Floods hit 14 Maguindanao villages

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COTABATO CITY – A total of 14 villages  in at least three towns in Maguindanao were partly submerged in floodwaters brought about by typhoon Gener’s intermittent rains that swelled rivers surrounding the Liguasan Marsh, the Office of Civil Defense in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said Sunday.

The affected towns include Kabuntalan, Northern Kabuntalan and Rajah Buayan, said retired Army General Loreto Rirao, the OCD regional director.

“There are no reports yet of mass evacuation, but we are constantly monitoring the situation,” Rirao said of the inundated villages of Lower Taviran, Gambar, Butilen, Katidtuan and Pagalungan, all of Kabuntalan; Panadtabanan, Pidsandawan and Malibpoloc of Rajah Buayan; and Montay, Tumaginting, Guiawa, Sabaken, Kapinpilan and Libungan, all of Northern Kabuntalan.

Initial reports from the agriculture department bared Sunday that some 40 percent Buayan corn and rice crops damaged.

“Ground technicians are under instruction to coordinate with local government units and disaster relief groups on the status of flood-stricken areas,” said regional agriculture secretary Sangkula Tindick.

Rajah Buayan Mayor Jacob Ampatuan said portion of the Liguasan Marsh within his municipality “that used to be visible has been submerged three to five feet deep.”

“A number of residents, I was told, have started to move over on higher ground,” said Ampatuan, hoping the weather improves soon enough not to affect other low-lying towns of Pagalungan, Montawal, Sultan sa Barongis, Datu Piang and Mamasapano.