MALOLOS CITY—Angat Dam is safe and resistant to earthquake, the National Power Corporation (Napocor) said and assured the safety of Bulakenyos living downstream of the dam.
This came as the Napocor launched its information and education campaign on Angat Dam operation in Norzagaray town the other day where municipal disaster risk reduction officials, planning officers and social workers heard Engineer Manny Monteverde of the Napocor Dams, Reservoirs and Waterways division described the 47-year-old dam.
Monteverde said that Angat Dam is a “rock-fill type” of dam that is resistant to damage from earthquakes due to its inherent elasticity and self-healing characteristics. He also made clear that the dam has no crack: “Walang lamat ang dam” in response to news reports about five years ago that the dam had cracks.
With regards to presence of the West Marikina Valley Faultline which is said to be situated some 200 meters east of the dam’s dike, a geologist from the Engineering Development Corporation of the Philippines (EDCOP) also tried to allay fears of Bulakenyos. Dr. Ramon Quebral, a structural geologist from the EDCOP said that the theory on the West Valley Fault in connection with Angat Dam is only a premise that is yet to be studied and verified further.
EDCOP is the partner of the Tonkin & Taylor International based in New Zealand that conducted a six-month feasibility study on the integrity of the Angat Dam which was completed in May 2012. In the said study, EDCOP and Tonkin & Taylor did not conduct a site specific seismic study on the Angat Dam to verify the presence of the splay of the fault line.
In an earlier interview, Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado disclosed that the said faultline is used by a former administrator of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to justify construction of another dam in Rizal province.
Citing warnings from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs), Alvarado said that the said faultline can move anytime and may cause a breach on the Angat Dam.
For her part, Gladys Cruz–Sta. Rita, president of the Napocor also tried to allay fears on possible dam break, saying “We must not give in to fear but should not abandon caution.”
As a former provincial administrator of Bulacan, Sta. Rita said that she came to the information drive not only to speak on behalf of the corporation that has been in the dam industry for 77 years with a pool of the most talented engineers in the country, but also as a concerned Bulakenya.
