JUBAN, Sorsogon- Uncertain future was again facing the residents of barangay Puting-sapa here as the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised alert level 2 over Bulusan Volcano effective yesterday noon warning of a possible explosive eruptions in coming days.

        The heightened alert level was brought about by the steady increase in volcanic earthquakes registered by the Phivolcs in the past five days, resident volcanologist Bella Tubianosa told Bicol Mail.

Signs of unreast
        The Phivolcs official said the increase was significant reaching 673 earthquakes in five days with 223 recorded in just one day. The normal level was only five earthquakes per day, she stressed.

Caption: Ely Estrania casts a blank stare as he ponders his family’s future in the face of an impending eruption of Bulusan Volcano.

        The Phivolcs also noted a decrease in the sulfur dioxide emission rate which yielded only 161 to 315 tonnes per day which were lower than the baseline value of 500 tonnes per day.

        “The decrease in the sulfur dioxide emission could mean that something is blocking its emission,” she explained.

        Tubianosa said these signs coupled by an inflation along the north-east flank of the volcano measured at about four milimeters during the ground deformation survey last April 17, were indications of increasing volcanic unrest.

        The Phivolcs had issued warnings and had alerted all disaster councils of concerned municipalities.

Plans in place
        Noel Pura, Action Officer of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, said they had already conferred with municipal disaster councils and had reviewed the contigency plans.

Caption: Catalina Pesino could only hope that the volcano would no longer erupt and would spare their farms.

        “Everything and everyone are ready just in case the big bang comes,” he told GMA News by mobile phone while in a meeting with officials of the Office of Civil Defense in Legazpi City Monday.

        Pura said the contingency plans were detailed up to barangay level and evacuation centers and vehicles to be used for evacuation were already identified.

Appeal for help
        This early vegetable farmers and residents here were already appealing to the government for help as the recent ash fall had already devastated their farms, their only source of livelihood.

        Ely Estrania,68, of barangay Puting-sapa, said the ash explosion last May 12 had severely damaged their farms, most of which were already on harvestable stage.

        Estrania said since the two supertyphoons lashed out at their coconut farms residents who used to rely on copras had also shifted to vegetable farming. At least 90 per cent of the more or less 150 households in the village fully derived their livelihood from vegetable farms.

        He said their farms were planted with eggplants, ampalaya, tomatoes, sweet potato, gabi and string beans which they sold at the Juban Public Market some 11 kilometers away.

        But with the sulfuric ash now covering their farms they had nothing left to sell and were now just relying on menial jobs like helping in harvesting rice where they get paid P150 every other day, Estrania said.

        “Before the ash fall devastated our farms we earn as much as P300 to P500 in gross sales where we get our daily needs,” he added.

        Catalina Pesino, 72, another vegetable farmer, said they were now at a loss where to get new capital to rehabilitate their farms.

        “I am praying that the volcano would now just maintain its silence so that it would no longer destroy our vegetable farms,” she said wishfully.

        Her son Carlito said a small can of ampalaya seeds cost P540 while eggplant seeds cost P640 per can.

        Other inputs like fertilizer and herbicide were also very costly now, Carlito added.

        Because of the thick ash covering the vegetation we could not easily work because the ash affects our breathing even if we use gas mask, he added.

        The farmers were sending their appeal to the government not to wait for the volcano to explode again and instead to look into their plight right now saying people in their village were now starting to feel the harsh effects.

        It won’t take long before the women in our barangay start leaving the village to look for work as househelp in Manila if no help comes to us soonest, Estrania said mournfully.

        If the government would help us, I hope they would move now and no longer wait for something worse to happen because for us the worse had already come, and that is we are already starting to starve, he stressed.