DARAGA, Albay—Heavy ashfall rained over Daraga and other neighboring towns surrounding Mayon Volcano late afternoon on Saturday, May 2, prompting authorities to issue warnings to residents of a possible pyroclastic flow. Lava continued to spill from the restive volcano, which spewed ash plumes around 5 p.m. that covered the sky with thick, dark ash particles,...
Tag: Albay
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Chasing Mount Mayon
After catching a glimpse of the elusive Mount Fuji in Japan last year, my husband and I had no idea that within months we would be setting our sights on another peak: Mayon Volcano. I remembered our brief encounter with Mayon when, early in the new year, I read reports of heightened unrest including rockfalls...
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‘Uwan’ submerges Albay villages; nearly 257,000 evacuated
LEGAZPI CITY—Toppled electric poles, fallen tree branches and leaves, and debris littered key streets of the city after Supertyphoon “Uwan” surged past Albay on Sunday on its way to northeastern Luzon. Uwan (known internationally as Fung-wong) unleashed powerful winds and heavy rains that brought floods to neighborhoods, farms and commercial districts in many areas in...
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In praise of Edcel Lagman, ‘Bicol’s great son’
Tributes continue to be aired for Albay (first district) Rep. Edcel Lagman, who died on Jan. 30 after a long and illustrious career in lawmaking and defending human rights beginning in the Marcos Sr. dictatorship. In a Facebook post “mourning” the loss of Lagman, Leni Robredo said that when she was vice president, she constantly...
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Fear, isolation test resolve of residents in Albay town
LIBON, Albay—Delia Sario Elcano, 68, plodded through mud and past fallen power lines, barbed wires, slippery stones, and streams that were not there before. She had to take an unfamiliar path in temporarily abandoned residential lots because the usual route was covered with soil and rubble from a landslide. It was noon of Oct. 24...
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Albay aims for 100% renewable energy in 2050
GUINOBATAN, Albay—Crizel Joyz Amano, 22, is back in town after signing up at a review center in Manila in preparation for a chemical engineering exam. Here in Albay, she must still regularly log in at 6 p.m. for an online review, all while dealing with the constant power interruptions in the province. “We experience almost-daily...