PINATUBO LAKE’S ARTIFICIAL BREACHING: No choppers to airlift workers to crater

BOTOLAN, Zambales — Assistant Secretary Florante Soriquez of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) lamented yesterday the failure of the military to provide a helicopter to airlift workers to the Pinatubo summit to begin work on the "artificial breaching" of the crater lake.

The workers, mostly Aetas, are to scrape 3,200 cubic meters of soft debris at the crater lake’s lowest point leading to the Maraunot River, to allow a "calculated" flow of water downslope.

The workers have been waiting for the airlift since the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) announced last week the need to scrape off soft material at the crater lake’s Maraunot notch and create a 100-meter long canal to control the overflow of the lake which has been rising at 1.24 meters per month. The plan is meant to preempt "catastrophic breaching" of the crater lake.

Zambales Gov. Vicente Magsaysay said Maj. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, chief of the Army’s North Luzon Command, informed him the other day that all Huey helicopters under his command have been grounded following the crash of a Huey chopper in Davao last Monday.

Soriquez said at least 100 workers are needed to finish work on the Maraunot notch in three weeks. "Our initial estimate is it will take about one month to remove 3,200 cubic meters of debris, but we will see if this can be done in three weeks," he said.

Since last week, Magsaysay has been lending his private plane for aerial inspection of the Pinatubo crater. Only helicopters, however, could transport the workers to the Pinatubo summit.

Magsaysay said an initial 20 workers, mostly Aetas, and government engineers motored to Barangay Sta. Juliana in Capas, Tarlac yesterday from where they would start their four-hour trek to the crater. The Zambales route will take about three days.

The workers will use shovels and picks to scrape off the soft debris, about 1.5 meters thick, on the Maraunot notch, and the pyroclastic material underneath it.

Soriquez said he has proposed to Public Works and Highways Secretary Simeon Datumanong a P13.7-million funding for the artificial breaching operation. The funds are expected to come from the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

Of the amount, P2.3 million will be spent for the scraping of the Maraunot notch, and the rest for the repair of the dike along the Bucao River, downstream of the Maraunot and Balin-Baquero rivers.

Initially, Botolan Mayor Rogelio Yap sought P120 million for the rehabilitation of an eight-kilometer stretch of the Bucao River dike. Soriquez, however, said the repair of the dike’s damaged sections, costing P11.4 million, will be enough to protect populated areas from water and debris from the Pinatubo crater lake.

Magsaysay downplayed threats from the crater lake, saying he has not ordered any evacuation yet in communities in the Botolan Valley. Some 130 families, however, have abandoned their homes in Barangays Villar, Burgos and Ugik on the slopes of Mt. Pinatubo.