P27.5 M AGRI DAMAGE BROUGHT BY EL NIÑO

The Cebu City Council will hold a special session to declare a state of calamity, the 10th local government unit to do so after nine others in Cebu Province

THE El Niño has caused around P27.5 million in damage to agriculture and has affected 28 upland barangays in Cebu City, the City Agriculture Department (CAD) reported.

With the development, the City Council is set to hold a special session on Friday, April 12, to declare the city under a state of calamity.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña, in a letter dated April 10, has requested Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, who presides over the City Council, to hold the special session.

Osmeña said the declaration of the state of calamity will allow the City to use its calamity fund in extending help to the farmers.

In an earlier interview, City Agriculture Officer Apple Tribunalo said that once the City is placed under a state of calamity, they will ask for an additional P15 million for the purchase of seeds and fertilizers, among other forms of assistance.

At present, the city has around 14,000 farmers.

Under the City’s annual budget this year, the CAD has P12 million for the purchase of hoses, water pumps and water drums for farmers.

Last March 16, the City Government provided farm equipment and vitamins to farmers to protect their farm and livestock from the extreme heat.

At least 133 farmers in the mountain barangays, whose vegetables, sweet corn and flowers were damaged due to the lack of water supply, have been affected by the dry spell.

The Council had already placed the City under a state of preparedness.

In Cebu Province, nine local government units (LGUs) have placed their respective places under a state of calamity due to the weak El Niño.

The latest to declare was the Talisay City Government, on Wednesday, April 10.

The other LGUs that declared a state of calamity were Ginatilan, Minglanilla, Samboan, Sogod, Tudela, Dumanjug, Toledo City and Carcar City.

According to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), 34 LGUs have submitted their reports to the Provincial Government, detailing the damage to crops and livestock caused by the extreme heat.

An initial P13.7 million damage to livestock and agriculture was recorded by the PDRRMO.

The office also recorded deaths of 18 hogs in Asturias, Alcantara, Consolacion, Santander and Pilar due to heat stroke.

Cows, goats and carabaos also died during the dry spell.

When full-blown El Niño is declared, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration said there would be an extended dry season, weak monsoon activity and delayed onset of the rainy season.

The report of the PDRRMO pegged the livestock deaths as worth P390,000.

In the agriculture sector, Argao and Badian reported that the extreme heat damaged 1.5 hectares of corn fields.