State of calamity eyed in Occidental Mindoro

CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro: The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) of Occidental Mindoro has recommended to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) on Wednesday, March 13, to pass a resolution declaring a state of calamity in the entire province due to the effects of El Niño.

In a telephone interview on Thursday, Gov. Eduardo Gadiano said that the PDRRMC is recommending the declaration of a state of calamity after its initial assessment that the damage brought about by the dry spell has reached P300 million.

“Our initial assessment puts the damage in palay, onions, corn and other vegetable produce had reached P300 Million and we are just starting and the phenomenon is just starting and according to weather forecast, this would last until the middle of the year. We want to extend assistance to our affected farmers so we want to avail of our calamity funds,” Gadiano said.

So far, three local government units in Occidental Mindoro have declared a state of calamity, namely Looc, Magsaysay and San Jose.

Gadiano said that the provincial government can declare a state of calamity when at least two of its municipalities have declared a state of calamity in their locality.

“We hope that the SP would grant our request. They would tackle the matter during their session on Tuesday next week and we hope that a resolution be passed so that we could make use of our calamity funds,” Gadiano said.

PDRRM officer Mario Mulingbayan, in a message, said that the recommendation for the declaration of a state of calamity was supported by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and Department of Science and Technology.The drought, which has been associated with the occurrence of the El Niño, has dried up the majority of the river systems in the province which deprived farm lands of much-needed irrigation.