Heavy rains bring floods to Maguindanao

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Torrential rains last weekend caused rivers to overflow and inundate farming enclaves in four lowland towns in the province, officials said.

Reports reaching the office in Cotabato City of the Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Team of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao stated that the floods had spread through dozens of barangays in the towns of Mamasapano, Montawal, Pagalungan and Sultan Kudarat.

More than 10 barangays in Sultan Kudarat were hit by flashfloods Monday, spawned by heavy rains the night before.

The floods affected a total of 2,062 families in the four towns, as initially reported by local government units.

Pagalungan and Montawal are the gateways to the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta, a catch basin for dozens of big rivers that spring from forested hinterlands in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Bukidnon and South Cotabato.

The vast delta, located at the tri-boundary of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato, also swells easily during rainy days.

The ARMM’s agriculture department has dispatched technicians to validate reports of crop damages due to the floods.