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People residing in Laurel, town surrounding the Taal Volcano in Batangas, go about their chores a day after volcanic smog clears from Volcano island in Taal Batangas on August 20, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

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20240820-volcanic-smog-agonicillo-AFP6667.jpg

Dennis Datu

Pia Gutierrez

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/172413463523620240820-volcanic-smog-agonicillo-AFP6667.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="People residing in Laurel, town surrounding the Taal Volcano in Batangas, go about their chores a day after volcanic smog clears from Volcano island in Taal Batangas on August 20, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News "/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span dir="ltr" id="isPasted">People residing in Laurel, town surrounding the Taal Volcano in Batangas, go about their chores a day after volcanic smog clears from Volcano island in Taal Batangas on August 20, 2024.<em> Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News </em></span><em> </em></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">MANILA – Tagaytay City remained open to tourists on Tuesday despite the sulfur dioxide belched by Taal Volcano, which has caused volcanic smog in large parts of Batangas, Cavite, and Laguna.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">At the People’s Park, one of the tourist destinations in Tagaytay City, many visitors continue to arrive. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Among them was Mark Christian Fernandez’s family from Madella, Quirino Province, who visited Tagaytay City for the first time. They attended an event in Manila and decided to take a side trip to Tagaytay.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Naka-book na kasi kami dito kaya hindi na pwede umatras then bababa na rin bukas after ng stay namin dito. Mayroong fear, nandito na eh, first time namin kasi na nag-travel buong family at first time namin sa Tagaytay,” said Fernandez.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/regions/2024/8/19/batangas-neighboring-provinces-blanketed-in-vog-from-taal-volcano-2055">Batangas, neighboring provinces blanketed in vog from Taal Volcano</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Vendor Mary Jane Hongoy noted that despite the thick vog on Monday, many tourists still came. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Parang relax lang mga tao, napunta pa rin sila dito araw -araw, siguro nakikiusyoso rin sila kung ano nangyayari  sa Taal,” said Hongoy.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Fruit vendor Susie De Jesus observed a slight decrease in tourists, but she said this has not significantly affected their livelihood.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“May kaunting kabawasan ng buyer na pumupunta gawa ng balitang may smog pero ok pa rin po nakakabenta rin,” she said. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/8/19/planes-told-to-avoid-flying-over-taal-1314">Planes told to avoid flying over Taal</a></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Tagaytay City Tourism Council said that it was business as usual because the vog had no significant impact.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The council hopes many tourists will visit Tagaytay City during the upcoming <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/15/marcos-moves-ninoy-aquino-day-to-august-23-2026">long weekend.</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Sa mga turista po, we are open, our tourism establishments remain open, business as usual and just be safe and also look at the reminders that are given by the local government and the health officials,” said Dr. Kim Fajardo, executive vice president of the Tagaytay City Tourism Council.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><strong>GAS EMISSIONS</strong></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), sulfur dioxide emissions from Taal Volcano have continued since 2021, a year after its major eruption in January 2020.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/specials/facing-volcano-then-virus">Taal: Facing a volcano, then a virus</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Maria Antonia Bornas, chief of Phivolcs’ volcano monitoring and eruption prediction division, explained that the recorded 3,355 tons of sulfur dioxide emitted by Taal last Thursday was low compared to the 25,000 tons recorded at the peak of the volcano’s unrest in October 2021.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Bornas clarified that the presence of thick vog does not mean that the sulfur dioxide emissions from Taal Volcano are high; rather, it is due to a lack of wind in the Taal Caldera Region.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“This is relatively low but what happened was that kasi nga wala tayong masyadong wind, so kung anuman yung ibinuga for several days, yung concentration ng ibinuga ng Taal for several days hindi umaalis… This actually favor the formation of volcanic smog o vog,” Bornas said.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Bornas added that sulfur dioxide emissions from Taal Volcano could continue until 2026, similar to what happened with Mt. Oyama in Miyake-Jima, Japan, which took five years to cease.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Ang tingin naming tatagal pa yan, matagal pa yan at least for five years, if we will compare into similar volcano in Japan, 5 years bago nawala yung sulfur dioxide. So if it is started in 2021, may delay nga ng 1 year after eruption, baka hanggang 2026 pa ito,” Bornas added.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The situation around Taal Volcano and Taal Lake, as well as the surrounding towns and cities, has become clearer on Tuesday following heavy rainfall.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Classes remain suspended today in some schools in Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, and Lubang Island in Occidental Mindoro.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/19/-walangpasok-face-to-face-class-suspensions-for-aug-20-tuesday-due-to-volcanic-smog-2002">#WalangPasok: Class suspensions for Aug. 20, Tuesday, due to volcanic smog</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>OTHER THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR</strong></div><div><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">According to Phivolcs’ latest Taal bulletin, possible hazards include steam-driven or gas-driven explosions, volcanic earthquakes, minor ashfall, and lethal accumulations or expulsions of volcanic gas.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Despite this, <span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Phivolcs Director Dr. Teresito Bacolcol said</span> they have yet to monitor volcanic earthquakes from Taal since August 8.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Magandang pangitain po ito, magandang senyales since ang presence ng volcanic earthquakes ay nagpapahiwatig na may magma na umaangat at binabasag ang mga bato. So, kung wala hong lindol, ibig sabihin po wala pong magma na umaakyat,” he said. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Bacolcol reminded the public, especially those in affected areas, to exercise precaution, avoid outdoor activities, and to protect themselves by wearing N95 face masks when going outside.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“And kung makalanghap sila ng asupre, uminom ng maraming tubig, para madilute yung asupre, and kung malala na talaga lalo na sa mga may health conditions, they need to see medical doctors,” he said.</span></div><div><br/></div>

<p>Tagaytay City remained open to tourists on Tuesday despite the sulfur dioxide belched by Taal Volcano, which has caused volcanic smog in large parts of Batangas, Cavite, and Laguna.</p>

Tagaytay City remained open to tourists on Tuesday despite the sulfur dioxide belched by Taal Volcano, which has caused volcanic smog in large parts of Batangas, Cavite, and Laguna.

Tagaytay open to tourists despite Taal smog; volcano could spew gas until 2026

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Tagaytay open to tourists despite Taal smog; volcano could spew gas until 2026

Dennis Datu,

Pia Gutierrez,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 20, 2024 02:17 PM PHT

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Updated August 20, 2024 03:11 PM PHT

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