COTABATO CITY—With the onset of La Niña in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the office of Gov. Mujiv Hataman has warned villagers in enclaves along rivers and swamps that connect to the Liguasan Delta in Maguindanao against flash floods and heavy rains.
At least one-half of Maguindanao’s 36 municipalities surround the Liguasan Delta, a catch basin for some 12 large rivers that spring from forested hinterlands in nearby Sultan Kudarat, Bukidnon, South Cotabato and North Cotabato.
Myrna Jocelyn Henry, an official of the ARMM’s Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Team (HEART), observed that Maguindanao’s coastal barangays usually get inundated at the slightest increase in the water level in rivers and swamps near the Liguasan Delta.
Henry also cautioned residents of possible occurrence of tidal wave—similar to the tsunami, which was preceded by a strong earthquake in the Moro Gulf, that devastated Central Mindanao on Aug. 17, 1976, killing some 5,000 Maguindanao coastal barangay residents and rendering more than 10,000 families homeless.
Incidentally, Henry said, the 40-year-old tragedy was commemorated by the city government of Cotabato, ARMM rescue and emergency response personnel, and the military in appropriate rites on Aug.17, 2016 at Camp Awang airport.
The Muslim Mindanao HEART official reminded Maguindanao coastal villagers that when a strong rain starts, they should immediately leave their homes and rush to evacuation centers, public school buildings and covered courts located in elevated places.
“Waiting for floods before evacuating is totally risky,” Henry stressed, adding that the provincial and municipal governments concerned, during the La Nina season, have been advised to prepare in advance necessary relief goods – such as canned foodstuff, soaps, drinking water, medicines and sleeping materials –for evacuees.