Eastern Visayas gets PHP1.16-B outlay to mitigate drought impact

TACLOBAN CITY, March 16 (PNA) -– The central government has set aside PHP1.16 billion budget to mitigate the impact of El Niño phenomenon in Eastern Visayas, downloaded to nine national government agencies in the region.

The funds intended to address the impact of prolong dry season in the reason is just a chunk of the PHP18.98 billion outlay for 17 regions in the country with vast farming areas, said National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Eastern Visayas Regional Director Bonifacio Uy.

Recipient agencies are Department of Agriculture (DA) for farm production support; Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and National Irrigation Administration (NIA) for emergency employment; Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for livelihood assistance; Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for training of farmers; Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for price monitoring; Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for safety.

The DA, NIA, and the Department of Science and Technology are tasked to implement water supply augmentation measures for farm production. DPWH, on the other hand, is in charge of installation of rainwater collection systems.

Bulk of the budget is intended for emergency employment (PHP739 million) and water supply augmentation (PHP141.4 million). Other activities with bigger allocations are livelihood assistance (PHP138.3 million) and production support (PHP79.9 million).

Of the total budget, PHP312.5 million is allocated for Samar province, PHP225.6 million for Leyte, PHP182.9 million for Northern Samar, PHP139.7 million for Eastern Samar, PHP110.9 million for Southern Leyte, and PHP40.6 million for Biliran. The remaining PHP96 million funds have no provincial disaggregation.

To monitor the implementation of Roadmap for Addressing the Impact of El Niño (RAIN), the Regional Development Council formed a task force composed of various agencies.

“The regional task force is expected to conduct regular meetings and provide timely updates on RAIN implementation to the national task force,” Uy said.

El Niño is a prolonged warming in the Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures when compared to normal levels. The phenomenon has been affecting the region since September last year until mid of 2016 affecting 68 provinces in the country. (PNA)

FFC/SQM