COTABATO CITY – Over 2,000 families affected by mass flood in the Special Geographic Area (SGA) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have received relief assistance from the regional government on Wednesday, Sept. 27.

The SGA Development Authority (SGADA), the BARMM Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (READi), and the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) spearheaded the relief operation, in coordination with the Philippine National Red Cross amid the aid-giving ban imposed within the BSK election period.

The Ministry of Public Works (MPW) supported convergent outreach strides, providing trucks to shuttle relief goods composed of 25-kilo sacks of rice and food packs.

Norhassim Sinarimbo of READi said their team focused on the distribution in the Midsayap cluster serving 936 families, while the MSSD led by Haron Amer operated in the Pikit cluster catering to some 1,300 affected families.

The SGA, which covers 63 barangays for North Cotabato’s six towns that opted for inclusion in the VARMM territory, was placed under a state of calamity effective September 21 this year following the massive flooding in some parts.

According to reports, floods gripped 27 SGA-member barangays involving 25,946 households composed of 129,730 persons owning 329 hectares of farms of combined rice, corn fields, and other crops affected in the inundation.

Heavy rains caused by the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) stemming from Southwest Monsoon, and Low-Pressure Area (LPA) have caused flooding in the SGA areas and some parts of the Maguindanao provinces as well as Lanao del Sur.

READi and MSSD officials said the relief operations will continue to ensure that all affected families in SGA and the three BARMM provinces will receive assistance. (Abdullah Matucan/BIO)

Abdullah Matucan/BIO