Thousands affected by floods in C. Mindanao

COTABATO CITY --- The flash floods that hit swaths of agricultural lands in North Cotabato and Maguindanao on Wednesday affected thousands of peasant families, government agencies reported Friday.Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on Thursday dispatched workers of ARMM’s Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Team (HEART) to assess the situation of flood victims in Maguindanao’s Montawal, Pagalungan, Northern Kabuntalan and Datu Piang towns, where dozens of villages are now inundated.The four towns are located along the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta, which is Asia’s largest.The vast delta is a catch basin for dozens of rivers that spring from forested hinterlands in Bukidnon, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato.Reports from the provincial government of North Cotabato in Administrative Region 12 said more than 6,000 families have also been displaced when rivers and swamps that connect to the Liguasan Delta overflowed early this week due to incessant rains.North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza had also deployed relief workers in flooded areas in the towns of Pikit, Midsayap and Aleosan, all in the first district of the province, to attend to the needs of flood victims.In its advisory Friday, the HEART, which is functioning under Hataman’s ministerial control, said 11 barangays in Montawal remain flooded, affecting 2,320 families. The town sits beside the Maguindanao marshland.The HEART said 4,229 families have been affected by floods that engulfed low-lying areas in Pagalungan.More than 5,000 families were also affected by the floods in Northern Kabuntalan and Datu Piang in southwest of Maguindanao, according to HEART.Latest information from ARMM-HEART showed the water have receded Friday.