HAGONOY, Bulacan—Engineer Roderick Dela Cruz lives in California, but on Saturday, he received a call from his crying mother from this town due to rising flood.
It was the height of the worst flood to hit this coastal town since 1978, and Dela Cruz’s mother is just one of over 100,000 residents here surprised by the massive flooding that rose over three feet in less than 24 hours.
A dam safety expert in California, 19 years of experience in management and design of dams and former resident of this town, Dela Cruz knows that his mother wasn’t joking.
In fact, he has been calling the attention of high government officials for the establishment of a National Dam Safety Program.
“I emailed our government officials and highlighted the importance of creating a National Dam Safety Program in the Philippines,” he said in an email sent to this writer.
“That was even before typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng ravaged the Philippines, which caused severe flooding in Pangasinan. Flood damage was aggravated due to the excessive release of water from the San Roque Dam spillway,” he added.
But Dela Cruz’s calls ended like John the Baptist’s cry in the wilderness as government officials turned a deaf ear.
For him, it’s too hard to believe that until now there is no agency in the Philippines that has the authority to manage the safety of dams.
He cited that in the United States, dams are regulated by state and federal governments and if any dams, whether government or privately owned, caused or has the potential to cause any danger to the public, mandatory actions are taken to eliminate the potential risks.
Dela Cruz stressed that US state and federal laws are implemented to protect people from the danger of failure, mis-operation and flooding caused by constructing a dam.
In the Philippines, the reverse is true especially in the recent event arising from the onslaught of typhoon Pedring.
On Thursday and Friday, Science and Technology Undersecretary Graciano Yumul blatantly said in a press conference fed live on radio that they have no responsibility with respect to water spilled from dams.
He claimed that they are only giving recommendation to the National Power Corporation (Napocor) which manages Angat Dam in Bulacan.
On the other hand, Napocor said spilling water is based on their protocols noting that they gave warning to local government units six hours before the release of water.
This was echoed by Undersecretary Benito Ramos who said on radio interviews that people have been warned through the LGUs.
He later blamed people for being hardheaded insisting that they have been warned.
But residents of Hagonoy and Calumpit are saying entirely a different story.
No warning was given to them, and like the mother of Dela Cruz who cried on the phone, they were surprised by a massive flashflood.
Now, seven days after the floodwaters inundated all 26 villages of this town, people wonder who will be responsible for the plight they face. Some said they might be hardheaded, but if only they were warned by local officials, they could have moved earlier instead of being trapped in their homes.
But for Dela Cruz, the situation can be improved, if only the government will establish a National Dam Safety program that will set standards in dam management and be responsible for failed operations.
