Was it the rain? Or the waters from the dam?

SPECIAL FROM http://www.barriosiete.com/
http://barriosiete.com/was-it-the-rain-or-the-waters-from-the-dam/
October 5, 2009

While typhoon Ondoy was devastating Manila and the floodwaters was raging, killing hundreds of people, devastating properties, it has never occurred into my mind…the waters from the dam.

Never.

Until I read something…it said….

Moreover, Pantabangan Mayor Romeo Borja Sr. said that the National Irrigation Administration was justified in ordering the release of water from the dam reservoir since there is a coming typhoon. “It is better for them to release water now when there is still no rains than when the typhoon and rains are already there,” he said. Source: Ondoy ruins P307-million Ecija crops

Interviews upon interviews of people who were flood victims where almost in unison and in chorus saying that floodwaters were rising very fast! “Ambilis pong tumaas nang tubig!” That’s what we all heard. Over and over.

In all my life, I have never heard of a rain to have caused such massive flooding – in a very short period of time. Flooding in New Orleans was not caused by rain. It was caused by the levee breaking up!

And then, I read another story:

Officials of Bulacan, which hosts the Angat and Ipo dams, have said that the water releases should not be blamed for the massive flooding in Metro Manila and Central Luzon. The amount of rain that fell on Sept. 26 was unusually high. Source: Pimentel to lead class action suit

So, they want us to believe that it was the rain? Massive rain?

But Pimentel is not satisfied. He is already talking with lawyers and is studying facts and collecting evidence in order to find out which dam managers failed to take necessary precautions or “recklessly” allowed water to flow out of the dams. The La Mesa, Angat and Ipo dams are near Metro Manila. Source: Pimentel to lead class action suit

If true, this is terrible! Just like Senator Pimentel, I’d like to know if indeed the the very sudden rise in floodwaters was caused by the waters released from the dams, and not just the unusually heavy rainfall. And shouldn’t they have warned that they will be releasing waters from the dam?

The Great Flood

An aerial view aboard a Philippine Air Force chopper shows devastation brought by Tropical Storm Ketsana in Cainta, province of Rizal, eastern Manila.

NI JULIET DE LOZA/NOEL ABUEL/ERALYN PRADO /DINDO MATINING/JB SALARZON/TINA MENDOZA/AFP

Ginulantang kahapon ng walang patid na buhos ng ulan na hatid ng bagyong “Ondoy” ang rehiyon ng Luzon kung saan pangunahing sinalanta ay ang Metro Manila matapos nitong palubugin sa ga-hita hanggang lampas-taong baha ang 90 per cent ng kalungsuran.

Kasabay nito ay naitala ang 9-kataong nasawi dulot ng hagupit ni “Ondoy” sa iba’t ibang panig ng rehiyon.

Paliwanag naman ng Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Admi­nistration (PAGASA) flood forecasting center, ang bumuhos na ulan kahapon ay katumbas ng halos dalawang linggong normal na pag-ulan.

Nabatid pa na simula alas-otso hanggang alas-11:00 pa lamang ng umaga ay umabot na sa 112 millimeters ang volume ng bumuhos na ulan at sobra-sobra na umano ito para bumaha ang malaking bahagi ng Kalakhang Maynila.

Bagama’t sunud-sunod ang bagyong pumasok sa teritoryo ng Pilipinas nitong nakalipas na tatlong linggo, ang pinagsama-sama nilang buhos ay naitala lamang sa sukat na 300 millimeters.

Samantala, isa pa sa nakadagdag ng biglang paglaki ng tubig ay ang obligadong pagpapakawala ng tubig mula sa mga water reservoir na mabilis na napuno at umangat ang tubig sa critical level dahil na rin sa walang patid at tila galit na galit na buhos ng ulan.

Unang nagpakawala ng tubig ang La Mesa Dam matapos umakyat sa 80.15 meters ang antas ng tubig dito. Sinundan ito ng pag-akyat din sa critical level ng tubig sa Angat Dam kaya’t napilitan din itong magpakawala ng tubig dakong alas-11:00 ng umaga.

Ilang oras makaraan ito ay nagpahayag din ang Magat Dam sa lalawigan ng Isabela na posible rin silang magpakawala ng tubig dahil sa mabilis na pag-akyat sa critical level.

