Flood in Cotabato, Philippines

The local government of Tupi town in South Cotabato will relocate next month some 40 families who were earlier affected by a series of flashfloods along a critical river traversing several villages in the area.

Tupi Mayor Reynaldo Tamayo said they pushed for the immediate relocation of residents off the riverbanks in Sitio Tucalabong in Barangay Crossing Rubber as part of their ongoing efforts to clear the banks of the area's waterways that were usually hit by flashfloods during the rainy season.

"We need to clear the area to avoid possible (flood-related) untoward incidents later on," he said.

The mayor, who chairs the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (MDRRMC), said the 40 families will be transferred to a 2.6-hectare relocation site in Lower Poblacion, Tupi that was earlier acquired by the local government.

Tamayo said the town's engineering and MDRRMC personnel are presently finalizing the development works at the relocation site, which could accommodate 288 houses.

The municipal government earlier called for volunteers among local residents in the building of the houses and related structures at the relocation site.

Tamayo said a number of residents and municipal government workers had signed up for the initiative, which is being done during weekends.

As part of the local government's relocation scheme, Tamayo said the housing facilities at the relocation site will be offered free to the beneficiaries.

But he pointed out that the local government will retain the ownership of the houses and related structures at the site.

"They can live there for free but they will not own the houses. We adopted this system to prevent the beneficiaries from selling the houses later on," Tamayo said.

He said residents or beneficiaries who would violate such measure will forfeit their rights over the local government-provided housing facility.

Meantime, aside from the initial 40 beneficiaries from Barangay Crossing Rubber, Tamayo said the MDRRMC has also recommended the relocation of informal settlers who were occupying the road right of ways within the town's Poblacion area.

He said they were also studying the transfer to the relocation site of residents in other identified disaster-prone areas within the municipality.

Last week, flashfloods and landslides struck Sitios Tukay-el and Mambusong in Barangay Cebuano, Tupi, affecting some 56 families, an MDRRMC report said.