people, some would sleep in the hallways, Perez said. Others, including a one-month-old baby, slept on a stage.
Upon waking up, over 1,000 evacuees would form long queues to the only two functional bathrooms in the evacuation center.
“Some of us would wake as early as 1 a.m. to avoid the long queues. Others found it more convenient to go back to their houses in the danger zones to clean themselves up,” Perez told the Inquirer.
Culture of generosity
Dolly Laguilles, a sociology professor from Bicol University in Daraga, Albay, said: “It is true that crisis creates a political climate for giving. But in the evacuation centers, it may be more than that.”
She said the tales of generosity from crowded evacuation centers were real and deeply rooted to the Filipino way of life.
“Generosity is a Christian deed. Filipinos are innately generous people,” Laguilles said. “Calamities like this would simply test generosity, a value that has always been there, though, at times, it just has to be revived.
She added: “The damayan culture becomes a source of strength for the refugees. It helps them cope and stand strong.”
Uniquely Filipino
Laguilles said Filipino sociologists have unique terms to describe similar rural values of sharing—“pakikisama, damayan, and bayanihan.”
“These are unique Filipino values deeply embedded in the Filipino’s familial culture.”
She said the damayan culture preserved in rural communities was something urban Filipinos could learn from.
“Urban Filipinos value their space and privacy so much more than the rural folk,” Laguilles said. “That is why the refugees could adapt in crowded evacuation centers and could easily share what they have with one another.”
The sense of being faced with the same danger—that posed by an angry mountain—may have reinforced that communal feeling.
Buildup of magma
Volcanologists on Saturday said that while fewer earthquakes had been recorded from the volcano in recent days, magma continued to build up inside and any lull in activity could be followed by a bigger eruption.
A hazardous eruption remains possible within days, and residents who live near the volcano’s slopes should not be misled into leaving the evacuation centers and venturing back to their homes, warned volcanologist Ed Laguerta.
“The number of volcanic earthquakes has gone down, but this is just part of the eruptive cycle of Mayon,” he said.
1984 lesson
The number of quakes decreased from 871 recorded during the 24-hour period ending Friday morning to 406 recorded during the next 24 hours, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
Laguerta said instruments showed the volcano remained inflated despite having spilled more than 20 million cubic meters of lava over the last two weeks. That means the lava being released is being replaced by magma coming from beneath the volcano.
“We are looking not only at what Mayon is presently exhibiting because that fluctuates. We are also looking at its past characteristics,” he said, recalling that in 1984, a four-day lull was followed by a sudden, big eruption.
He added: “What is becoming clear is that (the volcano) is getting clogged. That is when the lava is rising but cannot get out.”
“Just because the volcano looks calm … it does not mean its activity is decreasing. We cannot be off our guard. After this calm period, it could explode with even more force,” Laguerta said.
Hissing, rumbling
Showing no letup in its “high level of activity,” Mayon hissed and rumbled, ejecting ash columns a kilometer high from its summit, Phivolcs said.
It said the rumblings continued to be heard at the Lignon Hill Observatory in Legazpi. A total of 406 earthquakes also shook the mountain and emissions of sulfur dioxide remained high at 8,993 tons per day.
Alert level 4, meaning a hazardous eruption is possible within days, remains enforced and no one is allowed to venture within the 8-km danger zone from the summit, it said.
“Areas just outside of this (danger zone) should prepare for evacuation in the event hazardous explosive eruptions intensify,” Phivolcs said.
Gov. Joey Salceda is offering P100,000 in cash to any barangay affected by the continuing eruptions that doesn’t suffer any casualties.
“If we achieve the zero-casualty target, then it would entice investors to come in because it is proven that we can move on in the mid of calamities, yet Albay is still worth investing,” Salceda said.
The 2,460-meter has erupted 49 times in recorded history. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as lava buried the town of Cagsawa. With reports from Alcuin Papa, AP and AFP
Inquirer Southern Luzon
LEGAZPI CITY—In a world that has gotten smaller for the 47,000 evacuees from Mayon Volcano, everything has to be shared—from food to sleeping mats, from bathrooms to the air they breathe.
And they are living together after escaping a common danger—a possible major eruption of Mayon that, scientists Saturday warned, remained a real threat because of the buildup of magma, clogging the volcano.
In their now smaller world in an evacuation center at Albay Central School, 367 displaced families from Barangay Matanag receive the same amount of food from relief agencies—regardless of the size of each family.
It is in such situations that the damayan (sharing) culture among Filipinos comes to the fore, sociologists say.
“Smaller families would share what they have with bigger families. We would help one another,” evacuee Cynthia Aydalla, a mother of four, told the Inquirer.
“We would buy vegetables from other evacuees. They would bring their harvests here in the evacuation center rather than sell them in the market,” she said.
Sharing little they have
Matanag is one of more than 30 villages within the 8-kilometer danger zone whose residents had to flee their homes to escape the threat from Mayon.
Once it happened that the Aydallas received six kilograms of rice, four packs of noodles, eight canned goods, and a 25-gram pack of coffee that were supposed to be good for three days.
That was also the same ration that Alex Abellena and his family of seven children received—an amount that wouldn’t last them more than two days.
Such a discrepancy has fostered a feeling of generosity among the evacuees.
One big family
In the cramped classrooms of San Roque Elementary School, lack of a comfortable sleeping space was also a problem.
The solution: The evacuees put together, like jigsaw puzzle pieces, whatever mats they had. In the absence of mats, they shared cardboard cartons to shield themselves against the cold floors.
“All evacuees would sleep together like one big family,” said Josie Perez, 41, of Barangay Mabinit.
Since a classroom houses as many as over 100 people, some would sleep in the hallways, Perez said. Others, including a one-month-old baby, slept on a stage.
Upon waking up, over 1,000 evacuees would form long queues to the only two functional bathrooms in the evacuation center.
“Some of us would wake as early as 1 a.m. to avoid the long queues. Others found it more convenient to go back to their houses in the danger zones to clean themselves up,” Perez told the Inquirer.
Culture of generosity
Dolly Laguilles, a sociology professor from Bicol University in Daraga, Albay, said: “It is true that crisis creates a political climate for giving. But in the evacuation centers, it may be more than that.”
She said the tales of generosity from crowded evacuation centers were real and deeply rooted to the Filipino way of life.
“Generosity is a Christian deed. Filipinos are innately generous people,” Laguilles said. “Calamities like this would simply test generosity, a value that has always been there, though, at times, it just has to be revived.
She added: “The damayan culture becomes a source of strength for the refugees. It helps them cope and stand strong.”
Uniquely Filipino
Laguilles said Filipino sociologists have unique terms to describe similar rural values of sharing—“pakikisama, damayan, and bayanihan.”
“These are unique Filipino values deeply embedded in the Filipino’s familial culture.”
She said the damayan culture preserved in rural communities was something urban Filipinos could learn from.
“Urban Filipinos value their space and privacy so much more than the rural folk,” Laguilles said. “That is why the refugees could adapt in crowded evacuation centers and could easily share what they have with one another.”
The sense of being faced with the same danger—that posed by an angry mountain—may have reinforced that communal feeling.
Buildup of magma
Volcanologists on Saturday said that while fewer earthquakes had been recorded from the volcano in recent days, magma continued to build up inside and any lull in activity could be followed by a bigger eruption.
A hazardous eruption remains possible within days, and residents who live near the volcano’s slopes should not be misled into leaving the evacuation centers and venturing back to their homes, warned volcanologist Ed Laguerta.
“The number of volcanic earthquakes has gone down, but this is just part of the eruptive cycle of Mayon,” he said.
1984 lesson
The number of quakes decreased from 871 recorded during the 24-hour period ending Friday morning to 406 recorded during the next 24 hours, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
Laguerta said instruments showed the volcano remained inflated despite having spilled more than 20 million cubic meters of lava over the last two weeks. That means the lava being released is being replaced by magma coming from beneath the volcano.
“We are looking not only at what Mayon is presently exhibiting because that fluctuates. We are also looking at its past characteristics,” he said, recalling that in 1984, a four-day lull was followed by a sudden, big eruption.
He added: “What is becoming clear is that (the volcano) is getting clogged. That is when the lava is rising but cannot get out.”
“Just because the volcano looks calm … it does not mean its activity is decreasing. We cannot be off our guard. After this calm period, it could explode with even more force,” Laguerta said.
Hissing, rumbling
Showing no letup in its “high level of activity,” Mayon hissed and rumbled, ejecting ash columns a kilometer high from its summit, Phivolcs said.
It said the rumblings continued to be heard at the Lignon Hill Observatory in Legazpi. A total of 406 earthquakes also shook the mountain and emissions of sulfur dioxide remained high at 8,993 tons per day.
Alert level 4, meaning a hazardous eruption is possible within days, remains enforced and no one is allowed to venture within the 8-km danger zone from the summit, it said.
“Areas just outside of this (danger zone) should prepare for evacuation in the event hazardous explosive eruptions intensify,” Phivolcs said.
Gov. Joey Salceda is offering P100,000 in cash to any barangay affected by the continuing eruptions that doesn’t suffer any casualties.
“If we achieve the zero-casualty target, then it would entice investors to come in because it is proven that we can move on in the mid of calamities, yet Albay is still worth investing,” Salceda said.
The 2,460-meter has erupted 49 times in recorded history. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as lava buried the town of Cagsawa. With reports from Alcuin Papa, AP and AFP
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Mayon evacuees keep alive spirit of Christmas
By Rey M. Nasol, Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon, and Alcuin Papa in Manila
Philippine Daily Inquirer
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY--In the shadow of a rumbling volcano, they shared a noche buena (midnight repast) of donated noodles, fish and fruits, opened presents and laughed at clowns.
Even in times of adversity, many among the 47,000 villagers who have sought shelter in evacuation camps to flee the wrath of Mayon Volcano in Albay province tried to keep the Christmas spirit alive.
But fear of the deadly mountain is never far away. Its booming sounds could be heard even in this city, 15 kilometers away.
Five days after raising to 4 the alert level around Mayon and declaring that a hazardous eruption was imminent, volcanologists yesterday warned that Mayon was erupting with more force—hurling lava higher into the sky—and that the danger of a big blast was not over.
“The flow of lava is continuing. The tremors are continuing. So the notion that a big bang is no longer going to happen doesn’t hold. It’s clear the activity has been sustained with more force,” Director Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) told the Inquirer.
Christmas is for children
Solidum said the relatively lower number of earthquakes coming from the volcano the past few days should not be misconstrued as a waning of its fury.
But children in the evacuation camps seemed oblivious of the dangers and didn’t seem to mind that their world had become smaller.
If the 21 children in Room 29 at Albay Central School sounded excited on Christmas Eve, it was because they were celebrating a bigger noche buena than they were used to.
While their parents were preparing for a potluck feast, the children cavorted around as any other kids would do during holidays.
Ten-year-old Erah Mae Abellana of Barangay Matanag said she was happy even if their family had to spend Christmas away from their home.
“I am happy because we have many playmates here and we also received food rations,” Erah said in Bicol.
She said the only thing she and her friends had not been able to do was sing carols in their neighborhood.
Thankful they are safe
Mother-of-two Cris Arquero, 28, was busy cooking spaghetti on a charcoal stove. Hours earlier, a politician had come visiting and given away noche buena packages.
“Just a little get-together meal for us this Christmas,” Arquero said.
Other mothers planned games for children.
Arquero said that although this Christmas was unusual for them, it was not a reason to be unhappy.
“We could only be thankful that we are safe. What is important is that we still could all be together,” she said.
