BACOLOD City – Amid the ongoing drought which is now devastating large swaths of land in Negros Occidental, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 6 has issued some reminders for local government units (LGUs) to follow prior to declaring a state of calamity.
OCD-6 director Raul Fernandez, in a radio interview, said there are criteria that should be met before making such a declaration.
The first should be that 50 percent of the affected population require emergency assistance, and second is that 30 percent of agricultural and industrial sectors are affected.
Fernandez also said that a municipality can only be declared under a state of calamity if two or three of its barangays are affected, and if 15% of the affected population require emergency assistance and their livelihoods are affected.
He further explained that if two or three municipalities within a region are placed under a state of calamity, the entire province can declare a state of calamity.
Similarly, if two or more provinces declare a state of calamity, the entire region can be declared under a state of calamity.
Fernandez said they are continuing to coordinate with LGUs in the region and so far, the provinces of Iloilo and Antique have already undergone Rapid Damage Assessment and Heat Analysis to determine if they can declare a state of calamity.
The OCD-6 added that cloud seeding is not currently feasible based on the ongoing study conducted by the El Niño taskforce.
The he El Niño phenomenon has so far caused approximately P726 million in damage to the agriculture sector in Western Visayas.
According to the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, 14,528.85 hectares of rice, corn, and high-value crops have been affected, resulting in a production loss of 32,722.22 metric tons, valued at an estimated P726,798,810.56. (Watchmen Daily Journal)/PN
