Floodwaters sweep 30 houses, force families in Cotabato to flee

COTABATO CITY – Rampaging floodwaters yesterday swept away some 30 houses and forced more that 5,000 families in Midsayap, North Cotabato to evacuate to higher grounds apart from the thousands that earlier fled due to threats of attacks by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Midsayap Mayor Manuel Rabarra, chairman of the municipal disaster coordinating council, said the villages affected by the flashfloods are those located at the border of their town with Datu Piang, Maguindanao, where thousands have also evacuated to temporary relief sites due to flashfloods.

Rivers criss-crossing Datu Piang and Midsayap began to overflow over the weekend due to heavy rains in surrounding hinterlands.

Rabarra said the floods that struck a dozen barangays in Midsayap, which is traversed by tributaries of the huge Rio Grande de Mindanao, has worsened the miseries of his constituents who earlier were affected by the spate of attacks by marauding MILF rebels in the same areas.

“We are appealing to Her Excellency, President Arroyo, to help our local government unit provide for the needs of these evacuees,” Rabarra said.

A griping Rabarra has accused the government’s ceasefire committee of “virtually doing nothing” to help defuse the tension in areas where MILF rebels have been roaming lately, threatening civilians with their firearms.

“The presence of these MILF rebels and the flashfloods combined is so devastating. Our people in the areas where they display force cannot tend their farms anymore for fear of being molested or killed,” Rabarra said.

Rabarra said he has already submitted separate complaints to the GRP and MILF’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities several resolutions by their municipal council enumerating violations by MILF rebels of the ceasefire.

“Sadly, no action has been done with regard to our complaints. These rebels have been forcing our people to leave their villages,” Rabarra said. – John Unson