PDRRMO EYES INITIAL P25-M AID TO PRIORITY AREAS HIT BY MILD EL NIÑO

Using a controlled drone, the Department of Agriculture and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist will assess the extent of the damage on crops and fisheries caused by the mild El Niño

The Provincial Government will release P25 million from its quick response fund as initial response to the needs of those affected by the dry spell.

A technical working group (TWG) at the Capitol met last March 28 to discuss the disbursement of the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office’s (PDRRMO) P59-million quick response fund.

This, after a rapid assessment and survey conducted last March 18 by the TWG revealed that 27 local government units (LGUs) in the province had suffered damage due to the dry spell.

As of March 25, estimated damage to crops, fishery and livelihood in these towns and cities is at P100 million.

In its website, the Provincial Government revealed that of the estimated damage, around P25 million is agricultural, specifically corn.

Based on its assessment and damage report, Carcar City recorded around 15,000 stocks of dead tilapia fingerlings in Barangays Calidngan, Bolinawan and Guadalupe due to the dry spell.

The southern town of Alcantara also reported that around 75 percent of its 4,000 tilapia fingerlings have died.

In the north, some 300 hectares of seaweed farm in Bantayan and another 50 hectares in Santa Fe also suffered around P28 million worth of damage.

As part of its intervention, the Capitol plans to rent tanks that will be used to conduct water rations in priority affected areas such as the southern towns of Argao and Dalaguete.

Following the declaration of a state of calamity in Cebu Province, the Department of Agriculture (DA) 7 will conduct a joint validation with the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist using a controlled drone to assess the extent of damage brought about by the weak El Niño.

In a letter posted on their official Facebook page last March 26, DA 7 Director Salvador Diputado said while they’ve already received the raw data from the Capitol, it is still subject for validation.

“Once validated by our technical team, this will be disseminated to all concerned agencies, including those concerned with our farm insurance. This will also become the basis for our action and implementation of mitigating measures,” a portion of the letter read.