Ang Ipo Dam ang unang nagbawas ng tubig dakong ala-1:20 ng madaling-araw nang buksan ang gates 2, 3 at 4. Makaraan ang ilang oras ay isinara na ang gate 2 at ang gates 3 at 4 na lamang ang iniwang nakabukas hanggang kahapon.

Bilang direktang resulta, 25 barangay sa Marilao, Meycauayan, San Miguel at Bocaue sa Bulacan ang lumubog sa flashfloods.

Sa pang-alas-dos ng hapong ulat ng National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), umabot sa 33 barangay sa Metro Manila ang iniulat na lumubog sa baha: isa sa Maynila, dalawa sa Marikina City, anim sa Malabon City, dalawa sa Muntinlupa City, lima sa Quezon City, isa sa Makati City, isa sa Pasay City, lima sa Pasig City, isa sa Valenzuela City at siyam sa San Juan City.

Bukod pa rito, 37 kalsada sa Kalakhang Maynila ang idineklarang “impas­sable” o hindi madaanan ng maliliit na sasakyan.

Nguni't sa ulat ng Manila Police District (MPD) district tactical operations center, sa Maynila pa lamang ay 33 major at minor streets na ang hindi madaanan pagsapit pa lamang ng alas-12:30 ng tanghali.

Bunga nito, kinaila­ngang gumamit ng mga 6x6 o 10-wheeler truck ang mga kawani ng Manila City Hall sa paghahatid ng mga relief goods sa evacuation centers at maging sa pag-rescue sa mga na-trap sa baha.

Sa kahabaan ng Epifanio Delos Santos Ave. (EDSA), daan-daang commuters ang na-stranded sa hindi inaasahang pag­laki ng baha rito kung saan marami sa mga ito ang sumugod na at nagpakabasa sa ulan habang sinasagasa ang ga-tuhod hanggang ga-baywang na baha makaraan ang siyam na oras na pagtitiyaga sa walang galawang trapiko.

Sa Makati City, mahigit 1,000 pamilya sa Silverio Compound ng San Isidro ang kinailangang iligtas sa ga-bewang na baha. Samantalang umakyat din hanggang tuhod ang baha sa San Antonio, Palanan at Olimpia.

“We need the help of the concerned agencies to help us evacuating hundreds of (families) in eight out of nine barangays in Muntinlupa. They are in danger,” pagsusumamo ni Muntinlupa City Rep. Rufino Biazon.

Ang mga tirahang barung-barong ng mahigit 1,000 pamilya sa San Isidro, Parañaque City ay nilamon din ng malaking tubig.

Bunga nito, nagpasaklolo kahapon si Parañaque City Rep. Roilo Golez sa pamahalaan upang saklolohan ang mahigit 5,000 pamilyang naapektuhan ng baha sa kanyang distrito. Karamihan umano sa mga ito ay ngayon pa lamang nakalasap ng baha sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon.

Si Bayan Muna party­list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, sa kabilang dako, ay nanga­lampag naman ng rescue teams para saklolohan ang mga pamilyang na-trap sa biglang pagbaha kung saan marami sa mga ito ay nasa bubungan na ng kanilang bungalow na mga bahay sa kasagsagan ng buhos ng ulan.

Sa Kabikulan, tinatayang 1,000 hanggang 2,000-katao ang na-stranded matapos na harangin ng Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ang kanilang paglalayag.

Sa inisyal na ulat na 9-kataong nasawi, isa rito ay mag-ama na nabagsakan ng isang bumagsak na pader sa kasagsagan ng baha at buhos ng ulan samantalang apat na bata ang nalunod at tatlo pa ang tinangay ng malakas na agos.

Ondoy, Ang Bagyo

BY MINNIE QUEMUEL
SPECIAL REPORT
Las Pinas, Metro Manila, Philippines, Sunday, September 27, 2009

The rains started even before 8 a.m. last Saturday. I was awake and was supposed to wash clothes but didn’t.

The rains fell hard and next thing I knew, the bridge connecting Phase 1 (us) to Phase 2 was under water, kaya pala a long line of vehicles was lining up in front of our house, they couldn't see the bridge. The water outside was already knee deep, and it’s a good thing may pader kami, kung hindi, pumasok na ang tubig sa bahay.

