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PHILLIPPINES
Volcanic Evolution
By Jheri St. James
The Philippine Islands
were first visited by Europeans on Magellan’s expedition of
1521, and were later named in honor of Philip II of Spain. Perhaps
the freshest soil in Common Ground 191’s collection comes
from the Republic of the Philippines, thanks to Estrella F. Alabastro,
Secretary in the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), who
asked the scientists at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology
and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) to make this collection. The beginning
of the narrative written by these scientists sounds like a tongue-twister: “That
soil was collected at the Pinatubo Volano in June of 2005. Pinatubo
Volcano is an active hornblende andesite-dacite stratovolcano and
dome complex in the island of Luzon, Philippines. It is the highest
peak along the Pinatubo-Mariveles volcanic belt of 22 active volcanoes,
currently one of six monitored by the PHIVOLCS, and stood 1745m
above sea level prior to the 1991 eruption. After almost 400 years
of quiescence, Pinatubo Volcano’s eruption on 15 June 1991
wrought havoc to thousands of communities lying on the slopes of
the volcano, blanketing most of Southeast Asia with ash, and reducing
its summit elevation by at least 300 meters. Considering that at
least 1,000,000 people were threatened, accurate prediction and
interpretation of observed events remarkably reduced the number
of casualties to a few hundreds. Trace ash was found in Vietnam,
Malaysia and Borneo. At least 5 cm or more thick of tephra-fall
deposits covered a land area of approximately 4,000 km² surrounding
the volcano, which buried crops and resulted in collapse of structures
due to the sheer weight of the rain-saturated tephra. More than
300 people died during the eruption, most of them from collapsing
roofs. Even years after the 1991 catastrophic eruption, several
events still occurred due to secondary explosions and pyroclastic
flows. The samples were taken from the Mactan area near Clark Air
Base. Significant amounts of pumice and sand-sized fragments can
be found in the sample.”
Accurate characterization of the hazards and timely warnings of
eruptions led to the evacuation of approximately 56,000
people—including
14,500 U.S. servicemen and their dependents from high-hazard areas
days before the volcano’s climactic eruption. These
warnings were based on the readings of seismometers
on analog drum recorders.
Despite advances in computer-based data acquisition,
drum recorders are still needed for quick analysis
by volcanologists of the current
level of seismic activity at the volcano. (Photos courtesy
of USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory)
But disasters later become tourist sites. These days,
Lonely Planet.com writes, “Several
travel agents in Los Angeles offer tours to Mt. Pinatubo, which left an amazing
landscape. Walk among the ravines, drive up in a jeep or arrange a scenic flight.” Hiking
trips are also offered to Mt. Mayon in southeast Luzon, once described as the
world’s most perfect volcanic cone. This active volcano has erupted
four times since 1968, most recently in June 2001. Mt. Taal, south
of Manila, is described
as one of the smallest and most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and
the Philippines highest peak, Mt. Apo on Mindanao is another hiking
and trekking destination.
“Explosive” and “change” are two apt words to describe
the far-flung Philippines archipelago, located between the Philippine Sea and
the South China Sea, east of Vietnam. A small country slightly larger than Arizona,
made up of 7,107 islands, it is favorably located in relation to many of Southeast
Asia’s main waters: the South China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sulu
Sea, Celebes Sea and Luzon Strait. These are the forgotten islands
of Southeast
Asia, ranging
in size from the largest, Luzon, to tiny rocks and islets. Only 2,870
of the islands are named, about 730 are inhabited, and 11 account for
most of the total
land area and population. The landscape is characterized by coastal
mangroves, fertile plains, luxuriant tropical jungles, rugged mountains,
active
volcanoes and hot springs.
The Philippines have been plagued by a huge assortment of earthly troubles.
In 2000, a Brussels-based research center declared the Philippines the
most disaster-prone
country on earth. It named typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods,
garbage landslides and military action against Muslim insurgents as just
some of the problems with which both locals and tourists have had to deal.
Because
the islands are located in a typhoon belt, Filipinos can anticipate 15
cyclones per year, five to six striking some island; landslides, active
volcanoes; destructive
earthquakes; tsunamis. These are the kinds of cataclysmic activities that
create new ground.
However, in spite of this fresh new soil, it is the same old Common
Ground 191 story in the Republic of the Philippines—the endless
conflicts of man warring over real estate. The Philippine Islands became
a Spanish
colony during the 16th
century and were ceded to the U.S. in 1898 following the Spanish-American
War. In 1935 they became a self-governing commonwealth. In 1942, the
islands fell
under Japanese occupation during WWII, and U.S. forces and Filipinos
fought together during 1944-45 to regain control. On July 4, 1946,
the Philippines attained their
independence from the U.S., subsequently celebrating their Independence
Day from the U.S. on the same date as the U.S. celebrates its Independence
Day from English
rule.
The murder of President Benigno Aquino and charges of fraud in the
presidential elections of 1986 led to the ouster of President Ferdinand
Marcos. Corazon
Aquino, wife of Benigno Aquino, claimed victory in the elections and
accused Marcos forces
of manipulating election returns. Weeks of political turmoil ensued.
