Taal volcano news – live: Cracks spotted in earth and more quakes spark fear of huge explosion as police extend blockade

"Don't tell me you're brave. When disaster strikes, you will call on all saints, big or small," Obet Dionglay, 61, who had trekked through roads deep with ash to seek refuge, told Reuters.

Mr Dionglay's hut had been crushed by bamboos bent to the ground by the weight of the ash and he had little hope that his three pigs and dozen chickens would survive.

Mr Dionglay recalled Taal's last eruption in 1977, when his hometown of Talisay had escaped largely unscathed.

"For now, we endure, we live with nothing," said Ferdinand Paderan, 39, who evacuated with his wife and two children.

But even as thousands more people were being evacuated from the danger zone, some defied official warnings to head back in to collect belongings or tend livestock that they could not bring out.

"I went home and checked it. It's a good thing no one stopped our tricycle on the way home. I fed the chickens and the dogs," said Leonel Gonzales, 32, a tourist guide at Taal Lake, who fled with his one-year-old daughter and pregnant wife.

"We will stay here to make sure we are all safe. We will check on the pets again when the volcano calms down."

"We have a seeming lull, but, again, as we emphasized earlier, there is something different happening beneath the volcano," Antonio Bornas of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has said, citing continued tremors, steaming and other signs of magma movement.

Renato Solidum, who heads the institute, said it may take up to two weeks for experts to assess whether the volcano's restiveness has eased.

The Taal area has remained just a notch down from the highest level of a five-step alert system the institute uses to warn the public of a volcano's danger.

President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte is satisfied with the work of the nation's Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) according to his official spokesperson, following criticism from politicians in the country over the lack of government updates before Taal's eruption.

Salvador Panelo assured reporters in the country the executive had absolute faith in the body's director Renato Solidum - however noted the the presidential palace had no ability to intervene if congress wished to proceed with an investigation into the agency in the lead up to the natural disaster.

"That's up to them" , Mr Panelo told broadcaster ABS-CBN news. "We cannot stop them, discourage them".

It follows comments from the often outspoken president himself on Wednesday, who said he was " very satisfied with the response of everybody and the fact that no one was killed and no one is really very sick".

Manny Pacquiao - one of the Philippine's most famous figures - has appealed for financial support for those struggling in the wake of the eruption.

Considered one of the greatest boxers of all time, Mr Pacquiao has served as a senator in the country since 2016.

Now in a video he has told fellow citizens he will match any donation made to help those in need, adding "our lives are short - we will leave those things behind when we pass from this world. Let's do all that we can to help others - that's what matters not the material things of this world".

Footage of the volcano taken by drone has shown the landscape surrounding the Taal volcano has been irreversibly changed by the days of eruptions to have emanated from the fissure.

Captured by drone, the video from Raffy Tima of national media outlet GMA News shows the ground around the centre of the volcano still smoldering, five days on from its first eruption.

Among the places that are being set up as temporary homes for evacuees is Dona Tiburcia Carpio Malvar Elementary School to the north west of Tanauan - roughly 20km from the volcano.

Here are some photos from the scene:

Mark Bidder, the head of office for the UN’s humanitarian work in the region, said his team is anxious for a full evacuation to be carried out as soon as possible amid concern of a potentially cataclysmic eruption taking place in coming days or weeks.

He said: “Currently the situation is that the volcano is still erupting.

“The government continues to evacuate people away from the danger area this is an ongoing operation because it is hampered by the conditions and the risks.

“So far approximately 50,000 or more people have been moved to safer locations but there are still many who are left behind so this continues”.

A dog has been rescued by charity workers looking for animal survivors of the eruption.

Palakitik came "running up through the ash" when workers from Peta Asia arrived on the island on Wednesday.

The dog was well known to Peta staff from previous work they had done on the island, providing veterinary services to horses.

Peta said: "Whenever our boats arrive there, we call for her and she always excitedly scampers up to greet us and follows our team around everywhere."

Although residents of the island were moved to safety when the volcano began to erupt on Sunday, many animals remained.

Peta workers arrived for the first time since the eruption on Wednesday and were unsure whether or not Palakitik was still alive.

Earlier we mentioned Rosalina Mantuano - the 61-year-old seamstress who turned her talents to creating face masks after prices for medical masks from private companies surged at a time of need for people around lake Taal.

Here she is on video talking about her decision to devote herself to hand-crafting the breathing aids for hundreds of people: