For a few days now, the sky has continued to darken due to the volcanic smog coming out of Taal Volcano, and the internet couldn’t help but notice the eerie similarities of what’s happening now and what happened in 2020 right before the two-year lockdown. Health professionals and government authorities repeatedly advise everyone to mask up as protection from the vog, and isn’t that just like January 2020 when everyone started hoarding face masks (and then grocery supplies) as advised by the same people? Then when you hear the news of a deadly virus in India, our collective trauma is triggered. And as Pinoys are wont to do, we cope with humor — albeit a little dark.

2020 vs 2023

Wasn’t this filmed yesterday? No? May volcanic smog din naman?

where it all started pic.twitter.com/ECeEKqiLmu

— miss scor (@scorsaguin) September 22, 2023

Is Dalgona making a comeback?

We’re good with good ol’ coffee, thanks.

Ube cheese pandesal and sushi bake, too

Bigla kayong mag-crave dyan.

I’m eating ube cheese pandesal. Is this 2020? pic.twitter.com/wlu4FRuIKf

— ️ (@thelegithea) September 23, 2023

volcanic smog today, dalgona & ube cheese pan de sal tomorrow.

— Gino Bengero (@ginobengero) September 22, 2023

Ayoko na ulit gumawa ng Dalgona coffee, Ube pandesal at Sushi bake.

— ㋡ (@helterskelt3rrr) September 22, 2023

Suspensions

Please say sike!

Is this a bad time loop?

Our collective trauma is showing.

taal acting up. people advised to mask. a viral infection making the rounds. the philippines is truly in a time loop.

— Xave (@XaveGregorio) September 22, 2023

Not me overthinking that 2020 is happening all over again because of the Taal volcanic smog

— nyx (@nyxie_plays) September 22, 2023

We’ve seen this film before

…and we didn’t like the ending. Tama na @ world.

Taal Volcano + suspension of classes + facemask = familiar ah like parang nakita ko na to noong January 2020

— hays miss na kita (@haysbutpinoy) September 22, 2023

taal volcano, suspension ng class, face mask, and nipah virus outbreak? wag naman sana

— Sanrio as your ghost writer (@filosanrio) September 22, 2023

Wag advance

Wag na rin sana matuloy. Please. Let’s not jinx it.

The current situation

While current events feel similar to those of 2020, they are not exactly the same.

The Taal Volcano is under Alert Level 1, which means “it is still in abnormal condition and should not be interpreted to have ceased unrest nor ceased the threat of eruptive activity.” And it has been under Alert Level 1 for a while now, since its eruption in 2020. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) continues to closely monitor the volcano and the vog, and you should keep an eye on what Phivolcs advises.

Meanwhile, the virus in India known as Nipah is not new, as it was first detected in 1998. The World Health Organization (WHO) has put it on its list of epidemic threats in need of urgent research and development.

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