Flood-affected families in Datu Piang, Maguindanao receive rice bags from the Office of the Chief Minister’s Project TABANG on Tuesday, July 6. (Marhom Ibrahim/BIO)
DATU PIANG, Maguindanao del Sur—Initiated by the Office of the Chief Minister, Project Tulong Alay sa Bangsamorong Nangangailangan (TABANG) provided on Tuesday, July 16, vital support to families affected by flooding in this town.
Project TABANG brought 4,690 bags of 25kg rice and distributed to the displaced families temporarily sheltered at the covered court in the municipal plaza in Poblacion and evacuation center in Magaslong.
Town mayor Victor Samama, in an exclusive interview prior to the relief distribution, confirmed that all of the 16 barangays in their municipality are submerged to flood.
“We’ve already provided aid to our constituents but since all barangays are affected, it’s still not enough hence an augmentation from BARMM is really a big help,” Samama said.
In a data provided by the Municipal Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Office (MDRRMO), flooding across the town has affected 7,800 families prompting the Local Government Unit to declare a state of emergency.
Mayor Samama confirmed that flooding incidents is a perennial problem in the municipality, but this recent flooding has submerged even the highest points in town. Hence, he emphasized the urgent need for a more permanent solution.
“We hope that Rio Grande river will be dredged,” said Samama, explaining that dredging operation or removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of river could mitigate future flooding.
He highlighted the fact that due to persistent flooding, the municipality has lost its status as a rice granary, with thousands of hectares of rice farms now rendered unusable. (Abdullah Matucan/BIO)
