MALUNGON, Sarangani (MindaNews / 16 July)—Maguindanao del Sur Gov. Mariam Mangudadatu said on Tuesday that the province is now again under a state of calamity “due to severe effects of flood waters that inundated at least 17 of the 24 towns in that province.”
Still reeling from devastation caused by the El Niño phenomenon in April that displaced farmers from their livelihood, the floods this time have submerged a wide area of farmlands in over a hundred villages, she said in a radio interview.
The move on Tuesday by the Maguindanao del Sur provincial board in declaring the province in a state of calamity was the second made this year. The first was in April, following the damaging effects of weeks of dry spell, rendering losses in crops and livestock worth nearly P346 million.
Mangudadatu said the number of affected families has increased to 71,000 from the more than 68,000 families reported last week by the anti-disaster personnel of various local government units.
In declaring the province as in a state of calamity, the Maguindanao del Sur legislative board noted reports that 161 villages have been under water, destroying farmlands, crops and livestock.
Vice Gov. Nathaniel Midtimbang, who presides over the provincial board, said with 117 towns already experiencing severe flooding is enough grounds to declare a state of calamity in the province.
“People are suffering,” he told local reporters.
Most towns in Maguindanao del Sur are along one of Mindanao’s largest wetlands—the more than 200,000-hectare Ligawasan Marsh that usually overflows during rainy days.
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) head Ameer Jehad Ambolodto said among the affected towns include Pagalungan, Montawal, Datu Piang, Gen. S.K. Pendatun, Datu Abdullah Sangki, Datu Salibo, Mamasapano, Sultan Sa Barongis, Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Ampatuan, Datu Unsay, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Shariff Aguak, Rajah Buayan, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Paglat, and Pandag.
He said houses have been destroyed and they are still closely watching the situation because the rains only stop for a while but return with heavy downpour.
Ambolodto said they have constantly reminded residents to stay on safer grounds and avoid the risk of being in low-lying areas or along river banks.
In Pagalungan town, the PDRRMO head said residents have to bring their belongings along the shoulder of the more elevated national highway, “but with rains almost not stopping, even the highway has been flooded.”
Pagalungan and Montawal towns are along the Rio Grande de Mindanao which overflowed its banks following a surge of water from Pulangi River in Bukidnon over the weekend.
These two Maguindanao del Sur towns suffer the same experience as that of their neighboring towns in Pikit and Kabacan in Cotabato province when Rio Grande swells.
The four towns along Rio Grande are in the direct path of the Pulangi river, where dams to run hydroelectric power plants have been releasing water.
Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza has already asked the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) to make representation with the National Power Corporation (Napocor), which runs the hydro-power plants to coordinate with local government units about their plans to release water from their dams. (Rommel G. Rebollido / MindaNews)
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