Weather instruments installed in Bulacan watershed destroyed

MALOLOS CITY , Philippines  â€“ Rain gauges and other instruments installed at the Angat Watershed in Bulacan to monitor natural disasters have been destroyed and dismantled by still unidentified men.

Romualdo Beltran, acting head of the Dam Management Department of the National Power Corporation (Napocor), said they recorded at least three incidents in less than a year.

Beltran said members of an armed group operating within the Angat Watershed might be responsible for the destruction.

Beltran told The STAR that they first notice that their rain gauge is not working last year.

“When we checked, it is not only destroyed, it was dismantled,” he said referring to the automatic rain gauge installed at Sitio Talaguio in Barangay Kabayunan, Donya Remedios Trinidad town.

The rain gauge is located within the 63,000 hectare of the watershed and is used in monitoring rainfall into the Angat Dam, which supplies 97 percent of Metro Manila’s water.

Beltran said the rain gauges are critical component of Napocor’s capability to determine how much rainfall is flowing into the dam.

“To properly maintain the dam and secure its integrity, we need those instruments which are also part of our early warning system,” he said.

The Napocor repaired the rain gauges, but months later it was destroyed again.                 

“Dumagat tribesmen have no interest in rain gauges, that’s why we suspect members of armed group,” Beltran said.

Aside from rain gauges, he said some water level gauges on the downstream of the Angat River were also defaced.

To address such situation, the Napocor has organized community members to keep watch on weather instruments.