Another Oriental Mindoro town under state of calamity due to dry spell

MANILA: The municipality of Mansalay in this province has been placed under a state of calamity after its Sangguniang Bayan (municipal board) concurred with a recommendation by the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. The board said in a social media post on Thursday that it had declared 'a state of calamity in the whole municipality due to the severe and prolonged drought that it is experiencing.' 'Resolution No. 2024- 548 was unanimously approved by all members of the Sangguniang Bayan during the special session presided by Vice Mayor Shernan F. Gamol and attended by nine (9) SB Members on Thursday, March 7, 2024,' it further said in the online announcement. The council's concurrence makes the declaration of a state of calamity in Mansalay operational. 'The Municipal Agriculturist Office reported that there are already 740 rice and high value crops farmers affected with 1,096.92 hectares of damaged crop accounting for 60.40 percent damage to lowland farming areas, including the 435 hectares of unplanted rice land resulting to estimated damage cost of approximately PHP418,348,475.25,' the municipal board reported. The same would allow the barangays to utilize their 30 percent Quick Response Fund in response to the impact of the dry spell. Mansalay is located next to Bulalacao town, which was the first in the country to declare a state of calamity due to the impacts of the El Niño phenomenon. On Jan. 19, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order No. 53 to streamline, reactivate, and reconstitute the old El Niño task forces under EO No. 16 (s. 2001) and Memorandum Order No. 38 (s. 2019). Under EO No. 53, the President instructed the task force to develop a comprehensive disaster preparedness and rehabilitation plan for El Niño and La Niña to provide 'systematic, holistic, and results-driven interventions' to help the public cope and minimize their devastating effects. Source: Philippines News Agency