Rising to a height of two-and-a-half kilometers in the eastern Albay seacoast, Mayon Volcano easily dominates the province’s landscape, dwarfing nearby Mt. Masaraga and Mt. Malinao, as well as the rugged terrain of the inlands. The volcano’s conical shape can even be seen from the islands of Masbate and Catanduanes, some 80 kilometers offshore. So prominent is Mt. Mayon that it has become emblematic of Albay and the whole region, appearing in many official seals and devices of organizations based in Albay or of those tracing their roots from Bicol and its provinces.

The volcano’s physical magnificence is commensurately manifested in the region’s psyche; Mayon has become the subject of countless songs, tales and artist’s imaginations. As if in adoration of the volcano’s awesome beauty and terrible power, the people of Albay have obligingly settled at the foothills of the volcano –Mayon is at the exalted center, cyclically renewing the land with fertile volcanic soil.

Risk and displacement of population

Much of the population of Albay can be found in “orbit” around Mayon Volcano. Going counterclockwise, the territories of Ligao City, Guinobatan, Camalig, Daraga, Legazpi City, Sto. Domingo, Malilipot, and Tabaco City share an octonary boundary – the summit of Mayon. Twelve towns and cities of Albay are within 15 kilometers from the volcano summit, only a few of the province’s municipalities is outside this distance.

Every time Mayon Volcano grows restive – which happens more frequently than any other volcano in the country – 32 barangays are in high danger of falling volcanic debris, flowing molten rock, and mudslides. This threatens the lives and livelihood of more than 10,000 families, who must all be evacuated to safer ground.

Beneath Mayon Volcano’s peaceful façade is the infernal power of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the most seismically active part of the earth’s crust. Mayon’s most devastating eruption on record occurred in 1814, during which an entire town was destroyed. When Supertyphoon Reming (Durian) swept Bicol in 2006, around 1,200 people were buried when volcanic deposits combined with heavy rain cascaded in a sand-and-boulder avalanche.

To prevent catastrophes of this magnitude, the government mandates the mass evacuation of a pre-designated danger zone each time Mayon Volcano’s activity escalates. The volcano has a five-level warning system, in which at Level 3 up to Level 5, forced evacuation is effected by government authorities.

Alert Level 1 is in place since 2006, after Mayon quieted from months of activity in that year. The alert status has not been rescinded since. Incandescent material near the crater can still be seen during the next three years. In July 2009, volcanologists raised the alert to Level 2, signaling the upward trend in volcanism that is continuing to this day.

A minor ash explosion prompted authorities to hoist Alert Level 3 on December 14. Increasing volcanic activity in the next few days was consistently monitored, whereby PHIVOLCS elevated the warning to Alert Level 4 beginning December 20. The warning means that a violent eruption is possible within days. All human activity is prohibited in danger zones 6-8 kilometers from the crater, the danger zone has now been cordoned off by the Philippine military.

Life in transit

As of this posting, the government has already evacuated 10,032 families or 47,563 persons to 29 evacuation camps in Albay. Now on their second week in evacuation, the displaced families are beginning to feel the burdens of a life in transit. Overcrowding and strains to privacy, health and sanitation problems, lack of food, and missed income opportunities are just a few of the evacuees’ concerns.

Typically, 12 families or about 55 persons crowd in a schoolroom. There is barely enough living space in this 7 x 7-meter room. Evacuees are cramped at a density of one person in less than one square meter of space, way below the recommended 3.5 square meters of space per individual.

(Albay Gov. Joey Salceda conceded that this situation is not satisfactory, especially for married couples. He said they planned to set up at least two so-called conjugal rooms in every evacuation center to address this particular privacy concern.)

Evacuees generally sleep on plastic mats over concrete flooring. This makes these coldest days of the year much less bearable than normal, the evacuees said.

At the centers, families usually share a meal of rice, noodles, and canned goods provided by aid agencies. This monotonous diet was only once punctuated by a ration of fruits and other stuff on Christmas Day.

Around 40% of the evacuation centers have adequate water supply. The rest have to get water from handpumps in the host barangay or wait for deliveries from the fire department. Typically, there are one or two bathing facilities in a camp. Some evacuees have to wait in line as early as 1:00 am if they want a quick shower.

Available latrine seats are still not enough. At present, the ratio is 27 to 62 persons per toilet. The recommended ratio, according to planning manuals of local governments, is one toilet for every family or one for every six to ten persons.

