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Philippine grandma sews face masks for Taal volcano evacuees

Published 01/16/2020, 09:11 PM
Updated 01/16/2020, 09:16 PM
Philippine grandma sews face masks for Taal volcano evacuees

By Adrian Portugal
LIPA, Philippines, Jan 16 (Reuters) - When demand and prices
of face masks shot up after a small yet destructive volcano
south of the Philippine capital suddenly spewed volcanic ash, a
61-year-old seamstress sprang into action to help her
neighbours.
Rosalina Mantuano, a seamstress for 45 years, began sewing
dozens of colourful masks using scrap fabric in her atelier and
gave it away for free to her neighbours in Lipa city, just 20 km
(12 miles) from the Taal volcano.
"As a seamstress, I thought what if I made my own masks and
give it away for free to those affected. That is what I did,"
said Mantuano, who makes 100 face masks a day.
Many residents and tourists were caught off guard after Taal
shot giant clouds of ash high into the air on Sunday.
Shortly after the eruption, supply of face masks dropped and
prices increased to as much as five times the usual price. The
Philippine trade ministry has threatened to sue businessmen and
shutter their shops for raising prices to unreasonable levels.
Cloth donations poured in when people heard of Manuano's
efforts, she said. She has since received cloth donations,
allowing her to produce around 400 more checkered, flowery and
striped face masks.
"A lot of people here needed face masks, supplies were sold
out and others were very expensive," said neighbour Remedios
Guevarra.
Mantuano's son-in-law, a member of a motorcycle riders'
group, delivers food and the home-made masks to evacuation
centres.
Taal volcano is now on its fifth day of continuously spewing
ash and steam, with authorities banning evacuees from returning
to their homes located in the danger zone.

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