ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
COTABATO CITY, Philippines – This city and several towns in North Cotabato are in the danger of being cut off from Davao City and other major areas in the eastern portion of Mindanao, according to local officials.
Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said on Thursday that the Tunggol Bridge in Datu Montawal town, which has served as the connection between the city and other areas, has been on the verge of collapsing due to the erosion of the soil it was built upon.
Mangudadatu said during a recent inspection, local authorities found out that the underwater current boosted by heavy downpour the past days has gradually widened the waterway between the Datu Montawal and Pagalungan towns.
The waterway was actually a diversion canal built in the late 1980s to reduce the volume of water at the Rio Grande de Mindanao in an effort to save farmlands from floods.
“If it collapses, the movement of goods and people between the city and other major areas would be compromised,” Mangudadatu told reporters here.
Emil Sadain, public works secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said authorities saw the need to immediately construct dikes to prevent the soil under the bridge from further eroding.
“We need to do it fast to save Tunggol Bridge from falling down,” ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman said.
Sadain said the ARMM’s public works department could use P25 million from its general fund to finish the job.
“The possibility of using a ferry boat to move vehicles while the bridge is under repair is also on the DPWH planning board,” Sadain said.
In Kabacan, North Cotabato, a large number of villages remained underwater due to swollen waterways as of Thursday.
Susan Macalipat, municipal social welfare officer, said a total of 14,515 individuals have been affected when nine villages were flooded due to torrential rains the past days.
Mayor Herlo Guzman said he had convened the towns’ disaster response team on Wednesday morning for the conduct of damage assessment.
He said the Sangguniang Bayan’s declaration of a state of emergency would boost efforts to help residents affected by the floods.
Guzman said he has ordered the town’s engineering office to conduct a study of the waterways in the town so that suitable projects could be started to prevent floods in the future.
Kabacan is among North Cotabato’s major rice producing areas.