Hundreds of individuals seek medical consultation due to the effect of volcanic smog (vog) from Taal, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said Thursday.

OCD deputy spokesperson Diego Agustin Mariano said over 850 people experienced respiratory illness due to the volcanic fumes from Taal volcano.

"Those who seek medical consultation for inhaling volcanic fumes or vog reached more than 850 individuals. They experienced respiratory illness, because of difficulty breathing due to volcanic fumes," he said.

"As of now, most of them have already been discharged from the hospital. Most of them are out-patients, so after they were given medication or medical prescription they already return to their homes," he added.

Mariano said most affected population were from the 19 municipalities of Batangas province.

"They are from Agoncillo, Balayan, Balete, Batangas City, Calaca, Calatagan, Lemery, Lian, Lipa City, Malvar, at Mataas na Kahoy, Nasugbu, San Jose, San Pascual, Santa Teresita, Talisay, Tanauan, Taysan and Tuy," he said.

Mariano said all the needs of the affected individuals were being addressed by the local government units in Batangas.

"The distribution of assistance are continues from the (Department of Health) DOH that provides medicines and medical assistance, (Department of Social Welfare and Development) DSWD for food packs and cash assistance and OCD that turned over 100,000 pieces of N95 face masks to the Batangas PDRRMO," he said. Robina Asido/DMS