She added the calamity had also given her a chance to teach good values to her 5-year-old daughter.
“Here, she learns how to live harmoniously with other people. She also learns the value of sharing our blessings, no matter how little we have,” Arquero said.
Santas and clowns
Milagros Aydalla, 48, was glad she had something for noche buena, although it was “not as happy as our Christmas last year.”
On Thursday night, Masses were celebrated in the centers. Evacuees received gifts or were entertained by soldiers in Santa hats who belted out songs.
Still the mood at times was subdued, with many evacuees opting to sleep before midnight.
“We have to give them Christmas Eve midnight meal so at least while in the evacuation center, they can also feel the Christmas celebration,” said Legazpi Mayor Noel Rosal.
Gov. Joey Salceda distributed P100 bills to children to be spent any way they wanted.
‘They are stubborn’
The celebration continued Friday, with a clown’s magic tricks and parlor games bringing laughter to the children in one elementary school that has been turned into a temporary shelter.
Still, despite the dangers posed by Mayon, many families chose to stay in their homes near the volcano, spending their Christmas Eve in areas that had already been declared a no man’s land.
In a neighborhood in Barangay Matanag, children played in the streets while a karaoke machine rocked with music. A baby on a crib was on a doorstep while sari-sari stores were in business as usual.
Soldiers said they had never stopped warning villagers to flee.
“But they are stubborn. They would tell us they knew the volcano better than us,” Army Pfc. Rennel Madla said.
Higher lava fountains
Mayon’s explosions continued yesterday, showing “more force in terms of lava fountaining,” Solidum said.
The fountains of lava, which had risen as high as 500 meters above the summit before, yesterday soared to a height of one kilometer, he said.
Ash explosions got stronger, too, reaching a maximum height of two kilometers.
Solidum said rock falls were also occurring. Rock falls are caused by the detachment of lava fragments from the summit and the upper slopes of the volcano.
These rock falls can generate dangerous pyroclastic flows, or flows of volcanic ash, dust, rocks and debris that rush down the slopes at speeds of 100 km per hour, with temperatures of up to 420 degrees Celsius, Solidum said.
Health risks
Solidum also warned against health hazards from ashfall on the southwest side of the volcano. He said the white ash blown into residential areas could cause respiratory ailments.
Sulfur dioxide emission rate was still high at 2,738 tons per day.
Active river channels and those identified as lahar prone in the southern sector should be avoided, especially when there is prolonged rainfall, Phivolcs said.
Dangerous lull
Solidum told reporters that Mayon’s sustained high level unrest had eliminated the possibility of a series of quiet eruptions such those that occurred in 2006, which were largely harmless to residents.
“Rumbling and booming sounds are now audible even as far as the city proper of Legazpi, which is 15 kilometers away from the crater,” Solidum said.
Resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta said the volume of lava deposits on the slopes had exceeded the Phivolcs estimate of 20 million cubic meters.
He recalled that Mayon showed similar activities prior to its violent eruption in 1984, which was preceded by a four-day lull.
At the time, people thought the volcano had quieted down, only for them to be awakened and sent scampering by a big blast at dawn.
At least 125 rumbling and booming sounds from the volcano were heard at the Lignon Hill Observatory and in Legazpi during a 24-hour monitoring period ending yesterday, Phivolcs said.
Seismic activity remained high, with instruments recording a total of 871 volcanic earthquakes.
Forced evacuation
Forcible evacuation continued in villages within the danger zones. Soldiers sealed entry points, allowing only the exit of people.
Salceda supervised the distribution of cash gifts (P100 per child) in all evacuation centers.
“Instead of giving the children things (in kind) it is wiser to give them the equivalent so that they have money in their pockets which they may use to buy their gift of choice, be it food or toys,” he said.
With reports from AP and AFP
Philippine Daily Inquirer
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY--In the shadow of a rumbling volcano, they shared a noche buena (midnight repast) of donated noodles, fish and fruits, opened presents and laughed at clowns.
Even in times of adversity, many among the 47,000 villagers who have sought shelter in evacuation camps to flee the wrath of Mayon Volcano in Albay province tried to keep the Christmas spirit alive.
But fear of the deadly mountain is never far away. Its booming sounds could be heard even in this city, 15 kilometers away.
Five days after raising to 4 the alert level around Mayon and declaring that a hazardous eruption was imminent, volcanologists yesterday warned that Mayon was erupting with more force—hurling lava higher into the sky—and that the danger of a big blast was not over.
“The flow of lava is continuing. The tremors are continuing. So the notion that a big bang is no longer going to happen doesn’t hold. It’s clear the activity has been sustained with more force,” Director Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) told the Inquirer.
Christmas is for children
Solidum said the relatively lower number of earthquakes coming from the volcano the past few days should not be misconstrued as a waning of its fury.
But children in the evacuation camps seemed oblivious of the dangers and didn’t seem to mind that their world had become smaller.
If the 21 children in Room 29 at Albay Central School sounded excited on Christmas Eve, it was because they were celebrating a bigger noche buena than they were used to.
While their parents were preparing for a potluck feast, the children cavorted around as any other kids would do during holidays.
Ten-year-old Erah Mae Abellana of Barangay Matanag said she was happy even if their family had to spend Christmas away from their home.
“I am happy because we have many playmates here and we also received food rations,” Erah said in Bicol.
She said the only thing she and her friends had not been able to do was sing carols in their neighborhood.
Thankful they are safe
Mother-of-two Cris Arquero, 28, was busy cooking spaghetti on a charcoal stove. Hours earlier, a politician had come visiting and given away noche buena packages.
“Just a little get-together meal for us this Christmas,” Arquero said.
Other mothers planned games for children.
Arquero said that although this Christmas was unusual for them, it was not a reason to be unhappy.
“We could only be thankful that we are safe. What is important is that we still could all be together,” she said.
She added the calamity had also given her a chance to teach good values to her 5-year-old daughter.
“Here, she learns how to live harmoniously with other people. She also learns the value of sharing our blessings, no matter how little we have,” Arquero said.
Santas and clowns
Milagros Aydalla, 48, was glad she had something for noche buena, although it was “not as happy as our Christmas last year.”
On Thursday night, Masses were celebrated in the centers. Evacuees received gifts or were entertained by soldiers in Santa hats who belted out songs.
Still the mood at times was subdued, with many evacuees opting to sleep before midnight.
“We have to give them Christmas Eve midnight meal so at least while in the evacuation center, they can also feel the Christmas celebration,” said Legazpi Mayor Noel Rosal.
Gov. Joey Salceda distributed P100 bills to children to be spent any way they wanted.
‘They are stubborn’
The celebration continued Friday, with a clown’s magic tricks and parlor games bringing laughter to the children in one elementary school that has been turned into a temporary shelter.
Still, despite the dangers posed by Mayon, many families chose to stay in their homes near the volcano, spending their Christmas Eve in areas that had already been declared a no man’s land.
In a neighborhood in Barangay Matanag, children played in the streets while a karaoke machine rocked with music. A baby on a crib was on a doorstep while sari-sari stores were in business as usual.
Soldiers said they had never stopped warning villagers to flee.
“But they are stubborn. They would tell us they knew the volcano better than us,” Army Pfc. Rennel Madla said.
Higher lava fountains
Mayon’s explosions continued yesterday, showing “more force in terms of lava fountaining,” Solidum said.
The fountains of lava, which had risen as high as 500 meters above the summit before, yesterday soared to a height of one kilometer, he said.
Ash explosions got stronger, too, reaching a maximum height of two kilometers.
Solidum said rock falls were also occurring. Rock falls are caused by the detachment of lava fragments from the summit and the upper slopes of the volcano.
These rock falls can generate dangerous pyroclastic flows, or flows of volcanic ash, dust, rocks and debris that rush down the slopes at speeds of 100 km per hour, with temperatures of up to 420 degrees Celsius, Solidum said.
Health risks
Solidum also warned against health hazards from ashfall on the southwest side of the volcano. He said the white ash blown into residential areas could cause respiratory ailments.
Sulfur dioxide emission rate was still high at 2,738 tons per day.
Active river channels and those identified as lahar prone in the southern sector should be avoided, especially when there is prolonged rainfall, Phivolcs said.
Dangerous lull
Solidum told reporters that Mayon’s sustained high level unrest had eliminated the possibility of a series of quiet eruptions such those that occurred in 2006, which were largely harmless to residents.
“Rumbling and booming sounds are now audible even as far as the city proper of Legazpi, which is 15 kilometers away from the crater,” Solidum said.
Resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta said the volume of lava deposits on the slopes had exceeded the Phivolcs estimate of 20 million cubic meters.
He recalled that Mayon showed similar activities prior to its violent eruption in 1984, which was preceded by a four-day lull.
At the time, people thought the volcano had quieted down, only for them to be awakened and sent scampering by a big blast at dawn.
At least 125 rumbling and booming sounds from the volcano were heard at the Lignon Hill Observatory and in Legazpi during a 24-hour monitoring period ending yesterday, Phivolcs said.
Seismic activity remained high, with instruments recording a total of 871 volcanic earthquakes.
Forced evacuation
Forcible evacuation continued in villages within the danger zones. Soldiers sealed entry points, allowing only the exit of people.
Salceda supervised the distribution of cash gifts (P100 per child) in all evacuation centers.
“Instead of giving the children things (in kind) it is wiser to give them the equivalent so that they have money in their pockets which they may use to buy their gift of choice, be it food or toys,” he said.
With reports from AP and AFP
Friday, December 25, 2009
No rescue for Mayon holdouts, gov warns
By Rey M. Nasol and Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon and Alcuin Papa in Manila
LEGAZPI CITY—ALBAY OFFIcials yesterday warned villagers that no one would come to help them if they refused to evacuate and Mayon Volcano erupted violently, but the holdouts said they preferred to spend Christmas in their homes than in government centers.
Gov. Joey Salceda issued the warning as troops launched a hunt for the hard-headed ones amid threats of a major eruption by the most active Philippine volcano.
“If you are there, you die there. There is no way of rescuing people (if) rescuers would also be killed,” Salceda said in a press briefing.
In a yet another frightening display of its power, Mayon boomed 124 times over a 24-hour period, while belching out ash columns towering 2 kilometers over its summit, higher than its previous ejections.
But hundreds of villagers still ignored appeals for them to evacuate.
“After field validation, 179 more families are still within the danger zones. This excludes those who have returned without our knowledge,” said Salceda, chair of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC).
Officials recalled that 77 farmers and thousands of animals were scorched to death by scalding volcanic materials in Bonga, Buyuan and Mabinit villages in this city during a series of Mayon eruptions from February to April in 1993.
Taking chances
Despite President Macapagal-Arroyo’s order of forced evacuation, some residents within the 8-km extended danger zone would rather take their chances than leave their possessions and animals behind.
“We have lived here for a long time, we know the volcano. We’d rather spend Christmas here than in the crowded evacuation centers,” said Cris Mendioro, 34, of Barangay Matanag.
Mendioro, whose house is just a few meters from an Army checkpoint, said he and the others had packed their belongings and were ready to leave should a major eruption come.
Volcanologists have placed Mayon—which began spewing ash and lava on Dec. 14—under alert level 4, meaning a hazardous blast could occur within hours or days. The highest alert, level 5, means a major eruption is under way.
Wailing of dogs
Aside from Mayon’s productive soil, cattle, crops, and attachment to pets—like dogs—impel villagers to risk their lives and hang on in their residences, instead of living in evacuation sites.
