Cotabato City News September 2011

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Cotabato City Realty

Philippine News

Palace urged to lift suspension of dredging works in Cotabato

by MINDANEWS


COTABATO CITY – With flood water rearing its ugly head anew here and parts of Maguindanao province, there’s a need to resume dredging operations at the heavily silted Rio Grande de Mindanao River, an official said on Wednesday. Aniceto Rasalan, secretary to the city mayor’s office, said that Malacañang has suspended the dredging operations, which if not resumed may further aggravate the flooding if bad weather continues in the area. “There’s no dredging works now pending results of the investigation on the alleged misuse of funds of the task force,” he said, referring to the Arroyo-created Presidential Task Force on Mindanao River Basin Rehabilitation and Development (PTFMRBRD). One of the two dredging equipment deployed by the Department of Public Works and Highways to Rio Grande de Mindanao needs to be repaired, he said. On the other hand, the water master, which is used to clear water hyacinths and other debris, has been lying idle at the Simuay River, Rasalan added. Floods hit the city starting last Friday and affected eight villages in the city, with water as high as 1.7 meters in some areas at one point, he said. As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, the floodwaters have receded with the city government expecting it to fully subside on Friday if no rains fall by then in the area and neighboring upland localities. Rasalan attributed the floods in the city to a tidal surge or a sea high tide, coupled by the floodwaters coming from Maguindanao province. Maguindanao has been placed under a state of calamity with 16 towns affected by the floods, Governor Esmael Mangudadatu said on Tuesday. In this city, Rasalan lamented that the floods triggered not just evacuation but also a problem on the local garbage disposal. The Biniruan dumpsite in Barangay Poblacion 8 was not accessible since Saturday because of the floods, he said, adding that dump trucks could not pass because the waters would reach the engine. But compared to the massive flooding in June, which affected 32 villages of which 21 was totally submerged in water, the latest inundation that hit the area was not as worse. “The speed at which the water rose this time was slower than the massive flooding in June,” Rasalan told MindaNews. For the flooding not to aggravate in the future, he urged Malacañang to lift the suspension of dredging works at the Rio Grande de Mindanao even if the investigation on the alleged misuse of funds in the task force and its transition is still not completed. He also said they have asked the Department of Public Works and Highways-Region12 to resume the dredging works but in vain apparently in respect to the Palace stoppage order. Last July 28, President Benigno Aquino III issued Executive Order 50 abolishing the PTFMRBRD and transferred it to the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA). The transition was expected to be completed by October 30, Rasalan said. The Task Force’s term is supposed to end on December 31, 2012. At the time it was disbanded, the task force has listed 19 priority projects, including the preparation of a master plan for the Mindanao River Basin. EO 50 said the functions of the PTFMRBRD “overlap with other national government agencies that can in turn perform the said tasks in line with the government’s policy of rationalizing and streamlining the bureaucracy.” Under EO 50, MinDA is tasked to “coordinate the formulation, implementation, and finalization of the Mindanao River Basin (MRB) relief, rehabilitation, and long term development plan, also known as the Mindanao River Basin Management and Development Master Plan.” It is also tasked to negotiate, apply for, receive and accept grants and donation of funds needed for the relief, rehabilitation and development of the areas affected by the disaster; decide on important interventions that need to be immediately implemented and acted upon; and spearhead and coordinate all actions to rehabilitate and develop the MRB affected areas. MinDA was created through Republic Act 9996, signed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on February17, 2010, “to establish an effective institutional mechanism to address the need for a coordinated and integrated approach in the formulation and integration of a Mindanao-wide inter-regional development plans, programs, and projects.”

Palace urged to lift suspension of dredging works in Cotabato

by Bong S. Sarmiento


COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/28 Sept) – With flood water rearing its ugly head anew here and parts of Maguindanao province, there’s a need to resume dredging operations at the heavily silted Rio Grande de Mindanao River, an official said on Wednesday. Aniceto Rasalan, secretary to the city mayor’s office, said that Malacañang has suspended the dredging operations, which if not resumed may further aggravate the flooding if bad weather continues in the area. “There’s no dredging works now pending results of the investigation on the alleged misuse of funds of the task force,” he said, referring to the Arroyo-created Presidential Task Force on Mindanao River Basin Rehabilitation and Development (PTFMRBRD). One of the two dredging equipment deployed by the Department of Public Works and Highways to Rio Grande de Mindanao needs to be repaired, he said. On the other hand, the water master, which is used to clear water hyacinths and other debris, has been lying idle at the Simuay River, Rasalan added.

