PAGALUNGAN, Maguindanao del Sur – When life gives you lemon, make lemonade.

While it is true that the perennial flooding in this province and outlying areas brought misery, it also opened up opportunities for some flood survivors.

Over the years, perennial flooding has been a problem for most of the communities in the low-lying areas of this province and neighboring Cotabato.

MORO women chop driftwood collected from the Pulangi River in Barangay Layog, Pagalungan, Maguindanao del Sur. (Keith Bacongco)

Most of the flooding is mainly due to the swelling of the Pulangi River and its tributaries that drain toward the Ligawasan Marsh.

But for 60-year-old Lamin Ahad, the swelling of the Pulangi River brings an economic opportunity for some of the residents in Barangay Layog here.

A flood victim herself, Ahad is just one of several residents in Barangay Layog who collect driftwood from the Pulangi River and turn them into firewood.

Using a traditional sword called “panabas,” Ahad and her younger sister Pambayan Balabadan chop the collected driftwood into sticks about a foot-long.

“Kung ang iba ay nababahala kung mataas ang tubig sa Pulangi, kami naman ay hindi naman masaya pero hindi masyadong nababahala dahil pagkakataon na namin na manguha ng mga inanod na kahoy,” Ahad said with a chuckle.

(We are not happy if water is high in Pulangi but we are not worried because  we have an opportunity to collect driftwood)

Both of them spend almost the entire day under a makeshift tent on the edge of the Pulangi River.  

After chopping the driftwood, they let the sticks dry under the Sun for few hours before organizing them into several bundles.

Each bundle of firewood costs P10 each. “Hindi naman kami ma-zero sa isang araw, meron talagang bumibili dahil kailangan rin nila pang luto,” said Balabadan.

(We earn something in a day as people buy firewood for cooking)

Several bundles of firewood with different lengths and sizes line up the Cotabato-Davao highway.

Some are even parts of a house such as ladder and posts that were swept away in the flood last July.

According to them, they have been doing this for almost 10 years.

Ahad said many of them used to depend on backyard gardening when they used to live right the meander of the river.

However, the land mass was eventually scoured due to frequent swelling of the Pulangi River.

Ahad and her neighbors were forced to relocate across the river near the highway.

According to some residents, driftwood gathering has been going on for over two decades.

But the practice thrived due to frequent swelling of the river. 

PILES of driftwood turned into firewood on the highway in Barangay Layog, Pagalungan, Maguindanao del Sur. (Keith Bacongco) 

Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief Benjamin Alip said that the recent flooding due to the swelling of the Pulangi River swept away different types of debris, including trees.

Alip added that there are times that the water level of Pulangi River is beyond its normal level due to heavy rains in the headwaters in Bukidnon.

“Minsan mainit dito sa amin pero mataas ang tubig sa Pulangi.”

(Sometimes it is hot but the water level in Pulangi is high)

The flooding last July submerged almost the entire area of this town, according to Alip. "The worst in our history."

Former Barangay Layog council member Linda Mamogkat said that people have mixed reactions whenever it rains.

“'Yung iba naiiyak dahil masisira mga gamit at mga pananim nila kung may baha, ang iba naman ay nasisiyahan dahil hindi na nila kailangang pumunta o mag-banca sa malayo para manguha ng kahoy para ibenta na panggatong,” Mamogkat said

(Some people cry over the destruction and some are happy as they don’t need to go far to gather firewood to sell)

“Maghintay na lang sila dyan sa pampang sa mga naanod na kahoy.”

(They just wait on the riverbank for trees carried away by the river)

She added that many of these driftwood gatherers were former evacuees during the war from 1990s to 2000s.

Mamogkat said some of them crossed the Ligawasan Marsh from Maguindanao towns like Buluan, Datu Paglas, and Gen. Salipada K. Pendatun.

“Ang iba dito lang sa looban nanggaling. Pero hindi na sila nakabalik sa kani-kanilang mga lugar pagkatapos ng giyera hanggang sa lumaki na sila dito, nagka-anak na at nagka-apo na rin.”

(Some came from the interior barangays. But they were not able to return after the war until they settled here, had children, and grandchildren)  

Due to lack of economic opportunities, she said, many resorted to selling firewood while some work as tenants in farms.

While Barangay Layog has been one of the common hosts of thousands of internally displaced persons at the height of wars, the area was not the safest place anymore when the flooding hit last July.

Mamogkat recalled that it was the first time that the former evacuation center was submerged in flood.

“Kung noon, dito sila nagbabakwit dahil sa giyera. Pero noong binaha, wala ng nagbakwit dito. Doon na sila sa mataas na lugar.”  

(They evacuated in the past due to war here. Nobody sought refuge during the flood. They sought shelter in higher areas)

This town was one of the worst-hit areas during the flooding last July.

A report from the MDRRMO said the flooding affected at least 11,523 families.

A report from the BARMM Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (Bangsamoro READi) showed the severe flooding affected over 135,000 families or about 600,000 persons from the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, and Special Geographic Area (SGA).