BROWN AND DRY Mountains and rice farms in Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro, are shown dry and brown in this aerial photo taken on March 7 due to the scarcity of water caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon, prompting the declaration of a state of calamity in the town. —MANSALAY PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE PHOTO
CITY OF CALAPAN—Another town in Oriental Mindoro is placed under a state of calamity due to the drought caused by the prevailing El Niño weather phenomenon.
The affected town of Mansalay, a coastal and second-class municipality, adjoins Bulalacao, the first town in the country to declare a state of calamity due to the impacts of El Niño, both of which are located in the second congressional district at the southern tip of the province.
The Bulalacao municipal council, presided over by Vice Mayor Shernan Gamol, made the declaration in a special session on Thursday, based on the recommendation of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, after the drought damaged most of the town’s rice and onion crops.
Quick response
The declaration would allow the barangays to utilize their 30-percent Quick Response Fund to cushion the impact of the dry spell.
“The Municipal Agriculturist Office reported that there are already 740 rice and high-value crops farmers affected with 1,096.92 hectares of damaged crop, accounting for 60.40 percent damaged lowland farming areas, including the 435 hectares of unplanted rice land,” the resolution said.
The damage was estimated to be worth P418,348,475, it said.
Brown mountains
“Our mountains have turned brown, which has not happened in the past,” said municipal information officer Rustico Mortel Generoso, in an exchange of email messages on Sunday.
A fourth of the town’s population (59,114 as of the 2020 census), are Mangyan Hanuno, according to Generoso.
VEGETATION GONE The vegetation in this section of the road in the farming town of Mansalay in Oriental Mindoro has dried up due to the prolonged absence of rain that has devastated its rice and corn fields. —MANSALAY PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE PHOTO
He said 215 affected farmers each received a P5,000 cash assistance on Friday under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF)-Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Program (RFFA) from the Department of Agriculture (DA).
READ: Oriental Mindoro town’s state of calamity shows El Niño’s impact
On Wednesday, 927 farmers in Bulalacao town also received RCEF-RFFA cash from the DA, said Maria Theresa Carido, of the Disaster Risk Reduction Management of the DA in Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan (Mimaropa).
According to the data of the rice program, there are 2,559 farmers from the second district who need long-term assistance.
DA Mimaropa Executive Director Christopher Bañas said they were working out on long-term assistance, on top of current immediate aid given to affected farmers. INQ