Aerial Photo of Kapai Lake taken by Kuya Rene Pernia
Despite the fact that Rogongon is not accessible by land trip, I was wondering how the speculation that a huge hole in a shape of frying pan is formed over Rogongon which is constantly evaporating which understandably implying to be of a VOLCANO which was formed during Sendong. According to rumors this big hole contains a huge amount of water which is surrounded by huge logs that anytime this will dislodge and it is expected to go downstream and again will destroy the lowlanders in a form of flash floods. Well as you can see on the photo above taken by Kuya Rene Pernia of Kapai River which is one of the tributary of Mandulog River has only a lake like shaped of body of water and it is not surrounded with huge logs and its water is not really that huge.I am wondering how wild is the imagination of the source of this information? To think that no one has able to go up to Rogongon citing the fact that it is not accessible? I don't think we need to believe this information. What I want to you readers to know is that---please be responsible with the stories you tell to your neighbors. Before we start sharing stories such as this, let us make sure that we have reliable source and factual basis.
Spreading such unverified rumors will only bring fear and trauma to people living in the lowlands. Specially those people whom on the first hand experienced the wrath of Sendong on the 17th of December 2011.
Today together with Lovette and Lisa Marie we had the opportunity to visit Rogongon via Philippine Air Force UH-1H (Super Huey) Military Transport Helicopter to deliver relief goods and to gather first hand data to determine the specific needs of the victims of the flash floods and what possible future long-term intervention we can extend to the community over at Rogongon.
By my observation, during the several times that the chopper hover above the landing area "THERE WAS NO VOLCANO IN ROGONGON!!!" I hope this will settle your wild imagination! All I see around the mountains are eroded portion of it that looks like a giant cat had a rampage because of the landslide in every parts of the forested mountains.
For you to see what is in Rogongon, I have here a video of the whole trip to Rogongon.
Finally, yes there is no volcano in Rogongon but as you can see in the video the rivers that according to the locals before Sendong the width of the river is just two meters wide. However, in the video it became so wide that possibly in the near future another flash floods will happen. Therefore, people living from the flooded areas are still NOT SAFE!!! If relocation site is offered by the government, please take it.