After several minutes, passing tricycles (ito na lamang ang pwedeng lumusong sa baha) would push debris to our garage. The debris/basura came from the nearby creek.

I was dumbfounded to know that the Project 8 house (remember the Quemuel house?) was under water and all my in-laws had evacuated to higher grounds....WALA silang nadala. The water rose that fast. The Q house is near a creek, too.

Meanwhile, my youngest brother who lives in Sta. Mesa, was crying for help—the water had submerged the first floor of their house and they fled to the second floor—WALA rin silang nadalang kasangkapan. He has three young children and his elderly in laws lived next door.

I was desperately contacting all government agencies, the Red Cross, the radio/TV stations—but to no avail. Busy lahat. The rains continued until almost 6 p.m.

Nakakatakot. This is the first time that the whole Metro Manila and nearby provinces went under!!! Nataranta ang gobyerno—and the local governments are not prepared for such a big disaster.

In a certain subdivision in Marikina, rescuers found dead people who had climbed to their roofs but couldn’t stand the cold or fell to the waters.

On TV, there was a group of people (relatives maybe) who were atop a roof that had dislodged from the main house and was carried away by rampaging waters in Marikina!!! Horrific—in front of you, you see people needing help, but you couldn’t do anything. Namatay yata ang lahat na iyon. They couldn’t have survived those angry waters.

I was praying na huminto na ang ulan, kasi kung hindi, we will evacuate—on foot! Wala akong kotse at walang sasakyan dito like jeep, bus, or taxi na dumadaan Digoy (2nd son) was in their subdivision and couldn’t come, kasi baha din ang dadaanan niya at hindi pwede ang kotse niya.

Tootsie (1st son) was already on alert with his two young daughters (aged 4, and another, 7 months) and wife in case they also had to evacuate on foot. The water in front of their house was already waist high! Tumirik na ang aming Pinoy jeep (all of 38 years na ito!).

All of us were on edge. We kept texting each other and sisters from abroad were texting too. Yung mga kapatid ko sa Japan and States were panicking—they wanted to know what was happening.

All of us here were mesmerized by the visuals before us—buti na lamang may koryente. Hindi naman kasi malakas ang hangin. I couldn't bring relief goods to my in laws and brod, baka bukas na kapag wala na ang baha.

That is the latest muna.

AFTERMATH: Tuesday, September 29

Among the relatives, itong youngest brod ko ang tinamaan—lahat ng kasangkapan niya, sira na kasi nababad sa tubig sa first floor nila. Yung in-laws ko ang hardest hit kasi they had to evacuate when the water rose while they were watching “Wowowee.” Buti na lang may back door sila. But all they had were the clothes on their back. Sila itong tinutulungan ko kahit pakonti-konti. (MQ)

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

For more information on typhoon aftermath and Relief Sites:
1) A map that helps the victims of Ondoy/Ketsana: http://baratillo.net/
2) Alerts and information (updated): Manuel L. Quezon III—The Daily Dose
http://www.quezon.ph/category/daily/

Wishful Thinking for Philippine Cinema

On September 1, 2009, film critics Alexis Tioseco and Nika Bohinc were murdered in their home in Quezon City, Philippines. Born in 1981, Alexis Tioseco was founder and editor-in-chief of Criticine, an online journal of Southeast Asian cinema. Nika Bohinc was editor of EKRAN, an international magazine on film based in Slovenia.

By Alexis A. Tioseco

March 15, 2009, 3:57 am (Shorter version originally published as an addendum to an article in Rogue Magazine, extended final version which appears below published in Philippines Free Press week of December 13, 2008).

I wish that the Film Development Council of the Philippines would understand the value of the money they’re given and consider going to Paris and spending P5 million of their P25 million allotment for a showcase given by a young festival an investment, and not just a vacation.
They support filmmakers with finished films to go abroad to festivals for the pride they bring their country—I wish instead they would support their films locally, and help them get seen by a larger Filipino audience.

I cry for the loss of Manuel Conde’s Juan Tamad films.

I cry for a country that can’t convince that one Filipino-American who owns the only known print of Conde’s Genghis Khan in its original language to return (i.e. sell) the film back to his mother country.

