El Niño hits 80,000 families in Davao Oriental, North Cotabato
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2019 09:36:58 +0000
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has said that 80,000 families have been affected by the dry spell or El Niño in the country.
NDRRMC Executive Director and Office of Civil Defense Administrator Undersecretary Ricardo B. Jalad said 78,691 families or 393,455 persons in 120 barangays in Davao Oriental and North Cotabato have been affected by the drought or dry spell as of 5 p.m. last Friday.
Jalad said 164,672 farmers were affected by the drought in the Cordillera Autonomous Region and Regions 1, 2, 3, 4-A, 4-B, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
An estimated P5,051,249,880.04 worth of damage to agriculture was reported in CAR and Regions 1, 2, 3, 4-A, 4-B, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and BARMM.
Jalad said the figure is undergoing validation and verification by the Department of Agriculture.
Due to the effects of the weak El Niño phenomenon, Jalad said 30 local government units in five provinces and 25 cities and municipalities in Mountain Province, Occidental Mindoro, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Zamboanga City, Davao del Sur, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, and Lanao del Sur have been declared under a state of calamity.
Jalad said during the past three months, rainfall analyses showed that the impacts of below normal rainfall conditions in provinces in Western Mindanao and Ilocos Norte have been experienced and are expected to continue.
The El Niño is anticipated to be weak and will likely result to below normal rainfall conditions in different parts of the country in the coming months. (Francis T. Wakefield)