Videos posted on social media showed a wide, billowing plume of smoke slowly stretching into the sky.

“We were prepared for the eruption. The families within the 4km to 6km were already evacuated during the previous eruption last December,” John De Asis, a rescue official in Negros Occidental province’s La Castellana municipality, told AFP.

“Right now we are just monitoring which villages will be affected by the ashfall.”

He added they were recommending “the cancellation of classes and work in the municipality”.

Channel Nicor, 22, said she was waiting for a bus to take her to school when the eruption struck.

“The sound seemed like a big rock had fallen from a high place, then I looked up and saw the (ash cloud) getting bigger and bigger from the volcano,” she told AFP.

“When I saw the ash of course I felt nervous, but not as nervous as the previous eruption, because this time we know what to do.”

The level three alert – out of a scale of five – put in place during December’s eruption remained unchanged.

In September, hundreds of nearby residents were evacuated after the volcano spurted thousands of tonnes of harmful gases in a single day.

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