2 Misamis towns under state of calamity

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Two Misamis Oriental municipalities, hard-hit by a series of calamities in recent weeks, are both under a state of calamity. Officials of two other towns will decide on such a declaration today.

Maricel Casino-Rivera, head of the provincial press office, said the Lagonglong municipal board declared a state of calamity last Aug. 7, while Balingasag councilors did so last Monday.

The two towns were hit by flash floods caused by a "cloudburst," which triggered heavy rains. Rampaging floodwaters breached a dike last Aug. 2.

A family of four got killed in the flash floods, while another resident remained missing and was presumed dead. At least 331 villagers were displaced in the calamity.

Provincial agriculturist Danilo Maputol said the flash floods left agricultural, livestock and fishery losses estimated at P15.486 million.

Barely a week later, a storm surge sparked by the confluence of two tropical cyclones and the southwest monsoon (habagat) spawned huge waves that battered 11 coastal municipalities. A mother and her two-year-old child were killed when a coconut tree fell on them in Barangay Poblacion, Libertad town.

Jaime Caiña, who chairs the provincial board’s infrastructure committee, said initial estimates placed damage to infrastructure and private property at over P50 million.

Among the public infrastructure damaged were the Lingangkayan seawall dike in Naawan town, which was washed out, and a 28-meter stretch of the farm-to-market road in Sitio Calaca in Barangay Cogon, Balingasag town, which cracked when big waves washed out its base.

Teodoro Sabuga-a, executive officer of the provincial disaster coordinating council (PDCC), quoted latest reports as showing that the huge waves displaced a total of 1,939 families or 8,610 people, totally destroyed at least 213 houses and partially damaged 835 other dwellings.

"During our meeting last week, I requested the municipal boards of the affected towns to pass an ordinance prohibiting the construction of dwellings in vulnerable areas like shorelines and riverbanks," Sabug-a said.

A team from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration conducted a three-day "storm surge survey and assessment" in the affected areas early this week and confirmed that all structures damaged by the waves had been built in places which, even under normal conditions, would be considered "high-risk."

Despite the big number of municipalities and families (placed at a total of 2,270) affected by the twin calamities, provincial information officer Maricel Casiño-Rivera said Gov. Oscar Moreno will still not declare a state of calamity since there are enough funds to finance relief efforts.

Casiño said the PDCC met last Aug. 10 to assess the situation and decided to leave it to the discretion of the mayors of the 11 affected towns to declare a state of calamity in their locality or not.

"Gov. Moreno believes that since it is just the middle of the year, the province has to maximize resources still available from the general fund so we can still have some calamity funds left if and when other disasters should hit our province till the end of the year," Casiño said.

Besides providing the calamity-stricken villagers with food and used clothing, the PDCC has also tapped the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to provide building materials to help them rebuild their houses.

Huge waves also pounded coastal villages in Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga City, Sarangani, Agusan del Norte, Talisay City and Negros Oriental.