'No window hours': Año orders strict enforcement of lockdown in Taal eruption danger zone
By Chito Chavez
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año has ordered an end to visiting hours within the 14-kilometer danger zone radius in the Taal Volcano area.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año (Photo from Philippine Information Agency / MANILA BULLETIN)
Vowing to be “very strict,” Año insisted the lockdown and mandatory evacuation be strictly enforced to spare the public from any harm with Alert Level 4 still in place, indicating a big explosion might still occur.
The DILG chief explained these measures are strictly being undertaken for the welfare of the public, saying “We don't know when that (Taal Volcano) will erupt.”
Local government officials allowed “window hours” when residents can go back to their homes in areas where the lockdown has been ordered to check their belongings and retrieve their valuables and important documents.
They also try to bring their pets and other animals left behind to safer ground if possible after being forcibly evacuated on Jan. 12 when Taal Volcano first erupted.
But Año thumbed down the window hours, saying there is “no logic" to it after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has warned numerous times that Taal Volcano may erupt anytime, within "hours or days."
Shaking his head, Año said people might die as the volcano may erupt anytime.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año (Photo from Philippine Information Agency / MANILA BULLETIN)
Vowing to be “very strict,” Año insisted the lockdown and mandatory evacuation be strictly enforced to spare the public from any harm with Alert Level 4 still in place, indicating a big explosion might still occur.
The DILG chief explained these measures are strictly being undertaken for the welfare of the public, saying “We don't know when that (Taal Volcano) will erupt.”
Local government officials allowed “window hours” when residents can go back to their homes in areas where the lockdown has been ordered to check their belongings and retrieve their valuables and important documents.
They also try to bring their pets and other animals left behind to safer ground if possible after being forcibly evacuated on Jan. 12 when Taal Volcano first erupted.
But Año thumbed down the window hours, saying there is “no logic" to it after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has warned numerous times that Taal Volcano may erupt anytime, within "hours or days."
Shaking his head, Año said people might die as the volcano may erupt anytime.