CANLAON CITY– Benjamin Tanatan Jr. has devoted more than half of his life to the study of Mt. Kanlaon.
Since he turned 21, Tanatan started working with the Commission on Volcanology, which later became the Philippine Institute of Volcanology & Seismology. He worked his way up until he retired two years ago as the Science Research analyst of the Kanlaon Observatory.
As a stay-at-home retiree, Tanatan said Kanlaon continued to haunt him. “I dreamed that Kanlaon had a very loud eruption. I don’t know if it will come true—I’m no Rudy Baldwin,” he said, in reference to the controversial online personality who claims to have had visions that became real.
As the longest serving Phivolcs employee dedicated to the study of Mt. Kanlaon, Tanatan said he missed his job and his workmates. “Na in love na ako sa Kanlaon volcano!,” he said with a laugh. “When you love your work, as I did mine, you will miss your work, your workmates, when you retire.”
Kanlaon has erupted more than 40 times, although most of them were phreatic in nature, or explosions caused by surface waters coming in contact with hot rocks.
This native of La Castellana, Negros Occidental, recalled first seeing Kanlaon erupt in 1969. “I was still in the elementary grades then but I distinctly remember how the ash covered the roads, roofs, and everything else,” Tanatan said.
He also witnessed the 1978 eruption, which was stronger than the 1969 eruption. This was followed by the 1996 eruption, where three mountaineers, two of them foreigners, were killed. On June 3 this year, a nighttime eruption of Kanlaon prompted volcanologists to place Kanlaon under Alert Level 2, indicating low-level unrest.
Phivolcs then plucked Tanatan out of retirement, giving him the chance to work for Kanlaon once again.
“I was happy and excited when they called me back,” he said. While he couldn’t get his old position back, Tanatan said he doesn’t care about positions actually, for as long as he could work at Mt. Kanlaon again.
Now, he and workmate Edward Demerin take turns manning the Kanlaon Observatory 24/7. Since Mt. Kanlaon erupted in June, Tanatan said he has spent more time with the volcano than with his wife.
This time, however, Tanatan said he feels different about Kanlaon, as the rise in the magma from deep within the Volcano has caused it to swell near the top. “Between Dec. 9 and 15, it has had a series of ash puffs, which could mean that it is gathering strength,” Tanatan said.
He said he fears that the Volcano would replicate a magmatic eruption, as it did in 1902.
That eruption 122 years ago, classified as a Strombolian eruption, saw the ejection of glowing cinders, lava bombs, gas fumes, and lapilli. Lava also flowed out of the volcano, depositing them on the sides near the crater.
Tanatan, however, said he would defer to the opinion of scientists in the national office of Phivolcs, saying their Observatory here in Occidental does not have instruments to detect what lies underneath the Volcano, except for two high-powered cameras that record volcanic activity.
“Kanlaon volcano and I have been together for 44 years but it still hasn’t shown me its lava. That’s what I’m waiting for,” he said.
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Photo Caption: Ben Tanatan with fellow volcano monitor Edwin Demerin. (Photo by Alex Pal)
