Is there relief in sight for the current flooding situation in Cotabato City and its neighboring towns where the rivers and waterways that traverse are now snatched by siltation and water hyacinths?

As for the immediate, evacuations are ongoing, relief aid to these evacuation centers is being mobilized, rescue of families caught in the flooded areas is ongoing, and the provision of food and clean drinking water is a priority.

The situation report by the Task Force states that the flooding is primarily a result of the heavy rains that started 22 May 2011 and that continued to fall this month in the entire Mindanao river basin at the same time, in all the areas of the river basin. The catchment lake that received all the water is the Ligawasan Marsh, composed of three separate marshes defined during the dry season: Ligawasan, Libungan, and Ebpanan. These three marshes combine as one during the rainy season, as the Ligawasan and Libungan marshes empty into the Ebpanan marsh which in turn flows into the Pulangi (or Rio Grande de Mindanao) whose only two outlets are in Cotabato City.

The Task Force also identified the emergency release of water from the Pulangi IV dam operated by NAPOCOR, around 98 million cubic meters in 20 days that caused the marsh and the water to rise, uprooting the water hyacinths in the marshes that cover around 80,000 hectares. These plants broke away and drifted to Cotabato City and are now clogging the Delta Bridge and formed a natural dam. Thirty of the 37 barangays are flooded at varying levels, the deepest measurement stood at 1.6 meters.

Other causes identified include the siltation of the Pulangi River, the Allah River, the transformation of the upper portion of the Tunggol cut-off channel into a small lake after it breached into several portions, the effect of heavy siltation and heavy rains, landslides in the Cotabato-Malabang road, and the release of water from the Agus IV dam that also raised the water level of the marsh.

Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, OMI, DD, chair of the Task Force is asking engineers, geologists, hydrologists and other competencies for solutions to resolve or at least mitigate effects.

A state of calamity is now declared in the stricken areas and evacuees are filling up evacuation centers. Agriculture, livelihoods, commerce are incurring huge losses, while schools are suspended. Health services will need to respond to more people as the situation gets worse.

Snatching the rivers and marshes from the invaders is a challenge and the situation calls for a massive undertaking from all sectors of the government and civil society to respond collectively and restore the environmental services that these rivers and marshes are tasked to provide.