ARMM flooding starts to ease

COTABATO CITY—The number of villages submerged in floodwaters here went down Sunday as the military removed more than 40 percent of thick water hyacinths that clogged the Rio Grande de Mindanao.

Col. Prudencio Asto, spokesperson for the military’s 6th Infantry Division (ID), told the Inquirer by phone that government troops and civilian volunteers have removed eight of at least 20 hectares of water hyacinths that clogged the river.

“Right now, only 15 to 17 low-lying villages of 33 (that were under water the past days) are submerged in flood waters. We hope this will continue. However, our problem is that at night, tons of water lilies from the marsh are massing towards the river,” Asto said.

“We have to do something before it’s too late. The entire city will sink forever in the next 10 years if we do not find a solution,” he added.

Water hyacinths at the Rio Grande de Mindanao, the second largest river system in the country with a length of 231.8 miles, are clogging the river which runs through several provinces in the region.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo on Friday recommended the use of explosives to disperse the hyacinths.

“Why don’t you try using explosives to destroy water lilies and make it easy for workers to remove them from the river,” he asked local officials.

The military has discouraged the use of explosives as it will destroy the river’s ecosystem, Asto said.

Instead, Asto said, 6th ID chief Brig. Gen. Rey Ardo sent hundreds of soldiers armed with shovels, chainsaws, bladed instruments and even plain wood to help the local government and public works personnel in removing aquatic plants.

The floods came as the city prepared for its 52nd Foundation Day on Monday. Local officials were considering canceling the activities for the Araw ng Kutabato and, instead, use the funds for relief operations to affected families.

Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, chair of the Presidential Task Force in Mindanao River Basin, said the floods in Cotabato City were triggered by the overflowing of the Liguasan marshland which served as the catch basin of river water from North Cotabato, Bukidnon and Davao del Sultan Kudarat.

These waters, including debris and water hyacinths, end up clogging waterways around Cotabato City and its environs.

Quevedo appealed to good Samaritans to extend help for the displaced families, some of whom have contracted various diseases, mostly respiratory and bowel disorders and skin rashes.

Even with the brief relief because of the receding floodwater, displaced residents remained in evacuation centers, or with relatives and friends living in higher grounds.

As of Saturday, 25,375 families had been displaced in this city alone.

In nearby Maguindanao and North Cotabato, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao government reported 30,000 families were displaced by the floods.