Celebrating Christmas Amid Fears of Volcano Eruption

LEGAZPI, Philippines, Dec. 25, 2009 — -- Thousands of families spent Christmas in crowded gymnasiums and schools -- temporary shelters as the alert level for the Mayon volcano in the Philippines lingers at the second-highest stage.

On Christmas Eve, the clear view of the volcano's almost perfectly shaped cone was in sharp contrast to the fountain of red hot lava against a black night sky.

The Philippine army has stepped up their patrols -- clearing out danger zones a few miles away from the volcano's summit, where some residents still refused to leave.

"No compromise, everybody should evacuate the place," Col. Marlou Salazar, commander of Task Force Mayon, bellowed to his team.

Making the rounds Thursday, the army expedited the evacuation process house by house.

Soldiers helped collect T-shirts and shorts hanging from clothes lines and loaded personal belongings, like pots and pans, into trucks.

Residents were escorted away from their homes with their families, their children and any possessions they were able to hand carry with them.

In one house a Christmas tree remained inside as the front door was boarded up for the holidays.

For the past week, evacuees have attended mass gatherings to pray at their makeshift shelters.

At one site families came together to sing a song called "Come Jesus Come."

At another site, local policemen and policewomen wore Santa hats, tossed candy to the crowd, and danced on a stage to the song "I Will Survive."

"We're doing this to keep the people here in the evacuation center, for us to have zero casualties," said police inspector Rose Panganiban.