Fire in flowing water gathers curious locals in South Cotabato
Local News • 02:33 AM Sat Mar 4, 2017
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By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
A fire that accompanies flowing water in South Cotabato attrack local tourists. (Roel Osano)
TANTANGAN,
South Cotabato – A remote village here is now the apple of the eye of local
tourists, including curious locals to personally witness a water source that
also emits fire.
After the
phenomenon was posted on social media, people kept coming to Barangay New
Cuyapo here, according to Roger Quijano, caretaker of a domestic waste source.
Ahhs and
Ohhs filled the air when visitors arrived and witnesses the mystery.
Quijano said
the water source also served as cooking place for his family and neighbors. We
no longer need cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), he said.
According to
Quijano, the water is potable for drinking as his family has been taking it for
several years.
It was only
discovered lately when it went viral on Facebook, he said in Filipino. What surprised Quijano was that despite its
accompanying fire, the water remained cold.
first
discovered more than three years ago that fire accompanied the water from a
flowing built beside his home. But it was ignored since the fire later
disappeared.
Princess
Danielle Matas, senior geologist of Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-12) said the underground
could have methane gas deposits.
It was the environment
officials’ initial findings but Matas suggested further studies of the
phenomenon.
A water source
producing fire was not new in Mindanao. Residents of Sultan sa Barongis and
Kabuntalan in Maguindanao also discovered fire emanating from under the earth
accompanying water flowing in several villages.
The water was potable.
In late 1990s,
the Philippine National Oil Company Exploration Corporation (PNOCEC) has
discovered hydrocarbon oil and gas deposits in Maguindanao.
It discovered
premium quality gas of 99 percent methane with slight traces of ethane during
drilling operations in Barangay Tukanakuden, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.
Barangay New Cuyapo
is situated in the elevated portion of South Cotabato and is not marshy area of
the province. It is about 60 kilometers east of Barangay Tukanakuden.
In 1999, PNOC-EC
drilled another well in Barangay Kulambog about three kilometers from the
original site in Barangay Tukanakuden with the same results.
In a
statement, the goal of exploration in Tukanakuden was to explore for 60 billion
cubic feet of gas reserves that will be enough to fuel a 60-megawatt gas-fired
power plant.
According to
PNOC-EC report to then President Joseph Estrada in 1999, the drilling of the
Sultan sa Barongis (SSB-1) well in Maguindanao resulted in stabilized gas
flow rates just below 200,000 cubic feet per day from reservoir zones below
1,500 feet.
PNOC-EC said the
natural gas encountered by the SSB-1 well was of premium quality as it contains
99.9 methane and traces of ethane. It has no harmful gases such as hydrogen
sulfide or carbon dioxide were found during the drilling.
In the case of
suspected methane gas in Barangay New Cuyapo here, Matas said another study is
being prepared to determine whether or not it has harmful components.
The site is
about 500 meters from the Tacurong-Tantangan highway and beside Vineyard
Swimming Resort in Barangay New Cuyapo.
Quijano said no
monetary requirement for those who are interest to witness his water and fire
wealth.