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The old St. Andrew the Apostle Parish Church, one of the prominent landmarks in the area, resurfaces after water level in the dam decreased to 173.40 meters on April 24, 2024. Angie de Silva, ABS-CBN News

 

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St. Andrew the Apostle Parish Church 

 

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1714111962824old St. Andrew the Apostle Parish Church 04262024.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span data-offset-key="ddh2l-0-0" id="isPasted" style="box-sizing:border-box"><span data-text="true" style="box-sizing:border-box">The old St. Andrew the Apostle Parish Church, one of the prominent landmarks in the area, resurfaces after water level in the dam decreased to 173.40 meters on April 24, 2024. <em>Angie de Silva, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span><br/></span></span></span></div><p>A centuries-old settlement submerged by the construction of a dam in the northern Philippines in the 1970s has reappeared as water levels drop due to a drought affecting swathes of the country.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">The ruins in the middle of Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija province are a tourist draw, even as the region swelters in extreme heat.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">Parts of a church, municipal hall marker and tombstones began to resurface in March after several months of &quot;almost no rain&quot;, said Marlon Paladin, a supervising engineer for the National Irrigation Administration.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">It is the sixth time the nearly 300-year-old settlement has resurfaced since the reservoir was created to provide irrigation water for local farmers and generate hydro-power.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">&quot;This is the longest time (it was visible) based on my experience,&quot; Paladin told AFP.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">The old St. Andrew the Apostle Parish Church, one of the prominent landmarks in the area, resurfaces after water level in the dam decreased to 173.40 meters on April 24, 2024. Angie de Silva, ABS-CBN News</p><p>The reservoir&#x27;s water level has fallen nearly 50 meters from its normal high level of 221 meters, figures from the state weather forecaster show.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">The months of March, April and May are typically the hottest and driest in the archipelago nation, but conditions this year have been exacerbated by the El Nino weather phenomenon.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">About half of the country&#x27;s provinces, including Nueva Ecija, are officially in drought.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">Tourists wanting a close-up of the ruins pay around 300 pesos ($5.00) to fishermen for a short boat ride out to the temporary island in the middle of the reservoir.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">Nely Villena, who lives in Pantabangan municipality, regularly visits a viewing platform overlooking the dam to see the ruins.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">&quot;The view is better when the water level is low. If the water is too high... all I can see is water,&quot; Villena, 48, told AFP, as a strong wind whipped across the water, providing relief from the scorching heat.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/4/24/-so-hot-you-can-t-breathe-extreme-heat-hits-the-philippines-1636">&#x27;So hot you can&#x27;t breathe&#x27;: Extreme heat hits the Philippines</a></div><div><strong>&#x27;BADLY NEED WATER&#x27; </strong></div><p>The actual air temperature in Nueva Ecija has reached around 37 degrees Celsius most days this week, with the heat index hovering above the &quot;danger&quot; level of 42C.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">The heat index measures what a temperature feels like, taking into account humidity.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">Hundreds of residents of the submerged villages and farms where the dam is located were moved by the government to higher ground.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">Melanie Dela Cruz, 68, was a teenager when her family was forced to leave their home. This year she returned for the first time.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">&quot;I got emotional because I got to recall my old life there,&quot; Dela Cruz told AFP.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">&quot;My heart was overwhelmed because I studied there, I was even born there.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/regions/2024/4/26/dagupan-bakes-in-47-degree-heat-for-4th-day-in-a-row-950">Dagupan bakes in 47-degree heat for 4th day in a row</a></div><p>Structures, which are normally submerged, resurface after the water level in the dam decreased to 173.40 meters on April 24, 2024. Angie de Silva, ABS-CBN News</p><p>The receding water level forced two hydropower plants near the dam to stop operating earlier this month, ahead of the normal shutdown on May 1.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">It also deprived many rice farmers of much-needed irrigation water, forcing some to switch to growing vegetables, which require less water.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">Dela Cruz said she prays for rain even though it means her old home will again disappear from view.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">&quot;Our farmers badly need water for their fields,&quot; she said.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/4/19/agri-losses-due-to-el-nino-hit-nearly-p4-billion-1742">DA: Agri losses due to El Niño hit nearly P4 billion</a></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>A centuries-old settlement submerged by the construction of a dam in the northern Philippines in the 1970s has reappeared as water levels drop due to a drought affecting swathes of the country.</p>

A centuries-old settlement submerged by the construction of a dam in the northern Philippines in the 1970s has reappeared as water levels drop due to a drought affecting swathes of the country.

Philippine settlement submerged by dam reappears due to drought

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Philippine settlement submerged by dam reappears due to drought

Agence France-Presse,

Pam Castro

Published April 26, 2024 02:23 PM PHT

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Weather

drought

heat

El Niño

temperatures

Pantabangan

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