Floods hit the city starting last Friday and affected eight villages in the city, with water as high as 1.7 meters in some areas at one point, he said. As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, the floodwaters have receded with the city government expecting it to fully subside on Friday if no rains fall by then in the area and neighboring upland localities. Rasalan attributed the floods in the city to a tidal surge or a sea high tide, coupled by the floodwaters coming from Maguindanao province. Maguindanao has been placed under a state of calamity with 16 towns affected by the floods, Governor Esmael Mangudadatu said on Tuesday. In this city, Rasalan lamented that the floods triggered not just evacuation but also a problem on the local garbage disposal. The Biniruan dumpsite in Barangay Poblacion 8 was not accessible since Saturday because of the floods, he said, adding that dump trucks could not pass because the waters would reach the engine. But compared to the massive flooding in June, which affected 32 villages of which 21 was totally submerged in water, the latest inundation that hit the area was not as worse. “The speed at which the water rose this time was slower than the massive flooding in June,” Rasalan told MindaNews. For the flooding not to aggravate in the future, he urged Malacañang to lift the suspension of dredging works at the Rio Grande de Mindanao even if the investigation on the alleged misuse of funds in the task force and its transition is still not completed. He also said they have asked the Department of Public Works and Highways-Region12 to resume the dredging works but in vain apparently in respect to the Palace stoppage order. Last July 28, President Benigno C. Aquino III issued Executive Order 50 abolishing the PTFMRBRD and transferred it to the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA). The transition was expected to be completed by October 30, Rasalan said. The Task Force’s term is supposed to end on December 31, 2012. At the time it was disbanded, the task force has listed 19 priority projects, including the preparation of a master plan for the Mindanao River Basin. EO 50 said the functions of the PTFMRBRD “overlap with other national government agencies that can in turn perform the said tasks in line with the government’s policy of rationalizing and streamlining the bureaucracy.” Under EO 50, MinDA is tasked to “coordinate the formulation, implementation, and finalization of the Mindanao River Basin (MRB) relief, rehabilitation, and long term development plan, also known as the Mindanao River Basin Management and Development Master Plan.” It is also tasked to negotiate, apply for, receive and accept grants and donation of funds needed for the relief, rehabilitation and development of the areas affected by the disaster; decide on important interventions that need to be immediately implemented and acted upon; and spearhead and coordinate all actions to rehabilitate and develop the MRB affected areas. MinDA was created through Republic Act 9996, signed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on February17, 2010, “to establish an effective institutional mechanism to address the need for a coordinated and integrated approach in the formulation and integration of a Mindanao-wide inter-regional development plans, programs, and projects.”

ARMM honors local, foreign supporters today

by Julmunnir Jannaral


COTABATO CITY: Despite what they lamented as intensified efforts to justify the “intrusion of vested interest people” into the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governance, ARMM incumbent officials are all set to honor today (Wednesday) local and foreign benefactors of their 19-month old administration.

“The affair will go on as scheduled today to formally acknowledge the support of different individuals and groups that have helped us accomplish beyond expectation,” ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo told the local media by phone yesterday.

Sinarimbo was referring to the “recognition night” set by Acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin A. Adiong to pay tribute to the supportive roles of individuals and groups including the media and international donor institutions in the region in the last 20 months.

Among the chosen honorees are officials or representatives of the United Nations humanitarian agencies, the World Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Australian Agency for International Development, the United States Agency for International Development, the European Union, and local private and public organizations including the media.

Sinarimbo, Adiong and other regional officials attended the Senate Committee hearing Monday on the ARMM’s P12.47-billion budget for 2012, during which Senator Franklin Drilon assailed them for having not prevented or complained about an alleged misuse of P1.49-billion under the Ampatuan administration in 2008 and 2009 alone.

