Something was different sailing in Taal Lake today. The quiet beauty of sailing was disturbed by a nearing, flashing red rubber boat. Some six faces smile at me helming our Hobie Cat. I decipher the words “COAST GUARDS” on the rubber ducky. Cost guards? I know Taal Lake has a draining river, the Pansipit River, to the open sea. But, does that make its shore line a coast?
Steering our Cat towards Volcano Island I see the boat turning into a small red dot. Finally, it dawns on me! These friendly guys must be restoring peace and order on the island ever since the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, short Philvocs, raised the Alert Level from 1 to 2, which means “that the volcano is undergoing magmatic intrusion which could eventually lead to an eruption”.
Taal Volcano is active. If you hike to the island’s top to look into the inner crater, you pass steaming vents that smell like rotten eggs. The Crater Lake on the island is usually 'boiling' on the rim. If you dig your hands into the sand on the shore, it’s remarkably hot. Two to five minor earthquakes shake the island every day. At the beginning of this month, the earthquake count went up to 32 in 24 hours.
Enough for Philvocs to raise the Alert Level from 1 to 2 and to “remind the general public that the Main Crater remains off-limits because hazardous steam-driven explosions may occur, along with the possible build-up of toxic gases.” These toxic gases killed hundreds of people years ago. As the gases are heavier than air, they “rolled downhill” and suffocated the people at night, while they were sleeping.
No wonder, Volcano Island is considered a Permanent Danger Zone and “permanent settlement within this area is strictly prohibited.” If it’s such a dangerous place, how come approximately 5,000 people are currently living there?
Am I cynical when I ask myself whether the increased alert level (unchanged since beginning of June) is for the welfare of the people or rather a way to starve them off the island?
Everybody earning an income from the steady flow of tourists hiking the volcano every day feels the economic effect of issuing Alert Signal 2. For the people living on the island, selling horse rides and refreshers to tourists is their source of income besides fishing. For bangka owners on the mainland, the revenue stream for boating people over to the island has dried up.
Or, is there yet another angle to look at this whole scenario? Where there is a disaster, there are calamity funds... Which, surprisingly, do not have to be accounted for. It’s a calamity after all! However, signal 2 is not a disaster yet. It's merely an imminent threat. This means, the affected people have neither income, nor funds to tap.
No wonder the stands taken by various people are very different.
Some would like the Alert Signal to be raised in order to receive calamity funds. I wonder if these supporters have a plan for housing and feeding the flood of people, which would wash up on their shores once forced evacuation is installed.
On the other hand, some support a decrease of the Alert Signal, so that people on both shores can go about their business as usual.
For me, as long as the volcano is not spitting lava onto the boat, I’ll still be sailing!
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