DRY SPELL. Parched ground due to the El Niño in Bicol. Other areas are also experiencing a severe dry spell such as Occidental Mindoro, where the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has recommended to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan that the entire province be placed under a state of calamity. (File photo courtesy of DA-Bicol)
MAMBURAO, Occidental Mindoro – The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) here has formally recommended to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) or provincial council that the entire province be placed under a state of calamity due mainly to the severe dry spell.
In a social media post on Monday, Governor Eduardo Gadiano, who concurrently chairs the PDRRMC, said an estimated PHP300 million worth of crops have already been ruined by the lack of water caused by El Niño.
Making matters worse, the island province is simultaneously battling an onslaught of armyworms (Spodoptera frugiperda), locally called “harabas,” which is exacerbating the devastation to agriculture caused by the drought, the governor noted, quoting a report from provincial agriculturist Alrizza Zuburi.
The armyworms infestation has reportedly cost the province's agricultural sector another PHP30 million in damages.
“PDRRMC Resolution No. 01 (state of calamity recommendation) has already been transmitted to the provincial council… wherein it is indicated how much funds must be allocated to help affected farmers,” Gadiano wrote in Filipino.
In arriving at the recommendation, the PDRRMC noted the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration's (PAGASA) forecast that the meteorological drought (characterized by the degree of dryness or rainfall deficit and the length of the dry period) is likely to persist until May.
The council also pointed out that states of calamity have already been unilaterally declared in the Occidental Mindoro municipalities of Looc, Magsaysay, and San Jose due to the devastation brought about by El Niño to these towns.
According to the PDRRMC resolution, once a province-wide state of calamity has been declared, the provincial government can begin drawing from its Quick Response Funds (QRF) to provide relief to the struggling agricultural sector.
Some PHP8,000 will be distributed to affected farmers in the form of fuel assistance, while another PHP5,000 will be given for the purchase of pesticides, the resolution also stated. (PNA)
