‘State of calamity’

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council has placed the 28 mountain barangays of the city under a state of calamity due to the effects of the El Niño phenomenon.

In an online special session last Holy Wednesday, the City Council unanimously approved the resolution of City Councilor Joel Garganera, chairman of the committee on disaster risk reduction and management, “(t)o declare the mountain barangays in the City of Cebu under the State of Calamity due to the ill impacts of El Niño”.

With the declaration, the City Government and the concerned barangays could now tap their respective disaster funds to undertake "critical, urgent, and appropriate measures to mitigate the ill impacts of El Niño”.

The City Council made the declaration following a Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council request, as the El Niño phenomenon already “warrants immediate measures and intervention to help our affected constituents cope with this calamitous situation.”

In sponsoring the resolution, Garganera noted the “way below to below normal” rainfall conditions in the city.

He also cited a City Agriculture Department report that stated that the Butuanon River and Cotcot-Lusaran watershed have already experienced “reduced stream flows” and that at least 50 % of production areas have shown the presence of soil cracks in agricultural areas due to lack of water”.

In the same session, Garganera also moved for the passage of a second resolution approving the Annual Investment Plan (AIP) of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (LDRRMF) Trust Fund 2022 amounting to P96.94 “for the needed El Niño Expenditures and Other Disaster Risk Reduction and Management activities”.

The City Council, however, deferred action on the proposed resolution and instead decided to have it tackled further in an executive session.

City Councilors Jocelyn Pesquera, Phillip Zafra, and Nestor Archival pointed out that the amount sought must be realigned more towards addressing the water supply problem rather than towards agricultural expenditures.

As proposed, the P96.94 million would be used for “agricultural expenditures”, particularly seeds; fertilizers; pesticides; information, education, and communication materials “and other supplies, tools, materials, and equipment” (P80 million); “health expenditures for humans and livestock, particularly vaccine, drugs and medicine against water-borne diseases, heat-related illnesses, other supplies (P10 million);

Purchase of reverse osmosis water filtration system (P2.74 million); demolition/breaching tools, supplies and materials, PPEs, and equipment (P3 million); and a two-year subscription of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite-based internet connectivity and ICT Equipment (P1.2 million). (CEBU NEWS)