Maguindanao’s killer slide comes in dead of night

SURVIVOR Jose, 66, a landslide survivor in Barangay Kusiong, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, can hardly recall how he survived the mud and boulders that hit him and his neighbors as they fled their village amid heavy rain spawned by Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng” (international name: Nalgae) on Oct. 27. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO FROM DXMS RADIO

COTABATO CITY—As early as 1 a.m. of Oct. 27, the watchmen of Kusiong, the village of Datu Odin Sinsuat town of Maguindanao del Norte province that bore the brunt of the landslides and flooding from the rains spawned by Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng” (international name: Nalgae), already noticed the unusual flow of water from Mt. Minandar, a cogon grass-covered mountain in the area, a local official said.

“We sounded the alarm so that people can evacuate to safer ground,” Kusiong Barangay Chair Jafeer Sinsuat told reporters on Sunday.

But it was too late, he said, since an avalanche of huge rocks and boulders with mud cascaded quickly toward the relocation site where the Teduray indigenous peoples had been living since 2021.

“We heard thundering sounds and people yelling for help as mud and rocks entered our house,” recalled Mercy, 55, a survivor, in an interview on Sunday afternoon.

“I could not remember what happened next” or how she and her children survived the rock avalanche, said Mercy, who, along with her children, were awakened from their deep sleep by the thunderous sound.

Jose, 66, another Teduray survivor, could hardly recall how he survived the avalanche of mud and rocks that came crashing into his home.

“Putik na may mga bato, malalaking bato (Mud with boulders, big boulders),” Jose described what he saw inside his house when asked to recall what hit him.

Many of the survivors suffered from leg and foot injuries since the floods and rocks literally were running after them as they fled, said the village chief.

Search continues

According to Sinsuat, even up to Sunday they were still looking for missing residents. “We continue to dig and remove the boulders and mud so thick,” he added.

Bangsamoro Interim Minister Ahod Ebrahim has placed the entire region under state of calamity as the death toll in Maguindanao rose to 51 with 14 others still missing, mostly from the landslide-hit areas, according to a report by the region’s Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (READi) on Monday.

Of the fatalities, 31 were mostly from the Teduray community in Datu Odin Sinsuat, seven from the neighboring Datu Blah Sinsuat, eight from Upi, three from Barira and one from South Upi, all towns in Maguindanao del Norte; and one from Bongao, Tawi-Tawi province.

The landslide injured 31 people, most of them residents of Kusiong’s relocation site, the READi report said.

A total of 582,884 individuals (202,598 households) in 389 barangays across the region were affected.

Mercy and 50 others were rescued by neighbors who responded to calls for help amid heavy downpour and in total darkness since power supply was cut off simultaneously with the landslides.

Mercy and about 30 others were temporarily housed at the Episcopal Church in Cotabato City.

Damage

Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) agriculture officials estimate the damage to crops and livestock brought about by the flooding from the rains spawned by Paeng to have reached P103.78 million.

The office of BARMM Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal also monitored 84 schools across the region that were still submerged in floodwaters on Sunday.

At least three bridges in Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur were either destroyed or damaged by floods. INQ