Thousands in 4 BARMM towns displaced by floods

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Rescuers are still searching for two grade school pupils swept away by rampaging floods that hit four Bangsamoro towns on Tuesday night, destroyed hundreds of semi-permanent houses and ravaged vast swaths of agricultural lands.

The Office of Civil Defense-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the Ministry of Social Services and Development-BARMM and the local government units in Matanog in Maguindanao del Norte and in Malabang, Balabagan and Kapatagan, all in Lanao del Sur, are together facilitating relief missions for some 10,000 villagers affected by the calamity.

The floods that hit the predominantly Moro barangays in the four towns were preceded by recurring torrential rains in hinterlands around that started early Tuesday.

Brig. Gen. Prexy Tanggawohn, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said that their units are helping municipal emergency responders search for the siblings Sheila and Ela Abdullah, who were both swept away by rampaging floodwaters that destroyed their house in Barangay Molimok in Balabagan.

A team led by BARMM’s social services minister, Raissa Jadjurie, distributed on Wednesday more than five tons of food supplies to flood-stricken villagers as initial relief support.

Local officials and Jadjurie told reporters on Thursday that they are thankful to units of PRO-BAR, the OCD-BARMM and the Philippine Navy’s 1st Marine Brigade under Brig. Gen. Eric Macaambac for supporting the inter-agency calamity response operation in the four towns.