KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/16 October) — A total of 11,450 families affected by the recent floods in five towns in North Cotabato had received relief operations from the provincial government since August this year, according to reports from the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).
The beneficiaries, most of them farmers, are from towns of Midsayap, Kabacan, Carmen, Pigcawayan, and Pikit, all low-lying areas in North Cotabato affected by floods due to torrential rains.
Thousands of hectares of rice lands and corn fields in these areas were damaged, which prompted the provincial council to pass, also in August, a resolution that declared Cotabato province under state of calamity.
Of the towns affected, Midsayap was worst hit with 4,572 families affected, reports from the PSWDO said.
Kabacan town had at least 1,200 families affected by floods when flood waters destroyed vast hectares of their rice and corn fields.
Two low-lying villages in Carmen town also experienced flooding due to heavy rainfall that affected some 630 families.
In Pigcawayan town, 1,690 families evacuated to higher grounds when their villages were inundated in August.
The provincial government has given every family a water jug, several kilos of rice, and other food relief items.
North Cotabato Governor Emmylou Talinio-Mendoza said the distribution of relief assistance will continue until all those affected by the calamity will get the help sourced from the province’s calamity fund. (Malu Cadelina-Manar/MindaNews)
