Cagayan Valley flood summit slated next month

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – Preparations are underway for the holding of the first-ever regionwide flood summit, which was hatched amid the series of floods besetting Cagayan Valley in recent years.

Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy, whose province has perennially been hit by floods, said they will host the summit next month, aimed at addressing the alarming flood situation in the region. 

The summit, he said, will deal with the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector, with emphasis on how to minimize or mitigate the effects of floods brought about by typhoons and torrential rains on food production.

“This is a concerted effort of all sectors of society, especially the agricultural sector which has been severely affected by recent floods,” said Dy.

Isabela, the country’s number one producer of corn and second to Nueva Ecija in palay production, has incurred some P3 billion in crop losses from the recent onslaught of typhoons “Mina,” “Pedring” and “Quiel.”

Isabela’s being beset by floods in recent years, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said, could affect its agriculture productivity which, in turn, would have a significant bearing on the country’s food stability, considering its rice and corn output.

Cagayan, the country’s northernmost mainland province, which is also a major rice and corn producer, has also been on the losing end every time the region is inundated.

Besides the local government units and the DA, Dy said preliminary consultations have already been made with various agencies such as the departments of Public Works and Highways and Science and Technology as well as the National Economic Development Authority for the incoming summit.

Dy said among the measures to be resolved is the possible rescheduling of the planting season so the harvest period would fall on summer or before the typhoon or rainy season.

“It has been noticed that typhoons usually hit the region during the last quarter of the year. Summit stakeholders could study the possible rescheduling of the planting season so that our farmers would have already harvested their crops (before the) typhoon months,” he said.

Likewise, the NEDA said it would push for the implementation of the P128-billion flood-mitigation master plan for the region, which has been stalled due to budgetary constraints during the Arroyo administration.

Included in the plan was the dredging of the Cagayan River, the country’s longest river system, whose siltation has been blamed for the widespread flooding in the region.

Milagros Rimando, NEDA director for Cagayan Valley, said there is a need to push through with the long-overdue plan to dredge the Cagayan River and its tributaries as a long-term solution to the perennial flooding problem in this agriculture-rich region.

“We really need to dredge these rivers because they are already heavily silted and they cause severe devastation during calamities,” said Rimando, also the acting chairman of the Regional Development Council.