Bulacan residents warned of Angat Dam water release

Authorities advised residents of up to nine towns in Bulacan province near Angat Dam Tuesday to take precautions from the release of some 500 cubic meters of water stored there. National Power Corp. Flood Forecasting and Warning System for dam operations division manager Alex Palada said the release of water may take two days. "Maliit ang pakakawalan natin ... Enough yan para maibaba ang elevation (We will release just a small volume of water, about 500 cubic meters per second. It is enough to bring down the dam's water elevation)," Palada said in an interview on dzBB radio. Palada said areas to be directly affected include the towns of Norzagaray, Angat, San Rafael, Bustos, Baliuag, Plaridel and Pulilan. He said the release of water was to start at 10 a.m. Tuesday, adding this may take two days. For his part, Bulacan Governor Joselito "Jonjon" Mendoza said two other towns - Calumpit and Hagonoy - may be hit indirectly by the release of water. But Mendoza stressed that communications pertaining to the release of water have been continuing. "Kanina pang umaga nag-announce na ang NDCC sa mga bayan na apektado. Ang dapat linawin, ang papakawalan ay hindi kasing laki nung tubig na pinakawalan noong Saturday," Mendoza said in a separate interview on dzBB. Palada said the amount of water released last Saturday was 500 cubic meters. "Ang malaki [ay] yung rainfall, kung yung galing lang sa Angat Dam, maliit lang yun." He assured residents of the affected towns have nothing to worry about. "This is what we have always done in the past," he said in Filipino. At present, he said the dam's water elevation was at 214.563 meters. He said they hoped to bring down the elevation to 212 meters. Palada said the dam had accumulated some 100 cubic meters of water since Saturday, when rains from "Ondoy" hit. Also, he said they already issued an advisory to the residents as early as Monday night. - with a report from Kim Tan, GMANews.TV