BARMM flood survivors recall horrors of Paeng onslaught, appeal for help

Several survivors in Maguindanao del Norte recalled the horrors they experienced amid the flash floods that hit parts of the Bangsamoro Region due to the onslaught of severe tropical storm Paeng.

In Abby Caballero’s report on 24 Oras, 20-year-old Ryan Bensik said he did not expect to survive the flooding in the municipality of Datu Odin Sinsuat. He remembered hearing screams of people asking for help as they moved house to house while the powerful storm continued dumping heavy rain on the area.

“Nakita ko lahat…sabi ng tatay, 'Tabang! 'Yung anak ko, 'yung anak ko, mamamatay na. Wala na.' Di namin akalain mamamatay na kami pero sa awa ni Allah lahat kami buhay,” he said.

(I saw everything. A dad was even shouting, ‘Help! my child will die’. We thought we were going to die but in Allah’s name we survived.)

Bensik was merely visiting a friend when the tragedy happened and he never expected a simple gesture would put his life at risk.

“Pagsandig ko sa hollow block akala ko mamamatay na ako. Wala na. Nakatakip na ako. Nandoon na ako sa ilalim. Nakita ko 'yung isang babae, dalawang bata, nakita ko. Nakaya kong buhatin 'yung hollow block,” he added.

(When I leaned on the hollow block, I thought that was it. I was under it. And then I saw a woman and two children. I helped them and lifted up the hollow block.)

While traumatized, he returned to the area to look for his passenger tricycle after it was swept away by the flood. Ryan recovered it but he was unsure if it would be of any use.

Meanwhile, another survivor who was temporarily taking shelter in an evacuation center tearfully appealed for help after her house was totally damaged by the tropical cyclone.

“Sana tulungan mo kami kasi nasira ang bahay namin. Kawawa naman kami. Lahat ng gamit namin, nawala,” Arimbay Pendatun said.

(I hope they will help us because our house was destroyed. All of our belongings were lost. We’re pitiful.)

Around 20 individuals died in the municipality due to Paeng, according to the report. Meanwhile, national officials including Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Erwin Tulfo, and Senator Robin Padilla personally visited the Mindanaoan region for the relief operations in the affected areas in the Bangsamoro. — Sundy Locus/BM, GMA News