Bangsamoro folk told to brace for more floods

HELP US A resident of Pagalungan, Maguindanao del Sur, is asking for help from commuters and motorists using cardboard. He and his family have been living in a tent beside the national highway that has been spared from the flood that has inundated his town. —photo courtesy of Datu Bolelo ZM Mamasabulod

COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (READi) on Tuesday issued a general flood advisory for the already heavily inundated region, noting that oncoming rains due to a southwest monsoon could bring more floods.

Bangsamoro Interim Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim, earlier on Monday, ordered heightened alert for possible emergencies throughout the region due to the lingering weather disturbances.

Taking a cue from this, BARMM Health Minister Kadil Sinolinding activated “code white” in all health facilities of the region.

READ: Mindanao flood victims climb to over 81,000

Sinolinding ordered all personnel and emergency response vehicles to be on standby for any emergency call.

The READi teams have already been at the forefront of operations since last week to bring shelter to the residents of flooded areas.

This developed as President Marcos ordered the “continued and complete delivery” of full assistance to families hit by massive floods in Mindanao, particularly in the BARMM.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the directive in posts on his social media accounts on Monday night.

“I have instructed the continued and complete delivery of all assistance to the families affected by the recent flash floods in BARMM and other areas in Mindanao,” Mr. Marcos said on his Facebook page.

Swift rehabilitation, too

He added: “We are assessing the damage to the infrastructure and the agricultural industry and will implement a swift rehabilitation for the affected communities.”

The BARMM has been placed under red alert after an intertropical convergence zone dumped heavy rains and caused flash floods in the region.

The floods and landslides in Mindanao and even in some parts of Western Visayas had so far claimed the lives of 13 persons, mainly in the BARMM and the provinces of Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte, and displaced over 90,000 residents.

Earlier, the Department of Social Welfare and Development released P22.6 million in relief aid to residents affected by floods and landslides.

ON TO SAFETY Residents move to safer grounds aboard a wooden banca while crossing the flooded Kabasalan Elementary School in the town of Ligawasan, a special geographic area of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. —Jess M. Ali/contributor

Data from the DSWD showed that the intertropical convergence zone affected a total of 34,883 families, or 174,173 persons in 176 barangays in Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao region, Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City) and the BARMM.

State of calamity

So far, only Maguindanao del Sur, through its provincial board, had declared itself in a state of calamity on Tuesday due to the massive flooding that submerged 17 of its 24 towns.

In passing the measure, the provincial legislators noted that based on data from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, the floods that occurred in the low-lying communities in several days affected over 60,000 families.

Ameer Jehad Ambolodto, provincial disaster risk reduction and management officer, said the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, chaired by Gov. Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu, earlier recommended the measure to allow the provincial government to use its calamity funds.

A total of 123 villages in the province remained underwater on Tuesday.

Maguindanao del Sur is located at the upper portion of the Ligawasan Marsh and serves as a catch basin of flood waters from Bukidnon, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and South Cotabato provinces.

The floods claimed the life of a 22-year-old man who drowned in Barangay Damalasak, Pagalungan town, on Sunday, while trying to save his cow. He was one of the 14 fatalities in Mindanao that resulted from the floods and landslides. Ambolodto said the cost of damages to civilian properties, crops and livestock in his province was still being determined.

On Tuesday, there was only light rain in the province as disaster response personnel and social workers continued to assess damage and profile the flood victims and their communities.