TWO 150-watt solar panels at the Mayon Rest House monitoring station have been stolen, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported in Thursday. The theft was discovered on February 5 by Phivolcs personnel during routine inspection and preventive maintenance service. “With loss of power supply, no data will be transmitted from this station and consequently will affect the monitoring of Mayon Volcano,” Phivolcs said. The station houses earthquake monitoring equipment, Global Positioning System (GPS) device, and tilt meter. It is one of several observation posts feeding data to the Mayon Volcano Observatory. Undersecretary Renato U. Solidum, Jr., officer-in-charge of Phivolcs, called on the public to “help in taking care of our monitoring instruments and to promptly report any untoward incidents” as he warned that taking or tampering with the government’s disaster management equipment is punishable under Republic Act 10344.

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