BATANGAS, Philippines – Taal Volcano appeared to greet Isko Moreno with a billowing cloud of smoke from its crater on the morning of Saturday, March 26, when the presidential candidate was about to speak at a packed gymnasium in San Nicolas town, on the shores of Taal Lake.

WATCH: Cloud of smoke from Taal Volcano getting bigger. Some 30 minutes ago, Phivolcs tweeted about ‘increasing activity.’ We’re monitoring from San Nicolas town where Isko Moreno is supposed to give a speech befor a large crowd.@rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/SXzNt8IDGi

— Pia Ranada (@piaranada) March 26, 2022

Before his arrival, some bystanders and campaign event participants rushed to the shores of the lake as a large white cloud ballooned from the mouth of the volcano. Within minutes, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) had declared Alert Level 3 over the volcano, due to a phreatomagmatic burst recorded at 7:22 am.

As this was happening, Moreno’s senatorial slate could be heard still speaking inside the gymnasium. Present onstage were Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, who hosted the Manila mayor in Batangas, and San Nicolas local executives led by Mayor Lester de Sagun.

At 8:48 am, Moreno messaged Rappler that he was 10 minutes away and would make an announcement.

When he arrived onstage to cheers and applause, he immediately approached Recto and appeared to confer with him. Moreno also spoke with other persons onstage who appeared to be organizers. He then sat down and listened as the last Aksyon senatorial candidate Carl Balita finished his speech, followed by Recto who then introduced Moreno.

After greeting the crowd and saying they appeared unfazed by the plumes of gas from the volcano, Moreno told the hundreds gathered to go home.

“Subalit hindi ako magkakampanya ngayon, mas gusto ko, uwi na lang kayo. Puntahan ‘nyo pamilya ninyo dahil hindi natin malalaman anong magaganap diyan,” said Moreno.

(But I will not campaign now, I would rather you go home. Go to your families because we don’t know what will happen with the volcano.)

“‘Yung kampanya ko, puwede pa ako mangampanya sa ibang araw, pero ‘yung mga kagamitan, mahal sa buhay, dapat ipaghanda. Mas mahalaga po sa akin ‘yon,” he continued.

(My campaign can wait another day, but your belongings, your loved ones, need to be prepared. That’s more important to me.)

The audience clapped and cheered at this but did not make a move to leave their seats because Moreno continued to speak.

“Sana kahit na hindi ako nakapagkampanya sa inyo, sana mamahalin niyo pa rin ako (I hope that even if I wasn’t able to campaign here today, that you will still love me),” said the Manila chief, again eliciting cheers from the crowd.

His speech, in total, was around five minutes long.

‘Bilis Kilos’ promise

After his speech, Moreno gave an interview to reporters. He explained that though San Nicolas is not one of the “high-risk” villages where evacuation is recommended under Alert Level 3, he would rather be “ahead of the worst-case scenario.”

He said he did confer with Recto onstage to suggest making their speeches brief so he could announce that the event was to be cut short so people can go home.

Moreno planned to go to his next scheduled town hall meeting in nearby Santa Teresita town to make the same announcement. He was supposed to have one other campaign rally in Sto. Tomas and then a grand rally later at night. Asked if the volcanic activity would cancel all these plans, the presidential bet said their team would “play it by ear” as more is known about Taal’s situation.

Moreno sought to project his branding of “bilis kilos” or fast action. When asked by a reporter if Manila would come to the aid of Batangas if needed, he said: “Yes we are ready. It was the mayor (Lester de Sagun) who said, who knew that at the height of the Taal (2020 Taal Volcano eruption), we were here in the first two hours, MDRRMO (Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office).”

Willie Ong weighs in

Moreno let his running mate, doctor Willie Ong, face the media to give health tips in case of more damaging eruptions.

Ong pushed for making a new alert level category tailored for persons with weak or compromised respiratory systems.

“Kung mayroon kayong asthma, sakit sa baga, mga tinamaan ng COVID-19 na mahina ang baga, nagka pulmonya, nag kasakit sa puso, sa akin, early evacuation,” said Ong.

(If you have asthma, lung disease, those with weak lungs due to COVID-19, pulmomary disease, for me, there should be early evacuation.)

If ever Taal Volcano causes ashfall like in 2020, Ong told people to use N95 masks or do double-masking, close windows and doors, and store food properly. – Rappler.com