Only Ash and Shells of Homes Left on Volcano Isle

Patterns of erosion on volcanic ash deposits are seen at the Taal volcano almost a year after it erupted, on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021 in Batangas province, Philippines. (AP)
Patterns of erosion on volcanic ash deposits are seen at the Taal volcano almost a year after it erupted, on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021 in Batangas province, Philippines. (AP)
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Only Ash and Shells of Homes Left on Volcano Isle

Patterns of erosion on volcanic ash deposits are seen at the Taal volcano almost a year after it erupted, on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021 in Batangas province, Philippines. (AP)
Patterns of erosion on volcanic ash deposits are seen at the Taal volcano almost a year after it erupted, on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021 in Batangas province, Philippines. (AP)

The island is a ghost town, its trees just dead sticks in a gray landscape, its homes and school ash-covered and damaged by continuing earthquakes and the explosive volcanic eruption that occurred one year ago.

Fisherman Rogelito Cacao regularly visits his home on the volcanic island south of the Philippine capital. “I miss our belongings but it is now covered in ash, our livestock like our cow, our horse, our pig, our boat and engines are all covered by the volcano, these is what I miss.”

Luisa Silva used to live at the foot of the Taal volcano and said life will never the same. “Right now life is very hard, we are not used to this. This is where we have experienced things that we have never experienced before, we don’t know where to start,” she said.

Silva wants to return to the island if the government allows it. She said they can grow vegetables and raise livestock at their homes on the island, saving them from needing to buy food. Their animals also once carried tourists to see the picturesque crater.

A popular tourist destination set in the middle of a lake, Taal erupted on Jan. 12, 2020.

More than 5,000 people, many of them working as tour guides, fled the small island as the ground shook and the volcano belched dark-gray ash and steam into the sky. Hundreds of horses, cows and other animals were left behind.

The eruption delivered an early crisis in what would become a tough year in one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations. A couple of months after the volcano sent more than 376,000 people fleeing to safety, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.

Many evacuees stayed in state-run emergency shelters for a while, then returned to the ash-blanketed towns and cities in Batangas province as the dangers subsided.

But the volcanic island in Taal Lake is too dangerous, and the government bans former residents from returning.

Some have found other housing, but about 50 families are still living in tents a year after the eruption and are resorting to odd jobs. Calauit village chief Jimmy Tenorio said the rest of the families living in tents will be relocated soon.

Meanwhile, Taal still rumbles, with small earthquakes and weak plumes of steam venting from the crater Monday.



King Charles Invites Trump for Unprecedented Second UK State Visit

US President Donald Trump holds a letter from Britain's King Charles as he meets with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, February 27, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump holds a letter from Britain's King Charles as he meets with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, February 27, 2025. (Reuters)
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King Charles Invites Trump for Unprecedented Second UK State Visit

US President Donald Trump holds a letter from Britain's King Charles as he meets with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, February 27, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump holds a letter from Britain's King Charles as he meets with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, February 27, 2025. (Reuters)

Donald Trump accepted an invitation from King Charles on Thursday to visit Britain, making the US President the first elected political leader in modern times to be hosted for two state visits by a British monarch.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer handed Trump a letter from Charles during a press conference with reporters at the White House. Trump immediately accepted the invitation.

The late Queen Elizabeth welcomed Trump for a three-day state visit in June 2019 during his first term in office, during which he had attended an opulent state banquet and a private lunch with the sovereign, as well as having tea with Charles, who was then heir.

That visit already put Trump in a select group of US presidents, as only Barack Obama and George W. Bush were afforded official state visits to Britain during Elizabeth's record 70 years on the throne.

It would also turn out to be the last of the more than 110 she hosted during her reign before her death in September 2022.

The visit was not the only occasion when Trump met Elizabeth. He was also invited to tea at Windsor Castle during a trip to Britain in 2018, when he was widely seen to have broken royal protocol by failing to bow to the queen and then walking in front of her as they inspected a military guard.

Both his visits to Britain also attracted large protests, with his 2018 trip costing police more than 14 million pounds as 10,000 officers were deployed from all over Britain.