Bacolod City – Mayor Jilson Tubillara over-the-weekend said the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council has recommended the declaration of a state of calamity in San Enrique, due to the drought which has already affected 6,000 households.
Damage to agricultural crops has been pegged at almost P10 million, with nine of 10 San Enrique barangays affected by the drought, as a result of the El Niño phenomenon, according to Tubillara.
Badly affected are rice fields and sugarcane plantations, while fish ponds are now drying up, the mayor said.
Tubillara said he expects that the Sangguniang Bayan will approve the recommendation of MDRRMC during its regular session Monday next week.
Tubillara said water rationing is also ongoing in Brgy. Tibsok, San Enrique, due to a shortage of water.
The MDRRMC, he added, is also calling for the Department of Agriculture to conduct cloud seeding operations, for them to benefit from even light rains.
Tubillara also disclosed that the municipal health unit is also facing shortage of medicines for cough and other related ailments, as well as high blood, due to severe heat being experienced by town residents. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star)
