DAVAO CITY – The National Power Corp.-Mindanao Generation Office based in Iligan City has admitted that they had indeed discharged huge amounts of water from one of their dams in Bukidnon that may have contributed to the severe flooding in Central Mindanao.
FLOOD victims are rescued in Ligawasan town in the SGA-BARMM. (Bangsamoro READi)
The Napocor Mindanao Generation Office stated in an emailed statement to the Manila Bulletin that the water spillage from the Pulangi IV Hydroelectric Power Plant in Maramag, Bukidnon on July 12 was part of their standard operating procedure since the dam was already beyond its 285.4 meters above sea level limit. The dam was 285.50 meters prior to the discharge.
Thus, to maintain the integrity of the structure of the dam, it discharged 240.94 cubic meters of water per second starting 7 a.m. on July 12 and had a total of 9.38 million cubic meters of water in 24 hours. The amount of discharged water is enough to fill 3,752 Olympic-size swimming pools.
Napocor issued a statement after Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza criticized them for their failure to advise the local government units downstream of the Pulangi River.
As a result, thousands of residents in the towns of Kabacan and Pikit in the province of Cotabato and barangays in Pagalungan and the Special Geographic Areas of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) were caught unprepared in the sudden swelling of the rivers starting July 13.
“We find the flooding in North Cotabato and being held liable for it unfortunate,” Napocor said.
Napocor added that this recent incident taught them to include in the flood forecasting and warning system all areas up to the Rio Grande de Mindanao in Cotabato City.
Napocor noted that it was also the first time that there was a sudden surge of water downstream. They added that they also released 16.5 million cubic meters on February 1 but there were no reports of flooding.
“We are surmising that the moderate to heavy rains in Cotabato may have exacerbated the situation.”
A staff from Napocor communications office said that the rainy conditions in Bukidnon were not just the reason for the release of water.
At 5:10 p.m. on July 10, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration issued a light to moderate rainfall advisory in Bukidnon.
Four hours later, PAGASA issued a heavy rain fall advisory in some parts of Bukidnon and neighboring provinces Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Lanao del Norte, and Lanao del Sur.
PAGASA issued another advisory at 8 p.m. on July 11 that Bukidnon will experience moderate to heavy rains due to the intertropical convergence zone and southwest monsoon or “habagat.”
Central Mindanao has been experiencing light to heavy rains due to the southwest monsoon for two weeks now.
Local government officials blamed the heavy silt deposits in Pulangi River and its tributaries that resulted in the severe flooding in the region.
Flooding in Central Mindanao was spawned by heavy rains not just in the region but as well as in the mountainous areas of Bukidnon, the headwaters of Pulangi River.
Pulangi River flows down to the sprawling 220,000-hectare Ligawasan Marsh that drains to the Moro Gulf through the Rio Grande de Mindanao.
“Nonetheless, we will sit down with Gov. Emmylou Mendoza’s office or representative and other local governments so we can establish a procedure for better coordination during water discharge,” Napocor said.