By EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech and Digital News
Short link: https://wp.me/paaccn-pxY
COTABATO CITY — Under the leadership of Chief Minister Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim, the Bangsamoro government is closely monitoring the communities hit by flooding because of an LPA (low pressure area) affecting Southern Philippines.
This as the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) reported that it has observed two LPAs at 290 km East of Maasin City, Southern Leyte, and another estimated at 125 km Northwest of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
The Bangsamoro government’s vigilance is apparently a lesson learned from previous instances of flashfloods because of strong rains in the recent past.
In fact, the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) headed by Minister Naguib G. Sinarimbo had already acted on a case of flooding in the province of Basilan, one of the BARMM’s component areas.
“We sent our assistance to the flood victims in Basilan today (January 14),” he pointed out.
Sinarimbo, the spokesperson of BARMM, has assured the MILG is also on its toes “closely monitoring the situation in Dimapatoy, Kusiong, Upi, and Datu Blah Sinsuat for possible flooding.”
He emphasized that “our Team already touched base with the (Philippine Army’s) 6 Infantry Division (ID) for any eventuality. Three rescue teams have been activated at the Operations Center (OpCen) and ready to move if the situation calls for it.”
The Bangsamoro government has its disaster-response and humanitarian arm, the Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (READi), under the MILG. READi also has its rescue teams equipped with land and water transport services.
Established in 2018 by the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the Bangsamoro region as a new political entity (NPE) is made up of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the 63 barangays or villages collectively known as the Special Geograpic Area (SGA) that voted “yes” in a plebiscite in January and February 2019 to be under the BARMM jurisdiction.
According to the Philippine Atlas has 4,404,288 people. It has 116 municipalities: Basilan, 11 municipalities; Lanao del Sur, 39; Maguindanao, 36; Sulu, 19; and Tawi-Tawi, 11. Its component cities are Cotabato (the regional center and capital) in Maguindanao; Lamitan in Basilan; and Marawi in Lanao del Sur. — (✓)