Dads seek alternative to San Roque
The Sanggunian Panglunsod of Dagupan City wants the national government to look for other sources of energy that could replace the 345-megawatt San Roque Multi-purpose Dam Project in San Manuel town
Short of endorsing the earlier proposal for the decommissioning of San Roque Dam, a move proposed by Urdaneta City Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr. in the aftermath of the massive flood that submerged 34 towns and three cities of Pangasinan from October 8 to 14 this year, the city council’s resolution, authored by Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, asked President Gloria Arroyo to consider other options to prevent a repeat of the 10/9 flooding in eastern and central Pangasinan.
The council passed the resolution shortly after two officials of the National Power Corporation appeared before it to reiterate their position that the San Roque Dam did not cause the massive flooding in Dagupan City and Pangasinan.
The resolution, however, did not mention the word “decommissioning”.
Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, chair of the city council, confirmed that the body passed the measure and that it did not ask for the “decommissioning” of the dam.
She said the resolution, in effect, wants the power component of the dam to be removed to drastically change the protocol of the dam’s operation and simply safeguard the flooding and irrigation service features of the dam.
The councilors conceded that any move seeking the decommissioning of San Roque Dam would just be an exercise in futility, but the resolution describes their collective sentiment over the recent massive flooding in Dagupan and Pangasinan.
Vice Mayor Fernandez said, the height of floodwater in most of the 31 barangays in Dagupan was nine feet.
Observers noted, however, that the resolution virtually adopted the proposal of Mayor Perez before the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) meeting in Lingayen in mid October when he sought the decommissioning of San Roque’s power generation component, which requires the dam to maintain a higher water level.
Presently, the dam holds 850 million cubic meters of water to serve power, flood and irrigation components.
The city councilors became apprehensive after Engr. Virgilio Garcia, officer-in-charge of NPC’s Agno Flood Forecasting and Warning System for Dam Operation, admitted that in case of a breach in the dam, the level of flood water in Dagupan would be equivalent to a two-storey building.
The councilors also expressed concern over reports that the San Roque Dam is located near two earthquake faults-the Digdig Fault originating from Nueva Ecija that moved during the July 16, 1990 earthquake, and the San Manuel Fault. LM
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