San Enrique town in Negros Occidental is now under a state of calamity, Mayor Jilson Tubillara said on Monday, April 8.
The town’s Sangguniang Bayan in a special session Monday approved the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council recommendation for the declaration of a state of calamity amid the drought damage to crops and fishponds, he said.
The declaration will allow the town government to allocate its calamity funds to assist drought affected farmers, he said.
The town SP also passed a resolution calling on the Department of Agriculture to conduct cloud seeding operations in Negros Occidental to induce rain.
The drought damage to rice, sugarcane and fisheries in San Enrique has hit P9,951,589.70, Tubillara said.
The sources of livelihood of about 6,000 San Enrique families have been affected.
Tubillara said the drought has dried up crops, wells and fishponds in San Enrique, affecting all of its barangays.
The drought has affected 90 percent of the agricultural lands in San Enrique, he added.
Some rice farmers have shifted to planting water melons and fishponds have been converted into salt beds to make ends meet, he said.
The town government has started delivering water to residents of barangay Tibsoc where wells have dried up, Tubillara also said.*