News Roundup 06 June 2022
Jun 06, 2022 • 4 min Read
Zambales fisherfolk resist China’s fishing ban | INQUIRER.NET – Fisherfolk in Zambales are resisting China’s unilateral fishing ban in the South China Sea, which encroaches on parts of the West Philippine Sea. In a statement on Monday, Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) vice chair for Luzon Bobby Roldan is compelling Filipino fisherfolk to defy the three-and-a-half month ban which started in May. “Beijing’s unilateral fishing ban will be recognized as it is. Our fisherfolk members will never comply as we affirm that China has no political and moral ascendancy to impose a fishing moratorium in our exclusive economic zone,” Roldan said. Pamalakaya lambasted China for using “marine biological conservation” as a pretext to the unilateral ban when they were the one “plundering” the maritime area. “The audacity of China to impose a fishing ban on the pretext of marine conservation when it is the one plundering our marine waters through its aggression,” Roldan lamented. “If there’s something that should be banned permanently in the West Philippine Sea, it must be Beijing’s destructive reclamation, artificial island-building, and massive poaching activities,” he added. The Department of Foreign Affairs has filed a diplomatic protest against the fishing ban which Beijing rejected.
Bulusan eruption rains ash, forces evacuation | INQUIRER.NET – More than a thousand families in Sorsogon were ordered to evacuate after Mount Bulusan erupted at around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, with steam-rich gray plumes rising about a kilometer and raining down ash on several villages in Juban town and the adjoining municipality of Irosin. Some 1,500 families in Juban alone were affected by the ashfall, according to Arvee Lodronio, head of the town’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO). In a phone interview, Lodronio said the municipal government has ordered the forced evacuation of residents in the villages of Buraburan, Sangkayon, Puting Sapa, Añog, Bacolod, Catanusan, and Guruyan. He said they prioritized persons with respiratory illnesses, senior citizens, and children in Barangay Puting Sapa who were living inside the 5-kilometer radius of the volcano. “The first explosion seems like rocks rolling at our roof. After a few minutes, the loud sound was followed by heavy ashfall,” said Jonilyn Redota, who said she immediately rushed out of their house in the village of Puting Sapa when she heard four loud thunder-like explosions and looked at Mt. Bulusan, an active volcano towering over their municipality. The 33-year-old mother said she immediately instructed her four young children to wear face masks and close the windows and doors of their house. Her mother and two children evacuated to the isolation center of the town while she and two other children stayed in their house to watch over their belongings. But Redota and the rest of her family would likely have to head for government shelters after Sorsogon authorities ordered a forced evacuation because of Bulusan’s phreatic eruption, which is a steam-driven explosion that occurs when underground water is heated by magma, lava or hot rocks. Joseph John Perez, DRRMO coordinator of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Sorsogon, said school officials were advised to prepare the classrooms in the towns of Juban, Irosin, Casiguran and Bulusan for possible evacuation of the affected population.
Authorities on alert after Bulusan eruption prompts evacuation in Sorsogon | PHILSTAR.COM – Authorities are monitoring the situation after Alert Level 1, indicating low-level unrest, was raised by state volcanology bureau Phivolcs over Bulusan Volcano following a phreatic eruption that caused ashfall in Juban and Casiguran in Sorsogon. According to early data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, 50 families or 180 individuals from Brgy. Puting Sapa in the municipality of Juban in Sorsogon were evacuated due to the heavy ashfall and pungent odor from the ask in the area, many of whom were children, pregnant women, and senior citizens. The NDRRMC said it issued a memorandum to the Bicol Regional DRRM Council directing it to ensure the prohibition of entry into the 4-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone and exercise of vigilance in the 2-kilometer Extended Danger Zone due to the increased possibilities of sudden and hazardous phreatic eruptions. The Bicol DRRM was also ordered to ensure the compliance of nearby local government units, particularly high-risk barangays, on the dissemination of advisories from the authorities regarding the management of ashfalls and other volcanic hazards. The NDRRMC also directed the Bicol RDRRMC to preposition teams and resources to support the affected LGUs should the need arise and prepare for possible alert escalation. In a statement, the Philippine Coast Guard District Bicol and PCG Station Sorsogon also said they were ready to send additional deployable response groups to assist with operations. As of press time, the PCG disclosed that up to 58 families or 216 residents are temporarily staying at the Juban Evacuation Center after the eruption. “Our FO5 is in coordination with the LGUs concerned. FO 5 has prepositioned resources and standby funds and we are ready to provide assistance to LGUs affected,” Department of Social Welfare and Development spokesperson Irene Dumlao also told reporters in a text message. In a separate statement, the Philippine National Police also said it was now on full alert to respond to the ongoing effect of the eruption.
