Central Mindanao flood death toll now 7

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  – Two more villagers drowned in flash floods that struck parts of Central Mindanao yesterday, bringing to seven the total number of fatalities since Sunday.

The latest fatalities were identified as 32-year-old militiaman Noel Hiso, 32, and farmer Paulino Canja, 57, of North Cotabato’s Carmen and Magpet towns, respectively.

Hiso was carried by rampaging floodwaters while on his way home from his farm in Barangay Kibines, Carmen town. His body was found hours later in an open field about two kilometers away.

Canja was attempting to cross the Tuwael River in Magpet, a hinterland town, when floodwaters from nearby hills swept him away. His body was found in a tributary of the Tuwael River about two barangays away.

Five people drowned in rampaging floodwaters that struck Maguindanao and North Cotabato Monday.

Two others were still reported missing, according to disaster response groups and the military.

A dozen Maguindanao towns around the Liguasan Marsh have been inundated since Monday morning following three days of torrential rains. 

More than 8,000 villagers in flooded barangays in Maguindanao’s Pagalungan and Montawal towns were forced to relocate to school campuses, said Pombaen Karon Kadir, social welfare secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.