PANTABANGAN, Nueva Ecija – Lowlanders, especially those tilling over 100,000 hectares of ricefields in Nueva Ecija and adjoining provinces, have the reason to set their eyes on the cross which resurfaced from the Sitio Intang portion of the reservoir: it indicates the decline of water on the 1.6 kilometer long, 107-meter high Pantabangan Dam.
This despite statement of irrigation officials that the appearance of the cross on top of the old Catholic church was a “normal occurrence.” The church, along with a school, cemetery and residential houses, were submerged when then Pres. Ferdinand Marcos effected the dam construction in the early 1970s.
The National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-UPRIIS) has closed the dam for irrigation since last week in preparation for the wet cropping which officially starts on June 1, according to NIA-UPRIIS operations manager Josephine Salazar.
She noted that the water level of the dam is slowly rising from 181.44 meters on April 29 to 182.25 meters on May 21. “Sa tuwing lilitaw ang krus na ‘yan ay talagang maraming nagpupunta dito para tingnan ang tubig. May media, may mga opisyal at kahit karaniwang tao,” said Simeon Villafl or, 59, who plants vegetables on the dam’s bed for livelihood.
“Parang natatakot sila na paglitaw ng krus ay hindi na makasapat ang tubig sa pananim doon sa kapatagan,” he added. But Villafl or, who was 18 when the old township that encompassed Barangays East and West Poblacion, Villarica, Liberty, Cadaclan, San Juan, Napon-Napon, Marikin and Conversion were submerged for the $340-million World Bank project, said residents would know that the cross will appear when they feel extra-ordinary heat at the onset of dry season.
He expects, with the intermittent rains as gauge, the cross to submerge in one to two weeks from now. “Madalas na nakikita ang krus pag kainitan ng taon,” he added. Jack Pineda, 23, a banca operator who lives in Block 19 of Poblacion, said he last saw a large portion of the church sometime in 2007.
The condition apparently drew fears among beneficiaries of irrigation being run by NIA-UPRIIS but has never affected their own lives. The people of this town were never beneficiaries of the irrigation component but authorities said nearly half of over 25,000 residents make fishing at the dam for a living. Marcos ordered the use of reservoir for fishing in 1973.
The local government, though receives millions from the real property taxes generated by its existence, largely from power generation. But while lowlanders keep an eye on the resurfacing cross for economic concerns, Villaflor said residents take it as a rendezvous with their past.
He and his family used to live next to the church, would recall how they sacrificed the considerably better lowland living in the old township to favor irrigation that will benefit the rest of the province. “Natutuwang parang nalulungkot, ganun, dahil kinailangan ng gobyerno ‘yang kuwan para matubigan ang kaibabaan,” he said.
There were times, he said, when townsfolk on bancas left flowers at the resurfaced portion of the church. The dam also produces electricity for the Luzon power grid. The complex consists of two hydroelectric plants which are the Pantabangan Hydropower Plant that generates 100 megawatts (MW) and its subsidiary, the Masiway Power Plant which produces 12MW.
The power production, however, has also stopped since last week even as the current water level is several meters above its critical level of 177 meters above sea level. In 1996, the national government started building a 27-km tunnel from the Casecnan River in Nueva Vizcaya to irrigate an additional 50,000 hectares of land and generate 140 MW more of hydroelectric power. T
he Casecnan project started operations in 2001. Because of the Casecnan – Pantaban – gan-Masiway dam system, Pantabangan is the only town in the country that boasts of three hydroelectric plants.
Salazar said they also keep record on the appearance of the cross but maintained this should cause no alarm. She earlier said her office may request for cloud seeding should rain comes short by June.
A water level of 183 to 184 masl would be enough to ensure sufficient irrigation for the forthcoming cropping season, she said. Meanwhile, the current water condition of the dam served as an opportunity for some people to use it as a
summer getaway.
Gina Avendano, a resident of Cabanatuan City, has organized a picnic among her neighbors and relatives.
“Napakasarap dito kasi libre na, tapos malamig na ang tubig ay sariwa pa ang hangin,” she said. Joseph Bulaon,26, said he and his group went to the place to swim and get close to the cross. “Ang sarap ng pakiramdam,” he said.
