2 Maguindanao towns remain flooded

DATU SALIBO, Maguindanao -- Close to 12,000 individuals have been displaced by floods in Maguindanao as a result of torrential rain brought about by Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone the past week, disaster officials today said. The Office of Civil Defense and the Humanitarian Emergency Action and Response Team (HEART) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said nine towns of Maguindanao were severely affected but no displacement of locals. Residents stay in their homes during the floods which eventually subsided, so no displacement, Myrna Jo Henry, spokesperson for ARMM-HEART.Only the towns of Datu Salibo and Mamasapano, both in Maguindanao remained flooded aftrer the Kabulanan river overflowed Thursday.In Datu Salibo-Datu Piang road, flood water submerged the national highway. It has been three days since the flood had affected the adjoining municipalities.Water level in interior villages of Datu Salibo reached as high as neck and chest level, said Badria Guiamel. Guiamel brought her family at the roadside of Datu Salibo-Datu Piang highway. My house was submerged by floods, we have been staying atop our bed and cabinets and then we moved here, Guiamel said as she prepares food using makeshift kalan (cooking using charcoal) by the road side. Her children were swimming nearby.Sukarno Zaylon, a resident, was fixing a wooden bridge atop a waist deep water toward his home.Even Army detachments were not spared in Datu Salibo as the military compound was virtually turned into a small river.Across the street were motorists washing vehicles while children swim nearby. For the young, the long and winding road has become their huge swimming pool unmindful of the possible diseases in the dirty water could harm them. Sanay na yan sila (they are used to it), said Zailon of the children enjoying the flood water with baon (food) for their picnic.ARMM-HEART said no fatality was reported as a result of the flood. (Ferdinandh Cabrera)