Thousands of Batangas residents who were evacuated when Alert Level 3 was hoisted over Taal Volcano late last month have started to go home after experts recorded low volcanic activities in the past days.
Joselito Castro, head of the Batangas Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said the decision to allow residents to go home was reached after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) lowered the alert status to Level 2 on Saturday morning.
He said most of the evacuees who were allowed to go home were from Laurel and Agoncillo towns.
Police Coil. Glycerin Cansilao, director of the Batangas provincial police said, he immediately instructed his men to assist the evacuees on their way home.
"They were allowed to go home starting 10 a.m. on Saturday due to reduced volcanic earthquakes and decreasing emission of volcanic gas," said Cansilao.
The local police were among those who fetched the local residents to be transported to evacuation centers.
More than 4,000 people were evacuated at the height of Taal's renewed rumblings late last month but some residents started to go home a few days later, especially after volcanologists said destructive eruption is unlikely.
Cansilao said his men were able to assist 480 families composed of 1,683 individuals from Laurel town and 695 families or 2,353 individuals from Agoncillo town.