Cauayan not declaring state of calamity

THE MUNICIPAL government of Cauayan will not declare a state of calamity, Mayor John Rey Tabujara said on Thursday, May 2.

“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 if they use the town’s disaster funds, “when the typhoon comes, we will find it difficult to mobilize funds.”

He pointed out that the town was hit twice by flooding in the previous years.

The bulk of the drought damage in the province was in Cauayan with 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 in 20 barangays and 562.48 hectares in the town.

Tabujara said that 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 an 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 still has enough funds to help the affected farmers with P4.5 million in standby funds.*