Floods inundate Maguindanao del Sur lowlands

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Floodwaters spawned by heavy rains early this week swept through a number of barangays in at least three towns in Maguindanao del Sur, affecting no fewer than 2,000 families relying mainly on rice and corn farming as sources of income.

The flooded barangays in Pagalungan and Montawal towns in north of Maguindanao del Sur and in Mamasapano in south of the province are crisscrossed by rivers and dotted with swamps that connect the 220,000-hectare Ligawasan Delta, a catch basin for more than a dozen large waterways that spring from hinterlands in Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Bukidnon provinces.

The Catholic Station DXMS in Cotabato City reported on Friday morning that eight low-lying barangays in Mamasapano, Tuka, Libutan, Dabenayan, Bagumbong, Liab, Pidsandawan, Pimbalakan and Sapakan, got inundated on Tuesday following heavy downpours in the municipality and nearby areas.

The Mamasapano Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office has dispatched emergency responders to the flooded barangays to provide affected villagers with essential relief interventions.