GENERAL SANTOS CITY, March 9 – Sarangani officials are pushing for the immediate declaration of the entire province under the state of calamity due to the continuing onslaught of the long dry spell or El Niño phenomenon that already destroyed some P28 million worth of agricultural crops in the area.
Sarangani Vice Gov. Steve Solon said Tuesday that members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan have started discussions during its regular session on Monday regarding the possibility of declaring a state of calamity in the province due to the El Niño, which already affected four of its seven municipalities.
He said the move was based on a recommendation for a calamity declaration submitted by its Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC).
“We’re now studying the PDCC’s proposal and also started gathering the necessary data from the field to determine the extent of the damage wrought by the El Niño,” Solon said.
Solon assured that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan is ready to make a calamity declaration if it later finds necessary to do so.
Hermelo Latoja, PDCC action officer, said the latest assessment made by the PDCC and the province’s Task Force El Niño showed that the dry spell already affected palay and corn farmlands in the municipalities of Alabel, Maasim, Malapatan and Malungon.
He said the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG) reported an initial crop damage of P18.88 million for corn and P8.78 million for palay.
“Right now, around 46 percent of the 70,000 families in the province were already affected by the adverse effects of the El Niño,” Latoja said.
He said the sectors that were so far hit hardest by the drought were the farming and municipal fishing sectors.
On Tuesday, the OPAG dispatched its personnel to the areas that were affected by the ongoing drought to consolidate the extent of the damage to agricultural crops and livestock.
Provincial agriculturist Jonathan Duhaylungsod and other members of the Task Force El Niño also made rounds with officials of the affected local governments to work out the immediate declaration of their areas under the state of calamity.
Under the Local Government Code, local government units are authorized to declare a state of calamity to allow the utilization of its calamity fund which comprises five percent of their annual budget.
A province may be placed under the state of calamity if at least three of its municipalities were already affected and have officially made such declaration.(PNA)
LDV/AVE