Floods cause of massive displacement in Mindanao

Monday, December 12, 2011

FLOODING, no longer armed conflict, is causing massive displacements in Mindanao.

Carolyn Arguillas, convenor of the Mindanao Media Forum, said the number of displaced persons due to flooding soared higher than the displacement figure due to armed conflicts.

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Arguillas’ data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) showed 855,480 persons from 168,518 families in Mindanao were affected due to floods triggered by continuous rains based on the emergency incidents monitoring done from January 1 to January 31, 2011 alone.

The same data source showed that displaced persons due to armed conflict in Mindanao totaled 26,422 from January 2011 to May 2011.

"Dati rati tungod sa giyera daghan ang na-displace, karon tungod na sa baha (It used to be due to armed conflict that people were displaced but now it's due to floods)," she told participants to the annual 7th Mindanao Media Summit dubbed "Environment Watch: Mindanao."

In January 2011 alone, Mindanao shared 43 percent of the 2,001,221 displaced persons nationwide due to floods.

Arguillas also showed data of the widespread flooding in Mindanao, affecting two provinces in Northern Mindanao; four provinces in Southwestern Mindanao; one in Southeastern Mindanao; five in Caraga; one in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm).

Caraga region registered the highest number of affected persons, totaled at 646,942 in January 2011 alone, while the Davao Region came next with 131,263. Flood-affected persons in Northern Mindanao totaled 18,160; 35 in South Cotabato; and 59,080 in Armm.

The displacements due to armed conflicts, meanwhile, were monitored in five provinces of Mindanao particularly in Basilan, Davao Oriental, North Cotabato, Maguindanao and in Sarangani.

Arguillas said displacements in Basilan happened due to military operations against the Abu Sayyaf Group, while those in Davao Oriental and in Sarangani were due to armed clashes between the military and the New People's Army. (PIA)