BACOLOD City — The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) has approved the declaration of a state of calamity in the city following the widespread infestation of the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI), which has severely damaged sugarcane plantations and threatened the livelihood of thousands of farmers and farm workers.
The declaration, approved during the city council’s regular session on August 5, came a day after Mayor Greg Gasataya formally requested the legislative body, led by Vice Mayor Claudio Jesus Raymundo Puentevella, to place the city under a state of calamity.
In his letter to the city council, Gasataya cited a certification from the City Agriculture Office (CAO) showing that about 2,000 hectares of the city’s 3,056 hectares of sugarcane plantations have been infested with RSSI, representing 65.45 percent of the total planted area.
The mayor said the extent of the damage meets the criteria under National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Memorandum Order No. 60, Series of 2019, which allows local government units to declare a state of calamity when at least 30 percent of agricultural livelihoods have been affected.
Gasataya said the declaration is necessary to enable the city government to access its Quick Response Fund (QRF), which will be used to finance emergency agricultural interventions, provide financial and material assistance to affected farmers, and implement recovery programs.
Councilor Thaddeus Sayson, chairperson of the SP Committee on Agriculture, said the declaration would pave the way for qualified sugarcane farmers and farm workers affected by the infestation to receive government assistance.
However, Sayson clarified that the assistance will be limited to affected sugarcane farmers and farm workers and will not cover other sectors, such as fisherfolk, drivers, or workers outside the sugar industry.
Earlier, about 120 sugarcane farmers and farm workers attended an orientation seminar at the Bacolod City Government Center as part of the city’s campaign against the RSSI infestation.
The activity, led by the City Administrator’s Office in coordination with the CAO and the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD), informed beneficiaries about the validation process and documentary requirements, including the submission of an affidavit of undertaking, before financial assistance can be released.
Gasataya also said the city government has secured the support of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian to provide assistance to Bacolod farmers and farm workers affected by the RSSI outbreak.
Sayson said efforts are continuing to contain the spread of the pest while accelerating assistance and recovery measures for the local sugar industry./PN
