My Cotabs!

 (Photos by M. Navales/AFP)

Cotabato execs call for ‘bayanihan’ in weathering flood woes

By Noel Y. Punzalan and Malu C. Manar

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COTABATO CITY, July 8 (PNA) – Mayor Muslimin Sema here and former Sultan Kudarat, Shariff Kabunsuan Mayor Tocao Mastura has called on their constituents to enliven the spirit of “bayanihan” in weathering the flood calamity that severely their respective areas simultaneously in the aftermath of Typhoon Frank.

“This is the concern of everybody, so everybody must do their share of work to save our city,” Sema told newsmen here in an interview.

Echoing Sema’s call, Mastura called on village leaders to organize capable men for a bayanihan to rid the Rio Grande de Mindanao River of the thick carpets of water lilies that clog the waterways, causing some parts of the town and nearby Cotabato City to remain under waist-deep waters.

Recently, Army bomb experts attempted to split up with explosives a 10-foot thick water lily carpet clogging the Rio Grande water current under the Delta Bridge here but failed to do so.

“The sad news is that more water lilies coming from upstream seem to add up to the thick mass of water lilies under the Delta Bridge,” Sema said.

Earlier Monday, the mayor called on the suspension of school classes in all levels, after knee-deep waters submerged the compound of Notre Dame University, the largest Catholic-run school in Central Mindanao, here.

Cotabato City is a known flood-prone area due to its being a delta, a body of land surrounded by big rivers that meet at the city’s coasts through the Rio Grande de Mindanao tributary.

Over the weekend, more than 10,000 families in Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) again fled their homes due to flashfloods brought by heavy downpour.

Severely hit were the towns of Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura, Talayan, Talitay, Datu Odin Sinsuat, and Upi in Shariff Kabunsuan.

The floods also damaged crops and properties and resulted in evacuation of thousands of families in Sultan sa Barongis, Datu Paglas, Paglat, and other low-lying towns of Maguindanao.

In Cotabato City, floods affected villagers living near the Rio Grande de Mindanao and Matampay River.

The area has been inundated since last week when by a six-hectare wide carpet of water lilies blocked the flow of the water coming from the upper portion of the river down to the Moro Gulf.

If not ripped apart, the 30 tons of water lilies underneath could destroy the still unfinished P300 million worth Delta Bridge over the Rio Grande de Mindanao and connecting Cotabato City to Shariff Kabunsuan.

ARMM Governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan, chairman of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council, said he has asked the Cotabato City Council to pass a resolution requesting the ARMM government to let them use its heavy equipment in clearing the thick vegetation that have accumulated below the bridge to hasten the flow of the Rio Grande River. (PNA)

Source: http://positivenewsmedia.net

Kawawa naman ang lupang sinilangan ko. Lubog na nga sa kahirapan, nalubog pang lalo. 

Sa nangyari, lahat naging pantay-pantay - walang mahirap o mayaman, walang muslim o kristiyano, walang datu o alipin, walang bata o matanda. Lahat nakababad ang paa sa marumi at mabahong tubig. Lahat pwedeng magka dengue, malaria o leptospirosis. Lahat pwedeng magka alibunga at buni. Lahat pwedeng magka-rayuma.  

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