DAYS of heavy rains brought by the southwest monsoon caused landslides and heavy flooding in Bukidnon leaving two dead and one person missing, according to reports yesterday.
Arnel Sagandilan, team leader of the Maramag Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office said their rescuers are still scouring the banks of Pulangi River where Evelyn Candido, 48, and her 12-year-old daughter were carried by strong currents last July 12.
Sagandilan said Candido and her daughter were crossing a small river in Barangay Dagumbaan when they were swept away by the flash floods.
“We have scoured the small river and we think they were carried to the bigger Pulangi River,” Sagandilan told MindaNews by phone.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD-10) said one person was also reported missing in Cabanglasan, Bukidnon.
The Bukidnon Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management in its report on July 13, 2024, said 2,329 families or 8,894 persons from the two cities of Valencia and Malaybalay and Kalilangan, Maramag, and San Fernando towns have sought shelter in evacuation centers.
OCD-10 spokesperson Marie Abigail Galvez said many of the families returned to their houses on July 14 but 450 families or 1,607 persons remain in the evacuation centers taking no chances as the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration forecast more rains to come in the next few days.
More than 133 farmers lost P14,669,437 after 141 hectares of rice they planted in Kalilangan town were destroyed by the heavy rains, according to the Bukidnon Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management report.
Engineering teams are working overtime to clear the highways after several landslides were reported in the towns of Pagantucan, Kalilangan, Kadingilan, Kibawe, and San Fernando.
