By Ephraim Aguilar (Inquirer)
Last updated 01:44am (Mla time) 07/18/2006
LEGAZPI CITY -- There is not a sign of fear in their faces as they go about their simple ways of living. But the villagers of Bonga have known the terror of living in the shadow of one of the Philippines’ killer volcanoes.
Village secretary Carmen Azul still vividly remembers what happened to her neighbors when Mount Mayon erupted in 1993.
“I heard the people yelling, I thought there was a street fight, until I saw people covered with ash, their skins burned,” she told the Inquirer.
“They had come from the foot of the volcano to farm or tend to their livestock. Some were still alive when I saw them but they were crying in pain because of their burns.”
The others were beyond care.
“They were already stiff and dead,” Azul said. “I was just thankful my husband did not go out to farm that day and just stayed home.”
The ghastly memories came back to Azul yesterday as the 2,474-meter volcano continued to rumble and scientists warned of the danger of another possibly major blast.
Besides the increased seismic activity from Mayon, volcanologists also noted that the stream of lava from the summit had rolled 800 meters down from the summit.
One also could not see any trace of concern in the faces of Bonga’s children but they also knew of the danger of living close to Mayon, some 7 km away from their village.
Their parents had told them what it was like.
“It is dangerous … If it explodes, we will leave this place and go to Gogon (a designated evacuation center),” 7-year-old Jessa said as she played with other kids on a dusty road.
Me-Ann, another child, said she would run as fast and as far as her legs would carry her. She said her mother had told her of what happened in 1993.
Benjamin Esquivel, village chief of Bonga, recalled the eruption was so sudden that the villagers did not have time to prepare.
Many farmers, including Esquivel’s two brothers, were working on the fields when they were hit by a mass of fiery ash from the volcano’s summit.
They died because of serious burns, he said.
79 dead
The eruption killed a total of 79 villagers, mostly farmers who were planting coconuts, vegetables and root crops at the foot of the volcano when it exploded.
“The main livelihood of the people here is farming. The farmers cultivate soil at the foot of the Mayon because the soil there is very fertile. It lessens their cost of production since they no longer need so much artificial fertilizer,” said Antonio Alcera, head of Barangay Mabinit, one of the danger areas at the foot of Mayon.
Based on Office of Civil Defense reports, as of March, there were 4,343 farmers living immediately outside the 6-km-radius permanent danger zone (PDZ) but continued to farm within the zone.
Said Alcera: “The farmers here are worried that because of the ongoing eruption, their crops will be destroyed. In 1993, the plantations were devastated by the series of ash falls, robbing the farmers of their source of living.”
Remembered lessons
Though women in the village are into weaving, farming remains the main source of income for the 400 households in Barangay Matanag.
In Bonga, Esquivel said the 1993 eruption taught villagers some important lessons which they have not forgotten.
“On their own initiative, the farmers are now careful not to enter the high-risk areas, planting in safer fields far from where the 1993 tragedy happened,” Esquivel said.
Nature’s signs
Villagers cling to their traditional beliefs about the signs of an imminent eruption.
“One of the common signs here is when the wells in the village dry up. It is also usually hot, even if it’s windy,” Azul said.
Old folks believe a change in the behavior of animals in the volcano’s forest also portends that an eruption is coming, according to Esquivel.
Birds, snakes and other wild animals have been observed to leave the volcano’s slopes when an eruption is near. They are believed to be able to feel the volcano’s restiveness, which makes them feel uneasy and prompts them to travel downslope.
Preparedness
The village chieftains of Bonga and Matanag said they were aware of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council’s evacuation scheme.
“I have advised the people to prepare the basic things they have to bring just in case the alert level is raised to four. We already know our designated evacuation center. We just have to be watchful all the time,” Alcera said.
Alcera said that if the situation worsened, nobody would want to be left in the village even if it meant giving up their livelihood.
“Who would want the 1993 tragedy to happen again?” Azul said.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs) said it had recorded 314 tremors in the last 24 hours up to 6 a.m. yesterday, significantly higher than the 111 tremors monitored Sunday.
“Residents in areas facing the Bonga gully in the southeast portion of the volcano and within 7 kilometers of the crater are advised to be prepared for evacuation,” Phivolcs said in a bulletin issued yesterday.
It advised residents near the Bonga gully to be vigilant against hazardous explosions that could cause lava flows and small rock avalanches.
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