UAE aid arrives for thousands of Filipinos in volcano ‘danger zone’

UAE Ambassador to the Philippines, Mohamed Obaid Al-Qataam Al-Zaabi, right, and the Philippine Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. inspect aid shipment from the UAE on June 12, 2023. (Department of Interior and Local Government)

• Mayon volcano in central Philippines has begun spewing lava down its slopes
• UAE aid is first foreign donation Manila has received for Mayon evacuees

MANILA: A humanitarian aid shipment from the UAE reached the Philippines on Monday to support thousands of Filipinos who were evacuated from villages near the country’s most active volcano, which has begun spewing lava and sulfuric gas.
The Mayon volcano in the central Albay province started to expel lava on Sunday night and has been on the third level of a five-step alert system since Thursday, indicating a high levela of unrest and the possibility of a hazardous eruption.
Philippine authorities have evacuated more than 14,000 people living within the 6-km radius “danger zone” of Mayon’s crater to safety since volcanic activity increased last week.
Following news of Mayon’s increasing unrest, the UAE government donated 50 tons of various food items to the Southeast Asian country, the Philippine Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. said.
“I received a call from (UAE) Ambassador (Mohammed Obaid Al-Qataam Al-Zaabi) … He informed me that the president of the UAE, upon seeing the news about Mayon … (wanted) to give humanitarian donations in the form of 50 tons of goods, of food,” Abalos told Arab News in a phone interview.
The UAE’s aid shipment is the first foreign donation the Philippines has received to support humanitarian and relief efforts for Mayon, Abalos said.
“He told me if we need anything more, the UAE government is more than willing to assist and help us and give more,” he added.
“We are very, very thankful … The gesture that they made really touched us.”
The food aid arrived on a chartered Etihad plane early Monday morning, and the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development said it is working to send the items to those affected by increased activity of the Mayon volcano.
“The role of DSWD is to send these goods to Mayon (evacuees) in 24 hours,” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in a statement. “On Wednesday morning, these should be in their hands.”
Officials said lava going down the Mayon slopes is a further sign of increased activity of the volcano, as the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology noted a further 260 rockfall events within 24 hours in their latest report, compared to 177 in the previous 24-hour period.
Philippine officials are now preparing to raise the volcano’s alert to the fourth level, which would mean that 40,000 persons are evacuated, Abalos said.
“We just have to look at the preparations being made — are there enough evacuation centers, food (supplies), etc.,” he added.
The 2,462-meter-high Mayon, located about 330 km southeast of the capital Manila, is a popular tourist attraction in the Philippines because of its near-perfect conical shape. It last erupted violently in 2018, displacing tens of thousands of villagers.
Mayon is considered among the most active of about two dozen volcanoes in the Philippines and has erupted more than 50 times in the last four centuries.
Located along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the Philippines is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The 1991 eruption of the long-dormant Mount Pinatubo killed over 800 people and was one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the last century.