Bulacan conducts drill for possible dam break

INCIDENT COMMANDER. Governor Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado delivers a speech in front of the 12,000 participants and eventually declares the drill terminated.

Around 12,000 students and provincial government officials of Bulacan participated in the Angat Dam Break Drill conducted in the said province, December 13, at the Bulacan Sports Complex in Sta. Isabel, Malolos City.

The worst case scenario which is the possible Angat Dam break which is believed to happen when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hits the Marikina West Valley Fault Line which runs from Norzagaray, Bulacan where the dam is located, up to Rizal was assessed earlier by Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Renato U. Solidum.

Governor Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado, who acted as the incident commander, said that in this event, the 815 million metric tons of water which the Angat Dam holds will carry a 30-meter deep flood in Bulacan, Pampanga and Metro Manila.

The drill was done in participation of students from Bulacan State University (BulSU), La Consolacion University of the Philippines (LCUP), Bulacan Polytechnic College (BPC) and Centro Escolar University (CEU), officials of the Provincial Government of Bulacan (PGB) and response teams from different municipalities in the province.

Possibly the safest place

“Dapat alam mo kung saan ka tatakbo,” said Bro. Martin Francisco of Sagip Sierra Madre Environmental Society Inc., (SSMESI).

The Bulacan Sports Complex served as the augmented evacuation center because it was said that it will not be flooded by water once the dam breaks.

Governor Alvarado stated, “Dito sa lugar na ito, sinasabing baka hindi abutin ng tubig.”

“Inaasahan natin na ang mga taga-Hagonoy, ang mga taga-Calumpit, ang mga nabanggit na bayan-bayan, maging ang San Miguel… dito didiretso sa lugar na ito,” Alvarado added, “Dito tayo mag-oopisina. Dito tayo matutulog hanggang matapos ang sakuna.”

Useful or not?

“’Pag ba nasira talaga ‘yan, nagkaroon ng rumaragasang tubig mag-dri-drill pa ba kayo?,” said Rob Ricardo, third year Communication Arts student in LCUP, “Tatakbo na kayo, hahatakin n’yo na ang pamilya n’yo, pupunta na kayo sa pinakamalapit na evacuation center.”

“Survival skills na lang yan,” deemed Ricardo.

Sharing the same thinking, Alvarado said in his speech, “’Pag [lumindol] at rumaragasa na ang tubig, hindi pupwede ‘yung pa-ganda-ganda tayong naglalakad sa kalsada.”

Yet this drill is for the sake of information dissemination, Francisco said “ Nakakatulong. Nakakatulong. Awareness, kasi hanggang ngayon, ‘di pa alam ng mga tao.”

However, the Sierra Madre advocate suggested another effective way of disseminating information to all the municipalities.

“Pinakamaganda. Pinakamabilis. Gumawa ng mga cd [na] kumpleto sa lahat ng impormasyon at kung anong preparasyon, kung anong gagawin ng mga bayan-bayan. Mas maliit ang gastos,” explained Francisco.

The verdict

Office of Civil Defense 3 Regional Director Josefina Timoteo who observed the conducted dam break drill assessed the activity as almost perfect and gave it a rating of 9.9 over 10.

“Sana ganito rin ang gawing pagtugon kung meron mang mga actual na disaster,” she said.

Timoteo also expressed, “Napapalakas po nito ang aking kalooban na sa parte ng region, sa Bulacan, ay kampante ako dahil may mga competent at good leaders na maaasahan na tutugon kung may mga kalamidad.

“Dapat, kung hindi man maipatupad agad ‘yung retrofitting nito, kailangan ang patuloy-tuloy  na pagsasagawa ng drill para ma-ensure ‘yung kaligtasan ng ating pamayanan,” Timoteo added.

 Also, the regional director had a recommendation, “Aside from retrofitting ng Angat Dam, kailangan din nating inspeksyunin ‘yung mga critical infrastructure especially old churches, buildings and hospitals.”

Call for action

“Hindi pupwede na ang isang ama’y ‘di magsasalita at mag-iintay na lamang…”

The Bulacan Governor led the Bulakenyos in calling the attention of the people responsible for the retrofitting of the Angat Dam to act immediately.

According to Alvarado, President Benigno Aquino III already set aside a 5.7 billion fund for the retrofitting of the dam more than a year ago.

“Bakit hanggang ngayon ‘di pa rin ginagastos kahit isang sentimo para patibayin ang istruktura ng Angat Dam?” the governor lamented.

“Habang nagdedebate sila gastusin na ang 5.7 billion na kaloob ng ating Pangulo, sapagkat habang nagdedebate sila, ang tabak ni Damocles ay bibitin-bitin sa bawat ulo ng milyun-milyong mamamayan ng ating Dakilang lalawigan, ng Pampanga at ng Metro Manila,” stressed Alvarado.

“Prevention is better than cure… May pera naman, gastusin na, nang makatulog ang mga Bulakenyo,” Alvarado added.

The answer to the million dollar question, “ Sino ba ang magpapagawa nito? Ang national government ba o ang KWater na Koreano?” remains unknown.

“Hindi tayo pagmamalasakitan ng mga Koreano. Sila’y nagtungo rito upang magnegosyo,” stated Alvarado.

The governor also emphasized, “Walang magmamahal sa mga Pilipino kung hindi tayo ring mga Pilipino at walang magmamahal sa mga Bulakenyo kung hindi tayo ring mga Bulakenyo.”

Francisco said in an interview that KWater cannot also lead the retrofitting of the dam because it is a state-owned company and doing so is a ground for corruption.

Angat Hydro Electric Power Plant (HEPP) which is powered by the water from Angat Dam is now under the control of the Korea Water Resources Development Corp. (K-Water), a Korean state-owned company.

The said foreign company forged with San Miguel Corp. who was said to lead the local management of the power plant.

The next move

This drill, as said by Alvarado is the third and the biggest Angat Dam Break Drill held in the province. The first two drills were held in two barangays in the municipality of Calumpit.

“Bawat bayan-bayan, we will replicate this dam break drill,” stated Alvarado, “Para makarating sa kinauukulan at sa ating Panginoon na tayo, sa paghingi ng awa, ay gumagawa.”