News Roundup 26 March 2022
Mar 26, 2022 • 4 min Read
Thousands flee after Taal Volcano erupts | PHILSTAR.COM – Thousands of people were ordered to evacuate from their homes near Taal Volcano Saturday after an eruption sent ash and steam hundreds of meters into the sky. Taal Volcano, which sits in a lake south of Manila, exploded with a “short-lived” burst at 7:22 am (2322 GMT), the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement. It warned further eruptions were possible, which it said could trigger dangerous, fast-moving volcanic flows of gas, ash and debris, as well as a tsunami. The seismological agency “strongly” recommended residents living in vulnerable communities around the lake be evacuated, as it raised the alert level from two to three. The initial eruption was followed by “nearly continuous phreatomagmatic activity” that sent plumes stretching 1,500 metres (4,900 feet) into the air. A phreatomagmatic eruption happens when molten rock comes into contact with underground or surface water, said Princess Cosalan, a scientist at the agency, likening it to pouring “water on a hot pan”. Cosalan told AFP that ash and steam emissions had quietened in the hours after the initial burst, but said the institute’s on-site sensors continued to detect volcanic earthquakes and another eruption was “possible”. “There is magmatic intrusion at the Main Crater that may further drive succeeding eruptions,” the agency warned. Residents of five villages were ordered to leave their homes, regional civil defence spokesman Kelvin John Reyes told AFP. More than 12,000 people live in the settlements, according to the latest available official data. Police have been deployed to stop people entering the high-risk areas. Taal is one of the most active volcanoes in a nation hit periodically by eruptions and earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” — a zone of intense seismic activity. Access to the volcano island, which was once home to a community of thousands, has been prohibited since January 2020.
Kontra Daya to Imee Marcos: Resign as chair of Senate committee on poll reforms | INQUIRER.NET – Election watchdog Kontra Daya on Saturday urged Senator Imee Marcos to resign as chairperson of the Senate committee on electoral reforms amid the investigation on the alleged data breach at election system provider Smartmatic. According to Kontra Daya convenor Danilo Arao, Senator Imee Marcos seating as the chairman of the Senate panel “leaves a bad taste in the mouth” as her brother former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos is running for president. “There is a certain degree of optics involved doon sa parang awkward moment na ang naglilead ng imbestigasyon ay kapatid ng kasalukuyang tumatakbo para sa pagkapangulo,” Arao said at the Annabel’s media forum. (There is a certain degree of optics involved in that awkward moment when the one leading the investigation is the sister of a presidential candidate.) “Kaya nga ang panawagan din ng Kontra Daya, hindi naman kailangan magresign ni Imee Marcos sa Senado, pero magresign naman sana siya bilang chair ng Senate committee on electoral reforms,” he added. (That’s why Kontra Daya is also calling for Imee Marcos to resign as chair of the Senate committee on electoral reforms. She does not need to resign as senator.) Arao said a legislative inquiry in aid of legislation on the issue of Smartmatic is just proper. However, he noted that there are other senators who can “step-up” so that there will be a “certain degree of independence” in the investigation. “So our call extends not just to Imee Marcos but also to other senators na tumatakbong pangulo o pangalawang pangulo, lalo na si Senator [Vicente] Sotto na nagsasalita hinggil din doon sa inquiry,” said Arao. (So our call extends not just to Imee Marcos but also to other senators running for president or vice president, especially Senator Sotto who is speaking about the inquiry.)
Scout Rangers kill Abu Sayyaf sub-leader in Basilan | Manila Bulletin – The leader of the bandit Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) has been killed by military forces in an encounter in Sumisip, Basilan on Friday, March 25. Colonel Jorry Baclor, chief of the public affairs office of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), identified the fatality as Radzmil Jannatul, an ASG sub-leader in Basilan and the pinpointed successor of the late ASG commander Furuji Indama. Baclor said that operating troops of the 7th Scout Ranger Company, 5th Scout Ranger Battalion of the First Scout Ranger Regiment were conducting security operations when they encountered an undetermined number of ASG bandits under the command of Jannatul in Barangay Baiwas. “After a 15-minute firefight, the ASG left one of their dead members while no casualty was reported on the AFP side,” Baclor said. According to the military official, Jannatul was the one who replaced Indama, the last Basilan-based senior official of the ASG, when he was killed in a military operation in October 2020.
