LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — “It is unfortunate that at this stage, our people look at the San Roque Dam not as an economic patron but a monument and symbol of fear, terror, and disaster.”

Thus, said Board Member Alfonso C. Bince Jr., the author of the provincial resolution seeking an inquiry on the causes of the recent massive flooding in Pangasinan, in his introductory speech during the question hour of the 90th regular session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan recently in Lingayen which was attended by officials of National Power Corporation (Napocor) and San Roque Power Corporation (SRPC).

Local officials of the province blamed San Roque Dam’s unprecedented release of water as the cause of the massive flooding in Pangasinan during the height of Typhoon Pepeng which resulted to massive destruction in agriculture and infrastructure and loss of lives.

During the hearing, Melburgo Chiu, Napocor vice president for Small Power Utilities Group, read a statement from the Napocor and SRPC before their presentation which partly states that: “The Napocor and SRPC commiserate with the families who were affected by Typhoon Pepeng, not only in the province of Pangasinan, but in all other areas as well. It was a tragic event in our history. The typhoon is simply too large and too big for any of us to handle.”

Virgilio Garcia, principal hydrologist of Napocor, attributed the flooding to the heavy rainfall, much to the surprise and amusement of the members of the board.

Despite the denial of the dam officials that the spilling operation of the dam was the direct cause of the massive flooding, they later on admitted that it aggravated the situation.

The members of the board also castigated the mode of the dam’s spilling operations which put it at a critical level and had it sending large volume of water downstream which could have been prevented had dam operators gradually released waters from the dam.

According to them, the business side of the dam, which is power generation, was prioritized instead of its other functions.

The San Roque Dam was built for flood mitigation, power generation, water quality, and irrigation.