• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Mayor John Rey Tabujara said they will decide this week whether to declare a state of calamity as the damage to agricultural crops and number of affected farmers in Cauayan, Negros Occidental showed signs of increasing further.
Tabujara said they are coordinating with the concerned government agencies and the members of the Municipal Council to finalize what action they should take.
“We are conducting an inventory to determine how many affected farmers have not yet received financial assistance from the provincial government and the Department of Agriculture,” he added.
A report of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) showed that Cauayan logged the biggest damage to rice crops in Negros Occidental, pegged at P66,139,789 as of April 25.
The OPA report further indicated that the drought in Cauayan has affected 1,130 rice farmers, who are tilling 562.48 hectares of land, in 20 barangays.
San Enrique and Kabankalan City have already placed their respective local government units under state of calamity.
Tabujara said the municipal government has so far, distributed 600 food packs to the affected farmers.
Based on the OPA report, Negros Occidental’s sixth district, which also includes Cauayan, is the hardest hit area by the drought brought by El Niño phenomenon.
Damage to crops, excluding sugarcane, in the area has reached P130.3 million or almost two-thirds of the total of P197.1 million damage reported in the province.
Rep. Mercedes Alvarez said she has asked for assistance from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the affected farmers. | GB
