First-hand accounts from Batangas province:

Renelyn Bautista, who was among thousands of residents who fled from Batangas' Laurel town, said she hitched a ride to safety from her home with her two children, including a four-month-old baby, after Taal erupted and the ground shook.

"We hurriedly evacuated when the air turned muddy because of the ashfall and it started to smell like gunpowder," Ms Bautista told Associated Press.
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"When I went to my car, I saw it was covered in ash. I hurriedly went to buy a mask from a drugstore but they had run out," Angel Bautista, a resident of Paranaque, told Reuters.
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Large numbers of displaced villagers expressed concern about the homes, farms and cattle they left behind and the uncertain future they face. Irene de Claro, a mother of four, said her father was missing, having stayed behind in their village in Batangas while the rest of the family fled in panic.

"My father is missing. We don't know too what happened to our house because the ash was up to our knees, it was very dark and the ground was constantly shaking when we left," De Claro told Associated Press. "Most likely there's nothing for us to return to. We're back to zero."
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“The earthquakes were strong, and it felt like there was a monster coming out” Cookie Siscar, who had left her home in Batangas, told the New York Times.

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