Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 26) — Classes from pre-school to high school in the entire province of Batangas will remain suspended “until further notice” despite Taal Volcano being downgraded to Alert Level 3, Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas said in a press briefing Sunday.
“Ang dahilan, pati ‘yung mga guro ay nag-evacuate, hindi lamang ‘yung mga bata. ‘Yung mga paaralan, 50,000 mga bakwit ang nakatira doon hanggang kagabi,” Mandanas said.
[Translation: The reason is even teachers had to evacuate, not just the children. Schools are still housing some 50,000 evacuees who have stayed there since last night.]
Mandanas said the provincial government is now working to transfer evacuees from schools to new evacuation centers.
Classes in Tagaytay City, meanwhile, resume tomorrow. Tagaytay City Mayor Agnes Tolentino said in her letter to the superintendent of the schools division of Cavite province that face masks will be distributed to all students.
Classes in all levels in Batangas have been suspended for a week due to Taal Volcano’s unrest, while classes in all levels in Tagaytay City have been suspended for four days.
State volcanologists lowered Taal Volcano’s alert status to Level 3, indicating a “decreased tendency towards hazardous explosive eruption.” This came two weeks after the volcano’s eruption on January 12 that led to a forced evacuation of thousands of families in the surrounding areas.
However, this “should not be interpreted that (the volcano’s) unrest has ceased or that the threat of a hazardous eruption has disappeared.”
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued the lower alert status following a decline in volcanic earthquakes, slower ground deformation in Volcano Island and the volcano’s caldera, and weak steam and gas emissions at its main crater.
CNN Philippines Multi-platform Writers Xave Gregorio and Glee Jalea contributed to this report.
