Bohol has two towns now under state of calamity- -Candijay and Sierra-Bullones- -both beset by shortage in water supply.
The scarcity in water supply experienced in these two towns has been attributed to the El Niño phenomenon.
The local government unit of Sierra-Bullones declared state of calamity on August 22 and the local government unit of Candijay followed suit a month after.
The Sangguniang Bayan of Candijay passed a resolution declaring the town under state of calamity on September 23 and Mayor Christopher Tutor approved it on September 25.
Candijay Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer Jeryl Lacang-Fuentes said this was to allow the LGU to undertake measures to address the effects of the El Niño phenomenon on agriculture, waterworks system, health, livelihood and the living conditions of the residents.
Fuentes said that two of the eight areas that serve as sources of water for the town- -barangays Panadtaran and La Union- -have totally been drained of water alread; while the six other barangays are now in critical level with scarcity of water already affecting the residents.
The Rapid Damage and Need Analysis (RDANA) shows that the Municipal Health Office of Candijay had recorded 23 cases of pneumonia in children, 27 cases of pneumonia in adults, 527 ka upper respiratory tract infection, 254 essential hypertension and 19 cases of skin problems.
Aside the problem on tap and drinking water, the scarcity of water supply also affects 3,144 farmers, 600 fishermen and 200 seaweeds farmers.
The affected farmers and fisherfolk are also short of food as a result.
Of the 3,144 farmers, there are 1,021 who had already started planting while 2,123 were not able to plant.
Of the 1,640 hectares of rice fields in the town, only 458.31 hectares have been planted and 16.11 hectares have been damaged by drought.
In June and July, 50 hectares of seaweeds have been affected by the so-called ice-ice disease.
The MDRRMO also received reports of a number of livestock affected by diseases because of the El Niño phenomenon.
LGU-Candijay needs to procure medicine and Jerrycans; and facilitate rice subsidy, cash for work; provide seedlings, pump accessories, pipes, plastic drums, solar pump irrigation, shallow tube well, submersible pumps, and suction pipes and cables.
In August, the LGU of Sierra-Bullones also declared state of calamity as scarcity in water supply gripped the town.
Affected barangays include Poblacion, Salvador, San Agustin, San Jose, San Juan, La Union, Canlangit, Sta. Cruz and Villa Garcia.
The Sangguniang Bayan of Sierra-Bullones passed the resolution on August 22, declaring the town in a state of calamity due to sever impacts of weak El Niño phenomenon.
In the resolution, the Sangguniang Bayan stated that “certain barangays of Sierra-Bullones are suffering from lack or insufficient water supply both for domestic and agricultural use consequent to the abnormally low rainfall brought about by the weak El Niño phenomenon”.
The SB made as reference, the resolution of Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council that declared the entire municipality of Sierra-Bullones in a state of calamity due to the severe impact of weak El Niño phenomenon.
By that time, the MDRRMO of Sierra-Bullones noted that of the 22 barangays in the town, nine were already suffering from scarcity of water supply for a month already.