Council wants El Niño preparations revisited

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council is urging concerned agencies to revisit the mitigating measures being planned or implemented to help city farmers cope with the effects of El Niño.

A resolution was passed on Wednesday, March 20, after Councilor Pastor “Jun” Alcover, chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, delivered a privilege speech to raise concerns about city’s preparedness for El Niño.

He started his speech by citing figures from the City Agriculture Department (CAD) on the number of registered farmers in the city’s upland barangays that could be potentially affected by the dry spell.

CAD records show that around 11, 000 farmers have been registered in the system from 80 barangays and most of them are coming from upland areas. According to Alcover, these farmers are members of three federated groups namely, Alliance of Cebu City Farmers’ Associations (ACCFA), Cebu City Farmers Federation (CCFF), and Cebu City Hillyland Irrigators Federation Inc. (CCHIFI).

Alcover stressed the importance of the preparations considering that based on the report from Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) Mactan there is more than 50 percent possibility that the effects of El Niño will be felt in the next four months.

“Buot ipasabot, mag-antos pa ang mga mag-uuma og upat ka buwan sa dry spell kon huwaw. Ang El Niño nagpasabot nga init ang panahon ug menos kaayo ang uwan,” said Alcover.

According to Alcover, he is often asked by farmers about the preparations of the city government every time he visited the mountain barangays.

“Sa pagkatinuod Mr. Chair, dili ko makatubag kay wala akoy kasayuran sa preparasyon sa CAD ug ubang ahensiya nga gitahasan pagtabang sa mga mag-uuma panahon sa El Niño,” said Alcover.

“Apan sakit pamalandungon, Mr. Chair nga wa tay ikahatag bisan na lang mga nag-una nga kinahanglanon sa mga mag-uuma sa kabukiran sama sa mga drums, water hose, pond liners, water pumps, ug uban pa,” he lamented.

Alcover said he submitted a report to the Office of the Mayor in March last year about the preparations for El Niño but did not get a feedback until now.

Alcover moved to invite in an executive session representatives from CAD, CDRRMO, Cebu City Resource Management and Development Center (CREMDEC), Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO), Alliance of Cebu City Farmers’ Associations (ACCFA), Cebu City Hillyland Irrigators Federation Incorporated (CCHIFI), and Cebu City Farmers Federation (CCFF) to recommend possible legislative actions or interventions to mitigate the impact of the dry season. —/FPL (FREEMAN)