President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has created the Cotabato Flood Control Task Force (CFC-TF) to undertake an integrated flood-control program in the heavily-silted, flood-prone Lower Cotabato River Basin.
Torrential rains spawned by typhoons Frank and Cosme earlier this year triggered massive flooding in the Lower Cotabato River Basin, which 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).
Heavy siltation of the major rivers of the Mindanao River Basin and the Ligwasan Marsh has exposed the Lower Cotabato River Basin to perennial flooding.
Executive Order (EO) No. 743 "Creating A Task Force on Cotabato Flood Control" was signed by President Arroyo last July 24.
The anti-flooding task force will "ensure that public funds for Cotabato (River Basin) flood control shall be spent judiciously and effectively through efficient prioritization of programs and consistent monitoring of projects."
The CFC-TF will "serve as the clearing house for all proposals related the Cotabato (River Basin) flood control."
The task force was also directed to generate proposals from implementing agencies for Cotabato flood-control efforts, as well as infrastructure support.
Under EO 743, the CFC-TF will work with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the "ARMM for the important interventions that need to be implemented for Cotabato (River Basin) flood control," as well as the "Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) of the ARMM and of Region XII "on common or overlapping project activities related to Cotabato flood control."
To be chaired by a representative of civil society who will be designated by the President, the task force will be composed of the ARMM governor, the chairman of the Region XII Regional Development Council (RDC), the ARMM's secretary of public works, and the DPWH director for Region XII.
A secretariat to be headed by an executive director will manage the TF's day-to-day affairs and operations, and "conduct studies on flood control to minimize the adverse effects to lives, properties and livelihood of residents in the Cotabato River Basin that may be caused by similar floods."
The CFC-TF, whose funding come from the President's Contingent Fund, will "exercise its powers and functions for a period of two years unless otherwise directed by the President."