Palace: P12M worth of aid assured for residents affected by Taal eruption

Malacañang on Friday said the government has allotted P1 million worth of food and P11 million worth of non-food items to aid residents affected by the previous day's eruption of Taal Volcano.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the aid will be provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 4A, which is now on heightened alert.

"We are closely monitoring the situation in Taal after the phreatomagmatic eruptions that occurred in Taal Volcano," Roque said in a statement.

"Evacuation activities in high-risk barangays in Laurel and Agoncillo as well as in other nearby municipalities in Batangas province are ongoing."

Roque assured the public that local government units are leading the efforts on the ground through their respective Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices with the support of counterparts in line agencies.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines' Southern Luzon Command, for its part, has activated Joint Task Force Taal to assist operations of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and the local government units.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police in Region 4A has been placed on alert and is coordinating with local government units to assist residents.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Logistics Systems Command, on the other hand, deployed vehicles and personnel to support the PCG District Southern Tagalog in the conduct of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

President Rodrigo Duterte has earlier the assured affected residents that there would be enough help for them -- but not without cracking up a joke first.

The Taal Volcano last erupted and spewed significant amount of ash that damaged communities in Batangas in January 2020, two months before the country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.  —KBK, GMA News