Finally the army took the side of Mrs. Aquino, and Ferdinand Marcos
and his wife
Imelda fled the country, ending his 21 year rule. On July 2, 1990,
Imelda Marcos was
tried and acquitted by a New York City court of robbing the Philippine
treasury during her husband’s presidency. In 1992, the U.S. closed
its last military bases on the islands. Former Vice President to Joseph
Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
was elected to a six-year term in May 2004.
That brief sketch barely tracks the explosive, seismic eruptions leading
to each presidential change, many spearheaded by Cardinal Jaime Sin,
the influential
former head of the country’s Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Sin died on
21 June 2005. Powerful and poor alike filed past the open casket containing his
body, while a large portrait hung overhead. Former President Corazon Aquino,
who enjoyed the cardinal’s support during the popular uprising that toppled
dictator Ferdinand Marcos and brought her to power, attended the mass. Current
President Arroyo paid tribute to the former church leader, describing him as
a “blessed man who never failed to unite Filipinos during the
most crucial battles against tyranny and evil.”
A country’s culture both joins and separates it from other countries
in the world. The culture of the Philippines bears this out. Its artists
and handcrafters
produce original, unusual works. From writers of everything from
literature to folk tales, myths and legends, to film, painting, and photography,
the
Filopino people are very active creators. Many painters like Mideo M. Cruz,
Andres
Barrioquinto,
Mario de Rivera, Brenda Fajardo and Karen Flores paint vividly
colorful paintings, which support the gallery scene in the islands. The handicrafts
of the Philippines
are rich and varied, resulting in many bamboo and rattan furniture
pieces, and macrame and capiz shell home accessories.
Another art form is Inayan Eskrima martial arts, a form numbering as many
styles as there are islands. Inayan Eskrima is a gathering of several
different styles
developed over time by the late Mlangisursuro Mike Inay. Eskrima
literally means to skirmish or fight, using weapons including the open hand,
blades,
18 to 26
inch sticks, knives, swords, staffs and spears, as well as boxing,
kicking and wrestling and ground fighting.
After describing the assorted types of conflicts of man,
we gladly take note of the endless variations of
Mother Nature’s beauty on our planet. Like
the lands in all the countries in the Common Ground 191 journal, the Philippines
boast tremendous earthly beauty. Described as the eighth wonder of the world,
the rice terraces in Bantue, in north Luzon, were carved out of the hillside
by Ifugao tribespeople (see picture at beginning) 2000 to 3000 years ago. These
remarkable terraces stretch like stepping-stones to the sky—some
reaching an altitude of 1500m (4920ft.).
Other natural beauty exists in the famous white beaches
of the island of Boracay, off the northwestern
tip of Panay,
which regularly appear in the “Best
Beaches of the World” lists.
Other spectacular sights include the strange Chocolate
Hills of Bohol in the Visayas, the volcanic creater
Lake Taal, southwest
of Manila, the
capital, and the burial caves of Sagada. And there are 5,000
other uninhabited islands
to
explore.
Thank you, Estrella F. Alabastro for your participation
(at the request of your daughter Edna de
la Rosa) by asking the
PHIVOLCS scientists who
did the actual
collection to add to our art project. A sad
footnote to this journal entry is the recent loss of five
PHIVOLCS scientists
in a helicopter
crash on April
28,
2005, while on aerial inspection of sites
for relocation of people from the Philippines who
lost
their homes
in a recent
typhoon. Estrella
writes, “All
five victims were very much involved in the events
prior to, during and after the Pinatubo
eruption. Because of the dedication and competence
of our people at PHIVOLCS, the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo
was predicted in advance,
enabling
us
to
relocate communities (particularly the indigenous
peoples) living close to the volcano.
Even after the eruption PHIVOLCS continued
to monitor and give valuable advice to government on
the mitigation
of rain-induced
lahar flows
to the
plains of
Central Luzon. For its work on Mt. Pinatubo
PHIVOLCS has
been given many awards, national and international.
“ Dr. Raymundo Punongbayan, the head of PHIVOLCS until recently (he perished
in the helicopter crash) was given the Sergey Soloviev
medal by the European Geophysical
Society in April 2003. This award is given
to a scientist who has increased our knowledge of natural hazards, their basic
principles
as well as
their proper
assessment, in order to save lives and properties
and protect the environment. The other scientists who died with Ray are:
Dr.
Norman
Tungol,
Dr.
Jessie Daligdig,
Mr. Dindo Javier, Mr. Orlando Abengoza.”
The Filipino survivors in this dramatic, disastrous
and volcanic archipelago are courageous and fierce,
stoic and
artistic.
They are also colorful and
friendly, driving their Jeepneys around Manila.
They live on fresh, new common ground and
we welcome their deeply meaningful story and soil
to Common Ground 191. We will add the soil of the
Philippines
in
reverence as a memorial
to those
who perished,
having saved so many lives.
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