By Myrna M. Velasco – November 16, 2020, 3:11 PM.
from Manila Bulletin
Transmission system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) set the record straight that it should not be blamed for the severe flooding incidents in Cagayan and Isabela provinces, because the company is not involved in matters relating to the release of water from the Magat dam.
Under government regulations, it is the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) that has the authority and mandate over deciding water releases from hydro dams.
“With regard to a misleading banner flashed during a news story of the Cagayan flood…we would like to clarify that it (NGCP) has nothing to do with flooding in the Cagayan valley area, or anywhere else in the country,” the transmission firm said.
NGCP has decried the repeated blazing of a news item in a media outlet that erroneously faulted the company for the widespread flooding disaster in the two specified northern Luzon provinces.
The news item was also flashed again by the media network during President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to the calamity-stricken Cagayan Valley over the weekend.
“The banner flashed during the above-mentioned news stories gives the false impression that the local government in Cagayan province is contemplating a legal suit against NGCP for the loss of life and damage to property caused by the flooding,” the transmission company stressed.
NGCP reiterated that the allegation was wrongly placed because even Cagayan province officials like Governor Manuel Mamba and Tuguegarao City Mayor Jefferson Santiago never alluded to a wrongdoing or mishap that the company had been involved in when typhoon Ulysses barreled the area.
NGCP said it was not mentioned by the local officials at all, hence, the company is seeking retraction and had been issuing clarifications to that inaccurate news story.
“We ask a retraction be immediately issued,” the company said, as it appealed to a particular media network to “cease the use of the offending and misleading banner.”
Further, SN Aboitiz Power Inc. (SNAP) indicated that while it is the operator of the 360-megawatt Magat hydroelectric power facility in Isabela, the release of water from the dam was not within its authority, rather, that is under the regulation and supervision of NIA.
The NIA, in particular, has made public the written notice sent to the Governor of Cagayan as early as November 9, informing the locality that it “may release water from the Magat reservoir in order to maintain safe water level of the Magat dam,” and it specified that “the release of water is due to tropical depression Ulysses.” The government agency added that by November 9 at 3:00pm, it targeted to release 200 cubic meter per second and “may increase the discharge depending on the amount of rainfall at the Magat watershed.”
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