• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) of Negros Oriental has recommended the placing of the province under a state of calamity.
Provincial Agriculturist Manuel Caduyac, in an interview with Philippine Information Agency 7, reported that damage to agricultural crops and livestock due the ongoing effects of the drought in Negros Oriental has already reached more than P115 million, as of April 19.
Earlier, the municipality of Santa Catalina and Bayawan City in Negros Oriental placed their respective local government units under a state of calamity due to the effects of the El Niño phenomenon.
Under the law, if two or more LGUs placed under a state of calamity, PDRRM officer Adrian Sedillo said the province is qualified to declare a state of calamity, in order to utilize the quick response fund (QRF) for the provision of assistance to affected farmers or population.
Sedillo, however, said that Negros Oriental should meet the criteria of 15 percent of the population and 30 percent of livelihood and structures affected to be placed under a state of calamity.
In Negros Occidental, the municipality of San Enrique and component city of Kabankalan have placed their respective areas under a state of calamity.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson is however not keen yet on placing the province under a state of calamity, stressing that the provincial government still has funds to help the affected farmers.
As of April 25, the value of the damage to rice and corn crops in Negros Occidental is pegged at P197,153,844.
In a report of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist to Gov. Lacson, the drought has affected 5,125 farmers tilling 3,752.94 hectares of crops in 195 barangays of 25 towns and cities in Negros Occidental.*
