Bulacan execs warn of disaster over dam’s ‘substandard’ gates

WATER RUSHING OUT The Bustos Dam in Bustos, Bulacan, swiftly discharges water after its rubber gate No. 3 burst on Thursday. Fortunately, no floods occur that can threaten nearby communities. —Bulacan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office

CITY OF MEYCAUAYAN, BULACAN, Philippines — Bulacan officials on Sunday appealed to President Marcos to help them with the needed replacement of all six “substandard” rubber gates of Bustos Dam after another gate burst last week.

Gov. Daniel Fernando, in a press conference here on Sunday, said his urgent call to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to replace the rubber gates had landed on deaf ears.

On Thursday, rubber gate No. 3 burst due to leakages caused by the high heat index, according to Manuel Lukban Jr., head of the Bulacan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO). This was the second leakage after rubber gate No. 5 similarly malfunctioned and deflated on May 10, 2020.

Fernando said the series of malfunctions of the rubber gates meant that a similar burst and deflation of the rest of all the rubber gates could happen anytime, threatening the life and security of the people of Bulacan.

READ: Residents alerted after Bustos Dam rubber gate bursts

The six rubber gates were installed during the term of the late President Benigno Aquino III as part of the rehabilitation of the Angat Dam.

Fernando said substandard rubber gate materials were used, unlike the high-quality previously installed Bridgestone-mark rubber gates that lasted for 50 years.

Appeals

Fernando bewailed the installation of below-par rubber gates that put the lives of people living near the dam.

“Are we going to wait again for another one to deflate? Since the incident in 2020, my call and urgent appeal to NIA is to replace all the six rubber gates,” he said.

In a message to Marcos, Fernando said: “Many will be affected by flash flood it will cause. Please help us, Mr. President.”

Rubber gate No. 5 was only replaced in January 2024, four years after the malfunction.

According to the governor, it was only fortunate that the deflation of the two gates occurred at a time when the weather was hot and not during heavy rains or typhoon season.

If the gates burst during rainy days and typhoons, it could result in a sudden water discharge of over 3,000 cubic meters per second, causing flash floods that would endanger the lives of the people of Bulacan, particularly those living along the low-lying communities beside the Angat-Bustos River, he explained.

Fernando said he directed Lukban to coordinate with the municipal and city DRRMOs in Bustos, San Rafael, City of Baliwag, Pulilan, Plaridel, Calumpit, and City of Malolos to prepare in case preventive evacuation would be needed, since the state of the rubber gates of Bustos Dam could no longer ensure their safety.

If evacuation becomes necessary, “the provincial government of Bulacan and the respective local government units in the towns and cities will provide for the needed relief packs and other needed supplies of our people,” he told Inquirer.

Wasteful release

Residents living near the Bustos River were alerted after rubber gate No. 3 collapsed on Thursday. The deflation caused the discharge of 2.38-meter-high water from the dam.

“The deflation only caused the water volume of Bustos Dam to decrease by more than 2 meters, but everything is normal, no flash flood, no evacuation,” Lukban told Inquirer.

Bustos Dam was at its 17.37-meter spilling level when the incident occurred. By Saturday, the water level had dropped to 15.48 meters. It further depleted to 14.85 meters on Sunday.

Josephine Salazar, NIA Region 3 Director, told the Inquirer on Friday that their office had been continuously demanding that the contractor install six new rubber gates to replace the remaining five rubber gates that are still under the 20-year contract warranty.

Salazar said they will purchase and install shallow tube wells and solar irrigation for some 1,200 hectares of rice farms under the current double dry cropping program.

Bustom Dam, through the NIA, supplies water for irrigation to 17 towns in Bulacan and four towns in Pampanga.

Water irrigation supply is scheduled on June 15 for the regular wet season cropping.