Tags: Natural Wonders, Travel Concerns and Advisories
By Leo Magno
TAGAYTAY CITY, CAVITE — “Boat ride, Boat ride…” said the tour guide from the Department of Tourism (DOT), ludicrously whispering almost inaudibly as a tourist passed by. That tourist was me, and I took offense at the identification, having been a semi-resident of Tagaytay for more than a year. It was clear that I still do not pass for a local.
There were two of them, and their hushed tones were a far cry from their regular loud calls of “BOAT RIDE!!! BOAT RIDE!!!” complete with placards echoing their exclamation. It was akin to DVD vendors in Greenhills who, after the crackdown on pirated video, make clandestine whispers of “deebeedee, deebeedee” as you pass by.
They had reason to be discreet. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) raised Alert Level 2 status for Taal Volcano on June 8, 2010. As such, the Philippine National Police (PNP), Phivolcs and the Tagaytay City Disaster Coordinating Council have prohibited visits to Taal. In fact, we saw PNP personnel guarding Ligaya Drive — the usual passageway to Taal. But there they were — two DOT-accredited tour guides offering me a trip to Volcano Island for the usual price of P1,500. They even showed me their DOT badges and IDs, but for obvious reasons I won’t reveal their names. They added that we would be taking another route to Taal (probably because they knew the PNP was guarding Ligaya Drive).
“Wala bang discount? Baka sumabog ang bulkan habang nandoon ako sa crater,” I asked in jest.
The two explained that they should even be charging higher since it is now difficult to get to the crater. They said they had just escorted a group of four people to the volcano earlier in the morning. They admit, however, that their tour clients and their daily livelihood plummeted more than 50 percent ever since media “hyped up” the supposed eruption.
“Active volcano ang Taal, sanay na kami sa Alert Level 2,” said the shorter of the two tour guides, the one who looked like Panchito. The other one looked like a sunburnt version of Royet Padilla. “Yung video na kinuha ng media at lumabas sa TV, luma na yon.”
Volcano alert levels in the Philippines range from 0-5. Alert Level 0 means everything is quiet and no eruption is seen in the near future. Alert Level 1 is called “Abnormal” with a low level of unrest but no eruption imminent. Alert Level 2, the current status of Taal, is tagged as “Increasing Unrest” with moderate unrest probably of magmatic origin and could eventually lead to eruption. Alert Level 3 is “Increasing Tendency Toward Eruption” where magma is close to the crater. Alert Level 4 is “Hazardous Eruption Imminent” with intense unrest and hazardous eruption possible within days. Alert Level 5 is “Hazardous Eruption” where eruption is ongoing.
With Alert Level 2 ordered for Taal, the 6-km radius Danger Zone may be extended to 7 km in the sector where the crater rim is low. Tagaytay City is the natural jumpoff point for tourists wishing to go to Taal, yet it is more than 15 kilometers from the volcano. The volcano itself is already in another province, Batangas, where 8,000 residents have already been evacuated by the Batangas Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council as of June 12. These people are from the municipalities of Talisay, San Nicolas, Agoncillo and Laurel where mild earthquakes have been felt.
More than 15 kilometers away in Tagaytay, however, it was business as usual not just for DOT boat ride guides who look like Panchito or Royet Padilla, but also for vendors on Calamba Road where the famous Tagaytay Ridge is located and from where you could view the crater.
“Alert Level 2 lang yan, walang lindol dito,” said Rhodora Salosa, a roadside pasalubong vendor who has lived in Tagaytay for the last 38 years. “Mag-a-alala lang kami pag Alert Level 4 na sa Taal, gaya nung 1977.”
Traffic on Calamba Road and Aguinaldo Highway — the two stretches of main road along the ridge of Tagaytay where you could view Taal — was heavy from Friday to Sunday. This means tourists were still flocking to Tagaytay during the long Independence Day weekend despite the eruption warnings and travel advisories. I think it was precisely BECAUSE of the warnings that tourists still came here, possibly to get a glimpse of some volcanic eruption.
Fruit vendor Bai Ernesto, who has been a Tagaytay resident for 18 years, merely laughed off notions of evacuating Tagaytay. “Doon sa baba sa Talisay delikado, pero dito normal na naming marinig na may alert sa Taal.”
Yet history shows that Taal’s fury is no laughing matter. Thirty-three Taal eruptions have been recorded since 1572, the last one being in 1977. The greatest recorded eruption of the volcano was in 1754, read about it here. In 1911 thousands perished during a particularly violent eruption, and this is still cause for concern mainly because farmers and fishermen reside on volcano island even today.
Still, tourists and tour operators are undaunted by these threats. For example, much more steam is coming out from the northern and northeastern sides of the main crater, sometimes accompanied by audible hissing sounds. The cracks along the approach to the crater where steam hisses have widened significantly and toxic gases may be coming out of the northern side of the crater.
“Kaya ibang daan tayo paakyat sa crater,” said Panchito. “Tapos sa kabilang gilid tayo ng crater para iwas sa steam saka gas, pero wala namang magma.”
So much for safety, I guess. Even a friendly, and most likely entrepreneurial, barangay official in San Jose told me that Taal Volcano was still safe and even offered me a tour guide, but I told him that I had already been to the crater.
So did I take up the offer of Panchito and Royet Padilla to go back to the mouth of an active volcano that day? Suffice it to say that I’m still here writing about what I saw and heard that day.
View a situation map of Taal’s activity here. For updates on Taal’s Alert Level status, call the Phivolcs hotlines at (02)426-1469 to 79 or 927-4524.
Crater photo courtesy of Taal Homepage.
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