EDITORIAL - Blame game

Dam operators, weather forecasters and local government executives engaged in finger-pointing yesterday as the Senate tried to determine the cause of the massive destruction and loss of lives resulting from the flooding in Pangasinan in the wake of typhoon “Pepeng.” If any good is to come out of this blame game, it should be the speedy implementation of measures to improve disaster mitigation.

There is no guarantee that the calamity-hit areas have seen the last of torrential rainfall for the year. Flood control projects cannot be built overnight, but the Senate probe should help speed up the improvement of disaster warning systems.

During the probe, it was noted that the release of water from the San Roque Dam aggravated flooding in many parts of Pangasinan. Whether it was the principal cause of flooding is unclear; before Pepeng, dams in Luzon were already swollen by the heavy rains brought by storm “Ondoy.”

The dam’s chief hydrologist said they simply get orders from the National Power Corp. on when water should be released. The decision is supposed to be based on information from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, whose head reiterated yesterday that the agency does not have the Doppler radar needed to predict the amount of rainfall. How long has the government sat on PAGASA’s request for Doppler radars, and why?

An official of the San Roque Power Corp. said the dam administration sent warnings by fax to local governments with jurisdiction over the areas that would be affected by the release of water. But Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr. said all he received was a text message from an official of the power firm about the forthcoming release of water from the dam. The amount of water caught the local government of Pangasinan by surprise.

What the probe made clear was that there was no systematic way of warning communities about the release of water from the dam. PAGASA must wait at least two more months before the arrival of one Doppler radar, and it will cover Metro Manila, not Pangasinan. But there are ways more efficient than text messaging to warn communities about the impending opening of floodgates. Unlike nature’s fury, this weakness in the system can be corrected. Before the next major weather disturbance strikes, that improved system must be put firmly in place.