“We are already listed at the evacuation center but heads of families, like me, come back to feed the pigs and pets,” Arnulfo Marcellana, 43, of Barangay Mabinit, told the Inquirer yesterday morning during the forced evacuation.
“The dogs are pitiful to hear every time we return here. They wail in hunger. If only they will assure us that they will feed our animals, things would be much easier for us,” the father of three added.
On one of his returns, Marcellana decided to just untie his 4-month-old pig so it could look for its own food.
“I just hope it is still there when we are allowed to come back,” he said. “Imagine if their cries are heard at the evacuation center. We would wonder if our pets and animals were having anything to eat.”
Marcellana said the thought kept haunting him and his family now that they were heeding warnings not to return home just yet.
‘I am used to this’
Luis Esquivel, also of Mabini and a relative of some of the farmers killed in the 1993 eruption, said that although he kept coming back to his village, he could not sleep.
He said he was always on the alert, closely watching Mayon’s crater while he tended his crops.
“I have my motorcycle always with me for a quick escape,” Esquivel said. “I am used to this. I have experienced these things six times in my life since childhood.”
He added: “What we are afraid of is the ‘uson’ (pyroclastic flows), which killed farmers here.”
Forced evacuation
In Barangay Bonga, 8 km from the crater, hundreds of people still roamed the streets as if nothing was happening with the volcano.
“Barangay Bonga will be our next target for the forced evacuation simultaneously with other areas in the northern and eastern side of Mayon,” said Capt. Razaleigh G. Bansawan, 901st Infantry Brigade and Task Force Mayon spokesperson.
Mila Atun, 45, a mother of 6, said she came back not only to get firewood and kitchen utensils but also to fetch Mariel Alaurin, an 8-year-old neighbor left behind by her parents, who are now at an evacuation center.
Alaurin, in tears, said her father was working in the rice field when he was taken to the evacuation center. She was left alone at home.
Atun said: “We have gotten used to this kind of situation—evacuating even if we are safe here.”
No entry
As early as 5 a.m. yesterday, Task Force Mayon, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and local government units began implementing Ms Arroyo’s evacuation order.
“A platoon of soldiers from the task force and CHR-Bicol and three military vehicles were sent to the villages within the 6-8-kilometer danger zones to enforce the directive,” Bansawan said.
“As soon as the mission is completed 100 percent, all roads to the restricted areas will be sealed off,” Bansawan said.
No exceptions
Col. Marlou Salazar, commanding officer of the 901st Brigade, briefed the enforcers on the rights of the people and the troops’ responsibilities after everyone had been taken out of the danger zones.
“They will have to patrol the area against thieves because the residents have left some of their belongings, some animals, like pigs, and their pets,” Salazar said.
“Forcible evacuation has been ordered, no more exceptions and operations have commenced,” Salceda said.
He added: “We have patiently explored and employed all means, all ways, just to get the 10,000 families out of danger. We could have completed the task in one day, instead of nine days, but did not due to the 179 families still out there, excluding those who have returned without letting us know.”
He said dogs would also be evacuated, as well as cattle, carabaos, pigs and pets.
New phase
Harmonic tremors from within the volcano have been replaced by more frequent explosions.
Volcanologist Alex Baloloy said these changes, noted since 4 p.m. Wednesday, might indicate a new phase in the volcano’s activity.
Lava fountains reaching a peak height of 500 meters were seen at least four times.
But even if the number of volcanic earthquakes have dropped to 815 from Tuesday’s 1,051 and the sulfur dioxide emission rate have fallen to 5,737 tons a day from 6,737 tons, Baloloy said a hazardous blast was still possible.
“These figures are still very high. There is no lull in Mayon’s volcanic activity,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) scientist said.
Many of Wednesday’s ash explosions were not visible as Mayon was mostly covered with clouds but 124 booms were heard.
Lava at plantations
Lava continued to flow down, reaching flat areas along the Bonga-Buyuan, Miisi, and Lidong channels—all in the volcano’s southeast sector covering this city and the towns of Sto. Domingo and Daraga.
Baloloy said the lava front could have already reached coconut and vegetable plantations, but it was expected to travel more slowly henceforth, having hit flat areas.
In Manila, Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum said the decreased number of earthquakes was not a sign that Mayon would quiet down.
“It is the tremors that is more significant. Tremors and the rumbling sounds are longer and more vital... To say the volcano is on its way to quieting down based on the number of recorded earthquakes would be misleading,” Solidum told the Inquirer.
He said volcanic earthquakes, tremors and rumblings were not the only basis in considering the activity of a volcano. Other factors, he said, like ash explosions and lava flow, should be considered.
Inquirer Southern Luzon and Alcuin Papa in Manila
LEGAZPI CITY—ALBAY OFFIcials yesterday warned villagers that no one would come to help them if they refused to evacuate and Mayon Volcano erupted violently, but the holdouts said they preferred to spend Christmas in their homes than in government centers.
Gov. Joey Salceda issued the warning as troops launched a hunt for the hard-headed ones amid threats of a major eruption by the most active Philippine volcano.
“If you are there, you die there. There is no way of rescuing people (if) rescuers would also be killed,” Salceda said in a press briefing.
In a yet another frightening display of its power, Mayon boomed 124 times over a 24-hour period, while belching out ash columns towering 2 kilometers over its summit, higher than its previous ejections.
But hundreds of villagers still ignored appeals for them to evacuate.
“After field validation, 179 more families are still within the danger zones. This excludes those who have returned without our knowledge,” said Salceda, chair of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC).
Officials recalled that 77 farmers and thousands of animals were scorched to death by scalding volcanic materials in Bonga, Buyuan and Mabinit villages in this city during a series of Mayon eruptions from February to April in 1993.
Taking chances
Despite President Macapagal-Arroyo’s order of forced evacuation, some residents within the 8-km extended danger zone would rather take their chances than leave their possessions and animals behind.
“We have lived here for a long time, we know the volcano. We’d rather spend Christmas here than in the crowded evacuation centers,” said Cris Mendioro, 34, of Barangay Matanag.
Mendioro, whose house is just a few meters from an Army checkpoint, said he and the others had packed their belongings and were ready to leave should a major eruption come.
Volcanologists have placed Mayon—which began spewing ash and lava on Dec. 14—under alert level 4, meaning a hazardous blast could occur within hours or days. The highest alert, level 5, means a major eruption is under way.
Wailing of dogs
Aside from Mayon’s productive soil, cattle, crops, and attachment to pets—like dogs—impel villagers to risk their lives and hang on in their residences, instead of living in evacuation sites.
“We are already listed at the evacuation center but heads of families, like me, come back to feed the pigs and pets,” Arnulfo Marcellana, 43, of Barangay Mabinit, told the Inquirer yesterday morning during the forced evacuation.
“The dogs are pitiful to hear every time we return here. They wail in hunger. If only they will assure us that they will feed our animals, things would be much easier for us,” the father of three added.
On one of his returns, Marcellana decided to just untie his 4-month-old pig so it could look for its own food.
“I just hope it is still there when we are allowed to come back,” he said. “Imagine if their cries are heard at the evacuation center. We would wonder if our pets and animals were having anything to eat.”
Marcellana said the thought kept haunting him and his family now that they were heeding warnings not to return home just yet.
‘I am used to this’
Luis Esquivel, also of Mabini and a relative of some of the farmers killed in the 1993 eruption, said that although he kept coming back to his village, he could not sleep.
He said he was always on the alert, closely watching Mayon’s crater while he tended his crops.
“I have my motorcycle always with me for a quick escape,” Esquivel said. “I am used to this. I have experienced these things six times in my life since childhood.”
He added: “What we are afraid of is the ‘uson’ (pyroclastic flows), which killed farmers here.”
Forced evacuation
In Barangay Bonga, 8 km from the crater, hundreds of people still roamed the streets as if nothing was happening with the volcano.
“Barangay Bonga will be our next target for the forced evacuation simultaneously with other areas in the northern and eastern side of Mayon,” said Capt. Razaleigh G. Bansawan, 901st Infantry Brigade and Task Force Mayon spokesperson.
Mila Atun, 45, a mother of 6, said she came back not only to get firewood and kitchen utensils but also to fetch Mariel Alaurin, an 8-year-old neighbor left behind by her parents, who are now at an evacuation center.
Alaurin, in tears, said her father was working in the rice field when he was taken to the evacuation center. She was left alone at home.
Atun said: “We have gotten used to this kind of situation—evacuating even if we are safe here.”
No entry
As early as 5 a.m. yesterday, Task Force Mayon, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and local government units began implementing Ms Arroyo’s evacuation order.
“A platoon of soldiers from the task force and CHR-Bicol and three military vehicles were sent to the villages within the 6-8-kilometer danger zones to enforce the directive,” Bansawan said.
“As soon as the mission is completed 100 percent, all roads to the restricted areas will be sealed off,” Bansawan said.
No exceptions
Col. Marlou Salazar, commanding officer of the 901st Brigade, briefed the enforcers on the rights of the people and the troops’ responsibilities after everyone had been taken out of the danger zones.
“They will have to patrol the area against thieves because the residents have left some of their belongings, some animals, like pigs, and their pets,” Salazar said.
“Forcible evacuation has been ordered, no more exceptions and operations have commenced,” Salceda said.
He added: “We have patiently explored and employed all means, all ways, just to get the 10,000 families out of danger. We could have completed the task in one day, instead of nine days, but did not due to the 179 families still out there, excluding those who have returned without letting us know.”
He said dogs would also be evacuated, as well as cattle, carabaos, pigs and pets.
New phase
Harmonic tremors from within the volcano have been replaced by more frequent explosions.
Volcanologist Alex Baloloy said these changes, noted since 4 p.m. Wednesday, might indicate a new phase in the volcano’s activity.
Lava fountains reaching a peak height of 500 meters were seen at least four times.
But even if the number of volcanic earthquakes have dropped to 815 from Tuesday’s 1,051 and the sulfur dioxide emission rate have fallen to 5,737 tons a day from 6,737 tons, Baloloy said a hazardous blast was still possible.
“These figures are still very high. There is no lull in Mayon’s volcanic activity,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) scientist said.
Many of Wednesday’s ash explosions were not visible as Mayon was mostly covered with clouds but 124 booms were heard.
Lava at plantations
Lava continued to flow down, reaching flat areas along the Bonga-Buyuan, Miisi, and Lidong channels—all in the volcano’s southeast sector covering this city and the towns of Sto. Domingo and Daraga.
Baloloy said the lava front could have already reached coconut and vegetable plantations, but it was expected to travel more slowly henceforth, having hit flat areas.
In Manila, Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum said the decreased number of earthquakes was not a sign that Mayon would quiet down.
“It is the tremors that is more significant. Tremors and the rumbling sounds are longer and more vital... To say the volcano is on its way to quieting down based on the number of recorded earthquakes would be misleading,” Solidum told the Inquirer.
He said volcanic earthquakes, tremors and rumblings were not the only basis in considering the activity of a volcano. Other factors, he said, like ash explosions and lava flow, should be considered.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Villagers lose sleep over Mayon, evacuation
(Page A16)
LEGAZPI CITY—VILLAGERS near Mayon are losing sleep over two things—the volcano’s continued rumbling and soldiers on patrol enforcing orders to forcibly move people out of harm’s way.
Josie Perez, 41, knows how it is to spend sleepless nights. She sneaked back into her house in Barangay Mabinit here to escape an evacuation center that was getting more crowded as Mayon kept sending signs of a major eruption.
Loud rumbling from the volcano kept her awake all night. It didn’t help that the roof of her house shook each time.
