South Cotabato placed under state of calamity

KORONADAL CITY—South Cotabato officials on Monday placed the entire province under a state of calamity as the prolonged dry spell continued to devastate farms and livestock.

The provincial board approved the recommendation of Gov. Daisy Fuentes after Friday’s emergency meeting of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) here.

Agriculture officials reported during the meeting that the drought had destroyed more than 11,000 hectares of land planted to rice, corn and high-value crops.

Damage to crops alone has already reached P285 million, the governor said. The figure could still increase as validation of field reports was continuing, according to the provincial agriculture office.

With the immediate declaration of a state of calamity, the provincial government can use its disaster funds to assist affected farming families, whose number has risen to 9,300.

Tantangan, another town in South Cotabato, has been declared under a state of calamity as crop and livestock damage has risen due to the lingering dry spell. It was the third to do so the past two weeks after T’boli and Surallah.

The municipal council approved the resolution following the recommendations from the local disaster management office.

In Davao del Sur, the provincial board earlier declared a state of calamity after losses due to the extreme weather condition had been confirmed to have hit more than P700 million.

The provincial agriculture office said the figure was only the total from 12 towns, including the rice-producing areas of Matanao, Bansalan and Magsaysay.

At least 28,000 farmers in the three towns have suffered from the drought, said Nally Bangoy, provincial agriculturist. With a report from Orlando Dinoy, Inquirer Mindanao