Mount Mayon's kilometre-high (half-mile) column alarmed residents and officials, who have been bracing for a major explosion since last week, when the volcano started oozing lava and belching steam and ash.

"This is going to be a very sad Christmas," said 36-year-old Violeta Abejoro, one of over 47,000 people who have fled Mayon's foothills after the volcano began angrily spewing ash, smoke and lava last week.

"I can't get them to stop crying," the frustrated mother said of her five children, the youngest of whom is barely a year old and has colic.

At the evacuation camps, military and police personnel with Santa hats tried to coax carols from the children, who were transfixed by the eerie scene of a thick ash cloud trailing from Mayon's peak.

Other children scrambled to fall in line after after being promised ice cream cones and other Christmas treats.

Head volcanologist Renato Solidum said Mayon's increasing seismic activity could be a sign of a major eruption but was not enough to warrant raising the alert level to the highest level on a five-point scale.

"It has intensified since we hoisted level four, and there have been new explosions," Solidum said. "The tendency of the volcano is that the pressure is getting stronger and stronger and this could lead to a major explosion."

"Mayon remains at a very critical level," he said, adding that the alert level of four means that an eruption could occur within hours or days.

The explosion also underscored the urgency of convincing an estimated 500 hold-outs to abandon their homes and farms inside an eight-kilometre (five-mile) radius danger zone, officials said.

The ash and debris blanketed surrounding villages and towns with a thin layer of fine particles that health officials warn could cause respiratory and skin problems.

Tens of thousands of families now in the evacuation camps complained of a lack of food, blankets and sanitary packs.

For 42-year-old taxi operator Narciso Marama, who family lives just outside the danger zone, Mayon has been both a blessing and a curse.

For years the volcano has attracted tourists to the province, but it has also caused misery for his family, he said.

"They may have snowfalls in other parts of the world, but here, we have ashfall," the father of four told AFP. "It's a white Christmas for us too, but this is ash, and we have to wear face masks."

He said he had relatives inside the danger zone who were among those who had been relocated, but his own family had not been moved.

"But if there is a huge eruption, we may also be forced to leave," he said. "I can still remember the devastation three years ago."

When Mayon last erupted in 2006 it oozed lava and vented steam and ash for two months. No one died directly from the eruption, but a powerful typhoon three months later dislodged tonnes of debris that had collected on its slopes, burying entire towns and killing over 1,000 people.

Marama's house was among those crushed in the mudslide, but no family members were killed.

"We lost everything we owned and had to rebuild from scratch," Marama said. "I still have nightmares from that incident. I am praying that no one is killed this time."

The government has evacuated more than 47,000 people from the danger zone around Mayon to 26 evacuation centres in anticipation of a hazardous eruption. But authorities say about 500 villagers have refused to abandon their homes.

Provincial governor Joey Salceda said resources were fast being strained and declared the area "open season for aid."

"They (aid agencies) don't need to come to my office to deliver aid anymore, they can go direct to the centres," he said.

Factbox on Philippine volcanoes
Manila (AFP) Dec 23, 2009 - The impending eruption of the Philippines' most active volcano, Mount Mayon, is the latest in a series of hazardous volcanic events that have rocked the country.

The Philippines is part of the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire" that is known for its volcanic activity. Twenty-two active volcanoes are scattered around the archipelago.

Here are some key facts about Mayon volcano:

-- Located about 330 kilometres (200 miles) southeast of Manila in the agricultural province of Albay, the 2,460-metre (8,070-feet) Mayon is listed by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology as the country's most active volcano, having erupted 48 times in recorded history, claiming thousands of lives.

-- Its deadliest eruption was in 1814 when more than 1,200 people were killed as lava buried the town of Cagsawa. The town's church steeple is all that remains, and has become a national landmark and a tourist attraction.

-- Its last eruption was in August 2006 where it oozed lava and emitted ash and smoke for months. No one was killed by the eruption itself but in December of that year a passing typhoon dislodged tonnes of volcanic ash from Mayon's slopes, turning it into fast-moving mudflow that covered villages and killed about a thousand people.

-- The fertile volcanic soil of Mayon has attracted many farmers to work its slopes and foothills despite the government's imposition of a six-kilometre permanent danger zone around the volcano.

-- Mayon's eruptive phases have lasted for months, forcing thousands of people who live in its foothills to stay for lengthy periods in government evacuation centres.

-- Government volcanologists say that in its latest restive stage, Mayon will either continue emitting smoke and ash and oozing lava or explode suddenly, sending a huge column of ash into the sky.

-- Thanks to its picture-perfect cone, Mayon is a major tourist attraction. Its eruptions bring even more tourists who watch lava pouring out of the volcano from the safety of a hill in Legaspi City.

Here are some key facts about volcanoes in the Philippines in general:

-- The most powerful volcanic explosion in the 20th century occurred in June, 1991 when the supposedly dormant Mount Pinatubo, about 100 kilometres northwest of Manila, erupted, sending thousands of tonnes of volcanic ash into the air. The ash travelled around the globe, changing temperatures worldwide, scientists said.

-- Volcanic ash from Pinatubo mixed with rain and created deadly volcanic mudflows that covered whole towns and forced the US military to evacuate nearby Clark Airbase. About a thousand people died from the effects of the eruption.

-- Taal volcano, one of the smallest volcanoes in the world, is located just 50 kilometres southwest of Manila. The volcano sits on an island in a lake and has a sulphuric lake at its crater. It last erupted in 1977.

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