At each rumbling, she would go out to look at Mayon. “Its glow has become more intense,” she said.
Evacuees, she said, sneak back into their homes near or inside the danger zones during the day to do three things—wash clothes, gather firewood and feed the animals.
Denver Balenzuela, 3, was in Barangay Matnog in Daraga town at dusk while the rest of the village sat empty like a ghost town after forced evacuation.
Teresita Poquilla, 55, the boy’s grandmother, said they spent the night in their house despite the danger because her grandson refused to use toilets at the evacuation center.
“When the Army went around last night, we turned our lights off for fear that they might force us to go back to the shelters,” Poquilla said.
She recalled seeing a neighbor, a paralytic, being carried away by soldiers.
Poquilla said she and her grandson leaves the evacuation center at 6 a.m. and returns at 4 p.m.
On Monday, they stayed home but rumbling sound from Mayon kept her awake. It sounded, she said, “like rocks chasing one another.”
The absence of a lava fountain despite the raising of the alert level to 4, she said, was what worried her.
“There seems to be a blockage inside the volcano,” she said.
Conrado Nuñez, 71, of Barangay Mabinit, has seen seven previous eruptions.
He sat at the door of his house in the village, keeping watch while his family stayed at the evacuation center in San Roque Elementary School.
If there was something that the villagers fear most, he said, it was what they call uson, a local term for the flow of pyroclastic materials.
Nuñez has learned one lesson in the 1993 eruption—nothing, not even his farm, was worth his life. “We don’t have second lives,” he said. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon
LEGAZPI CITY—VILLAGERS near Mayon are losing sleep over two things—the volcano’s continued rumbling and soldiers on patrol enforcing orders to forcibly move people out of harm’s way.
Josie Perez, 41, knows how it is to spend sleepless nights. She sneaked back into her house in Barangay Mabinit here to escape an evacuation center that was getting more crowded as Mayon kept sending signs of a major eruption.
Loud rumbling from the volcano kept her awake all night. It didn’t help that the roof of her house shook each time.
At each rumbling, she would go out to look at Mayon. “Its glow has become more intense,” she said.
Evacuees, she said, sneak back into their homes near or inside the danger zones during the day to do three things—wash clothes, gather firewood and feed the animals.
Denver Balenzuela, 3, was in Barangay Matnog in Daraga town at dusk while the rest of the village sat empty like a ghost town after forced evacuation.
Teresita Poquilla, 55, the boy’s grandmother, said they spent the night in their house despite the danger because her grandson refused to use toilets at the evacuation center.
“When the Army went around last night, we turned our lights off for fear that they might force us to go back to the shelters,” Poquilla said.
She recalled seeing a neighbor, a paralytic, being carried away by soldiers.
Poquilla said she and her grandson leaves the evacuation center at 6 a.m. and returns at 4 p.m.
On Monday, they stayed home but rumbling sound from Mayon kept her awake. It sounded, she said, “like rocks chasing one another.”
The absence of a lava fountain despite the raising of the alert level to 4, she said, was what worried her.
“There seems to be a blockage inside the volcano,” she said.
Conrado Nuñez, 71, of Barangay Mabinit, has seen seven previous eruptions.
He sat at the door of his house in the village, keeping watch while his family stayed at the evacuation center in San Roque Elementary School.
If there was something that the villagers fear most, he said, it was what they call uson, a local term for the flow of pyroclastic materials.
Nuñez has learned one lesson in the 1993 eruption—nothing, not even his farm, was worth his life. “We don’t have second lives,” he said. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Dark Christmas for fleeing Mayon folk
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY—Albay officials have begun moving thousands of villagers out of harm’s way near Mayon Volcano after it oozed lava and shot plumes of ash late Monday.
Officials said the villagers would probably spend a bleak Christmas in an evacuation center.
Government volcanologists raised the alert level on the cone-shaped, 2,460-meter volcano overnight to two steps below eruption after ash explosions and dark orange lava fragments glowing in the dark trickled down the mountain slope.
Nearly 50,000 people live in the “hazard areas” within an eight-kilometer radius around Mayon, and authorities were ordering them to leave in case the volcano erupts, Gov. Joey Salceda said.
In Barangay Matanag, the first batch of evacuees, made up mostly of women, children and the elderly, boarded a police truck at 3 p.m. Tuesday. They clutched luggage, plastic bottles of water, mats, pillows, blankets, firewood and kitchenware
“We cannot disobey this order. We are one with the provincial government’s zero-casualty goal,” said Bienvenido Belga Sr., the barangay captain.
20,000 evacuated
‘As of 6 Tuesday night, 4,552 families or over 20,000 people had been evacuated, officials said.
Salceda said he decided to cancel a trip to Copenhagen, where he was to attend a UN climate conference to discuss his province’s experience with typhoons and other natural disasters.
He said he would appeal for foreign aid to deal with the expected influx of displaced villagers into emergency shelters.
The first of 20 vehicles, including Army trucks, were sent to villages to take residents to schools and other temporary housing, according to Juke Nuñez, a provincial emergency management official.
“It’s 10 days before Christmas. Most likely people will be in evacuation centers, and if Mayon’s activity won’t ease down we will not allow them to return to their homes,” Nuñez said. “It’s difficult and sad, especially for children.”
Worsening state
Magma had been rising in the volcano over the past two weeks and began to ooze out of its crater on Monday night, but it could get worse in coming days, said Renato Solidum, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
“Now lava is trickling down, but if the ascent of magma is sustained there will be lava flows,” Solidum said. “There is also the possibility of an explosion.”
Belga said 362 families in Matanag had to be evacuated to the Albay Central School in the city.
The villagers hardly slept since Monday night. “Everyone is anxious about the volcano,” Belga told the Inquirer.
Most people are afraid of Mayon, which brought tragedies in the past, Belga said. In 1993, the volcano erupted and killed more than 70 people.
Belga said barangay officials had been making the rounds overnight to warn people through a megaphone to stay alert because the volcano could erupt anytime.
The order to evacuate came the next day, Belga said.
Early preparations
Melyn Lascano, 43, said her family had packed their belongings as early as August when the volcano was showing signs of unrest.
“It’s better to always be prepared because Mayon these days is so uncertain,” she said.
Aside from clothes, the Lascanos brought with them food and cooking utensils.
“We were told that relief goods will not yet be distributed tonight (Tuesday) so we made sure we would have something to eat until tomorrow morning,” Lascano said in Bicol.
Adelina Atun, 60, knew as early as Sunday that she and her two children were likely to be evacuated.
Mayon’s rumblings have become louder, Atun said. “Sometimes, the volcano would sound like an airplane,” she said, adding that the intense crater glow would make her feel nervous.
Atun’s husband, however, like most of the menfolk in the village, was left to guard the family’s property and farm animals.
When the first batch of evacuees from Matanag arrived at Albay Central School, the classrooms had already been emptied.
10 families in 1 classroom
The school will also accommodate 362 families from the village and 84 more from Barangay Padang, said Evelyn Bachiller, assistant camp chief.
Ten families, regardless of size, will share one classroom and comfort room.
Bachiller said there were not enough water sources in the school grounds. “We only have one water pump available because the rest had been stolen. But we expect the city government to set up water stations soon,” she said.
Some classes were suspended indefinitely near the danger zone. Officials will find a way to squeeze in classes in school buildings to be used as shelters, Salceda said.
About 30,000 people were moved when Mayon last erupted in 2006. Typhoon-triggered mudslides near the mountain later that year buried entire villages, killing more than 1,000 people.
Most violent eruption
Mayon’s most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried a town in mud. A 1993 eruption killed 79 people.
The Philippines lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common. Twenty-two out of 37 volcanoes in the archipelago are active. With reports from Alcuin Papa in Manila and Associated Press
Inquirer Southern Luzon
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY—Albay officials have begun moving thousands of villagers out of harm’s way near Mayon Volcano after it oozed lava and shot plumes of ash late Monday.
Officials said the villagers would probably spend a bleak Christmas in an evacuation center.
Government volcanologists raised the alert level on the cone-shaped, 2,460-meter volcano overnight to two steps below eruption after ash explosions and dark orange lava fragments glowing in the dark trickled down the mountain slope.
Nearly 50,000 people live in the “hazard areas” within an eight-kilometer radius around Mayon, and authorities were ordering them to leave in case the volcano erupts, Gov. Joey Salceda said.
In Barangay Matanag, the first batch of evacuees, made up mostly of women, children and the elderly, boarded a police truck at 3 p.m. Tuesday. They clutched luggage, plastic bottles of water, mats, pillows, blankets, firewood and kitchenware
“We cannot disobey this order. We are one with the provincial government’s zero-casualty goal,” said Bienvenido Belga Sr., the barangay captain.
20,000 evacuated
‘As of 6 Tuesday night, 4,552 families or over 20,000 people had been evacuated, officials said.
Salceda said he decided to cancel a trip to Copenhagen, where he was to attend a UN climate conference to discuss his province’s experience with typhoons and other natural disasters.
He said he would appeal for foreign aid to deal with the expected influx of displaced villagers into emergency shelters.
The first of 20 vehicles, including Army trucks, were sent to villages to take residents to schools and other temporary housing, according to Juke Nuñez, a provincial emergency management official.
“It’s 10 days before Christmas. Most likely people will be in evacuation centers, and if Mayon’s activity won’t ease down we will not allow them to return to their homes,” Nuñez said. “It’s difficult and sad, especially for children.”
Worsening state
Magma had been rising in the volcano over the past two weeks and began to ooze out of its crater on Monday night, but it could get worse in coming days, said Renato Solidum, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
“Now lava is trickling down, but if the ascent of magma is sustained there will be lava flows,” Solidum said. “There is also the possibility of an explosion.”
Belga said 362 families in Matanag had to be evacuated to the Albay Central School in the city.
The villagers hardly slept since Monday night. “Everyone is anxious about the volcano,” Belga told the Inquirer.
Most people are afraid of Mayon, which brought tragedies in the past, Belga said. In 1993, the volcano erupted and killed more than 70 people.
Belga said barangay officials had been making the rounds overnight to warn people through a megaphone to stay alert because the volcano could erupt anytime.
The order to evacuate came the next day, Belga said.
Early preparations
Melyn Lascano, 43, said her family had packed their belongings as early as August when the volcano was showing signs of unrest.
“It’s better to always be prepared because Mayon these days is so uncertain,” she said.
Aside from clothes, the Lascanos brought with them food and cooking utensils.
“We were told that relief goods will not yet be distributed tonight (Tuesday) so we made sure we would have something to eat until tomorrow morning,” Lascano said in Bicol.
Adelina Atun, 60, knew as early as Sunday that she and her two children were likely to be evacuated.
Mayon’s rumblings have become louder, Atun said. “Sometimes, the volcano would sound like an airplane,” she said, adding that the intense crater glow would make her feel nervous.
Atun’s husband, however, like most of the menfolk in the village, was left to guard the family’s property and farm animals.
When the first batch of evacuees from Matanag arrived at Albay Central School, the classrooms had already been emptied.
10 families in 1 classroom
The school will also accommodate 362 families from the village and 84 more from Barangay Padang, said Evelyn Bachiller, assistant camp chief.
Ten families, regardless of size, will share one classroom and comfort room.
Bachiller said there were not enough water sources in the school grounds. “We only have one water pump available because the rest had been stolen. But we expect the city government to set up water stations soon,” she said.
Some classes were suspended indefinitely near the danger zone. Officials will find a way to squeeze in classes in school buildings to be used as shelters, Salceda said.
