REGION | MNLF, MILF to help Army clear clogged Maguindanao river

A portion of the Dansalan River in Datu Piang town in Maguindanao now carpeted with thickly-knitted water hyacinths. JOHN UNSON/Philstar

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Hundreds of soldiers and members of two Moro fronts will help clear the Dansalan River in Datu Piang town of water hyacinths now dangerously blocking its flow to the sea.

 

Residents of Datu Piang, located in the second district of Maguindanao, are worried the river can swell and cause flooding in their villages during the coming rainy season.

 

The Moro National Liberation Front, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and officials of the Army’s 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion committed their help in a meeting with Datu Piang Mayor Genuine Kamaong on Wednesday.

 

The meeting was also attended by representatives from the Office of Civil Defense, from the Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Team (HEART) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations.

 

Hundreds of barangays in central Mindanao that are located along rivers and are near swamps that connect to the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta were twice inundated in the past eight years after water hyacinths blocked portions of the Rio Grande de Mindanao and many other rivers that drains into seaside areas in Cotabato City.

 

Army officials, commanders of the MNLF and the MILF in the municipality said they will work together to cut the tightly-knitted aquatic plants.

 

Dozens of MILF guerillas have, in fact, had started helping do the work early on, according to local officials.

 

The MILF and the government are bound to cooperate in addressing community concerns, including peace and security issues, by interim agreements forged by both sides in the past two decades.

 

In a text message Thursday, Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said he is thankful to the different groups and government agencies now helping clear the Dansalan River from water hyacinths.

 

The river splits into tributaries that drain on the western seacoast of Cotabato City, about 60 kilometers away.

 

Mangudadatu said he will meet local officials in Datu Piang soon to discuss how the provincial government can effectively complement their efforts in addressing the problem.

 

The governor said he is also ready to extend manpower and equipment support needed in the clearing operations.

 

“I am grateful to the local commanders of the MILF and the MNLF and the military for helping us out,” Mangudadatu said.

 

Engineer James Mlok, chief of the 2nd District Engineering Office in Maguindanao, said the water hyacinths are clumped togther because of hardened silt and thick roots that extend up to two meters underwater.

 

Workers dispatched by Mlok to Datu Piang are now cutting into smaller, more buoyant blocks the water hyacinths stuck on the channels of the Dansalan River using farm tools and chainsaws.

 

Mlok’s office has 50 workers now in the area working in shifts.

 

“The Datu Piang LGU also has the same number of workers helping do the work,” Mlok said.

 

Myrna Jocelyn Henry, senior information staff of HEART, said ARMM’s regional executive secretary, lawyer Laisa Masuhud-Alamia, wants them to buy chainsaws they can lend to volunteer groups helping in the clearing operations.

 

“Our superiors are also contemplating providing volunteers with food and clean drinking water,” she said.

 

Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City, said he can lend powerful Australian-made airboats of Special Forces units to tow water hyacinth blocks downstream.

 

Galvez said he can augment with more men the 200 soldiers initially committed by Army officials in Maguindanao to help in the clearing operations.

 

The MILF had promised to provide 200 guerillas for the clearing operations.