We personally went to the Philvolcs, the Philippine authority on Volcano monitoring, last sunday afternoon and we learnt that Legazpi City is under Alert Level 4 already, meaning a hazardous eruption is imminent. The maximum is Alert Level 5 which means that a Hazardous Eruption is occuring. We were told that they were expecting "within days" a hazardous eruption of the Volcano, basing on the recent activities of the Mayon.

Though it sounds catastrophic, it isn't all that bad as the residents mostly affected are the ones staying within the permanent danger zone of 6kms radius from the volcano crater. At Alert Level 5, even the extended danger zone (8kms radius) will be affected. According to the Philvolcs, it's better for the Volcano to finally "let it out" by erupting so that it can normalize thereafter, faster. Legazpi City is in the clear regardless of the Mayon reaching Alert Level 5 because it's much further than 8kms from the crater. However, the recent news makes it appear that Legazpi City is under a great deal of tension because of the evacuvees here.

We have to understand that since Legazpi City is the center of the province, most activities happens here. Both the Legazpi City Mayor's seat of power and the Albay Provincial Governor's seat of power (2 of the most prominent seat of power in this province) are located here and thus it's not surprising that everything you hear about Mayon and other news would usually center around Legazpi City.

So to the travelling public, Legazpi City is still a safe place to travel, albeit with a limited touring activity pertaining to the Mayon Volcano, for obvious safety reasons. But since there's more to Legazpi City and Albay province than just the Mayon Volcano...
it will still be worthwhile to travel here. Flights have not been interupted yet which is definitely a good sign for us Legazpuenos here. Plus coupled with that the chance to see the Philippines's Most Active Volcano spewing fiery glows of lava down it's slopes (while still at a safe distance)....would truly make a trip to Legazpi City now more than ever.......a prioritize destination and a really worthwhile trip! Live life to the fullest and come experience a rare experience this way!!! it will leave you simply breathless!