Governor Vi visits Taal evacuees — report

Batangas Governor Vilma Santos-Recto on Wednesday visited her constituents who fled their homes due to restive Taal Volcano, a radio report said. Radio dzRH reported late Wednesday that Santos-Recto visited the families staying at evacuation centers in San Nicolas, Balete and Talisay towns in the province to distribute relief goods. She also inspected the facilities in the evacuation center, the report added. A report on QTV's "News on Q" said Santos-Recto advised the affected families not to believe in false reports, especially coming from text messages, regarding the volcano's eruption.

In San Nicolas, Santos-Recto gave two megaphones to the local government which she said would be used as signal for the residents to evacuate. "Kasi baka may manloko lang na puputok na ang bulkan at mag-panic ang tao (Somebody might play a practical joke about the volcano's eruption, and this will cause panic among the residents)," she said, adding that residents should only believe in reports from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs). Shortly after her return from the United States, Santos-Recto called a meeting of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council to discuss the problem. Following the meeting, the provincial council issued a resolution declaring an "impending state of calamity" in 12 areas around the volcano. The affected towns were Laurel, Talisay, Tanauan, Balete, Mataas na Kahoy, Alitagtag, Sta. Teresita, San Nicolas, Cuenca, Lipa, Agoncillo, and Lemery. Alert Level 2 remains over Taal Volcano due to heightened activity around the area that may "eventually lead to an eruption." The provincial disaster coordinating council has advised residents living near the volcano to leave their homes due to the possibility of an eruption. At least 150 families or 697 persons near the volcano have voluntarily evacuated. Classes were suspended in schools on Taal Island and those whose classrooms are being used as evacuation centers, affecting about 300 pupils. The QTV report said 13 volcanic quakes have been recorded near Taal in the past 24 hours. - KBK, GMANews.TV