MANILA – A sizable contingent of the Philippine National Police (PNP) will remain on the ground to assist in the orderly return of evacuees following the downgrading of the alert status to Level 3 of the Taal Volcano, PNP chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa, said on Monday.
Gamboa said that PNP personnel will help the local governments in facilitating the return of residents affected by the Taal Volcano eruption on January 12.
“The PNP will make available its personnel and resources for the massive clean-up effort that will welcome residents as they return to their homes to rebuild their lives,” Gamboa said in a statement.
Last Sunday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) lowered the Taal Volcano status from Alert Level 4 to 3 due to "decreased tendency towards hazardous eruption".
Gamboa, however, said the PNP troops will still have to provide security since some areas within the 7-kilometer danger zone around Taal volcano remain under lockdown.
Gamboa commended the affected residents for their cooperation, patience and civic spirit that allowed the PNP to hurdle challenges brought about by the calamity with zero casualty.
The PNP has deployed 13,000 policemen in the areas affected by the Taal Volcano eruption.
For his part, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año urged the residents and personnel of the PNP and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) not to "drop their guard" and maintain necessary precautionary measures.
"The crisis is not over. It’s over when there is no longer any alert level,” Año said in a statement.
Año said residents living outside the seven-kilometer danger zone around Taal Volcano may return to their homes.
He said the local government units (LGUs) have the discretion to advise their residents to return to their places.
However, Año said the LGUs should be prepared for a quick and organized evacuation if the alert level will be raised again.
The LGUs outside the 7-km danger zone are Alitagtag, Balete, Cuenca, Lemery, Lipa City, Malvar, Mataas na Kahoy, San Nicolas, Sta. Teresa, Taal, Talisay, and Tanauan City in Batangas province.
Año clarified that communities residing near Taal Lake, west of Taal Volcano Island and within the seven-kilometer radius from the main crater are still on lockdown.
The decision was based on the Bulletin No. 2 of the Batangas provincial government, he said.
Año said the entry into Taal Volcano Island’s Permanent Danger Zone is strictly prohibited based on the advisory of Phivolcs and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
“The PNP is directed to ensure that no one returns to the Volcano Island now and in the future, as this has been declared a no-man’s land no less by the President himself,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gamboa instructed the PNP Housing Board to facilitate the relocation of PNP personnel residing within the Taal volcano danger zone into safer PNP off-base housing projects within the region.
“Because several of our own police personnel were themselves victims of this tragedy, the PNP morale and welfare policy ensures that appropriate assistance is extended to them,” he said. (PNA)
