By Marvin Sy
With Cet Dematera and Helen Flores
The Philippine Star
March 08, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo’s economic adviser yesterday slammed officials who wanted operators to release more water from dams as a precautionary measure during last year’s massive floods, saying this aggravated the water shortage in the country.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said because some local executives fueled public outrage and even filed cases against dam operators in the aftermath of storms “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” late last year, dam managers released more water from reservoirs than what was required.

He said the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) as early as July last year warned of an El Niño phenomenon hitting the country from December to June.

“This (Pagasa warning) would have triggered preemptive water reserves but certainly well within the dam capacity. But the unexpected magnitude of heavy rainfall content of Ondoy pushed it to levels that would have triggered releases ahead of Pepeng which then caused the massive flooding in Central Luzon,” Salceda said in a statement titled “When Politicians Run Our Dams.”

“And given public outcry (including sizzling Senate investigations turning into rituals of public humiliation) over the casualties of Pepeng and Ondoy, Ramil and Santi would have caused dam managers to preemptively release far more to levels below the curve which would have been replenished by these two typhoons hoping that there would be a few more typhoons by November-December and that the projected El Niño will be milder than forecast,” he said.

He was apparently referring to, among others, Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino, who castigated operators of the San Roque Dam for the massive flooding in his province during a televised Senate investigation last year.

Dam operators during the hearing maintained that adequate warnings were given to local authorities and that the volume of rainfall was unprecedented. If water were not released at the height of the storms, the dam might rupture causing much more damage to life and property.

Salceda said there were no more typhoons till the end of 2009 and El Niño “is coming in as forecast.”

“In short, we may have been forced to overreact both ways contrary to a possibly more rational and preemptive rules of dam managers,” he said.

In terms of mitigating measures, as early as October 2009, the Department of Agriculture and several local government units like the Kalinga provincial government have unveiled programs to preemptively combat and offset the impact of El Niño. But, even these had to give way to the overpowering demand to address the effects of Ondoy and Pepeng in competing for scarce public resources, he said.

“Yes, all these national sufferings are mostly self-imposed since at this state of our political development cycle, we tolerate or even encourage politicians to run our dams,” Salceda said.

He said climate events are given and they are reasonably foreseeable and their adverse impacts preventable to a certain extent or at least recoverable. “So, at the end of the day, it is how we respond to these events that would essentially shape the complexion of the national welfare,” he said.

He said the implications for the country, in the midst of such volatility in the environment due to climate change and the Philippines’ huge vulnerability to its impacts, are clear.

“That our public officials and the public in general should have a healthier respect for science and for scientific community in our government,” he said.



1,800 hectares affected in Bicol region


Meanwhile, at least 1,800 hectares of palay plantations and farmlands are already affected by the prolonged dry spell across Bicol region, irrigation and agriculture officials said yesterday.

But the extent of damage to communal irrigated areas remain unreported, they said.

Ed Yu, Bicol spokesman of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), said that the affected areas due to gradually dwindling supply in the sources of irrigation water are Camarines Sur with 1,104 hectares; Sorsogon with 400 hectares; and Camarines Norte with 109 hectares. Albay is not yet affected because of occasional local rains taking place in the area, particularly over Mayon Volcano, he said.

Yu said that they do not have data from Masbate and Catanduanes because the communal irrigation system there is being run by private irrigators groups.

He said these island provinces are also affected during the dry season.

“Although we do not receive yet any report, Masbate is usually affected during dry spell occurrences,” Yu told The STAR.

To cushion the impact of the dry spell to farmers, NIA decided to forgo charging irrigation fees to palay farms that could only harvest 40 sacks or less.

Yu also said at least 5,512 hectares of palay farms in the Rinconada towns of Camarines Sur are being irrigated through a rationing scheme due to reduced water level of the Lake Buhi dam.

Yu also expressed concern over the stand of the local government of Buhi to shut down the dam once its water level already reaches 82.30 meters.

He said that at the present level of 82.40 meters, Buhi dam is irrigating through the 10-centimeter excess water farms in Iriga City, Baao, Bato and Nabua, all in Camarines Sur.

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will provide emergency employment and livelihood assistance to Filipino farmers and fishermen who have been affected by the El Niño phenomenon.

Labor Undersecretary Lourdes Trasmonte said DOLE regional offices have begun submitting the names of those who are affected by the El Niño who may avail of the emergency employment and livelihood programs of the government.

“We already have asked our regional offices of their plans to mitigate effects of El Niño. Each regional office has the numbers of those affected,” Trasmonte said in an interview.

She said the possible employment opportunities for farmers and fishermen include serving as resort employees, repairing banca, fishnets, cleaning of canals and irrigation.

On the other hand, livelihood programs include fishing and raising cream dory and eels.

Nathaniel Cruz, Pagasa deputy administrator has said El Niño’s damage to the agriculture sector could still rise in the coming months.

The Department of Agriculture earlier said that crop damage due to the ongoing drought has climbed to P11.19 billion as of March 1.

The DA has earlier projected that the drought would result in crop damage worth from P8 billion to P20 billion.

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