About 30,000 people were moved when Mayon last erupted in 2006. Typhoon-triggered mudslides near the mountain later that year buried entire villages, killing more than 1,000 people.
Most violent eruption
Mayon’s most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried a town in mud. A 1993 eruption killed 79 people.
The Philippines lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common. Twenty-two out of 37 volcanoes in the archipelago are active. With reports from Alcuin Papa in Manila and Associated Press
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Quake jolts Legazpi
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 12:09:00 04/07/2009
Filed Under: Earthquake
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY--A magnitude 3.7 earthquake shook this city 6:37 p.m. Monday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in Manila reported.
Local villagers described the earthquake as "strong but abrupt." It was strong enough to be felt by a person sitting down. The strong and quick jolt was followed by weaker tremors that lasted not more than 10 seconds.
State seismologists, in a bulletin, said the earthquake, which was tectonic in origin, was located 23 kilometers north of Legazpi City. No damage to infrastructure was expected.
On Sunday dawn, two earthquakes were also recorded, a magnitude 3.1 in Baguio City and a magnitude 4.2 in Cauayan, Negros Occidental.
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 12:09:00 04/07/2009
Filed Under: Earthquake
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY--A magnitude 3.7 earthquake shook this city 6:37 p.m. Monday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in Manila reported.
Local villagers described the earthquake as "strong but abrupt." It was strong enough to be felt by a person sitting down. The strong and quick jolt was followed by weaker tremors that lasted not more than 10 seconds.
State seismologists, in a bulletin, said the earthquake, which was tectonic in origin, was located 23 kilometers north of Legazpi City. No damage to infrastructure was expected.
On Sunday dawn, two earthquakes were also recorded, a magnitude 3.1 in Baguio City and a magnitude 4.2 in Cauayan, Negros Occidental.
Friday, January 16, 2009
17 rescued off Masbate
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 13:43:00 01/16/2009
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY -- Fishermen rescued 17 people from a motorized boat forced to seek shelter from huge waves churned up by strong winds, the Philippine Coast Guard reported Friday.
The M/B Noynoy, bound for Pilar, Sorsogon from Masbate City had to take shelter near San Miguel Island at around 2 p.m. Thursday, said Police Officer 2 Glicerio Villaluz of the PCG in Bicol.
Fishermen within the vicinity rescued the passengers and took them to Guinhadap village in Monreal, Masbate, where they could wait safely until the waves subside.
Sea travel has been intermittently cancelled in Bicol, stranding more than 2,500 passengers in various ports since Wednesday.
Corazon Samar, chief meteorologist of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the strong winds were caused by the northeast monsoon, which is hitting the country's eastern seaboard until end of February.
She said the winds in Southern Luzon were as strong as 30 kilometers per hour.
Waves could be as high as 3.7 meters to 6 meters.
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 13:43:00 01/16/2009
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY -- Fishermen rescued 17 people from a motorized boat forced to seek shelter from huge waves churned up by strong winds, the Philippine Coast Guard reported Friday.
The M/B Noynoy, bound for Pilar, Sorsogon from Masbate City had to take shelter near San Miguel Island at around 2 p.m. Thursday, said Police Officer 2 Glicerio Villaluz of the PCG in Bicol.
Fishermen within the vicinity rescued the passengers and took them to Guinhadap village in Monreal, Masbate, where they could wait safely until the waves subside.
Sea travel has been intermittently cancelled in Bicol, stranding more than 2,500 passengers in various ports since Wednesday.
Corazon Samar, chief meteorologist of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the strong winds were caused by the northeast monsoon, which is hitting the country's eastern seaboard until end of February.
She said the winds in Southern Luzon were as strong as 30 kilometers per hour.
Waves could be as high as 3.7 meters to 6 meters.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
5,000 passengers stranded in Bicol ports
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 13:07:00 01/14/2009
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY – At least 4,932 passengers were stranded in four Bicol ports as of 11 a.m. Wednesday due to big waves caused by the northeast monsoon, the Philippine Coast Guard reported.
Also stranded in the ports of Matnog, Tabaco, Virac, and Legazpi City were 316 cars, 112 trucks, 75 buses, and six sea vessels, said Ensign Jeffrey Collado, PCG-Bicol operations assistant.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) detected no tropical depression but only the surge of the northeast monsoon affecting the seaboards of Luzon, Visayas, and Eastern Mindanao.
Corazon Samar, chief meteorologist of PAGASA-Legazpi, said seas in the southern and western seaboards of Southern Luzon, have been described as "rough" to "very rough."
She said the waves in this area have been as high as 3.7 meters to up to six meters.
In Legazpi City, Samar said wind gusts have been measured at 15 meters per second or 30 knots with a velocity of 55 kilometers per hour to 73 kph.
Samar said winds have been stronger and waves bigger in open seas or seas facing directly the Pacific Ocean like the Albay Gulf.
The northeast monsoon will last until February or early March, according to Samar. PAGASA expects a transition to the southwest monsoon after that. The southwest monsoon will affect the other side of the country or the western seaboard.
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 13:07:00 01/14/2009
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY – At least 4,932 passengers were stranded in four Bicol ports as of 11 a.m. Wednesday due to big waves caused by the northeast monsoon, the Philippine Coast Guard reported.
Also stranded in the ports of Matnog, Tabaco, Virac, and Legazpi City were 316 cars, 112 trucks, 75 buses, and six sea vessels, said Ensign Jeffrey Collado, PCG-Bicol operations assistant.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) detected no tropical depression but only the surge of the northeast monsoon affecting the seaboards of Luzon, Visayas, and Eastern Mindanao.
Corazon Samar, chief meteorologist of PAGASA-Legazpi, said seas in the southern and western seaboards of Southern Luzon, have been described as "rough" to "very rough."
She said the waves in this area have been as high as 3.7 meters to up to six meters.
In Legazpi City, Samar said wind gusts have been measured at 15 meters per second or 30 knots with a velocity of 55 kilometers per hour to 73 kph.
Samar said winds have been stronger and waves bigger in open seas or seas facing directly the Pacific Ocean like the Albay Gulf.
The northeast monsoon will last until February or early March, according to Samar. PAGASA expects a transition to the southwest monsoon after that. The southwest monsoon will affect the other side of the country or the western seaboard.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Boy drowns in Catanduanes flood
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 16:24:00 01/13/2009
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines--A five-year-old boy drowned in the rising floods in Catanduanes brought by the week-long rains in the island province, according to reports reaching the Office of Civil Defense in Bicol on Tuesday morning.
Raffy Alejandro, Bicol civil defense director, identified the boy as John Mark Tatad of Gigmoto town.
Families affected by the landslides and floods have reached 14,643 or 74,701 persons in 162 villages. Some 217 houses have been reported damaged.
The Catanduanes Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council is still distributing relief goods in the form of rice noodles and canned goods to victims in the towns of Bagamanoc, Baras, Bato, San Miguel, and Viga.
The relief assistance amounted to P432,000, Alejandro said.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development also delivered 100 food packs and clothing.
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 16:24:00 01/13/2009
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines--A five-year-old boy drowned in the rising floods in Catanduanes brought by the week-long rains in the island province, according to reports reaching the Office of Civil Defense in Bicol on Tuesday morning.
Raffy Alejandro, Bicol civil defense director, identified the boy as John Mark Tatad of Gigmoto town.
Families affected by the landslides and floods have reached 14,643 or 74,701 persons in 162 villages. Some 217 houses have been reported damaged.
The Catanduanes Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council is still distributing relief goods in the form of rice noodles and canned goods to victims in the towns of Bagamanoc, Baras, Bato, San Miguel, and Viga.
The relief assistance amounted to P432,000, Alejandro said.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development also delivered 100 food packs and clothing.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Quake jolts Occidental Mindoro
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 15:12:00 01/12/2009
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines -- A magnitude 3 earthquake shook Occidental Mindoro province 10:01 a.m. Monday, state seismologists said.
The earthquake, which was tectonic in origin, was located four kilometers east of Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro.
It was felt in the towns of Paluan, Mamburao and Puerto Galera.
No damage was recorded and no aftershocks were expected, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in Manila said.
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 15:12:00 01/12/2009
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines -- A magnitude 3 earthquake shook Occidental Mindoro province 10:01 a.m. Monday, state seismologists said.
The earthquake, which was tectonic in origin, was located four kilometers east of Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro.
It was felt in the towns of Paluan, Mamburao and Puerto Galera.
No damage was recorded and no aftershocks were expected, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in Manila said.
Monday, December 08, 2008
2 fishermen missing in Catanduanes
Rains trigger landslides, floods in Bicol areas
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 23:17:00 12/08/2008
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—As monsoon rains continue to affect Southern Luzon, two fishermen were reported missing while roads have been made impassable by landslides and floods in the provinces of Catanduanes and Sorsogon, officials said.
The Bicol regional disaster coordinating council identified the two fishermen as Edwin Taopo, 40, and Cezar Soriano, 40, of the village of Batalay in Bato, Catanduanes. They were last seen Friday.
A landslide also occurred in the village of Paraiso in San Miguel, Catanduanes.
The Virac-Viga road in Catanduanes was already impassable, Bicol civil defense director Raffy Alejandro said in the RDCC report.
In Sorsogon province, a spillway in the village of San Rafael in Sta. Magdalena, Sorsogon was also impassable due to rising floods. Footpaths in the villages of San Roque, San Isidro in the same town were also flooded.
Some 40 families were already evacuated and are temporarily sheltered at the San Antonio Elementary school in Sta. Magdalena.
Alejandro said the RDCC already requested a chopper from the Philippine Air Force as requested by the Catanduanes provincial government, which intends to conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas.
Corazon Samar, chief meteorologist of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration in Legazpi City said heavy rains in Bicol are caused by the tail-end of the cold front affecting the region.
She said that there is currently a gale warning over Bicol and Southern Luzon, which means these areas will experience winds gusting up to 70 kilometers per hour as induced by the surge of the northeast monsoon.
A low pressure area was spotted in the Samar area Monday morning but Samar said it was an inactive low pressure area and just a remnant of the cold front.
She said the prevailing weather from November to February is expected to be wet in the eastern side of the country especially in the coastal areas.
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 23:17:00 12/08/2008
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—As monsoon rains continue to affect Southern Luzon, two fishermen were reported missing while roads have been made impassable by landslides and floods in the provinces of Catanduanes and Sorsogon, officials said.
The Bicol regional disaster coordinating council identified the two fishermen as Edwin Taopo, 40, and Cezar Soriano, 40, of the village of Batalay in Bato, Catanduanes. They were last seen Friday.
A landslide also occurred in the village of Paraiso in San Miguel, Catanduanes.
The Virac-Viga road in Catanduanes was already impassable, Bicol civil defense director Raffy Alejandro said in the RDCC report.
In Sorsogon province, a spillway in the village of San Rafael in Sta. Magdalena, Sorsogon was also impassable due to rising floods. Footpaths in the villages of San Roque, San Isidro in the same town were also flooded.
Some 40 families were already evacuated and are temporarily sheltered at the San Antonio Elementary school in Sta. Magdalena.
Alejandro said the RDCC already requested a chopper from the Philippine Air Force as requested by the Catanduanes provincial government, which intends to conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas.
Corazon Samar, chief meteorologist of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration in Legazpi City said heavy rains in Bicol are caused by the tail-end of the cold front affecting the region.
She said that there is currently a gale warning over Bicol and Southern Luzon, which means these areas will experience winds gusting up to 70 kilometers per hour as induced by the surge of the northeast monsoon.
