The worst is yet to come for Taal but President Rodrigo Duterte still treats this life and death situation like it is some trivial matter and a topic of his distateful puns.

Peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said Duterte’s criminal neglect on the Taal eruption deserves widespread and international condemnation.

“This is not the first time that Duterte shunned and even insulted the situation of calamity victims. Early this year, the President twice skipped his sheduled visit to Mindanao quake victims allegedy because of lack of sleep. The other day, while thousands of Batanguenos were scrambling to get to evacuation centers to escape the rumbling Taal volcano, Duterte even had the gall to spew senseless comments like “Kainin ko pa yang ash fall na yan, p*tang…Pati ‘yang Taal, ihian ko pa yan, p*tang, bwisit na yan. Doon ako sa crater.” “It’s like he went to ground zero only to spit at the victims,” says Rafael Mariano, chairperson emeritus of KMP and national president of Anakpawis Partylist.

“Duterte’s words show his lack of sincerity and compassion toward Taal victims. He practically abandoned them and just went on with his business-as-usual attitude and Du-dirty talk. To say that he is satisfied with the way his government minions are handling the Taal crisis is a grave affront to its victims who were forced to leave everything they have — homes, crops and livestock, livelihood, and their very future. In this situation of extreme uncertainty, the very least that Duterte could have done is to assure the public that he knows what he is doing, however, he however did the exact opposite. Wala talagang kwenta, inutil, pabigat si Duterte. His monstrosity is beyond words,” Mariano added.

“Duterte by far is the worst calamity ever to hit the Philippines. His mere existence and especially his presidency have wrecked havoc on the lives of Filipinos. He deserves to be dragged out of Malacanang,” the KMP leader said.

A hazardous, explosive eruption of Taal is imminent according to PHIVOCS. If this happens, more than 200,000 people from Batangas and nearby areas could be displaced.

“We have seen farmers helping farmers and poor helping the poor in this situation. What we don’t see at all is Duterte, his generals-turned-cabinet secretaries being on top of the Taal situation. Duterte just keeps on wasting his time taking selfies with his mini-me Senator Bong Go,” Mariano concluded. ###