Admitting that the current protocol on flood forecasting and release of water from dams is obsolete, the National Power Corporation said Friday that it will issue a revised protocol by the end of November.

The agency is tasked with managing the country’s major dams, which are also sources of hydroelectric power.

NPC President Froilan Tampinco  made the announcement during the resumption of the Senate Climate Change Committee’s investigation into the recent massive flooding caused by typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng”, saying it is in strict compliance to Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes’ directive for a new protocol in terms of procedure and mechanism on the release of dam water.

The revised protocol, Tampinco said, would also deal with the proper issuance of advisories to local government units, government agencies and the public.

Tampinco admitted that the current protocol being observed by the NPC is already outdated and needs to be modernized to address the current change in climate which is now felt not only in the country but also globally.

“This protocol was developed on the basis of historical experience over a certain period of time and we acknowledge that what we experience recently has not been experienced by the Philippines for a long, long while. The last incident of a similar nature was in 1920 and it was not even as grave as what we experienced recently,” he said.

“So it clearly shows that the protocols we followed certainly would need updating, we submit to that. And in fact, moving through a directive that will be issued by the DOE, inviting the concerned stakeholders, people from the academe, our own local experts, the different representatives from the different agencies, to a meeting together with certain LGUs who are directly affected by or our host to these facilities,” he further said.

He said coming out with a revised protocol is also part of their aim to address the urgency of what the country is experiencing now.

But despite the urgency, he said Napocor needs sufficient time to come up with a new thorough protocol to avoid releasing a “haphazardly made” revised set of rules.

That is why they are settling for a November deadline despite Reyes’ ultimatum for them to release the new protocol by Monday, Oct. 19.

Sen. Loren Legarda, who chairs the committee, agreed that the agency needs more time to finish its revised protocol.

“But we appreciate your recognition of the need for urgent, speedy correct action and that is through the implementation of revised protocol based on the information gathered from this committee hearing,” Legarda said.

Senators and several local government officials blame Napocor and San Roque dam operators for the deluge that followed during typhoon “Pepeng’s” onslaught in Northern and Central Luzon.

Geologist Dr. Carlo Arcilla, who was present during the hearing, said the current weather events call for a new protocol that would govern dam operators on the amount of water that should be released in the event of typhoons to prevent future deluges.

Arcilla said dam operators should not be blamed “too much” because they are merely following “by the book” where they are only mandated to release 500 cubic meters per second should the level of water at the dam start to rise beyond the normal level.

Reyes, for his part, also wanted to determine whether Napocor officials and engineers can be held culpable criminally and administratively for the release of water from the dam.

The meeting being called by Reyes will look into the updating of the protocols to be followed not only by Napocor but by all dam operators so that the release of water from the said facilities would not result to loss of lives and properties.

Reyes’ order to determine criminal and administrative liability on the part of Napocor officials was seen to have partly arisen from the conflicting statements given by Napocor officials during the Senate committee’s hearing Monday, during which its chief hydrologist Russel Rigor said there was no protocol to be followed in the release of water.

But Tampinco, in yesterday’s hearing, claimed otherwise, asserting the existence of such a protocol and the alleged strict adherence to it by Napocor officials and engineers.

Meanwhile, Pantabangan Dam authorities released a total volume of 220 cubic meters per second of  waters as of 7 a.m. of Thursday as waters from the Nueva Vizcaya and Aurora rivers flowed in, raising the dam’s spilling level to its current elevation of 220.46 meters.

Only a difference of .54 meters separates its present elevation to the dam’s 221 meter spilling level.

As of 7a.m. of Thursday, the dam is releasing 100 cms direct to the Pampanga River which would ultimately end up at the Candaba swamps.

An additional 120 cms for irrigation diversion requirement is being released gradually through the rivers in Murcon in Llanera and Vaca, Rizal towns for the regular irrigation needs of the 106,400 hectares service area of the dam. No water goes to the Pampanga River.

National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Service (NIA-UPRIIS) Operations Manager Eng. Antonio S. Nangel made the announcement as late as yesterday afternoon when continuous rains spawned by a coming low pressure area entered Southern Luzon.

Nangel said the alarming rate of 172 cms coming from the Taan and Casecnan rivers in Nueva Vizcaya and Aurora called for an emergency release of dam water immediately.

The 220.46 meter elevation occurred, he said, since the dam had cut off release of its water to give way to the request of Pampanga 4th District Rep. Anna York Bondoc on Sunday for the dam to stop releasing water.

Bondoc had pleaded on behalf of her constituents in the border towns of Candaba, Arayat and Apalit who had been under flood waters since a week ago. (With a report from Magtanggol Vilar)