NEWS

By Martin Sadongdong | Manila Bulletin | March 6, 2024 10:38AM

This elevated pathway connects the main road of Barangay Reina Regente, Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur to the Reina Regente Elementary School, providing access for students to quality education. (Photo by Martin Sadongdong / MANILA BULLETIN)

DATU PIANG, Maguindanao del Sur – An elevated pathway that was built by a United Nations (UN) humanitarian agency through funding from the Japanese government finally addressed the decades-old problem on flooding of residents in Barangay Reina Regente here.

The construction of the 900-meter pathway also connected the main road to Reina Regente Elementary School, the primary learning institution in the village, which allowed school children and teachers to go to school without the risk of crossing floodwaters.

“The whole Datu Piang suffers very much from flooding because of the silting of the Rio Grande River kaya hirap kami lalo na itong Reina Regente (that’s why it has been very difficult for us especially for the residents in Reina Regente),” Datu Piang Municipal Mayor Victor Samama told visiting Manila-based and local reporters on Tuesday, March 5.

Reina Regente is a low-lying and flood-prone barangay with floodwaters often reaching a height of two to three feet (60 to 90 centimeters) during the monsoon season. It is situated closely to the Tamontaka River, one of the main tributaries of the Rio Grande de Mindanao which is the second largest river system in the Philippines. It has a population of 1,507 individuals based on the 2022 census.

Reina Regente is a low-lying and flood-prone barangay in Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur with floodwaters often reaching a height of two to three feet (60 to 90 centimeters) during the monsoon season. (Courtesy of World Food Programme via Martin Sadongdong / MANILA BULLETIN)

Under the Food Assistance for Assets (FFA) project supported by the Japanese government, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) partnered with residents of Barangay Reina Regente for the construction of the elevated pathway on Aug. 7, 2023.

“Our intention is to deliver peace dividends to respective communities in this region. If this intervention to this school is kind of [a] seed for peace and prosperity in this community, it will be very great for us,” said Ishizaka Asuka, Embassy of Japan’s First Secretary for Political and Economic Section.

Community members filled dozens of sacks with sand and limestones to form the pathway, and the construction took 10 days to complete. They also rehabilitated the two-kilometer drainage canal in the barangay.

These community works eventually solved Barangay Reina Regente’s problem on perennial flooding, which has been the cause of headache for local officials and residents since the 1990s as it severely affects their farming and fishing activities.

Upon completion of the FFA project activities, the WFP distributed 45 metric tons of iron-fortified rice among the project participants, or an equivalent of 150 kilos of rice per household, for three months.

In total, the Japanese government provided around P350 million to the WFP for its projects which aim to improve the living condition, livelihood, food security, and nutrition of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARMM) residents.

“What we do is we give some technical support and additional assistance based on the needs of local communities. Our work in the Philippines is technical support and capacity strengthening level with the government to help build more resilient food systems at the outset of climate change, and to strengthen self-responsive and nutrition-sensitive social protection programs,” said Giorgi Dolidze, WFP Philippines Head of Programme.

Alia Carnain, 11, is a Grade 6 student at Reina Regente Elementary School. (Photo by Martin Sadongdong via MANILA BULLETIN)

Alia Carnain, an 11-year-old Grade 6 student at the Reina Regente Elementary School, was glad that she would no longer have to rent boats or wade through flood just to go to school during the rainy season as the pathway already provided an easy access to the school.

“Kapag nakakaranas kami ng baha, lahat kami napapalakad sa tubig para lang pumasok. Kapag hindi kami nakakapasok, wala kaming natututunan na maganda (Whenever there is flood, we really had to walk through it just to go to school. If we miss our class, we wouldn’t learn anything),” Carnain said.

Reina Regente Elementary School Teacher-in-Charge Norodin Patekay said no children has dropped since the pathway was built. The school has a total of 265 kindergarten to Grade 6 pupils.

“Improving ang attendance rate ng mga bata. This year, hindi na kami nakuan ng flooding, tuloy tuloy ang klase ng mga bata (The attendance rate of the children is improving. This year, we are no longer [affected] by flooding, the classes of the children are continuous),” he said.

Source: Manila Bulletin

.