Surallah town in South Cotabato has been placed under a state of calamity while Iloilo is under a state of water calamity as the effects of El Niño worsen across the country.
The Surallah town council on Monday passed a resolution declaring a state of calamity because the continuing dry spell has continued to affect the produce of thousands of farmers. Municipal administrator Beltran Armada said the resolution had been recommended by the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
Mayor Antonio Bendeta approved the resolution Tuesday.
According to Armada, damage to palay crops has risen to P7 million in 400 hectares due to drought; damage to corn has risen to P108 million in more than 2,000 hectares of dried-up cornfields.
Hardest-hit villages include Moloy, Colongolo, Talahik and Lamian.
Earlier, neighboring T’boli and Koronadal City have also been placed under a state of calamity.
Meanwhile, the Iloilo provincial council made the declaration due to severe water shortages in Lanit, Buntatala, Bitoon and San Isidro in Jaro district and San Juan, Boulevard and Calumpang in Molo district. Barangays Camalig, Cubay and Tabuc Suba in Jaro and Calumpang in Molo also reported of severe water shortage.
Councilor Julie Grace Baronda, author of the resolution, said the declaration is in consonance with a national law which provides that when two barangays affected with severe water level dropped drastically, the local government unit may declare a state of calamity for the whole area.
The city has an existing calamity fund of more than P100 million including a carried over remaining calamity fund in 2015. An initial P3 million may be used for the water delivery project.
The plan will be implemented for the immediate delivery of water and the setting up of water facilities in the barangays. This may also include the purchase of a water tank with a dual purpose as a fire truck.
In Cebu City, water systems within the Central Cebu Protected Landscape are drying up with the early onset of the dry season, according to the provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office.
Only 60 percent of the usual water supply now flows from rivers and streams in upland areas in Metro Cebu, according to Penro Technical Division Chief Fedencio Carreon.
“There will still be water but it won’t be enough,” Carreon said. At least 60 percent of the 28,300-hectare watershed area that makes up the CCPL is in Cebu City.
The Cebu City government’s pronouncement that it will send water tanks to mountain villages will be a big help especially to farmers who need to water their farms during the dry spell.