I cry for the generations of Filipinos, myself included, that can no longer see Gerry De Leon’s Daigdig ng Mga Api, and instead have scans of movie ads to admire on the internet (with sincere thanks to Simon Santos and James De la Rosa).

I mourn a heritage that has allowed through neglect the prints of Mario O’Hara’s Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos and Peque Gallaga’s Oro, Plata, Mata to turn flush sepia.

I cry for a Union Bank and University of the Philippines that conspire in apathy to let the master negatives of treasures produced by Bancom Audiovision rot in rooms only air-conditioned half the day and in cans untouched for years and years.

I pray for a city government or even enterprising and concerned theater owners to consider setting aside 50 centavos or a peso of a ticket for the preservation of our national audiovisual heritage. There have been flood taxes siphoned from movie tickets for crying out loud—this should be easy!

I wish Cinemalaya, which, thanks to the media and the government’s press mileage behind it, has a great festive excitement, would actually put their efforts in the service of Philippine cinema, and not their own self-involved attempt to start a micro-industry.

I wish filmmakers would stop listening to Robbie Tan.

I wish Cinema One, which takes more risks, gives more money and often produces better films than Cinemalaya, would actually give filmmakers some rights to their work and stop swindling them.

I wish Cinemanila, which has introduced to the country more great films than any other institution, doesn’t stop showing them on 35mm.

I wish Cinemanila would publish their full schedule in advance: it’s difficult to plot what films to watch when you don’t know which ones will show again.

I wish the Goethe-initiated Silent Film Festival, with live scores by Filipino musicians, would continue annually, and that one year they get to show a Chaplin, a Griffith, a Dreyer, and maybe a Vertov or Medvedkin.

I wish Lav Diaz would have larger budgets to maneuver and shoot with. And would work with the ace production designer Cesar Hernando once again.

I wish more people saw Lav Diaz’s films rather than just respecting his stance, and using him as a symbol.

I wish Raymond Red would get to make Makapili and/or return to making fantastic shorts in the experimental mode.

I wish Raymond Red would still get to shoot on celluloid.

I wish John Torres would sacrifice the image quality of his HDV camera for the special intimacy and spontaneity he is able to achieve with his 1ccd camera. Or get a smaller HDV camera.

I wish Mike De Leon would make another movie… please.

I wish Roxlee would get enough money to buy the time necessary to make an animated feature.

I wish everyone would buy a copy of Nicanor Tiongson and Cesar Hernando’s richly illustrated The Cinema of Manuel Conde.

I wish there were more books on Philippine cinema.

I wish a book series was started that published classic screenplays.

I hope Noel Vera gets to write his book on Mario O’Hara.

I wish a close study of the entire oeuvre of Ishmael Bernal were made.

I wish older commentators would understand: Lino Brocka is dead.

I wish younger filmmakers would understand: Lino Brocka compromised when he had to because he had to, and perhaps even, at times, too much. You are living in a different time. The excuse that Brocka made more than 60 films therefore you can afford your own mediocre ones does not hold water.

I wish we had less tourist cinema.

I wish we had less formula cinema—“real-time” anyone?

I wish Cinefilipino had put out Maalaala Mo Kaya with the reels in the proper order.

I wish Cinefilipino would have put our their Brocka titles with just a little bit of care and affection, providing some writing on the film or special features to contextualize them rather than just throw them out their bare to earn.

I wish Nestor Torre would open his eyes…

I wish the Manunuri books on Philippine cinema in the ’70s and ’80s would go back in print.

I wish the Manunuri actually cared about Philippine cinema today.

I wish more of the Manunuri actually reviewed films instead of just giving out awards.

I wish the Young Critics Circle were actually young.

I wish the Young Critics Circle were actually critics.

I wish Francis “Oggs” Cruz, Richard Bolisay, and Dodo Dayao would get space in the broadsheets, because they’re far more interesting than anyone writing there regularly.

I wish we didn’t have a cinema of the press (more on this soon).

I wish Noel Vera would move back.

I wish Hammy Sotto were still alive.

I wish Hammy Sotto’s manuscripts would get published.

I wish film preservation activist Jo Atienza was still in Manila.

I wish we had a fully-supported Film Museum.

I wish we had a Cinematheque.

I wish the UP Film Center had better seats, and more important, showed better films.

