Cotabato archbishop named head of task force on floods

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has tapped Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo to head a presidential task force to rehabilitate and develop the heavily-silted Mindanao River Basin, which caused massive flooding in the Cotabato area last year. A Malacañang statement said President Arroyo gave Quevedo a copy of Executive Order No. 753-A creating the task force during the Cotabato River Basin Task Force meeting Wednesday at the Awang Airport in Datu Odin Sinsuat town. The task force meeting followed President Arroyo's interview with media where she said funding for infrastructure, including for flood control, "is a priority order in our economic reform agenda." Present during the meeting were task force members Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan, Regional Disaster Coordinating Council Region 12 chairman Chief Superintendent Fidel Cimatu Jr., DPWH-ARMM Regional Secretary Rasul Abpi, DPWH Undersecretary Romeo Momo, and Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema. Quevedo said the new EO gives more teeth to the erstwhile monitoring functions of their task force. "The new EO handed down authority to us. The DPWH is still the implementing agency but we can do something if there is some delay," he said. The new order amended E.O 753, which the President issued last July 24 creating the Cotabato Flood Control Task Force (CFC-TF). CFC-TF, also headed by Archbishop Quevedo, was then tasked to undertake an integrated flood-control program in the heavily-silted, flood-prone Lower Cotabato River Basin, including the Liguasan Marsh. Last year, torrential rains spawned by typhoons Frank and Cosme had triggered massive flooding in the Lower Cotabato River Basin. The flood-prone basin covers the provinces of North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Saranggani, Sultan Kudarat, the City of Cotabato and parts of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Last October, Arroyo also gave an initial P31-million fund for flood control in Central Mindanao by allocating P20-million for the dredging of Rio Grande de Mindanao from the mouth to the new Delta Bridge; and P11-million for the Simuay Flood Control Project. - GMANews.TV