Damage to agriculture or crops in Western Visayas due to drought caused by the prevailing El Niño phenomenon has already reached P761,240,675.78 as of March 12, Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) Regional Director Raul Fernandez said on Wednesday, March 13.
Fernandez said that based on their latest assessment with the heads of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of respective local government units in the region, there is no declaration of the state of calamity yet in the region.
Except for Himamaylan City which reported eight barangays having water shortage, the rest of the LGUs in the region have not reported water shortage so far, Fernandez said.
"We come up with a single decision that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Agriculture shall come up with their assessment report and that they should closely coordinate with each other," Fernandez said.
For an LGU to be declared under a state of calamity, the criteria per OCD memorandum is that at least 15 percent of the total population is affected and in need of assistance, per DSWD report and validation, and 30% of the livelihood of the LGU is already affected, Fernandez also said.
In the whole of Region 6, a total of 20,488 farmers and 15,417 hectares of agricultural land have been affected worth P761,240,675.18.
Iloilo province has incurred the highest damage pegged at P519,198,659.50 followed by Antique with P130,701,505.20
and Negros Occidental, P78,451,351.77.
Twelve localities in Negros Occidental have incurred damages.
Fernandez said Iloilo has already critical low water while there is no significant water shortage yet in Negros Occidental.*