YET TO SUBSIDE | Floodwater has yet to recede at the municipal hall compound in Pagalungan, Maguindanao del Sur, in this photo taken on July 1. (Photo from the Pagalungan Municipal Government)
COTABATO CITY, Maguindanao del Norte, Philippines — Maguindanao del Sur has been placed under a state of calamity due to floods that inundated at least 12 of its 24 towns since last week, displacing 223,000 people.
Gov. Bai Mariam Sangki Mangudadatu had signed the resolution that was passed by the provincial board on Friday declaring the entire province under a state of calamity due to flooding, according to Ameer Jehad Ambolodto, head of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO).
The declaration would pave the way for the release of the calamity fund that would allow the provincial government to provide relief to affected families and mobilize resources for rehabilitation efforts and to mitigate the impact of flooding, said Ambolodto, quoting the governor.
Ambolodto said the PDRRMO was still assessing the extent of the damage to the infrastructure and agricultural crops damaged by floods spawned by weather disturbances that affected Mindanao in the past two weeks.
Liguasan marshland
So far, 44,722 families or about 223,610 individuals had been affected by floods that submerged communities surrounding the Liguasan marshland, Ambolodto said on Monday.
The hard-hit towns were Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Montawal, Mamasapano, Pagalungan, Datu Salibo, Sultan sa Barongis, Mangudadatu, Gen. SK Pendatun, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Piang, Ampatuan and Paglat.
The Liguasan marsh has been the catch basin of floodwaters from the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, Cotabato and Bukidnon.
“Even if it is not raining here, we are still flooded because water from upstream passes through our towns through various tributaries,” said Benjamin Alip, municipal disaster officer of Pagalungan, the most affected town.
“Since the rivers are [already] heavily silted, the water finds its course through the communities, including our town hall compound,” Alip said.
Twelve villages of Pagalungan town lay submerged underwater, he added.
In Pagalungan’s adjacent town of Pikit in Cotabato province, more than P50 million worth of infrastructure and agricultural crops were also damaged by the floods.