By TITO S. TALAO
Though Talisay town in Camarines Norte is almost 200 kilometers away from Mt. Mayon in Albay province, Juancho Ramores, formerly the King of Kennon Road in the Marlboro Tour, and now vice mayor of Talisay, woke up with some concern Friday on hearing that the world famous volcano located at the heart of Bicol was acting up.
“Kahit medyo malayo sa’min, siempre nag-aalala pa rin ako lalo na sa mga taga-roon sa Albay tulad ni Erwin Riquinala, yung head marshal namin galing sa Highway Patrol Group,” said Ramores, race director in the ongoing MPTC Tour of Luzon 2026 revival.
With its last eruption recorded in January 2018, Mayon Volcano, noted for its near-perfect conical shape, “continued to show signs of intensified and magmatic unrest, with lava flows and volcanic earthquakes,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
Multiple social media posts showed heavy ashfall blanketing several towns in the province following a strombolian eruption and continuous pyroclastic density currents.
A Strombolian eruption is described as “a moderately explosive volcanic eruption characterized by intermittent bursts of lava, gas, and volcanic bombs, named after Italy’s Stromboli volcano.”
“Wala naman panganib o pangamba sa bayan namin dahil malayo nga,” said Ramores, once acknowledged as the Tour’s sprint king. “Hindi ramdam, di katulad nong isang bulkan na pumutok noon.”
Ramores was referring to Mt. Pinatubo in Zambales in June 1991, which came down as the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, behind only the 1912 eruption of Novarupta in Alaska.
“Mas malayo yon sa Talisay, pero umabot sa’min yung abo.”