I wish more non-filmmakers from the Philippines would get to travel to festivals.

I wish film were taught in high schools.

I wish we had more film lovers and less bureaucrats in important positions in the field of cinema.

I wish Teddy Co would get the recognition that he deserves for his selfless work.

I wish Teddy Co would write more as his ideas deserve to be recorded.

I wish co-ops would co-operate.

I wish Khavn De La Cruz would get to make his musical EDSA XXX.

I wish the Max Santiago feature would get made, and that shorts would finally come to my hands on DVD (Hi Marla!).

I hope Tad Ermitano never stops writing and playing in his cave.

I wish Lourd De Veyra would continue writing on actors and cinema.

I wish Raymond Lee’s UFO success.

I wish Albert Banzon would get more credit.

I wish we had more regional feature films, and more support for regional filmmakers.

I wish everyone would watch When Timawa Meets Delgado.

I wish someone would lower MTRCB rates for screening fees, especially for festivals.

I wish someone, anyone, would make a good, thought-provoking film about the Philippine upper class.

I wish Ketchup Eusebio would get more leading roles.

I wish Elijah Castillo would appear in a lot more films. Soon.

I wish Cesar Hernando would get to make a video transfer of his experimental short Botika, Bituka.

I wish filmmakers had some integrity and told Viva to screw themselves when offered another exploitation film.

I wish more people could see the film Bontoc Eulogy by Marlon Fuentes.

I wish Vic Del Rosario wasn’t presidential adviser on Entertainment, given the shlock they produce, and yes, that includes the films that starred First-Son Mikey Arroyo.

I wish Star Cinema would stop—just stop.

I wish there was a film library that people could go to in order to read books on cinema.

I wish the MMFF were not in the hands of the same people who install public urinals (admittedly useful).

I wish the MMDA didn’t call those circles and boxes Art.

I wish that MMDA Art wasn’t so much better than every MMFF film.

I wish a certain festival in December didn’t consider box office as a criteria for its main prize (which comes with rewards). We don’t give cultural awards to Wowowee, do we? Well, not yet…

I wish I could see how “commercial viability” was computed.

I wish Mother Lily didn’t have a monopoly on the Metro Manila Film Festival.

I wish Mother Lily took better care, or rather took care at all, of the good films she unwittingly produced in the past.

I wish Mother Lily would get to see Raya’s Long Live Philippine Cinema! …or maybe not.

I wish the Hammy Sotto-led Philippine Cinema in the ’90s book, with excellent interviews and a complete filmography of the decade, and which has been completed for several years, would finally get printed.

I wish all the old Mowelfund shorts—including the works of Regiben Romana, the Alcazaren Brothers, Louie Quirino and Donna Sales, Raymond Red and Noel Lim—would come out on DVD.

I wish a book would be written about all the Mowelfund shorts.

I wish a book on Philippine poster art would be released.

I always look forward to the rest of Nick Deocampo’s projected four-to-five volume history on Philippine cinema—at least someone is writing it.

I wish there were a pure film studies course available in the Philippines.

I wish that venues that are censorship (and therefore MTRCB fee) exempt would understand the vital role they play and take more responsibility.

I wish we had a regular film journal. Why don’t we? We have enough critics groups and awarding bodies.

I wish more film teachers were approaching cinema from cinema.

I wish R.A. Rivera would get to make his first feature soon.

I wish Quark Henares refrains from selling out again, because if he doesn’t, he has the potential to be one of the important ones.

I wish more people would get to see In Da Red Korner. It deserves to be reconsidered.

I wish Rogue Magazine would cut down their featuring of foreign films in the gallery section when there is so much to write about locally that doesn’t get covered in other media beyond sloppy journalism.

I wish the government would sponsor DVD releases of the surviving films of Lamberto Avellana, Gerardo De Leon and all other classics that still exist.

I wish FPJ Productions would again screen the footage of Gerry De Leon’s unfinished Juan de la Cruz (the icon, by the way, that was invented by this magazine).

I wish less filmmakers compromised.

I wish more filmmakers admitted when they did.

I wish we focused our attention more on audience education, development and literacy, than on dumbing down films to pander to them.

I wish Philippine cinema all the success in the world.

http://www.criticine.com/interview_article.php?id=21