Maguindanao del Sur floods displace thousands

COTABATO CITY — Dozens of low-lying barangays in five Maguindanao del Sur towns were inundated following recurring heavy downpours since last week in mountain ranges in provinces around.

Officials of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the Ministry of Social Services and Development in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) told reporters on Tuesday that more than 7,000 families were affected by the floods that swept through agricultural enclaves in  Datu Abdullah Sangki, Shariff Aguak, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Piang, and Datu Salibo towns.

The five towns are crisscrossed by rivers and dotted with swamps that connect to the 220,000-hectare Ligawasan Delta, a catch basin for more than dozen large rivers that spring from hinterlands in Maguindanao del Sur, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato, and Bukidnon provinces.

Joel Q. Mamon, director of OCD-BARMM, had said that their tally of affected families as of Monday afternoon, as relayed by local government units, had reached 6,023, or a total of 34,187 individuals, including children and elderly folks.

“These figures are based on initial statistics from affected local government units,” Mr. Mamon said.

Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulrauf G. Macacua told reporters on Tuesday that he has directed their social services minister, Raissa H. Jajurie, to embark on extensive relief missions in the flood-stricken towns.

“We have resources for that,” Mr. Macacua said. — John Felix M. Unson