A low pressure area was spotted in the Samar area Monday morning but Samar said it was an inactive low pressure area and just a remnant of the cold front.
She said the prevailing weather from November to February is expected to be wet in the eastern side of the country especially in the coastal areas.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
‘Reming’ survivors meet new aid heroes
By Ephraim Aguilar
Legazpi City
TWO YEARS AFTER SUPERTYPHOON “REMING” sent lahar from Mayon Volcano crashing down villages in Albay, killing over a thousand people, new heroes have risen from the rubble to sustain what was started from scratch.
Many international relief agencies had ceased to operate in the province, but new institutions are now bringing long-term assistance to the survivors.
A defining moment confronted Gail Narramore, a 30-year-old South African, when she visited the ruins left by lahar in Barangay Maipon in Guinobatan town. A grade school teacher from London, Narramore flew to Manila and Albay in January last year to see for herself the magnitude of the disaster.
Dream
Since childhood, Narramore has dreamed of putting up her own orphanage to care for abandoned, abused and neglected children.
While reading the Bible on a four-hour train trip in London, Narramore said she met an old Christian minister who befriended her. The man, however, died five years later but he had willed that all proceeds from his funeral be given to Narramore so she could start her charity work.
The woman’s visit to Maipon village wrenched her heart. “Around 300 people ran after me the moment the villagers noticed my presence. Maybe they thought I was there to distribute food or clothing. There was deep despair in the eyes of the people,” she recalled.
“It was raining and flooded that day. I saw one house made of bamboo standing, but half of it was buried under sand,” she said.
But Narramore could not forget the face of a woman survivor named Nora. “She looked very happy and was smiling to me as she pointed to her half-buried house,” she said.
Nora was tending a “sari-sari” (retail) store near her house. “I wrote a sign ‘Business as Usual’ and posted it there,” Narramore said.
Despite the tragedy, she said she was “shocked at how these people kept on going.”
Free day care classes
Narramore went back to Manila to learn the legal requirements and ways of putting up a charity institution. In October last year, she started the Tiwala Kids and Communities in Albay.
Tiwala has been holding free day-care classes for poor children in the hilly Sitio Cawayan in Barangay Calayucay, Sto. Domingo town. The schools are far from the village, an hour-long walk down a craggy trail.
“Most of their parents are farmers. The livelihood of the people there were badly affected after Reming,” Narramore said.
Tiwala has also been feeding and educating street children in the capital city of Legazpi.
It has Filipino volunteers and a staff. Narramore and two staff members had been living with the community in a farm in Cawayan, a 45-minute trek from downtown.
Alleviating hunger
Another kind-hearted soul, businesswoman Mediatrix Villanueva has been actively involved in linking government and nongovernment organizations for relief missions.
Seeing thousands of children facing hunger in the aftermath of the supertyphoon, Villanueva, who hails from Daraga town, created the Dios Mabalos Foundation. “Dios Mabalos,” which means “May God bless you in return,” is used by Bicolanos to express gratitude.
Villanueva said her group had been working with the St. Francis of Assisi Foundation and the Pondo ng Pinoy to hold supplemental feeding programs in schools and parishes.
“Since livelihood was badly affected by the disaster, the standard of living of families dropped. Poverty left many children sickly and malnourished,” said Erlinda Samonte, Dios Mabalos project manager.
The foundation has already fed 47,875 children over six months under its daily nutrition program dubbed “Hapag-asa.” It serves rice porridge containing Vita-meal (lentil fortified with over 28 vitamins).
It has already expanded its operations to Aklan, where Villanueva’s mother comes from.
Recovery
The provincial government has created a task force to implement a socioeconomic recovery program called “Albay Mabuhay.”
Its coordinator, Emily Kare, said many of the relief agencies had already closed, but there was still the need to bring the people’s lives back to normal and uplift them.
Albay Mabuhay has been providing skills training, credit assistance for livelihood, and job referrals and placements to beneficiaries.
If there is one good thing that “Reming” had brought to Albay, it strengthened the collaboration between government and nongovernment agencies, Kare said. “We have learned to combine our strengths to help the victims of disaster,” she said.
She said, however, that more funds were needed to complete the recovery as displaced families were still living in “transit” shelters in relocation sites. The dwellings are rooms made of plywood and galvanized iron sheets.
Kare placed the shelter gap at still 5,862 in two cities and five towns in Albay alone. Each resettlement house costs around P150,000.
Legazpi City
TWO YEARS AFTER SUPERTYPHOON “REMING” sent lahar from Mayon Volcano crashing down villages in Albay, killing over a thousand people, new heroes have risen from the rubble to sustain what was started from scratch.
Many international relief agencies had ceased to operate in the province, but new institutions are now bringing long-term assistance to the survivors.
A defining moment confronted Gail Narramore, a 30-year-old South African, when she visited the ruins left by lahar in Barangay Maipon in Guinobatan town. A grade school teacher from London, Narramore flew to Manila and Albay in January last year to see for herself the magnitude of the disaster.
Dream
Since childhood, Narramore has dreamed of putting up her own orphanage to care for abandoned, abused and neglected children.
While reading the Bible on a four-hour train trip in London, Narramore said she met an old Christian minister who befriended her. The man, however, died five years later but he had willed that all proceeds from his funeral be given to Narramore so she could start her charity work.
The woman’s visit to Maipon village wrenched her heart. “Around 300 people ran after me the moment the villagers noticed my presence. Maybe they thought I was there to distribute food or clothing. There was deep despair in the eyes of the people,” she recalled.
“It was raining and flooded that day. I saw one house made of bamboo standing, but half of it was buried under sand,” she said.
But Narramore could not forget the face of a woman survivor named Nora. “She looked very happy and was smiling to me as she pointed to her half-buried house,” she said.
Nora was tending a “sari-sari” (retail) store near her house. “I wrote a sign ‘Business as Usual’ and posted it there,” Narramore said.
Despite the tragedy, she said she was “shocked at how these people kept on going.”
Free day care classes
Narramore went back to Manila to learn the legal requirements and ways of putting up a charity institution. In October last year, she started the Tiwala Kids and Communities in Albay.
Tiwala has been holding free day-care classes for poor children in the hilly Sitio Cawayan in Barangay Calayucay, Sto. Domingo town. The schools are far from the village, an hour-long walk down a craggy trail.
“Most of their parents are farmers. The livelihood of the people there were badly affected after Reming,” Narramore said.
Tiwala has also been feeding and educating street children in the capital city of Legazpi.
It has Filipino volunteers and a staff. Narramore and two staff members had been living with the community in a farm in Cawayan, a 45-minute trek from downtown.
Alleviating hunger
Another kind-hearted soul, businesswoman Mediatrix Villanueva has been actively involved in linking government and nongovernment organizations for relief missions.
Seeing thousands of children facing hunger in the aftermath of the supertyphoon, Villanueva, who hails from Daraga town, created the Dios Mabalos Foundation. “Dios Mabalos,” which means “May God bless you in return,” is used by Bicolanos to express gratitude.
Villanueva said her group had been working with the St. Francis of Assisi Foundation and the Pondo ng Pinoy to hold supplemental feeding programs in schools and parishes.
“Since livelihood was badly affected by the disaster, the standard of living of families dropped. Poverty left many children sickly and malnourished,” said Erlinda Samonte, Dios Mabalos project manager.
The foundation has already fed 47,875 children over six months under its daily nutrition program dubbed “Hapag-asa.” It serves rice porridge containing Vita-meal (lentil fortified with over 28 vitamins).
It has already expanded its operations to Aklan, where Villanueva’s mother comes from.
Recovery
The provincial government has created a task force to implement a socioeconomic recovery program called “Albay Mabuhay.”
Its coordinator, Emily Kare, said many of the relief agencies had already closed, but there was still the need to bring the people’s lives back to normal and uplift them.
Albay Mabuhay has been providing skills training, credit assistance for livelihood, and job referrals and placements to beneficiaries.
If there is one good thing that “Reming” had brought to Albay, it strengthened the collaboration between government and nongovernment agencies, Kare said. “We have learned to combine our strengths to help the victims of disaster,” she said.
She said, however, that more funds were needed to complete the recovery as displaced families were still living in “transit” shelters in relocation sites. The dwellings are rooms made of plywood and galvanized iron sheets.
Kare placed the shelter gap at still 5,862 in two cities and five towns in Albay alone. Each resettlement house costs around P150,000.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Ill-fated ferry docked at illegal port
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 17:55:00 11/13/2008
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—The port in Dimasalang, Masbate from where the ill-fated MB Don Dexter Cathlyn left on November 4 before the tragedy that killed at least 43 was found out to be an illegal private port.
Conducting a separate and independent investigation on the Masbate ferry tragedy, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) found out that the Dimasalang port has been a private docking facility of the owner of Don Dexter Cathlyn.
Dante Jimenez, VACC chair, said that according to the locals of Dimasalang town, the port has not been licensed by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
"We are writing to the PPA officials in Manila to ask them how this port in Dimasalang came about. Can private ports be easily established anywhere in the country?" Jimenez said by phone.
He said the VACC was also questioning why public utility vessels were allowed to operate in a private docking facility.
He said there was no Coast Guard detachment at the private port, which was, naturally, not subject to government control.
Jimenez added that if there were many other unlicensed private ports in the country, the government could be losing huge revenues.
He said the ports could also be venues for smuggling activities.
The ongoing Special Board of Marine Inquiry in Masbate City is delving mainly on the alleged overloading of passengers and the sailing of the boat without due notice to the Coast Guard.
Captain Henry Caballero, Bicol Coast Guard commander, said the boat captain, Dante Bombales, did not inform the Coast Guard detachment in Cataingan town before it left the port in Dimasalang town.
Cataingan is 30 kilometers away.
Lucita Madarang, Maritime Industry Authority director in Bicol, confirmed the VACC findings.
She said the PPA on Thursday furnished the Marina a copy of the cease and desist order issued to Gene Zuñiga, owner of the Dimasalang port and the Don Dexter Cathlyn.
The order disallowed operations of the private port, where five passenger vessels dock.
The PPA, in the document, said Zuñiga applied for a foreshore lease covering an area of 1,000 square meters for the establishment of a commercial port but it has not yet been approved.
The motorized boat was on its way from Dimasalang, Masbate, to Bulan, Sorsogon, when it was struck by a squall, which caused it to overturn and toss its passengers into the sea.
The official manifest registered 119 passengers but the Coast Guard list showed there were 156 aboard the ill-fated boat.
Marina documents showed it had a passenger capacity of only 100.
Madarang said that based on Marina's separate investigation, a total of 120 survivors signified claims on the financial aid extended by the
government on the tragedy victims.
If all the claimants are to be believed, this would mean 172 were aboard the motorboat.
"This is not to prejudice the ongoing inquiry. We will still validate these figures," Madarang said.
Rescuers have already retrieved 43 bodies, the latest of which was found floating on midsea.
The corpse was identified by relatives as that of Minda Velarmino, 54, of Barangay (Village) Cudolan in Dimasalang town, said Ensign Jeffrey Collado, operations officer of PCG-Bicol.
Two Coast Guard vessels are still perusing the seawaters of Dimasalang in search for bodies.
The Don Dexter Cathlyn sinking came just four months after that of Sulpicio Lines' MV Princess of the Stars off Romblon at the height of a typhoon last June 21, drowning about 800 passengers and crewmen.
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 17:55:00 11/13/2008
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—The port in Dimasalang, Masbate from where the ill-fated MB Don Dexter Cathlyn left on November 4 before the tragedy that killed at least 43 was found out to be an illegal private port.
