Maguindanao floods won’t cease, kill 13-yr-old boy

COTABATO CITY—A 13-year-old boy was confirmed dead as floods continued to ravage Maguindanao’s 14 towns until Saturday.

The Regional Disaster Risk Management Council (RDMC) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) identified the fatality as Muhajid Dalagan of Barangay Dalagan in Pagalungan, Maguindanao.

Dalagan’s remains were fished out on Friday at the Pagalungan River, the RDMC said.

Pombaen Karon-Kadir, social welfare secretary of the ARMM, said the number of persons whose communities were hit by flooding had risen to 154,750, quoting field reports.

The flooded communities are in the towns of Mangudadatu, Paglat, Datu Paglas, SK Pendatun, Sultan sa Barongis, Datu Piang, Talayan, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Northern Kabuntalan, Mother Kabuntalan, Montawal, Pagalungan, Buluan and Pandag.

“Our municipal and provincial social workers have attended to their needs,” Kadir said, quoting reports from Elsie Amil, Maguindanao provincial social welfare officer.

Help needed

Kadir, however, said the province needed help and had sent a request to the central office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development for more food. She said Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu had ordered rice and canned goods distributed to displaced families.

Abdulwahab Tungga, Maguindanao provincial administrator, said flood level continued to rise because the rains hadn’t stopped in areas surrounding Maguindanao.

“There’s no typhoon here but we noticed heavy rains in Bukidnon and South Cotabato. These waters end up in Maguindanao. We are preparing for the worst,” Tungga said.

Fears of flooding were fed by reports that six hectares of water hyacinths were clogging waters of the Taviran River, which linked the towns of Datu Odin Sinsuat and Kabuntalan Mother.

Water hyacinths

Rep. Bai Sandra Sema supervised the removal of water hyacinths in the river yesterday with soldiers and policemen from Maguindanao doing most of the work. A piece of equipment was sent over to remove the hyacinths.

Officials here also braced for rising flood waters as water hyacinths from the upstream started to accumulate anew near the Quirino and Delta Bridges east of this city.

In June this year, three persons were killed and millions of pesos worth of property and infrastructure were destroyed. Edwin Fernandez and Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao