Unang Balita is the news segment of GMA Network's daily morning program, Unang Hirit. It's anchored by Arnold Clavio, Susan Enriquez, Ivan Mayrina, and Mariz Umali, and airs on GMA-7 Mondays to Fridays at 5:30 AM (PHL Time). For more videos from Unang Balita, visit http://www.gmanetwork.com/unangbalita.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 The farmers in Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro are still unsure on how to recover from the severe drought caused by the El Niño.
00:09 They even lost their loans in farming.
00:13 The government said that it has help for the farmers.
00:16 Here is the part 2 of the special report of Darlene Kai.
00:25 Our debt is growing. We are just praying that we will have time to earn money somehow.
00:37 More than 200 municipalities in the country are under state of calamity because of the El Niño, according to the latest report of the Task Force El Niño.
00:49 The hope is that we will continue to feel the effects of this disaster this month.
00:55 After that, we will face the El Niño phenomenon.
01:00 While the rain is not yet coming in, the problem of our farmers is still big.
01:14 The farmers in Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro are among them.
01:19 That is the first place in the Philippines that declared a state of calamity because of the El Niño.
01:24 But not a single piece of melon has been eaten by the farmers here.
01:30 The few pieces that grew have been spoiled or not grown.
01:35 Because of the lack of water, we don't have water.
01:39 So this won't grow?
01:40 No, it won't grow. We can't support it with water because we need water.
01:44 So you won't be able to grow it?
01:45 No, we won't be able to grow it.
01:46 The farmers here don't know what to feed their families.
01:53 The farmers here are really pitiful because they don't have any income because of the drought.
01:59 So they don't have any income.
02:05 How can they recover if they can't grow a plant?
02:10 It's been six months since it rained in Bulalacao.
02:14 The rivers are dry. The irrigation is also dry.
02:19 The banana trees are dry. The crops are scattered.
02:24 Jason said that his family has been farming for decades.
02:29 They just experienced this severe drought.
02:33 It was hot for a long time.
02:36 So we really didn't have a mother.
02:39 Even though it was hot, it was still raining.
02:45 So we still had income.
02:47 Jason's debt grew bigger and bigger.
02:50 So he decided to give up and stop farming.
02:55 Now, I'm just extravingigating.
03:01 I'm also riding a tricycle to earn money.
03:04 According to the municipal agriculturist,
03:06 the farmers and their families will be hungry for five more months.
03:11 There will be a long hunger because the season of income from farming is long.
03:16 The next crop is in July.
03:18 The next harvest is in October.
03:22 The daily life of the farmers is also not dry.
03:27 In the past, the water from the well of Florence's family was not enough.
03:32 Now, they can't even get a single bucket.
03:36 You have to save.
03:37 It's really hard when you want to take a bath, but there's no water.
03:42 You can't do anything.
03:44 You just have to wait.
03:45 Florence tried to pump water that she will use for washing.
03:49 She couldn't get a single minute.
03:53 Despite the wells that El Nino pumped in the country,
03:57 the government said that there is no need to worry about food, water and energy supply.
04:04 We can see the wells in the farms, the dry rice, and the damaged crops.
04:09 That's what we see as damage.
04:12 But of course, agriculture is not the only thing that can be affected.
04:16 Water security, energy security, and food sufficiency can also be affected.
04:20 But the government is now assuring through the El Nino Task Force
04:24 that the supply of all these is enough.
04:28 For rice, for example, our supply is enough until September
04:32 because of the imported rice that came in and will be imported.
04:35 But according to the Federation of Free Farmers Cooperative,
04:38 the supply of rice may be insufficient because of the frequent interruption of the arrival of the rain.
04:43 In the town of Bulalacao,
04:45 more than 500 farmers received indemnity checks
04:50 because their crops were insured.
04:53 They are still processing rice from other farmers.
04:56 Because they are under the State of Calamity,
04:59 they can use the Calamity Fund of the LGU.
05:01 That's why they were given 25 kilos of rice from other farmers.
05:06 The government also gave cash assistance, fuel subsidy,
05:09 and farming supplies to affected farmers in other parts of the country.
05:13 Not only to meet the immediate needs, but also the long-term needs.
05:18 In terms of long-term needs, Oriental Mindoro issued a fund
05:23 for the solar-powered irrigation system.
05:27 The Department of Agriculture plans to build cold storage facilities.
05:31 In terms of water, they can build a new dam.
05:35 For now, they are building old dams.
05:39 Even if it's raining slowly these past days,
05:43 according to the forecast, it doesn't mean we are safe from the El Niño.
05:47 It will continue to rain in the future.
05:51 Before year 2000, the occurrences of strong El Niño events
05:56 is around every 10 to 15 years.
05:58 Due to climate change as a result of global warming,
06:01 we can see the strong El Niño events.
06:05 And as for the things we should blame, it's us.
06:09 The so-called one-man or human activities,
06:13 of course, they have a contribution.
06:18 The areas that were not yet cemented,
06:24 or the buildings or the non-urban areas,
06:27 we convert our lands.
06:30 So, land use change, the contribution is also big.
06:33 Especially in terms of global warming.
06:36 If we are the ones who have the power, shouldn't we also make a way?
06:41 It's true that the environment is a tough opponent.
06:44 But this is the reality that we should prepare again and again.
06:50 And at the same time, we should continue to look at
06:55 how we can contribute to long-term care of the environment.
07:03 This is the first news.
07:05 Darlene Cai for GMA Integrated News.
07:11 [Music]
07:12 [Music]