Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando has summoned officials of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) together with Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO and provincial’s legal counsel to shed light on the alleged sub-standard materials made in China used in the rehabilitation of Bustos Dam otherwise known as Angat Afterbay Regulatory Dam.
Fernando convened the said officials and had a closed door meeting on Thursday afternoon on the issue of alleged anomalous rehabilitation works on Bustos Dam wherein he called out together with Vice Governor Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado for a comprehensive investigation regarding the matter.
It was learned that during special session at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Bulacan held recently, in his speech, Alvarado exposed that a defective rubber gate was used in the rehabilitation of the said dam.
Fernando said that Alvarado’s expose has been confirmed to be true, the materials used in the rehabilitation of Bustos Dam should be replaced with materials that were specified in the contract for its rehabilitation.
The governor, who was the vice governor of the province at the time of the bidding for the dam’s rehabilitation recalls that NIA and its contractor has proposed that the materials to be used for the rubber gates will be those made in Japan or Germany and not from China.
The Bustos Dam rehabilitation works was bid in the 3rd quarter of 2016 for a budget of P1 Billion that include concreting of its main canals, Fernando said.
It was learned that prior to the discovery of the alleged defective materials, in the first week of May this year, Rubber Gate 5 of its six rubber gates suffered damages and leaks.
On the other hand, Larry Ballesteros, Bulacan NIA manager, explained that Rubber Gate No. 5 of Bustos Dam was not totally damaged but only suffered leaks.
Ballesteros said in a text message that the contractor in the rehabilitation of the said dam was ITP Construction Inc.-Guangxi Hydro Electric Construction Bureau Co. LTD. (GHCB) Consortium.
Guiguinto Mayor Ambrocio “Boy” Cruz Jr., who is currently the president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippine(LMP)-Bulacan Chapter said, using inferior quality materials on Bustos Dam “is very unfortunate and the culprit should be made accountable.”
It is high time that responsible individuals involved in these anomalies should be made to answer for their irregularities “so we can send a strong message that under [President Rodrigo Roa Duterte], corruption has no place under his administration,” Cruz pointed out.
The LMP-Bulacan Chapter president said “imagine the unimaginable damage that we have to endure should flooding will occur due to this defective installation.”
Alvarado also said that the inferior quality of materials used in the rehabilitation of Bustos Dam could lead to a catastrophe that may submerge Bustos, Plaridel, Pandi, Bocaue, Guiguinto, Balagtas, Bulakan, Malolos, Calumpit at Hagonoy in floodwater if will not be replaced.
The vice governor pointed out that the rubber gate used in the rehabilitation of the dam has a factory defect and was made from China and has to be questioned if there is a neglect on the part of the Quality Control Division of NIA.
“This is a gross and inexcusable negligence that may lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and a “delubyo” (catastrophe) might happen if this defective materials will not be replaced,” Alvarado said.
He explained that during the rainy season, the water level of the said dam is normally at 17 meters high and during a typhoon one of its six rubber gates can release 500 cubic meters per second (cms) of water that can inundate most of Hagonoy and Calumpit towns.
If all the six rubber gates of the dam collapses it can release a total of 3,000 cms of water that can submerged 16 towns of the province under several feet of floodwater, Alvarado said.
On August 5, 2018, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) regional office announced that 98.66 of the rehabilitation works were completed and only needed for the installation of the water sprinklers of the rubber gate to prevent it from getting brittle due to the heat of the sun, the vice governor noted.
Earlier, Felix Robles, chief of the water control and coordinating unit of Bustos Dam, has confirmed that the repair works on Bustos Dam’s Rubber Gate 5 was not completed on its target date of May 15 saying that during its test operations air leaks were detected on its air bladder.
On the other hand, Josephine Salazar, regional director of NIA for Central Luzon, said in a text message, “[Please] be informed that the construction of Bustos Dam also known the Angat Afterbay Regulatory Dam is still ongoing with some item of works to be completed, so it is not yet turned over or accepted by NIA. With regards to the installed rubber gates it has a warranty of 20 years so any defects or damages occurred is still the responsibility of the contractor.”
Alvarado said the Sanguniang Panlalawigan of Bulacan has included in their agenda in their session last Friday afternoon the issue on the rehabilitation works made on Bustos Dam.
It was also learned that a meeting via Zoom was called recently by NIA Deputy Administrator for Engineering and Operations Sector C’zar Sulaik with officials of the regional offfice’s engineering deparment and the Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office to address the issue with the said Bustos Dam rehab..
The contractor of the said rehabilitation of Bustos Dam was directed to conduct replacement of the damaged rubber bladder as part of the 20-year warranty period policy from 2017 to 2037.
NIA also instructed the contractor to coordinate with the regional office to determine the best remedial measure to address the problem.The contractor and the NIA Regional Office in Central Luzon decided that a cofferdam, a temporary remedy to the damaged rubber bladder No. 5, will be constructed by the contractor, without any cost to NIA.
It will be replaced with a permanent rubber bladder afterwards.