STATE OF CALAMITY. A rice farm in the municipality of Sibalom dries up due to drought in this photo taken on Thursday (April 18, 2024). The province of Antique is now under a state of calamity, as approved by the Provincial Board during their virtual session. (PNA photo by Annabel Consuelo J. Petinglay)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – Antique declared on Thursday a state of calamity due to the El Niño phenomenon.
This after the provincial board adopted the recommendation of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) on the declaration.
“Resolution 351-2024, declaring the state of calamity in the entire province of Antique, had been unanimously approved during our virtual session,” Vice Governor Edgar Denosta said in an interview.
The provincial board subsequently authorized Governor Rhodora Cadiao to utilize PHP10 million from the quick response fund of the province “to hasten the delivery of assistance in order to promptly reduce the adverse effects on the Antiqueños welfare, livelihood, and economy.”
Denosta said they could use the fund to procure movable water tanks with pumps for barangays that already lack water supply, food packs, and financial assistance.
In a separate interview, board member Rony Molina said that earlier, the municipalities of Sibalom, Anini-y, Laua-an, and Tobias Fornier declared a state of calamity through their respective local councils.
He said that under National DRRMC Memorandum 60, series of 2019, the provincial board could declare a state of calamity when two or more municipalities or cities had been affected by a disaster.
The report of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) said that as of April 15, some 281 barangays with 12,552 families and 50,292 individuals in Antique were affected by drought.
The Office of the Provincial Agriculture report showed damage to rice crops already reached PHP165.6 million. (PNA)