Health problems now begin to surface in the evacuation camps. Colds and respiratory illnesses are common, aggravated by the cold weather. Incidents of conjunctivitis (sore eyes), which is a highly contagious infection, have been reported in at least one evacuation center.

Monitoring visit at the foothills of Mayon Volcano

Southward from Manila, the national highway links Albay to the rest of mainland Luzon. Passengers traveling by land to South Luzon, Visayas, or Mindanao are offered an uninterrupted view of the volcano almost every kilometer of the way, from the northern boundary of Albay with Camarines Sur to its southern border with Sorsogon.

The main highway connects the major population centers around the flanks of the volcano. This path threads through Ligao City, and then traverses southeastwards to Legazpi City, the political and commercial center of Albay. From Legazpi City, the highway then climbs northwards to Tabaco City, tracing the eastern seaboard of the province.

Majority of the affected population lives close to this highway arc, roughly equivalent to the southwest and southeast sections of the volcanic base. It is in these parts that most disaster relief efforts and media attention are focused. Not coincidentally, almost all souvenir photos of the volcano are mounted from locations tracing this route. It is also not surprising that at least three presidential hopefuls organized their relief sorties along this main path only.

The road less traveled

Away from media glare, 11% of the total number of evacuees is encamped in schools along Sabloyon Road at the northern side of Mayon. Sabloyon Road directly connects Ligao City and Tabaco City, completing the highway loop around the base of the volcano.

Nine evacuation centers are located along this road. These camps shelter residents from the affected communities in the two adjacent cities. Evacuation centers in barangay Amtic in Ligao, and in Bantayan, Buang, San Antonio, and the national high school in Tabaco host a total of more than 1,100 families or 5,362 men, women and children.

The evacuation camps here have not yet been visited by major aid agencies and national personalities. Only the local government has so far seen to the needs of the evacuees.  The politicians and the media do not seem to take much notice – after all, the view is so much more sensational on the other side, with Mt. Mayon spurting lava fountains and generally making a good show of a disastrous event.

“But we also have the same needs,” said Buencesolita Quicay, a resident of Brgy. Buhian (Tabaco City) who evacuated to Bantayan Elementary School. “It seems to me that most of the attention is turned to evacuation centers in Daraga and Legazpi City only,” she lamented.

Bringing relief to the least served

TABI and CDRC, supported by international partner Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, organized relief services to evacuees along Sabloyon Road. “We are very thankful to have you,” said a rejoicing Gloria Pontejos, who left her home in Brgy. Baligang in Ligao City and is now living at the shelter in Amtic. “We are totally dependent on food rations, as we had to leave our farms before harvest,” she told visiting TABI staff members.

TABI packed rice, dried fish, beans, cooking oil, sardines, and sugar for the evacuees. The goods were distributed by TABI staff and volunteers on December 28, along the road which, both literally and figuratively, is less often traveled. Some 603 families from six evacuation centers received their relief packs.

The hundreds of schoolchildren in the evacuation centers were also given special attention by TABI, in order to ease their confinement to camp life. Volunteers facilitated games for the older children, while the preschoolers were gathered to a storytelling. With toothy smiles for TABI, each child received a pack of goodies.

More aid needed

Evacuees are appealing for more aid as they brace for more days encamped. Carbohydrate, protein, and oil sources are steadily in demand. In addition to the usual foodstuffs, some needs have still to be answered.

Matting would help combat the cold. Mosquito nets will prevent the spread of certain diseases. According to Mylene Casoco, who is an evacuee at San Antonio High School in Tabaco City, heavy blankets and sweaters would be very useful to them in these cold days of the year. The evacuees, especially the children, would also like hot beverages, she said.

“Toys and instructional kits for children can be important for psychosocial restoration,” said Gloria Pontejos, who is daycare worker for the children of her fellow evacuees. The youth in the evacuation centers will also benefit from games and sports items, she added.

Over-the-counter medicine like analgesics, antipyretics, and antidiarrheals are needed. Multivitamin capsules and drops would also help alleviate the poor diet resulting from camp food.

As Mt. Mayon shows no signs of letting up, much relief work remains to be done to avoid a major humanitarian crisis. Hopefully, evacuees at all sides of the volcano will all be served equally this time.

In Gogon Central School in Legazpi City, 20-25 families share one regular-sized classroom. Bigger classrooms accommodate as many as 80 families. Most families said they have not received the promised 5-kilo rice pack from the government. The first ones to receive rations complained of inadequate food supplies, noting that most of them have big families.

