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Friday, March 29, 2024

Provincial council wants Bohol placed under state of calamity

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Tagbilaran City, Bohol—Drought-triggered damage in Bohol has already reached around P313 million, prompting the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to pass a resolution declaring the province under state of calamity.

This came in response to the resolution of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council recommending to the SP to declare the province under a state of calamity due to the dry spell experienced all throughout the province brought about by El Niño phenomenon.

In the resolution, the PDRRMC, during an emergency meeting on April 7, convened by Gov. Edgar Chatto also called for an immediate response to the growing needs and concerns of the agriculture sector.

The PDRRMC cited the report of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist stating that the total estimated cost of damage for all commodities is now around P312.962 million.

The dry spell already spanned for over two months with severe heat posing health concerns aside from drying up the farmlands. Rainfall has also been below the average level.

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The National Irrigation Administration-Region 7 based in Tagbilaran City also reported that four major dams in the province “are nearing water critical level while most crops are not yet harvested.”

Larry Pamugas, officer in charge at the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist and chair of Task Force El Niño, said some farmers were able to harvest a portion of their crops before the dry spell totally affected their entire farmlands.

With this, the PDRRMC underscored the need to come up with “appropriate mitigation interventions to address and respond to the effects of the dry spell and El Niño phenomenon on the agriculture sector and to the Boholano community in general.”

Pamugas said there had been rounds of cloud seeding conducted by the Bureau of Soil and Water Management, but recently they have been trying to spot cumulu-nimbus clouds to be able to proceed to more rounds.

Pamugas said the BSWM team already completed 42 hours of artificial rains in the first phase.

Prior to this, the Department of Agriculture allocated additional funds for 90 more hours of cloud seeding operations.

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