On January 26, two weeks, since the first day of Taal volcano eruption, the Philippine authorities lowered the alert level from 4 to 3. This signified the possibility of return of many of the 376,000 displaced villagers, at their own option and pace. Since then, most displaced families from affected municipalities have returned to their homes, except those from Agoncillo and Laurel, the two most devastated municipalities, which are within the permanent danger zone. A week later on February 3, Phivolcs recorded a volcanic earthquake with magnitude 3.2, which shows magma is still moving beneath that could lead to eruptive activity in the Taal Volcano's crater. The volcano saga is not over yet, which means the evacuation could resume anytime.Amid turmoil resulting from the eruption was the daily blow-by-blow updates on social media. Questions surfaced, which included: what happened with the early warning, as people were still touring the island during the day of eruption? Who were responsible? Why were there many people caught in the volcano island and the neighboring municipalities during the eruptive stage on January 12? Why was there no systematic rescue and feeding of the poor animals trapped in the island? Why was there no enforcement of the directives on the 14 km radius permanent danger zone.People have different perspectives on the above. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) alerted the concerned local government units (LGUs) as to the impending danger, raising the alert to level 1 as early as March 28, 2019, signaling the possibility of eruption. The people residing in the volcanic island live there as it was the source of their livelihood through hosting tourists and, selling native handicrafts and food, they earn their living from the touristic scenery of a picturesque volcano sitting in the middle of a beautiful lake. The concerned LGUs have placed warning signs and did some disaster preparedness activities including public awareness. In general people were aware and know what to do, but still there was a serious state of complacency for those concerned agencies and the general public including tourists, who were not aware of the alert level 1, indicating the possibility of eruption.Despite some apprehensions about the eruption that caused an emergency situation at the beginning of this year in the country, there were no known deaths resulting directly from the volcanic activity.A total of 98,187 families of 376,327 persons from Batangas and Cavite Provinces were affected. Evacuation happened in different forms, but somehow organized. About 37,000 families mostly those with no relatives to go to, sought refuge in evacuation centers, where their LGUs led them. Some 44,000 families went to their relatives in the neighboring towns who willingly hosted them as long as necessary. The LGUs in the cities and municipalities within the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (CALBARZON) provinces and cities in Metro Manila hosted the affected families. Food and nonfood supplies cam...