Adiong reasoned out that he was focused on his job as vice governor from 2008 to 2009, hence he had no idea about such irregularity, which the Commission on Audit discovered in 2010 through a special audit. Adiong replaced Zaldy Ampatuan, who was arrested in 2009 for the Maguindanao massacre.

For his part, Sinarimbo, a lawyer and technocrat, said everybody was aware that the Ampatuans wielded profuse powers and blessings then from national officials led by former President Gloria Arroyo.

Over here, Raymundo Pelaez, the president of the ARMM employees union, yesterday said Senator Drilon should have inhibited himself from presiding the Finance Committee hearing and exemplifying high handedness against incumbent Muslim officials “because he is the author of the law that deferred the 2010 ARMM elections and authorized the President to appoint officers-in-charge.

“It’s not true that workers in ARMM did not raise voice about corruptions in ARMM. I had exposed in public statements cases of corruptions involving hundreds of millions but I was left alone by people including those espousing reforms now in ARMM,” Pelaez said.

Citing records from authorities, Pelaez said majority of applicants or nominees for OICs are belonging to the Liberal Party headed by Senator Drilon and DOTC Secretary Mar Roxas.

Cotabato, Maguindanao floods rising

by John Unson


COTABATO CITY ,Philippines – The level of floodwaters spawned by heavy rains continue to rise in several towns around the 220-hectare Liguasan Marsh.

Carpets of water hyacinths clogging the rivers are aggravating the situation.

Maguindanao First District Rep. Bai Sandra Sema, whose office is helping oversee the removal of water hyacinths, has appealed to the central offices of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the National Irrigation Administration to bring in heavy equipment to fasttrack the declogging operations.

Sema said they need more of the so-called "water master," a mechanized, river clearing equipment, which the regional office of DPWH in Region 12 deployed at the Taviran river in Maguindanao brought last Sunday.

The mayor of Kabuntalan, Salaban Diocolano, said they are now running out of rice for the hundreds of soldiers and civilians helping remove the water hyacinths under the Taviran bridge, using only farm tools.

Brig. Rey Ardo, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said there are 500 soldiers from the 5th Special Forces Battalion helping civilians clear the clogged portion of the Taviran River, which drains at the Moro Gulf at the eastern side of Cotabato City via the Tamontaka delta.

Diocolano said they would need at least six bags of rice each day for the volunteers.

Bayanihan spirit up in Maguindanao as floodwater continues to rise

by (PNA)DCT/FFC/NYP/EOF


COTABATO CITY, Sept. 26 (PNA) -- The spirit of volunteerism is upbeat in Maguindanao and Cotabato City with a government and private sector partnership working to save low lying communities from flooding.

Hundreds of civilians, disaster management council personnel and local government units have joined hands to clear Taviran river in Kabuntalan Mother with water lilies.

About 10 hectares of water hyacinth have clogged the Taviran river in Kabuntalan Mother, Maguindanao causing river waters to rise above knee level in several villages in Maguindanao.

Rep. Bai Sandra Sema (1st District Maguindanao and Cotabato City) said she has made representations with the Department of Public Works and Highways in Region 12 to send in water master, an amphibian equipment used in removing huge chunks of water lilies in rivers and tributaries.

Armed with bolos, machetes and home-made equipment used in destroying water lilies, the volunteers work hand in hand with public works field personnel, according to Sema.

Loreto Rirao, director for the Office of Civil Defense in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said at least two children have been drowned in Maguindanao.

"Water level continues to rise, we are doing everything to cushion the impact of this natural calamity," Rirao said.

In Cotabato City, at least 20 families have been evacuated after flood water from Kakar river, one of the tributaries that connect to Rio Grande de Mindanao, overflowed and water level in at least eight villages rose to knee-deep.

"Our emergency and disaster preparedness plan is in place," Cotabato City Mayor Japal Guiani Jr. said.

In Maguindanao, about 40,000 families have been displaced and concerned government agencies have already attended to their needs, according to Secretary Pombaen Karon-Kadir of the Department of Social Welfare and Development

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