Conducting a separate and independent investigation on the Masbate ferry tragedy, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) found out that the Dimasalang port has been a private docking facility of the owner of Don Dexter Cathlyn.
Dante Jimenez, VACC chair, said that according to the locals of Dimasalang town, the port has not been licensed by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
"We are writing to the PPA officials in Manila to ask them how this port in Dimasalang came about. Can private ports be easily established anywhere in the country?" Jimenez said by phone.
He said the VACC was also questioning why public utility vessels were allowed to operate in a private docking facility.
He said there was no Coast Guard detachment at the private port, which was, naturally, not subject to government control.
Jimenez added that if there were many other unlicensed private ports in the country, the government could be losing huge revenues.
He said the ports could also be venues for smuggling activities.
The ongoing Special Board of Marine Inquiry in Masbate City is delving mainly on the alleged overloading of passengers and the sailing of the boat without due notice to the Coast Guard.
Captain Henry Caballero, Bicol Coast Guard commander, said the boat captain, Dante Bombales, did not inform the Coast Guard detachment in Cataingan town before it left the port in Dimasalang town.
Cataingan is 30 kilometers away.
Lucita Madarang, Maritime Industry Authority director in Bicol, confirmed the VACC findings.
She said the PPA on Thursday furnished the Marina a copy of the cease and desist order issued to Gene Zuñiga, owner of the Dimasalang port and the Don Dexter Cathlyn.
The order disallowed operations of the private port, where five passenger vessels dock.
The PPA, in the document, said Zuñiga applied for a foreshore lease covering an area of 1,000 square meters for the establishment of a commercial port but it has not yet been approved.
The motorized boat was on its way from Dimasalang, Masbate, to Bulan, Sorsogon, when it was struck by a squall, which caused it to overturn and toss its passengers into the sea.
The official manifest registered 119 passengers but the Coast Guard list showed there were 156 aboard the ill-fated boat.
Marina documents showed it had a passenger capacity of only 100.
Madarang said that based on Marina's separate investigation, a total of 120 survivors signified claims on the financial aid extended by the
government on the tragedy victims.
If all the claimants are to be believed, this would mean 172 were aboard the motorboat.
"This is not to prejudice the ongoing inquiry. We will still validate these figures," Madarang said.
Rescuers have already retrieved 43 bodies, the latest of which was found floating on midsea.
The corpse was identified by relatives as that of Minda Velarmino, 54, of Barangay (Village) Cudolan in Dimasalang town, said Ensign Jeffrey Collado, operations officer of PCG-Bicol.
Two Coast Guard vessels are still perusing the seawaters of Dimasalang in search for bodies.
The Don Dexter Cathlyn sinking came just four months after that of Sulpicio Lines' MV Princess of the Stars off Romblon at the height of a typhoon last June 21, drowning about 800 passengers and crewmen.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Masbate Coast Guard exec axed
LEGAZPI CITY—A MASBATE COAST guard station commander was relieved from office to make way for a fair investigation on the cause of the MB Don Dexter sea tragedy that killed at least 42 people, a Coast Guard official said Sunday.
Capt. Henry Caballero, Bicol Coast Guard commander, said Capt. Reynaldo Fabico, Masbate Coast Guard station commander, was temporarily relieved from office before the conduct of formal investigation.
The Special Board Marine inquiry will start today in Masbate City and is expected to delve on the alleged overloading of passengers and the sailing of the motorized boat without due notice to the Coast Guard.
Caballero said the boat captain, Dante Bombales, did not inform the Coast Guard detachment in Cataingan town before it left the port in Dimasalang town.
“We do not have a Coast Guard detachment in Dimasalang. The captain should have sent a radio message to the Coast Guard detachment in Cataingan, which is 30 kilometers away,” Caballero said.
The motor boat was ferrying passengers from Dimasalang to Bulan, Sorsogon when it capsized after a sudden squall struck it five kilometers off the shoreline.
Apprentice seaman Jecosalem Berces of PCG-Bicol said that as of Sunday, 42 were reported dead, 10 missing, and 105 survivors.
The official manifest registered 119 passengers but the Coast Guard list showed there were 156 aboard the ill-fated ferry.
Documents from the Maritime Industry Authority showed that the MB Don Dexter had a passenger capacity of only 100.
Two Coast Guard vessels are still perusing the seawaters of Dimasalang in search for missing corpses. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon (ATN)
Capt. Henry Caballero, Bicol Coast Guard commander, said Capt. Reynaldo Fabico, Masbate Coast Guard station commander, was temporarily relieved from office before the conduct of formal investigation.
The Special Board Marine inquiry will start today in Masbate City and is expected to delve on the alleged overloading of passengers and the sailing of the motorized boat without due notice to the Coast Guard.
Caballero said the boat captain, Dante Bombales, did not inform the Coast Guard detachment in Cataingan town before it left the port in Dimasalang town.
“We do not have a Coast Guard detachment in Dimasalang. The captain should have sent a radio message to the Coast Guard detachment in Cataingan, which is 30 kilometers away,” Caballero said.
The motor boat was ferrying passengers from Dimasalang to Bulan, Sorsogon when it capsized after a sudden squall struck it five kilometers off the shoreline.
Apprentice seaman Jecosalem Berces of PCG-Bicol said that as of Sunday, 42 were reported dead, 10 missing, and 105 survivors.
The official manifest registered 119 passengers but the Coast Guard list showed there were 156 aboard the ill-fated ferry.
Documents from the Maritime Industry Authority showed that the MB Don Dexter had a passenger capacity of only 100.
Two Coast Guard vessels are still perusing the seawaters of Dimasalang in search for missing corpses. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon (ATN)
Sunday, November 09, 2008
OVER BOAT SINKING
Masbate Coast Guard chief relieved
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 17:08:00 11/09/2008
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines--A Masbate Coast Guard station commander was relieved to make way for a fair investigation on the cause of the MB Don Dexter sea tragedy that killed at least 42 people, a Coast Guard official said Sunday.
Capt. Henry Caballero, Bicol Coast Guard commander, said Capt.
Reynaldo Fabico, Masbate coast guard station commander, was temporarily relieved before the holding of a formal investigation.
The Special Board Marine inquiry will start Monday in Masbate City and is expected delve into the alleged overloading of passengers and the sailing of the motorized boat without due notice to the Coast Guard.
Caballero said the boat captain, who was identified as Dante Bombales, did not inform the Coast Guard detachment in Cataingan town before it left the port in Dimasalang town, both in Masbate province.
"We do not have a Coast Guard detachment in Dimasalang. The captain should have sent a radio message to the Coast Guard detachment in Cataingan, which is 30 kilometers away," Caballero said.
The motor boat was ferrying passengers from Dimasalang to Bulan, Sorsogon when it capsized after a sudden squall struck it five kilometers off the shoreline.
Apprentice Seaman Jecosalem Berces of PCG-Bicol said that as of
Sunday, 42 have been confirmed dead, 10 remained missing, and 105 survived.
The official manifest registered 119 passengers but the Coast Guard list showed there were 156 aboard the ill-fated ferry.
Documents from the Maritime Industry Authority showed that the Don Dexter Cathlyn had a passenger capacity of only 100.
Two Coast Guard vessels are still perusing the seawaters of Dimasalang in search for bodies. All bodies earlier retrieved have already been claimed by their relatives, said Dimasalang Mayor Dempha Du Naga by phone.
The Don Dexter sinking came just four months after that of Sulpicio Lines' MV Princes of the Stars off Romblon at the height of a typhoon last June 21, drowning about 800 passengers and crew.
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 17:08:00 11/09/2008
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines--A Masbate Coast Guard station commander was relieved to make way for a fair investigation on the cause of the MB Don Dexter sea tragedy that killed at least 42 people, a Coast Guard official said Sunday.
Capt. Henry Caballero, Bicol Coast Guard commander, said Capt.
Reynaldo Fabico, Masbate coast guard station commander, was temporarily relieved before the holding of a formal investigation.
The Special Board Marine inquiry will start Monday in Masbate City and is expected delve into the alleged overloading of passengers and the sailing of the motorized boat without due notice to the Coast Guard.
Caballero said the boat captain, who was identified as Dante Bombales, did not inform the Coast Guard detachment in Cataingan town before it left the port in Dimasalang town, both in Masbate province.
"We do not have a Coast Guard detachment in Dimasalang. The captain should have sent a radio message to the Coast Guard detachment in Cataingan, which is 30 kilometers away," Caballero said.
The motor boat was ferrying passengers from Dimasalang to Bulan, Sorsogon when it capsized after a sudden squall struck it five kilometers off the shoreline.
Apprentice Seaman Jecosalem Berces of PCG-Bicol said that as of
Sunday, 42 have been confirmed dead, 10 remained missing, and 105 survived.
The official manifest registered 119 passengers but the Coast Guard list showed there were 156 aboard the ill-fated ferry.
Documents from the Maritime Industry Authority showed that the Don Dexter Cathlyn had a passenger capacity of only 100.
Two Coast Guard vessels are still perusing the seawaters of Dimasalang in search for bodies. All bodies earlier retrieved have already been claimed by their relatives, said Dimasalang Mayor Dempha Du Naga by phone.
The Don Dexter sinking came just four months after that of Sulpicio Lines' MV Princes of the Stars off Romblon at the height of a typhoon last June 21, drowning about 800 passengers and crew.
Friday, November 07, 2008
‘Quinta’ stops retrieval operations for ferry victims
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
and Alcuin Papa, A6
INQUIRER.net
STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS brought by Tropical Depression “Quinta” prompted authorities to suspend retrieval operations of nine more missing passengers of the MB Don Dexter Cathlyn.
The death toll stood at 42 while there were 101 survivors as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Bicol.
The motorized boat was on its way from Dimasalang, Masbate, to Bulan, Sorsogon, on Tuesday afternoon, when it was struck by a sudden squall, which caused it to overturn and toss its passengers into the sea.
Transportation Undersecretary Elena Bautista visited Dimasalang town with PCG officials to start the preliminary investigation of the sea tragedy.
Bautista questioned the boat owner about the cause of the tragedy.
A special Board of Marine Inquiry will determine whether force majeure or human error caused the sinking, and look into reports that the boat was overloaded when it left Dimasalang, Masbate.
Commodore Cecil Chen will head the special Board of Marine Inquiry, according to PCG spokesperson Capt. Enrico Evangelista.
Senior Supt. Reuben Sindac, Masbate police director, earlier said 119 passengers were officially recorded. But a list sent to the Inquirer by Capt. Henry Caballero of PCG-Bicol showed there were 42 dead, nine missing and 100 survivors, for a total of 151.
Due to bad weather, President Macapagal-Arroyo’s scheduled visit to Dimasalang town on Thursday afternoon was canceled.
From the Local Peace and Security Assembly (LPSA) in Clark Zone, Pampanga, Ms Arroyo was expected to arrive in Dimasalang town to console victims of the tragedy and give them financial aid.
Raffy Alejandro, civil defense director in Bicol, said the retrieval operations were called off after Masbate province was placed under Storm Signal No. 1.
Signal No. 1 was also raised over Mindoro island, the northern part of Palawan, Romblon, Camiguin, Biliran Island, Western Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz, Antique, and Guimaras Island.
The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers.
Quinta is expected to bring gloomy weather to Metro Manila with high chances of rain in the coming days, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said yesterday.
Lots of rain
“It is a weak typhoon but the weak ones bring lots of rain,” Nathaniel Cruz, Pagasa weather bureau chief, told the Inquirer.
