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Source: Johanna Camille Sisante, gmanews.tv
-- A House body has been formed to review the protocol for releasing water from the San Roque Dam after more than half of Pangasinan province was flooded due to water released from the dam at the height of Typhoon Pepeng.

Rep. Mark Cojuanco of Pangasinan's fifth district, chair of the adhoc House committee on dam management and safety composed of lawmakers from Pangasinan, said in the panel's hearing on Wednesday that the new protocol they would recommend would be very "transparent" so ordinary citizens can inquire about the dam's status whenever they want to.

Cojuangco said he believed Pangasinan would not have been flooded with dam water had dam operators handled the situation better. [See: Flooding in Pangasinan is turning from bad to worse]

It took three to four storms to fill the dam when it first became operational, Cojuangco noted.

"Kung tama [ang] patakbo ng dam at nasa tamang level ang dam bago dumating ang bagyo, walang dahilan kahit isang patak ng tubig, para makawasak ng property (If the dam was operated properly and it was at the right level before the arrival of the typhoon, there is no reason for property to be destroyed)," he said.

Rep. Conrado Estrella III of Pangasinan's sixth district said the committee would also review the National Power Corp.'s manual for flood control operations.

More than half of Pangasinan's 48 towns and cities were flooded after unprecedented amounts of water were released from the San Roque Dam when typhoon Pepeng hit the area in early October. The flooding resulted in numerous deaths and millions of damage to agriculture in the province.

During a Senate hearing on the matter on October 16, Napocor president Froilan Tampinco said they would revise their protocol for releasing water from the San Roque Dam to make it more responsive.

"It clearly shows that the protocol we followed certainly would need updating, we submit to that," Tampinco said then, referring to the lack of preparedness on the part of the Napocor that caused San Roque Dam's management to release excess water too late. [See: Floods prompt revision of protocol on release of water from dams]