Several towns in state of calamity due to drought

MANILA, Philippines - Local officials of several towns in Luzon and the Visayas plan to declare a state of calamity in their areas after agricultural crops and livestock were wiped out by the current dry spell brought by the El Niño phenomenon.

Rep. Anna York Bondoc of the 4th District of Pampanga reported yesterday that eight towns in her province are expected to declare a state of calamity in areas affected by the drought that threatens 14,000 hectares of rice land where irrigation has been cut.

“No less than 3,000 families of farmers in my district will starve if their crops fail due to lack of irrigation,” Bondoc said as she noted that the farmers harvest only once a year. She said that families have yet to make up for heavy losses from the floods spawned by tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” last year.

Officials of Negros Occidental said that six towns in the southern part of the province could be placed under a state of calamity after the drought destroyed P31-million worth of crops and livestock.

President Arroyo is set to declare a power crisis in Mindanao and implement emergency measures costing almost P10 billion after the drought crippled the hydroelectric power stations in the region.

The weather bureau reported that a moderate El Niño still prevails over the equatorial Pacific and may last until June.

El Niño is the abnormal warming in the equatorial Pacific and is usually characterized by below normal rainfall.

Bondoc said a state of calamity would be declared in the Pampanga towns of San Luis, Apalit, Candaba, San Simon, Masantol, Macabebe, Minalin and Sto. Tomas, which would authorize the local government units to use funds for emergency measures and request aid from the national government.

Bondoc said the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) had cut off irrigation water from the Angat-Maasim River irrigation system to Pampanga farms and diverted the water to Metro Manila. Some parts of Bulacan also depend on the Angat-Maasim system for irrigation.

She said the withdrawal of irrigation water was reported to be part of the measures to be adopted by the NWRB during El Niño. She lamented, however, that farmers and local officials in Pampanga and Bulacan were not included in the January meeting of the NWRB.

Bondoc urged the national government to release funds for solutions proposed earlier, including P20 million to connect the Upper Pampanga River irrigation system to the Angat-Maasim irrigation system and P70 million for shallow tube well installations.

Bondoc said that tilapia and bangus are dying in fishponds in Candaba, San Luis, Minalin, Masantol, Macabebe and Sto. Tomas.

“There’s no help coming from the national government,” she lamented. She reported that in her district alone, at least 3,000 hectares of rice land could be destroyed within two weeks if they are not irrigated.

Bondoc said Ondoy and Pepeng that destroyed 12,000 hectares of crops last year also affected the farmers. Local fishpond operators have reported losses of P300 million due to the previous floods.

Some P161-million worth of irrigation canals were destroyed during the floods, but no funds were allocated by the national government for repairs, Bondoc said.

Redentor Gatus, regional director of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Central Luzon, reported that the drought had damaged some P60-million worth of crops in the region.

He said the dry spell eradicated P32.5-million worth of corn, P20.1-million worth of palay and P7.4-million worth of assorted vegetables.

Gatus said 230,795 hectares of agricultural land were affected, including 600 hectares that were completely destroyed, and 3,144 farmers have suffered huge losses.

Tarlac is the worst hit area where P24.8-million worth of corn were destroyed while Bulacan suffered the biggest damage in palay with P14.6-million in losses.

In Negros Occidental, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist chief Igmedio Tabianan said the cities of Kabankalan and Sipalay, and the towns of Hinobaan, Isabela, La Castellana, and Don Salvador Benedicto had P9-million worth of crops destroyed.

“Based on the information we gathered, they will declare a state of calamity. They are determining the requirements,” Tabianan said.

He said his office has advised farmers to shift to crops that need less water or those that can be harvested in a short time.

The OPA will also use the P1 million from the DA to fund more cloud seeding operations, he said.

Banaue Mayor Lino Madchiw said the drought-affected farmers would temporarily act as tour guides with the expected arrival of hundreds tourists this summer.

“At least 25 percent of the terrace rice farms have already been affected by the dry spell. (We fear) that our terraces will all be affected if the situation will continue for four more months,” he said.

The local government had already declared the other day a state of calamity in Banaue in order to use the P2-million calamity fund to provide assistance to affected farmers.

The dry spell also took its toll on the world-renowned mountain terraces, leaving the paddies parched.

“The terraces have practically dried up to the extent that even the slightest rain could cause landslides,” Madchiw said.

2,000 chickens  die in Bulacan

Gloria Carillo, head of the Provincial Agriculture Office, confirmed that 2,300 chickens died of heat stroke at a poultry farm in Barangay Sta. Catalina Bata in San Ildefonso, Bulacan.

She said that laboratory tests conducted on the dead chickens proved negative for bird flu virus.

Carillo said that aside from the dry spell, the chickens were also overcrowded in the farm.

“There are 18,000 chicken in that poultry farm, it’s too crowded and has poor ventilation,” she said.

Regional Director Cesar Rodriguez of the DA in the Cordilleras said the dry spell killed P1.3-billion worth of livestock in Ifugao, Benguet and Kalinga.

He said the dead animals include carabao, cows, goats and pigs.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) confirmed that 15 more provinces in Luzon have been experiencing dry spell in the past three months.

Pagasa said Abra, Kalinga, Ifugao, Apayao, Mountain Province, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Bataan, Zambales, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal have had no rain for three months.

Pagasa administrator Prisco Nilo said the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino are now under drought conditions.

Nilo warned Metro Manila residents that the effects of El Niño could become critical starting this March until May.

“If we don’t conserve water, we may face water shortage in Metro Manila,” said Nilo, adding that the water level is nearing critical level at Angat Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan.

Metro Manila’s 15 million residents draw 97 percent of raw water supply from the Angat Dam.

Isabela farmers protest

Hundreds of farmers in Isabela staged a rally at the provincial capitol in Ilagan to protest the provincial government’s alleged slow response to the dry spell.

The farmers started their march from Tumauini town but only about 300 rallyists were able to reach the capitol’s Freedom Park amid the searing heat.

This was the second time that farmers staged a rally at the capitol to press the provincial government for more action against the worsening dry spell.

Vino Abrojena of the militant farmers group Danggayan Dagiti Mannalon iti Isabela (Union of Isabela Farmers) said local officials should come out with immediate mitigating measures to prevent farmers from starving due to the El Niño.

The rally came three days after President Arroyo visited Isabela and assured farmers that the national government is doing its part to alleviate their plight.

Mrs. Arroyo called on local government units to do their share in cushioning the effects of El Niño.

Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca stressed that local officials have been doing their best.

Danilo Tumamao, Isabela agriculture officer, said the provincial government had provided the affected farmers some 50 water pumps.

“We have been giving farmers fuel assistance of P1,000 per farmer to enable them to utilize the water pumps. We had thus released some P27 million which had benefited some 27,000 farmers,” Tumamao said.

Tumamao said that the provincial government also distributed P25-million worth of food assistance to some 200,000 families affected by the dry spell.

“We have also provided them emergency livelihood like bio-intensive gardens and provided assistance for the months of April, May and June when we expect that the farmers will need this assistance the most,” he said.

Isabela has lost at least P1.8 billion in corn damage and P1.4-billion worth of rice.

Rep. Rodito Albano of Isabela’s First District said the government should harness the full potential of the Cagayan Valley River system for irrigation to minimize the impact of the dry spell.

– With Helen Flores, Ric Sapnu, Dino Balabo, Charlie Lagasca, Artemio Dumlao