18 LGUs placed under state of calamity due to El Niño as agri damage balloons to P2.63 billion—task force
A total of 18 local government units (LGUs) in the Philippines have already declared a state of calamity due to the worsening effects of El Niño, a task force spokesperson revealed on Friday, April 5.
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Assistant Secretary Joey Villarama, spokesperson of Task Force El Niño, said agricultural damage caused by the phenomenon is now at P2.63 billion, not P2.76 billion as reported by the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday.
READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2024/4/5/18-lg-us-placed-under-state-of-calamity-due-to-el-nino-as-agri-damage-balloons-to-p2-63-billion-task-force
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Assistant Secretary Joey Villarama, spokesperson of Task Force El Niño, said agricultural damage caused by the phenomenon is now at P2.63 billion, not P2.76 billion as reported by the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday.
READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2024/4/5/18-lg-us-placed-under-state-of-calamity-due-to-el-nino-as-agri-damage-balloons-to-p2-63-billion-task-force
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Q: Is there good news for you? A: Because the updated figure of the Department of Agriculture in terms of the damage and losses to agriculture 2 days ago was Php2.63 billion.
00:15 But we would like to inform you, especially the directive of President Marcos Jr., to help the affected individuals, not just the farmers and their families. The government's help, not only the BADSWD-DOLE, but also the Office of Civil Defense, is almost Php1.1 billion.
00:40 The damage of Php2.63 billion cannot be offset by the Php1 billion help, but the poverty of the affected people is being reduced.
00:55 So what is the help? What is the financial assistance, gas assistance, food packs, and farm inputs for the rehabilitation of the farmers? Because the problem is there are other places where the farmers are not able to water their crops and the farmers cannot plant.
01:14 So the help they need is their daily needs. So in terms of the help, the government's help is Php1.1 billion.
01:25 That's purely for farmers? No, because the farmers are the ones affected by the damage to the farm, but their families, in terms of individuals, are affected by the damage of half a million individuals, not just the farmers. So the help they are being given is for their immediate family.
01:46 How many local government units declared a state of calamity due to the El Nino?
01:51 Based on the OCD data, we heard that there are individual cities that declared a state of calamity, but we are basing it on the data from the Office of Civil Defense. So it's around 20. I can give you the list.
02:08 Because we heard that there are other provinces that are thinking of declaring a state of calamity, but it needs to be included in the criteria. What are those criteria? The population should be affected by 15%, 30% of the population should be affected, and there should be structures or vital installations that should be affected.
02:31 So what I'm pointing out is in Iloilo, the Iloilo city declared, but there are 4 other cities that want to declare, but it's not included in the criteria. Because it needs to be included in the criteria for the use of the calamity fund to be correct.
02:50 So it's just a technicality, but as much as we want local government units to declare a state of calamity to use the local calamity fund and the help from the national government, we need to follow the rules to avoid this process.
03:07 Those who were affected by the state of calamity, most of them came from Luzon, Visayas, or Mindanao?
03:16 There are some from Luzon, Visayas, or Mindanao, but most of what we see so far is from Luzon. Because based on our observation in terms of who has drought conditions, the majority have under drought conditions in Luzon.
03:38 So is there any impact on aquaculture? In Iloilo, the aquaculture businessmen said they harvested early because the trees died.
03:47 In aquaculture, it's small. I can give a figure, but it's mixed with affected farmers and fishermen. In other aspects of aquaculture, warm conditions are favorable, especially in Sardinas.
04:02 But of course, it will have an impact on the heat, because our fish lose oxygen, and we need clean water sources to thrive the fish.
04:17 The effect on aquaculture is small, but it's also helped by BFAR and DA if they have specific concerns.
04:26 In the class, are there other LGUs that signify if there are any, how many are they that will declare the state of calamity?
04:32 That's the only one I know so far in Iloilo that they're rehashing their resolution in Sangbunian to declare. That's the one in Cariles, Dumangas, Barotac, Nuevo, and Anilao in Iloilo province.
04:53 But so far, in the official record of OCD, they haven't declared the state of calamity.
05:00 [ Silence ]