Evacuation continues in Batangas as 'weak' eruptions recorded at Taal Volcano
The evacuation of residents in Batangas and nearby provinces were on-going amid the continuous volcanic activity of Taal.
In a meeting with President Duterte late Tuesday night, July 6, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who also chairs the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said 1,902 families or 6,585 indivuals were displaced by Taal's eruption.
The evacuated residents were brought to 24 evacuation centers in the province.
"Iyong OCD po ang nangunguna sa pag-assess ng area, pre-disaster risk assessment. Sila rin ang nagbibigay ng mga alert, warning, at messages sa mga mamamayan at sa pag-conduct ng regional and local risk assessment, prepositioning of teams and resources, and preemptive evacuation (The OCD leads the pre-disaster risk assessment in the area. They also issue alerts and warning messages to the residents, conduct regional and local risk asessment, and preposition teams and resources, and pre-emptive evacuation)," Lorenzana said.
So far, 14,500 boxes of hygiene kits; 380,000 pieces of surgical masks; 1,037 pieces of malong; 2,142 pieces of blankets; and 716 boxes family packs were already sent by the OCD in the affected areas.
Meanwhile, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) also sent 42,185 pieces of medical-grade cloth mask in Laurel town, one of the badly-hit areas.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) also pre-positioned food and non-food items amounting to P39 million, Lorenzana added.
According to the Philippine Institute of Volacnology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), Taal Volcano had a series of weak phreatomagmatic eruption on Wednesday morning, generating a 300-meter high plume.
Alert Level 3 remains hoisted at the volcano due to its continued activity.