Ramon Libongcogon, 44, and his fellow fishermen docked their fishing boats by the shore in Purok Guiwanon, Brgy. 4, Sipalay City, on Sunday, Sept. 15, as they always have not realizing that it would result in an unexpected devastating turn.
“Fishing has been my source of livelihood to feed my family. We anticipated the foul weather, but we did not expect that it would be that bad”, Libongcogon said.
Libongcogon and his wife, Myra, have seven children who are all students.
On Sunday the weather took an unexpected turn, leaving his boat, which he depended on for his livelihood, crushed by heavy rain and waves brought on by the southwest monsoon that was enhanced by tropical storm Ferdie and tropical depression Gener.
Ramon, who has been fishing since he was 14 years old, was left with a boat that it is now irreparable.
“We did not put our pumpboats in a safer place because we thought that the storm was weak…We did not expect that big waves would crush them,” he said.
P6M PARTIAL DAMAGE
The Sipalay City Agriculture Office reported that the foul weather since Sept. 13 left about P6 million worth of crops and fisheries damaged, affecting 13 barangays.
There were 177 farmers tilling 186.39 hectares of land who lost about 276.899 metric tons of rice, the report also said.
Six coastal barangays were affected by the storm, leaving Libongcogon and 12 other fishermen with destroyed pumpboats.
‘CLIMATE CRISIS FELT’
Paul Daniel Serrano, a member of the Negrosanon Initiative for Climate and Environment, said that Negros and other parts of the country are slowly experiencing a climate crisis.
“La Niña is a natural phenomenon, yes, but climate change amplifies its impacts, leading to more extreme weather events”, Serrano said.
The World Risk Index in 2024 put the Philippines at the number one spot as the most-disaster-prone country in the world.
“We need to diversify our efforts in combatting climate crisis”, Serrano said, adding that “If the climate crisis worsens, we will be frequented by even stronger typhoons”.
A CALL FOR HELP
Sipalay Mayor Gina Montilla-Lizares said they are conducting a Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis to assist affected residents.
The mayor assured that there will be assistance to those who were affected by the storm as the city government has Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) contingency funds.
“We are poor and recovering from the storm will be a challenge. If someone could help us recover we would be very thankful”, Libongcogon said.*