The scenic greens of Taal Volcano are gone after the eruption in January 2020. But the residents are hopeful that, in time, the volcano would look so beautiful and lush with greenery again. And while that is not likely going to happen very soon, the grey world that it has become after the eruption also holds its eerie beauty.

Now that the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has lowered the alert level status of Taal Volcano to Alert Level 2, residents are going back to their homes. But they are advised to remain alert to the possibility of sudden eruptions. The volcanic island was also declared as a permanent danger zone. This means that no one will be allowed to live there again, for safety reasons.

But many residents still came back to the island to get whatever they could save from their homes, all of which have been covered with thick ash. Many of the homes have collapsed from the weight of the ash on the roof.

Photos of the Lake

A resident recently shared photos of the volcano, weeks after the eruption.

“Ang pag silip sa Mahal naming bulkan,” CJ Martinez posted on his Facebook account.

The desolate land covered with thick, grey ash looks like a setting from a sci-fi movie. The young man took photos of some craters, including one that was obviously the source of the recent eruption.

Scenes from Another Planet?

Though the lake lost its water during the eruption, it appears that the lake is back. But without the plants around it, it looks a bit scary. The scenes captured by CJ look like these places are from another planet.

There are yellow spots that appear to have sulfur deposits while an orange spot near the crater lake made netizens think this might be a small crater of magma.

What is Magma?

Magma is a molten or semi-molten natural material from beneath the Earth’s surface. This magma can push through holes or cracks in the crust, causing a volcanic eruption.

Getting pregnant out of wedlock is something that is never acceptable in Kuwait and other parts of the Middle East, but one kind employer defends her Pinay domestic helper from the angry mob who “made up stories” about her on social media.

After she got pregnant, however, the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) identified as Gina was left by her Egyptian boyfriend who fled to his hometown in Egypt, never to be seen again. Too scared to tell her employers and more scared of her family, Gina chose to keep the pregnancy a secret.

Baby in ICU

Her employers had no idea that she was pregnant. She probably had a small stomach, anyway, and it was hidden beneath her voluminous clothes. Days leading to her giving birth of the child, Gina ran away. She did not say where she went but when she came back to her employer’s house, she was already carrying the baby.

What’s sad is that the baby had head injuries after she gave birth to it as it most likely fell on something hard – and there was no one to catch it. Poor kid.

Employer Defends Married Pinay

Instead of bringing her to the police station or the religious police, Gina’s kind employers rushed her to the hospital. They made sure that she and the baby are alright – and even cared for the child who is still in ICU over his injuries.

The married Pinay drew criticism for having a boyfriend in Kuwait, particularly because she has a family back in the Philippines. There were people who made up stories about her employers being unkind to her, but her Madam would speak to the camera and defend the Pinay as well as themselves from the stories circulating on social media.

Here’s the video:

What is Religious Police?

In Islam, there is an additional body of authority called the religious police who are an official vice squad that enforces religious observance and public morality on behalf of national or regional authorities, based on its interpretation of sharia. They are known to be strict.

Entrepreneur Michelle Mangahas has three kids: Mark, 14, Mika, 11, and Matthew, 6. Just like many other kids these days, Michelle’s children wanted to have a new smartphone that could take great photos, but she only gave them old phones in the past.

The single mom would later let the kids have the phones they wanted, as long as they agreed to pay on an installment basis. Yay or nay?

Mommy Michelle told Smart Parenting that her kids actually have old phones when they asked to buy a new model that sells for Php10,000.

“I told them I didn’t see a valid reason why a 14-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl would need such expensive phones. I also told them they already had phones, which should be enough for school research and a little bit of gaming,” she narrated.

But the kids reasoned out that their old phones weren’t so good. Mark said the phone that cost them Php2,700 to buy took “low quality photos”. Mika received hers for free from Mommy Michelle’s postpaid plan when she completed school as an achiever. But it’s 2 years old.

“I told my kids na hindi obligasyon ng magulang na bigyan ng phones ang anak nila. Ang obligasyon ko is to feed them and send them to school,” Mommy Michelle explained.

“Although kaya ko naman sila bigyan, sinasabi ko sa kanila na ang daloy ng pera walang kasiguraduhan. Kailangan mag-ready sa posibleng panahon na walang gaanong income.”

Because she had taught the kids, particularly Mark and Mika, early on to save money for future needs, they were able to fork out Php3,700 and Php5,000 in savings, respectively. This money went to their phone fund, but they are supposed to pay their mom in installment for the rest of the phone amount they borrowed from her.

Although she doesn’t impose a strict deadline, she continues to remind them of their payments. So far, Mika is the one who pays up the installment faster despite getting a smaller allowance compared with Mark.

“Mark has a harder time sa paghuhulog. Sabi niya malakas siyang kumain ‘di hamak sa kapatid niya, so mas kaunti natitira sa baon niya,” Mommy Michelle shared. She doesn’t mind as long as the kids are responsible enough to pay up when they can.

What a good way to teach financial responsibility.

What’s the Difference Between Installment and Layaway?

Both are types of loan that is paid over time, with smaller amounts of scheduled payments instead of a one-time payment. However, the customer can already use or get the item while still paying for an installment loan while the layaway item can only be received once the full loan is paid up.