Taal evacuees concerned about livelihood, housing

Residents evacuated from Taal Volcano Island in Batangas on Tuesday said they were worried about their livelihood and lack of housing, according to a report by Darlene Cay on GMA News' Unang Balita on Wednesday.

Their main livelihood is fishing and their fish cages are located a few meters away from the island's shores.

Nick Manguinao, one of the residents, said he and other fishermen went back to Taal Volcano Island after the volcano's eruption in January 2020 to fish.

"Eh ang nangyari, ma'm, nandoon 'yung aming hanapbuhay sa tubig. Eh hindi namin puwedeng iwanan at baka madisgrasya pa," he said.

Nemia Galang, also a resident of the island, expressed despair that they have been evacuees for more than a year already.

"Ang inaano lang namin, okay lang sana kung halimbawa paglipat namin, may talagang bahay na kami tulad ng sinasabi ng gobyerno. Eh isang taon na ho ang bulkan pumutok, hanggang ngayon nandito pa rin ho kami," she said.

Sixty residents or 18 families who went back to the island were forcibly evacuated on Tuesday after seismic activities were recorded in the volcano.

The residents were evacuated by joint forces from the Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine National Police and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

They were found staying on Taal Volcano Island which has been declared a permanent danger zone or no man's land since last year when the volcano erupted in January.

However, since March 2020, residents would go back and forth to Taal Volcano Island since their fish cages are located in the vicinity. This was also confirmed by Batangas Vice Governor Mark Leviste in an interview on Wednesday.

Residents also said they went back since the government has not yet given them housing or financial assistance as promised last year after the January eruption.

The residents forcibly evacuated on Tuesday were brought to the Talisay Senior High School in Barangay Tumaway in the municipality of Talisay.

Here they joined the 483 evacuees staying since January 2020.

In all, there are 900 evacuees from Taal Volcano Island staying in different evacuation centers in Talisay.

The Batangas Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said they are not complacent and remain on top of evacuation efforts.

"Hindi naman tayo nagiging kampante. So 'yung ating plano pa rin kung saka-sakaling mag-escalate, 'yung evacuation, preparation ng evacuation centers, namamalagi 'yun sa ating pagpaplano at ie-execute 'yan kung kakailanganin," he said.

Authorities have disallowed ecotourism on Taal Volcano Island.

Fishing is allowed but fishermen would have to log in and out with the Philippine Coast Guard daily to ensure that no one will go to and stay at Taal Volcano Island.

Alert Level 1 remains in effect over Taal Volcano, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Wednesday. —KG, GMA News