On Friday, December 18, 2009, evacuees in Baligang Elementary School in Camalig, Albay, where a total of 625 families from Barangay Sua (331 families) and Barangay Tumpa (294 families) are housed, revealed that no other food ration reached them after the four kilos they received on Tuesday.

A report from the San Jose Elementary School official confirmed the need for adequate water supply for the 500 families (2,288 persons) of Barangay Calbayog, Malilipot.

Travesia Elementary School occupants are luckier, having been allowed use of the newly constructed school building with adequate water facilities. A television set also provides entertainment, especially to children.

Before the 24-hour curfew was imposed, some residents, mostly male, braved entering the danger zones to collect supplies lacking in evacuation centers such as firewood, rootcrops, and vegetables.  Due to inadequate water supply and toilets, the women also tried going back to their homes during the day for laundry and personal hygiene.

Mayon Volcano continues to show increased volcanic activity, which may lead to a major eruption in two-week time according to volcano experts. Local officials are counting weeks before Mayon foothills are declared habitable again.

TABI staffs together with its social work interns regularly make rounds in the evacuation center to closely monitor the situation. TABI has active village level Disaster Preparedness Committees, Community Health Workers, and Women & Children Committees in the affected communities having been engaged in relief delivery, organizing and advocacy, agro-forestry and livelihood activities in the foothill villages since the Mayon Volcano eruption in 1984.

TABI is now accepting donations for the evacuees. Immediate needs are food supply augmentation and other essential non-food items like mats, blankets, mosquito nets and hygiene kits (sanitary napkins, toothpaste, bath soap, face towel).

Lava and red-hot volcanic fragments rolled some 4 kilometers down the slopes of Mayon Volcano, visible at night to Albay residents in yet another terrifying display of the volcano’s beauty and destructive power. The pyroclastic flow was preceded by a minor ash explosion in the morning of December 14, followed by several other small explosions in the same day.

Molten rock and glowing lava fragments continue to issue from the volcano summit as of this writing. Steam emissions reaching 200 meters high was observed in the past 24 hours, drifting towards the west and southwest of the volcano. Ash explosions in the last two days have showered parts of Camalig, Guinobatan, and Ligao City with light ashfall. Data from PHIVOLCS also indicated sulfur dioxide emission levels at 750 tons per day, way above the normal rate.

Authorities raised the alert status of the volcano to Alert Level 3, warning that a hazardous eruption may occur within weeks. Areas within 6 kilometers of the crater and an extended zone in the direction of the main gully are in danger of volcanic flows, which may occur during sudden explosions. By December 15, the government has ordered the evacuation of these areas, encompassing parts of Daraga, Camalig, Guinobatan, Malilipot, and Sto. Domingo municipalities as well as portions of Legazpi City, Tabaco City, and Ligao City.

Close to 30,000 residents have been evacuated to 17 pre-designated evacuation centers around Albay province. Below is the partial evacuation report issued by the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO).

Evacuation report as of 12 noon, December 16, 2009 (Source: APSEMO)

Although the threat to human lives seems to have been averted due to preemptive evacuation, economic hardships will likely affect the thousands of farming families who cultivate the fertile land along the slopes of Mt. Mayon. Most vegetable production in the province is located in this area. Many farmers here are now forced to gather their produce ahead of the harvest season to avoid further losses. In other farms, immature crops are exposed to damages from volcanic debris as volcanic activity escalates.

The volcano has been growing restive for the past several months. Increased volcanic activity was observed in July this year, prompting PHIVOLCS to raise the alert status to Level 2. Mayon is the most active volcano in the country, having erupted close to 50 times in the past 400 years.

Appeal for assistance:

Donations for the evacuees may be sent through TABI (Tarabang Para sa Bicol, Inc.) at 49 First Park Subdivision, Brgy. Sagpon, Daraga, Albay 4501. Cash donations may also be deposited to the following account:

Bank Name: Banco De Oro – Legaspi Branch

Name of Account: TARABANG PARA SA BICOL, INC.

Account #: 1810089873

For more information please contact:

MARICRIS A. BIÑAS

TABI Executive Director

Mobile#: 0929 702 6602
Telefax: (052) 483 2453

Email: tarabang@yahoo.com
URL: http://tarabangbicol.multiply.com / http://www.cdrc-phil.com/tabi/