Classes suspended in flooded Cotabato City, Maguindanao areas
Local News • 16:30 PM Wed Nov 2, 2022
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By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
SALVAGING EFFORTS. Residents living beside the Taviran River in Barangay Taviran, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, try to save whatever valuables in their homes as the water continue to rise on Wednesday.. ((Photo courtesy of Zumar Kadil Salik)
COTABATO CITY – Classes at all levels, both private and public, have been suspended in this flood-stricken city and nearby Maguindanao towns starting Wednesday, officials said.
Mayor Bruce Matabalao announced the cancellation of classes to allow the continuation of clearing operations in flooded schools from Wednesday to Friday.
Thirty-six of Cotabato City’s 37 villages have been affected by floods spawned by Severe Tropical Storm Paeng last week, affecting 67,956 households or 337,980 individuals.
“Our assessment on other all villages is continuing,” Matabalao said.
In Upi, Maguindanao, government works and classes at all levels were also suspended starting Wednesday until Nov. 4 as recovery efforts continue following the floods wrought by Paeng.
Across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), 468 villages have been affected with 223,256 households or 570,285 individuals, mostly in Maguindanao provinces.
In an update, BARMM Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said the number of fatalities remained at 53 with 12 still missing and 38 injured.
Through the BARMM Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (READi), the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) reported that 402 houses were partially damaged and 339 destroyed.
The calamity also damaged PHP225.7 million worth of agricultural products and farm animals in 28 of 36 towns in Maguindanao.
"BARMM and local governments of the province have intensified relief operations to cushion the impact of the calamity on affected families," Sinarimbo said.
Personnel from the BARMM’s Ministry of Public Works (MPW) have also been repairing damaged roads and bridges with the help of offices from the Department of Public Works and Highways in nearby regions that sent heavy equipment to help in the recovery works.
As of Wednesday morning, the BARMM READi reported the rising water level of the Rio Grande de Mindanao.
Residents living beside the Taviran River, one of the tributaries of the Rio Grande, tried to save their homes and valuables as water hyacinth carried by river water from upstream pinned their houses.
“This is the first time that we experienced this kind of flood, it reached above head, and the water lilies are destroying our homes,” Kamsa Enggo Saldin of Barangay Taviran said.
“The water hyacinth is so thick that we can even walk over it,” he added.