Photo Credit: Facebook by Herbert A. Ellovido
I did not even know that Tall Volcano is erupting today until my friend GPCox of Pacific Paratrooper told me. Thanks GP. Please pray for all those affected by its fury.
I then took a look at the news and this is what I found.
I called my brother and he checked back home. My cousin who lives in Bauan which is a little further than my hometown got a dusting. They heard a rumbling thunder then tremors. Alitagtag where Mom used to live is just across the lake. I thank God Mom is not around to experience this. Residents of Taal are being evacuated but the mayor said the visibility is not good so drivers are driving very slow. I believe most affected are north of the volcano which includes Metro Manila where the wind is shifting north- northeast. Alitagtag is…
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Rosalinda R Morgan 
A friend of mine is from Talisay and he’s got a house right on the shores of Lake Taal. I’ve got plenty of friends who live in close proximity to the lake and right now my mother in law is visiting her relatives in San Pablo, Laguna, not too far from Taal. It’s pretty scary
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If ash can reach all the way to Manila, Talisay is not really a safe place because the wind is blowing north. San Pablo I would think is pretty safe. Alitagtag which is just south of the lake has been spared of the worst over the years. Most people believe it’s divine intervention of their patron saint which is the Holy Cross.
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Well, my friend invested a lot of money to purchase that property in Talisay. I was there few years ago and it’s a strange feeling to think that the volcano could theoretically have spewed ashes while I was there. We have a similar situation here in Italy where the city of Naples lies between the Vesuvius and the Campi Flegrei which are two active volcanoes, the latter being a super-volcano (if it erupted the ashes could almost reach Rome)
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I can understand your friend paying good amount of money for his piece of land. Dad owned a big piece of land, 59 hectares along the shore on the Alitagtag side, paid taxes for over 30 years, only got screwed by some corrupt politicians and his own lawyer after his death and confiscated the whole thing. Whoever got the land, I have no sympathy for him. It’s beautiful looking at the volcano when it is calm but when it erupts, it’s a monster reaching in all directions.
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Very sad. Yes, indeed, the lake is absolutely amazing, I remember the incredible view from Tagaytay (and the tagay-tagay with Red Horse beer in Tagaytay as well…lol) and I hope that the many people who work in the tourist sector won’t lose their jobs because Tagaytay is such an incredible tourist resort. There is also a huge area not far from Lake Taal where Filipinos who live in Italy have created a sort of Little Italy where they have incredibile Italian style mansions. The fact that some people have invested so much money to buy real estate in an area plagued by natural calamities is really something that makes me think of how futile it can be to stake one’s life on accumulating “stuff”, and yet we all keep giving material things way too much importance (including myself, I am far from perfect in this area)
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I’ve been watching the videos on twitter and it is scary. I saw a list of barangays in Batangas affected and thanks heavens ours is not on the list. We have three properties in Alitagtag but those have been in the family since the 1800s (so we did not pay much) and the newly acquired ones are those that Dad bought by the lake and lost. Although Dad built our house at a vast expense in the 80s. I have to agree with you about putting too much importance about material stuffs. It’s sad to say most Filipinos want to flaunt their wealth by buying too much stuffs and impressing their friends. I remember in one of my few trips back home, people commented to my Mom that they were surprised I’m still the simple girl although I must admit little do they know I have a terrible expensive taste. hahaha. I started downsizing and feels better about it.
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You’ve got to see the lightning interacting with the spewing cloud!
https://search.aol.com/aol/video;_ylt=A0geKefnYBxe1h0AOVxpCWVH;_ylu=X3oDMTByMHVzM20zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMzBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw–?q=taal+volcano+and+lightning&v_t=comsearch#id=1&vid=931667fd2381d997fee5ee7ea58650e2&action=view
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I checked some of the videos. They are awesome but dangerous. This is the worst in my lifetime of Taal Volcano’s eruptions. There was a big one on Jan. 30, 1911 which my grandmother told me about and I wrote briefly about it in my book “The Iron Butterfly.”
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In the end the haves will be buried next to the have nots so….downsizing is probably the wisest move. Being internally grounded and seeking “namamalaging panloob na pagkakontento” (maligaya) is better than seeking gratification from external things (masaya)…I like how the Tagalog language makes this distinction that in English is medyo malabo (happy… isang salita lang)
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I’m really contented with my life. I have my books and my garden. That’s all I need to make me happy. Been there, done that like of thing.
I’m really amazed at your command of the Tagalog language. I’ve been abroad for so long (left in 1967) and sometimes get rusty in Tagalog that I have to stop and think what to say next. I also lost the Batangas accent. I speak Tagalog with the American accent and English with the Filipino accent. People always ask where I come from.
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I am used to the Batangas dialect: dito is “dine”, rito is “rine”, ito is “ire”…..the same in Bulacan
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GP is amazing! He doesn’t miss a thing!
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He is. He gets the Philippine news first before I do most of the time.
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