Rains could become widespread over the eastern section of the country and may cause flash floods and landslides.
Quinta started as a low pressure area affecting Mindanao but developed into a tropical depression as it moved toward the Visayas, according to Cruz.
Cruz said the storm was moving toward Central Visayas as it was spotted 40 kilometers northeast of Mactan, Cebu. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 45 kph near the center.
Quinta is forecast to move northwestward at 19 kph. It is expected to move toward northern Palawan before it exits the South China Sea.
Cuyo Island
By Friday morning, Quinta is predicted to be 80 km north of Cuyo Island or 90 km South of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro.
It is expected to be 440 km west of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, by Saturday morning and 830 km west of Metro Manila by Sunday afternoon.
Because of the storm, two ships of the Philippine Navy were withdrawn from the vicinity of the capsized boat off the coast of Masbate, said Lt. Junior Grade German Acido, Naval Forces Southern Luzon spokesperson.
Authorities prohibited sea vessels from sailing to and from Masbate island.
Stranded
At least 126 passengers, 15 motorized boats, seven sea vessels, six trucks, and four cars were stranded in the ports of Masbate City and Pilar, Sorsogon.
Alejandro said families of the victims of the sea tragedy already received P3,000-burial assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and P5,000 from the Masbate provincial government.
This does not include the financial assistance to be given by the President.
Registered owner
Alejandro said survivors of the tragedy complained against the boat owner’s nonchalance. Quoting the irate victims, Alejandro said the boat owner’s office was closed prompting police to search for her.
Documents from the Maritime Industry Authority showed the Don Dexter Cathlyn was registered to a certain Amiel Tamayo but a certain Gennie Zuñiga was reported as its owner.
The Inquirer tried to call Gennie Zuñiga but a woman who picked up the call said she was not there.
Princess of the Stars
In Sibuyan, Harbor Star, the private salvor recovering bodies inside the MV Princess of the Stars, suspended the retrieval operation yesterday.
In a statement, the company said divers managed to recover three bodies from Deck B, putting the total retrieved cadavers at 166.
Due to the bad weather, the tugs and the barge that are being used in the retrieval operation sailed from Sibuyan Island to Romblon for shelter, the company said.
Harbor Star is expected to wrap up the retrieval operations this weekend. It will then transfer the bodies to Cebu City, where the National Bureau of Investigation will process DNA samples to identify the victims.
The Princess of the Stars, which is owned by Sulpicio Lines, capsized in Sibuyan Sea in June when it sailed into the eye of Typhoon “Frank.” Only 57 out of the 850 passengers survived the tragedy. With a report from Kristine L. Alave
Inquirer Southern Luzon
and Alcuin Papa, A6
INQUIRER.net
STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS brought by Tropical Depression “Quinta” prompted authorities to suspend retrieval operations of nine more missing passengers of the MB Don Dexter Cathlyn.
The death toll stood at 42 while there were 101 survivors as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Bicol.
The motorized boat was on its way from Dimasalang, Masbate, to Bulan, Sorsogon, on Tuesday afternoon, when it was struck by a sudden squall, which caused it to overturn and toss its passengers into the sea.
Transportation Undersecretary Elena Bautista visited Dimasalang town with PCG officials to start the preliminary investigation of the sea tragedy.
Bautista questioned the boat owner about the cause of the tragedy.
A special Board of Marine Inquiry will determine whether force majeure or human error caused the sinking, and look into reports that the boat was overloaded when it left Dimasalang, Masbate.
Commodore Cecil Chen will head the special Board of Marine Inquiry, according to PCG spokesperson Capt. Enrico Evangelista.
Senior Supt. Reuben Sindac, Masbate police director, earlier said 119 passengers were officially recorded. But a list sent to the Inquirer by Capt. Henry Caballero of PCG-Bicol showed there were 42 dead, nine missing and 100 survivors, for a total of 151.
Due to bad weather, President Macapagal-Arroyo’s scheduled visit to Dimasalang town on Thursday afternoon was canceled.
From the Local Peace and Security Assembly (LPSA) in Clark Zone, Pampanga, Ms Arroyo was expected to arrive in Dimasalang town to console victims of the tragedy and give them financial aid.
Raffy Alejandro, civil defense director in Bicol, said the retrieval operations were called off after Masbate province was placed under Storm Signal No. 1.
Signal No. 1 was also raised over Mindoro island, the northern part of Palawan, Romblon, Camiguin, Biliran Island, Western Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz, Antique, and Guimaras Island.
The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers.
Quinta is expected to bring gloomy weather to Metro Manila with high chances of rain in the coming days, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said yesterday.
Lots of rain
“It is a weak typhoon but the weak ones bring lots of rain,” Nathaniel Cruz, Pagasa weather bureau chief, told the Inquirer.
Rains could become widespread over the eastern section of the country and may cause flash floods and landslides.
Quinta started as a low pressure area affecting Mindanao but developed into a tropical depression as it moved toward the Visayas, according to Cruz.
Cruz said the storm was moving toward Central Visayas as it was spotted 40 kilometers northeast of Mactan, Cebu. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 45 kph near the center.
Quinta is forecast to move northwestward at 19 kph. It is expected to move toward northern Palawan before it exits the South China Sea.
Cuyo Island
By Friday morning, Quinta is predicted to be 80 km north of Cuyo Island or 90 km South of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro.
It is expected to be 440 km west of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, by Saturday morning and 830 km west of Metro Manila by Sunday afternoon.
Because of the storm, two ships of the Philippine Navy were withdrawn from the vicinity of the capsized boat off the coast of Masbate, said Lt. Junior Grade German Acido, Naval Forces Southern Luzon spokesperson.
Authorities prohibited sea vessels from sailing to and from Masbate island.
Stranded
At least 126 passengers, 15 motorized boats, seven sea vessels, six trucks, and four cars were stranded in the ports of Masbate City and Pilar, Sorsogon.
Alejandro said families of the victims of the sea tragedy already received P3,000-burial assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and P5,000 from the Masbate provincial government.
This does not include the financial assistance to be given by the President.
Registered owner
Alejandro said survivors of the tragedy complained against the boat owner’s nonchalance. Quoting the irate victims, Alejandro said the boat owner’s office was closed prompting police to search for her.
Documents from the Maritime Industry Authority showed the Don Dexter Cathlyn was registered to a certain Amiel Tamayo but a certain Gennie Zuñiga was reported as its owner.
The Inquirer tried to call Gennie Zuñiga but a woman who picked up the call said she was not there.
Princess of the Stars
In Sibuyan, Harbor Star, the private salvor recovering bodies inside the MV Princess of the Stars, suspended the retrieval operation yesterday.
In a statement, the company said divers managed to recover three bodies from Deck B, putting the total retrieved cadavers at 166.
Due to the bad weather, the tugs and the barge that are being used in the retrieval operation sailed from Sibuyan Island to Romblon for shelter, the company said.
Harbor Star is expected to wrap up the retrieval operations this weekend. It will then transfer the bodies to Cebu City, where the National Bureau of Investigation will process DNA samples to identify the victims.
The Princess of the Stars, which is owned by Sulpicio Lines, capsized in Sibuyan Sea in June when it sailed into the eye of Typhoon “Frank.” Only 57 out of the 850 passengers survived the tragedy. With a report from Kristine L. Alave
Thursday, November 06, 2008
British tourists warned vs RP sea travel
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 13:28:00 11/06/2008
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY -- The sea tragedy involving the MB Don Dexter Cathlyn, which capsized Tuesday off Masbate province killing at least 42, has prompted the British embassy to issue a travel advisory warning its tourists of inter-island travel risks in the country.
"Inter-island travel by small boats can be dangerous as storms appear quickly," the advisory posted on the embassy's website Wednesday night said.
The same advisory underscored "terrorism in Mindanao and a high incidence of piracy and armed robbery against ships in and around the Philippine waters."
The motorized boat was on its way to Bulan, Sorsogon, when struck by a sudden squall which caused it to overturn and toss its passengers into the sea.
Senior Superintendent Reuben Sindac, Masbate police director, had said that 119 passengers were officially recorded. But a list sent to Philippine Daily Inquirer Southern Luzon by Captain Henry Caballero of the Coast Guard in Bicol showed that there were 42 dead, nine missing, and 100 survivors, for a total of 151.
"You should be aware that maritime rescue services in the Philippines may not be as comprehensive as they might be in the UK," the advisory added.
Authorities are investigating if the motorized boat was overloaded as claimed by survivors and as shown in the discrepancy between the PCG list and the passenger manifest.
Coast Guard officials said transportation undersecretary Elena Bautista was in Masbate Thursday morning meeting with the boat owner and concerned government agencies.
Maria Ong-Ravanilla, Bicol tourism director, said foreign embassies would normally issue travel advisories but these were not seen to affect tourist arrivals.
She said small vessels like MB Don Dexter Cathlyn were not the facilities for tourists.
"We have bigger passenger ferries and roll on-roll off [ro-ro] port facilities, we advise tourists to take them instead," Ravanilla said by phone.
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 13:28:00 11/06/2008
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY -- The sea tragedy involving the MB Don Dexter Cathlyn, which capsized Tuesday off Masbate province killing at least 42, has prompted the British embassy to issue a travel advisory warning its tourists of inter-island travel risks in the country.
"Inter-island travel by small boats can be dangerous as storms appear quickly," the advisory posted on the embassy's website Wednesday night said.
The same advisory underscored "terrorism in Mindanao and a high incidence of piracy and armed robbery against ships in and around the Philippine waters."
The motorized boat was on its way to Bulan, Sorsogon, when struck by a sudden squall which caused it to overturn and toss its passengers into the sea.
Senior Superintendent Reuben Sindac, Masbate police director, had said that 119 passengers were officially recorded. But a list sent to Philippine Daily Inquirer Southern Luzon by Captain Henry Caballero of the Coast Guard in Bicol showed that there were 42 dead, nine missing, and 100 survivors, for a total of 151.
"You should be aware that maritime rescue services in the Philippines may not be as comprehensive as they might be in the UK," the advisory added.
Authorities are investigating if the motorized boat was overloaded as claimed by survivors and as shown in the discrepancy between the PCG list and the passenger manifest.
Coast Guard officials said transportation undersecretary Elena Bautista was in Masbate Thursday morning meeting with the boat owner and concerned government agencies.
Maria Ong-Ravanilla, Bicol tourism director, said foreign embassies would normally issue travel advisories but these were not seen to affect tourist arrivals.
She said small vessels like MB Don Dexter Cathlyn were not the facilities for tourists.
"We have bigger passenger ferries and roll on-roll off [ro-ro] port facilities, we advise tourists to take them instead," Ravanilla said by phone.
Quake rocks Bicol, Samar areas
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 11:06:00 11/06/2008
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY -- A magnitude-5 earthquake rocked Bicol and Samar provinces 9:04 a.m. Thursday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in Manila reported.
Phivilcs said the tectonic earthquake was felt in varying intensities in Sorsogon City; Legazpi City; Catarman, Samar; Virac, Catanduanes; and Easter Samar.
No damages were reported or aftershocks expected, state seismologists said.
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 11:06:00 11/06/2008
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY -- A magnitude-5 earthquake rocked Bicol and Samar provinces 9:04 a.m. Thursday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in Manila reported.
Phivilcs said the tectonic earthquake was felt in varying intensities in Sorsogon City; Legazpi City; Catarman, Samar; Virac, Catanduanes; and Easter Samar.
No damages were reported or aftershocks expected, state seismologists said.
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