PB seeking report on El Niño impact

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Provincial Board has passed a resolution asking the regional office of the Department of Agriculture and the officials of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration to submit a report of the damage caused by the impact of the El Niño phenomenon.

PB member Wilfredo Caminero, chairman of the committee on agriculture, made a manifestation in last Monday's regular session on the complaints raised by farmers coming from the different barangays in the towns.

According to Caminero, there is a need for the members of the PB to know the real situation of the agricultural products in the different towns of Cebu Province.

Caminero said that officials of the DA-7 and PAGASA are the ones in-charge in monitoring the impact of the El Niño.

He stressed that the provincial government is willing to introduce assistance to the affected farmers, but such depends on the real situation of the province.

Last month, the PB passed a resolution urging the DA-7 to intensify programs that will assist people, particularly farmers, to cope with the impact of El Niño.

Assistance comes in the form of seed supply, irrigation systems, water pumps, fertilizers, access to credits, and others.

“After our country was swept by devastating floods last September and October, it now faces blistering dry spells and droughts brought about by the onslaught of El Niño, which threatens to occur more frequently and in longer duration due to global warming,” the resolution read.

A PAGASA forecast said that the dry spell, while a moderate one, would last until July.

This prompted the DA to realign P1.2 billion from its regular budget to finance mitigation measures.

”While the effects of the drought may not be as immediately dramatic as that caused by typhoons, storms, landslides and fires, they are likely to be long lasting because it lacks the urgency and loudness of other forms of calamities,” the PB resolution also read.

El Niño refers to the unusual warming of sea surface temperatures along the equatorial Pacific that is usually characterized by below-average rainfall, which leads to dry spells. – Jose P. Sollano/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)