ARMM extends aid to Maguindanao flood victims

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1013956
• Saturday, October 28, 2017

By Edwin Fernandez (PNA)

COTABATO CITY -- As most of 130 villages in 16 towns in Maguindanao are still submerged i n floods, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) humanitarian arm statted relief distribution to thousands of affected families.

Hasan Salilama Pendulong, a fresh water fisherman in Barangay Pagatin, Datu Salibo, Maguindanao, said the flood that hit their community for the past four months now not only affect his abode but his livelihood too.

Pendulong is a fisherman harvesting “halu-an” (mudfish) as his main source of livelihood.

“It’s gone for four months now,” he said in the vernacular of his regular harvest. “Mudfish go somewhere else when water level rises, I have no more area to fish,” he added.

Pendulong said during dry season, his harvest could earn him an average of Php1, 000 a day but with mudfish gone, he had to find other source of livelihood, including driving a “sikad-sikad” (pedicab) borrowed from a relative.

On Wednesday, the ARMM’S Humanitarian Emergency Action Response Team (ARMM-HEART) started distributing relief assistance to families affected by floods in Maguindanao.

Myrna Jocelyn Henry, speaking for ARMM-HEART, said food packs have been prepared and distributed to affected Maguindanaons.

Floods, triggered by heavy rains the past several days, have submerged 16 of 36 towns in Maguindanao, affecting, 35,273 families or about 211,000 residents in 130 villages

Some of these towns are under water for more than a month due to recurring rains spawned by low-pressure area and inter-tropical convergence zone affecting eastern and southern Mindanao.

Henry said relief operations had been conducted since Wednesday and still on going. She said the local government units of flooded villages were expected, as first responders, to have extended initial assistance to flood victims.

Henry said the affected towns with corresponding villages and number of families affected are Mangudadatu (8 barangays – 3,417 families); Shariff Saydona (5 barangays – 1,812 families); Sultan sa Barongis (5 barangays – 1,612 families); Sultan Kudarat (16 barangays – 4,980 families); Ampatuan (3 barangays – 646 families); Sultan Mastura (6 barangays – 1,014 families); Northern Kabuntalan (10 barangays – 3,112 families); and Mother Kabuntalan (17 barangays – 3,868 families). Also inundated were Rajah Buayan (10 barangays – 1,912 families); Buluan (5 barangays – 973 families); Mamasapano (13 barangays – 4,523 families); Datu Salibo (17 barangays – 3, 281 families); Datu Paglat (3 barangays – 1, 702 families); Datu Paglas (1 barangay – 189 families); Datu Piang (3 barangays – 300 families); and Pandag (8 barangays – 1,932 families).

Henry said although recurring floods have affected their daily activities, most families preferred to stay home. Some have moved to neighbors or relatives’ homes and only return when floodwaters receded.

Alibai Kusain, a resident of Barangay Katuli, Sultan Kudarat, said they are used to floods.

"We are tired of evacuating, haul our valuables then returned few days later,” she said in Tagalog dialect, adding that she expected help from the local government.

Her husband, Samson, a pump boat operator, said many residents would prefer to stay home than move to higher grounds.

“Our experience tells us that the water will subside after few days anyway,” he said in the vernacular.

In North Cotabato, torrential rains also submerged low-lying towns near the Liguasan marshland every time water level rises. The province has experienced rains for more than two weeks now and water flow directly to the marshland, raising its water level.

The North Cotabato Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) said affected are low-lying villages of the towns of Pigcawayan, Libungan, Midsayap, Pikit, Kabacan, Matalam, M’lang and Tulunan.

The PDRRMC is yet to determine the total number of families affected by floods. The 220,000-hectare marshland serves as catch basin of river waters from Maguindanao, South Cotabato, Bukidnon and North Cotabato.