Floods dislodge armed strife as PH's biggest creator of internal refugees

Press Release
January 9, 2011

KIDAPAWAN CITY  –  Floods everywhere have dislodged armed conflict as the country's top generator of internal refugees, a governor from Mindanao said over the weekend.

"Without playing down the perils of recurring armed conflict, we're afraid more Filipinos now risk being driven out of their homes and sources of livelihood due to harsh climate change," North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou "Lala" Taliño-Mendoza said.

Taliño-Mendoza also warned that massive flooding on one hand and intense drought on the other would expose a greater number of Filipinos to hunger, due to spoiled farm harvests and lack of ready access to affordable food.

"We have to change many things, including the way we use and hoard water, the way we cultivate our farms, even the way we build our roads, if we are to cope with brutal weather conditions in the months ahead," she said.

The Mindanao governor made the statement shortly after the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported that a total of 470,763 persons or 92,606 families have been severely affected by flooding and landslides that hit eight regions across the country. The disasters also left at least 26 people dead.

North Cotabato and other parts of Central Mindanao have had their share of recurring floods every time the 373-kilometer Mindanao River overflows on account of a heavy downpour.

Taliño-Mendoza pushed for the implementation of a 1989 law that requires the installation of rainwater collectors in every barangay, as means to ease flooding during the rainy season and hoard fresh water for irrigation and other uses during dry spells.

The 22-year-old Rainwater Collector and Springs Development Act remains largely unimplemented, she lamented.

"We also have to change the way we construct our roads and drainage systems so that during heavy rainfall some of the surface runoff gets purposely channeled to impounding structures and watersheds, instead of flowing into our river systems and draining into the open sea," she said.

Surface runoff is the water flow that occurs when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and excess water from rainfall flows over the land.

Taliño-Mendoza also pushed for the grant of national government subsidy, by way of cash rewards, to farmers who practice soil and water conservation.

"The planting of bamboo trees by farmers near river banks, for instance, can check rapid soil erosion and lessen silt in waterways," she pointed out.

Communities that invest heavily in lessening disaster risk, and prepare ahead stood a better chance of thriving amid extreme weather patterns, the governor said.