But after unloading the sacks, Belga hitched up his two bullocks and began another arduous ascent back up the volcano in the central Philippines that left 68 dead when it last blew its top 13 years ago.

"We need the money. The copra (coconut meat) will rot if left there," he said, as ash and lava continued to belch from the crater of 8,070-foot (2,460-meter) dome, sparking government warnings of a deadly eruption.

Like a dozen other farmers in this farming hamlet, well within the declared eight-kilometer (five mile) danger zone, Belga has defied evacuation calls to rescue his harvested crops on the slopes of Mayon.

"We still have six sacks to bring down," Belga said, adding that he did not feel in danger yet.

Belga said he could see the smoke emitted by Mayon but the ash and lava "is far from the area where we are producing copra".

Some 400 residents of Matanag, mostly women and children, have fled their homes for the safety of a school in the nearby city of Legaspi, among 23,000 so far moved off Mayon's slopes out of an estimated 35,000 people considered at risk.

Soldiers assigned to enforce the evacuation have set up a crude road block of tree trunks to prevent any vehicles from entering.

But some of those evacuated still make periodic trips to Matanag to pick up belongings and check on their homes. Soldiers said they could not force them to leave.

Second Lieutenant Alan Matres, head of an army team securing Matanag, said the women and children had left and that mainly men had stayed behind to guard their homes and farms.

"They are the last priority," he remarked.

Agripino Balasta said his mother and siblings were evacuated but he returned to Matanag because the conditions here were better than in the evacuation center.

"We are used to this," he said, dismissing the danger. But if the volcanic activity worsens, he will flee the area.

"It is up to God," he said.

Farmer Eladio Petsalosi said his children had evacuated but added, "I just came back to feed my cat."

"I will come back occasionally. I have a television at home. What if it gets stolen?"

Roslyn Marsan, a farmer, said she returned to pick up some vegetables from her garden.

"We get tired of canned goods all the time" at the evacuation center. "We want to have some vegetables and we need firewood for cooking them," she said.

An Army truck stood waiting, just in case the stragglers at Matanag have to make a last-minute escape.

Matres said his men were in contact with the government volcanologists monitoring Mayon and if there was an explosive eruption, they would take the people remaining in Matanag and flee.

Many of the farmers said they would wait for the soldiers to start leaving before they moved out.

"When the army pulls out, I will go too," said farmer David Balangitan.

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