LANGUAGE VOLCANO, Philippines (AP) – The island is a ghost town, its trees are just dead in a gray landscape, its houses and ash covered and damaged by persistent earthquakes and the explosive volcanic eruption that took place a year ago.
Fisherman Rogelito Cacao regularly visits his home on the volcanic island south of the Philippine capital. “I miss our possessions, but it’s now covered with ash, we cattle like our cow, our horse, our pig, our boat and engines are covered by the volcano, that’s what I miss.”
Luisa Silva used to live at the foot of the Taal volcano and said that life would never be the same again. “At the moment, life is very difficult, we are not used to it. This is where we experienced things we have never experienced before; we do not know where to start, ”she said.
Silva wants to return to the island if the government allows it. She said they can grow vegetables and raise livestock at their homes on the island so they don’t have to buy food. Their animals also once transported tourists to see the picturesque crater.
A popular tourist destination located in the middle of a lake erupted on January 12, 2020.
More than 5,000 people, many of whom work as tour guides, fled the small island as the ground shook and the volcano bowed dark gray ash and steam into the air. Hundreds of horses, cows and other animals were left behind.
The eruption yielded an early crisis in a difficult year in one of the world’s most catastrophic countries. A few months after the volcano sent more than 376,000 people to safety, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.
Many evacuees stayed for a while in state-run emergency shelters and then returned to the ash-covered towns and cities in Batangas province as the dangers subsided.
But the volcanic island in Taalmeer is too dangerous, and the government is banning former residents from returning.
Some have found other housing, but about 50 families still live in tents a year after the eruption and use foreign labor. Jimmy Tenorio, mayor of Calauit, said the rest of the families living in tents would be relocated soon.
Meanwhile, Language is still rumbling, with small earthquakes and weak steam fumes flowing out of the crater on Monday.