Negros town opts to reserve funds for typhoon

Despite being the hardest-hit area by drought in Negros Occidental, the municipal government of Cauayan has decided not to declare a state of calamity, said Mayor John Rey Tabujara.

“I met with members of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and we saw the need to prepare for the upcoming La Niña that will bring strong typhoons. We want to ensure that available funds are stable,” Tabujara said.

He said that the town would find it difficult to mobilize funds when a typhoon comes if they use the town’s current disaster funds.

“Cauayan was hit twice by flooding in the previous years,” he pointed out.

Cauayan is the hardest hit locality in Negros Occidental with damages to rice crops reaching P66,139,789, a report from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist showed.

The report also showed that the drought has affected 1,130 rice farmers working on 562.48 hectares on farms in 20 barangay in the town.

Tabujara said the municipality has already received 600 food packs from the Department of Social Services and Development (DSWD) that were given to affected farmers.

“We are again expecting additional food packs of more than 1,000 from the DSWD regional office,” the mayor said.

He also said that they are planning to distribute financial assistance to the farmers affected by the ongoing drought.

“We are still determining how much we can give. We are also cross-matching the names with those names under the crop insurance program of the provincial government,” Tabujara said.

He assured Cauayanons that the municipal government is ready to help the affected farmers with P4.5 million in standby funds.

“Most of the affected farmers actually don’t own the farmlands but mostly they are the ones working in the fields that were affected because there is no planting that is happening,” Tabujara said.

Meanwhile, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Oriental has placed the province in a state of calamity due to the adverse effects of the El Niño phenomenon.

Earlier, three local government units — Bayawan City, Sta. Catalina and Mabinay — had already declared the same.

The provincial government of Negros Oriental is releasing its P52 million in Quick Response Fund (QRF) to be used to assist those affected by the phenomenon.

This is on top of the QRF of each city and municipality.

A price freeze on basic commodities was implemented by the Department of Trade and Industry.

The Provincial Agriculture Technology Coordinating Office reported that agricultural production loss in Negros Oriental had reached P229.881 million.

The damaged crops include rice, corn, high-value crops, livestock and fisheries.