MANILA, Philippines — Expecting more destruction from nonstop rains spawned by persistent Tropical Depression “Pepeng,” weather officials on Thursday advised the immediate evacuation of people living near major river basins in Nueva Ecija, Isabela and Pangasinan.

Susan Espinueva, an official of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s (PAGASA) hydrometeorology division, particularly referred to the Agno and Magat rivers, and the middle Cagayan and upper Pampanga rivers.

“There is a possibility of a major flood in the area. We are talking about swelling rivers and destruction of dikes,” Espinueva told reporters.

Spillway gates of the Ambuklao and Binga dams in Benguet, San Roque Dam in Pangasinan, Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija, and the Magat Dam in Isabela were already opened to release excess water brought about by intense rainfall, Espinueva said.

Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr. ordered officials and police chiefs in towns along the Agno River to immediately evacuate residents after the San Roque Dam opened all its six spillway gates, at a height of two meters each.

In a media advisory, provincial administrator Rafael Baraan said the water released from the dam at a rate of 2,500 cubic meters per second, would reach Barangay Carmen in Rosales town after eight hours.

“We urge immediate evacuation of families living along the Agno River and in other low-lying areas,” Baraan said.

The Agno River is Pangasinan’s major river system, traversing 17 towns and a city, from San Manuel to Lingayen, as it flows from the Cordillera mountains and drains into the Lingayen Gulf.

Tom Valdez, vice president for corporate social responsibility of the San Roque multipurpose project, said on Wednesday that the water level in the dam’s reservoir reached 288.3 meters above sea level (masl), very close to its maximum of 290 masl.

“We will be slowly increasing release [of water] to level off with the inflow, which is already [more than] 2,000 cms,” Valdez said.

Binga, Ambuklao

At 9 a.m. Thursday, the flood forecasting and warning system for dam operations of National Power Corp. ordered the opening of the dam’s six gates because of increasing inflow from the Binga and Ambuklao dams upstream in Benguet.

At that time, the two dams were already releasing excess water at 1,004 cms.

Troadio Apitona, executive assistant to San Nicolas Mayor Leoncio Saldivar III, said 10 villages in the town were under immediate threat of flooding. “The situation is getting worse. Water level is rising,” he said.

She said the Abra River basin was also swelling and would mean the evacuation of people living in nearby areas, including those near Vigan City in Ilocos Sur.

Pepeng (international name: Parma) was spotted Thursday in the vicinity of Isabela or 60 kilometers south of Tuguegarao City in Cagayan, the weather bureau said. It was still packing maximum winds of 55 kph and moving west slowly in the next two days.

23 killed

On its third return, Pepeng proved to be more devastating as its rain and wind killed 23 people, disaster response agencies reported.

PAGASA recommended the immediate evacuation of residents from low-lying areas in Rizal, Bongabon, General Natividad and Sta. Rosa towns and Palayan and Cabanatuan cities in Nueva Ecija; Ramon, San Mateo, Aurora, Cabatuan, Luna, Reina Mercedes, Burgos, Naguilian and Gamu towns in Isabela; and San Manuel, San Nicolas, Tayug, Sta. Maria, Asingan, Villasis, Alcala, Bautista, Rosales and Bayambang towns in Pangasinan.

Fatalities

Nine people, including two children, died after they were buried by landslides in Tublay and Mankayan towns in Benguet. Another landslide entombed six health workers who were trapped inside a rural clinic in Taytay town in Palawan.

Seven were drowning victims, mostly in Pangasinan, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in the Ilocos region, while a 12-year-old boy died when he tripped over a live wire from a toppled electric post in Cabagan town in Isabela.

But a bigger concern was the widespread flooding that residents were expecting as the San Roque Dam in San Manuel town in Pangasinan started releasing excess water on Thursday due to heavy rains in upland Cordillera.

Flood watch

At least 18 towns in the eastern and central areas of Pangasinan went under water after the river systems overflowed. Several families living along river banks had been evacuated.

“Floodwaters were from a foot to four feet deep,” said Butch Velasco, provincial information officer.

Flooding was also reported in the towns of Sison, Mangaldan, Mapandan, San Fabian, San Jacinto and Pozorrubio after the Bued River, which runs along the Kennon Road, swelled.

Sison Mayor Kimi Cojuangco, in a radio interview, said a dike along the river had breached due to strong currents, threatening to flood other towns in the north-central part of the province.

The overflowing of Sinocalan, Ingalera and Tagamusing rivers also flooded the towns of Sta. Barbara, Calasiao, and the cities of Dagupan and Urdaneta.

Supt. Ronald Gayo, director of the police mobile group in Tayug, said the towns of San Quintin and Natividad were flooded after the Dipalo River, which runs from the Caraballo mountains, overflowed.

He said his group had rescued several families in San Quintin town.

Nine villages were reported to be flooded in Rosales town on Thursday and local officials started evacuating residents.

The Agno River Flood Forecasting and Warning Center in Rosales said the other river systems in Pangasinan were expected to swell because of the continuous rains.

These are the Sinocalan, Ingalera and Tagamusing rivers, which traverse the towns of Sta. Barbara, Calasiao, Binalonan and Malasiqui and the cities of Dagupan and Urdaneta; and the Bued, Patalan, Angalacan and Aloragat rivers, which pass through the towns of Mangaldan, Mapandan, San Fabian, San Jacinto, Laoac, Manaoag, Sison and Pozorrubio.

In Baguio City, the City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC) said officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) had closed Marcos Highway on Thursday morning while Kennon Road, the most landslide-prone route to the city, had been closed since Saturday.

It advised Baguio-bound motorists to take Naguilian Road in La Union.

Officials manning the Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela, ordered the release of excess water due to heavy rains.

Saturnino Tenedor, dam and reservoir head, said water elevation was 192.36 meters, nearing its critical level of 193.

The rate of water release was 1,810 cubic meters per second, with four floodgates opened at a height of seven meters each.

In Nueva Ecija, the Pantabangan Dam increased its water release from 250 cms to 400 cms on Thursday afternoon as its reservoir reached the 220-meter mark, a meter below its spilling level.

Antonio Nangel, operations manager of the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems, said heavy rains since Wednesday morning had increased the inflow in the dam’s reservoir to 2,190 cms at 2 p.m.

Gov. Aurelio Umali asked officials in southern Nueva Ecija and towns near the Pampanga River to start evacuation of residents if flooding occurs.

Abraham Pascua, cochair of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, said several villages in Cuyapo, Rizal and Bongabon towns were flooded. With reports from Redempto Anda, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Gabriel Cardinoza, Yolanda Sotelo, Delmar Cariño, Vincent Cabreza, Melvin Gascon, Villamor Visaya Jr. and Elmer Kristian Dauigoy, Inquirer Northern Luzon, and Anselmo Roque, Inquirer Central Luzon; and Jerome Aning and Michael Lim Ubac