Manila, Jan. 10 -- Sightings of hot springs in Batangas are not unusual, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) clarified on Friday.

"Reports of hot springs in Barangays Sinisian and Calawang in Lemery date back even before (the) 2020 eruption. The(re) are videos on YouTube as early as 2014," Phivolcs Director Teresito Bacolcol said in an interview.

A video posted recently by Facebook user Imman Supremo showed an apparent hot spring at Sinisian East Beach.

The video had 105,000 views as of writing.

"Hot springs near volcanoes, in this case Taal Volcano, are mainly because of heat from magma deep inside the earth," Bacolcol said.

In volcanic areas, magma is closer to the surface, making the groun...