Due to the ongoing El Niño devastation, two municipalities in Mindoro Province are planning to declare the hard-hit areas under a state of calamity.

According to the Municipal Agriculture Office, or MAO, over 500 hectares of rice farmland in the municipality of Bulalacao in Oriental Mindoro have dried up, and even the river responsible for irrigation also now lacks water.

"There used to be a rice plant; the owner just fed it to the carabaos to at least benefit," said Bulalacao agiculturalist Rommel De Guzman in an interview with the ABS-CBN.

MAO’s data showed that the onslaught of El Niño has caused P60 million worth of damage to onions and P25 million worth of value loss to rice in the said area.

Meanwhile, Looc Mayor Marlon Dela Torre of Occidental Mindoro on Monday likewise asked the government for rice assistance as farmers in his municipality continue to suffer agricultural damage and losses due to the weather phenomenon forecast to prevail until May.

Dela Torre said that the majority of their crops of rice, vegetables, and corn can no longer be harvested since their farmlands are already dry.

“It won't [bear fruit] anymore because there is almost no water flowing, and all my farmers in Looc are really in trouble and almost sulk because they are fighting for water. They each find ways in which they will support their crops,” he said.

The Looc official said that besides the weak supply of water from their river, they also don't have an impounding area.

“I wish that the dam would be repaired, especially the canals leading to the farm streams; those are the ones that were damaged. The water that flows slightly does not reach our rice fields,” he said.

He added: “I am worried about my townsmen; they will have to endure for several months because we have no more rice to buy here in the town of Looc. That's the sad thing; we are the producers [of rice], but we have nothing to eat because of the effect of El Niño. That's what we need—a supply of rice."

Task Force El Niño spokesperson Joey Villarama said that Looc could receive quick response funds from the government once their LGU submits a report declaring a state of calamity.

He, however, noted that this aid can only be used for the rehabilitation of farmlands.

“I understand the mayor is asking for help in terms of their food, so that's where the Office of Civil Defense comes in. So the lead agency in Task Force El Niño is actually DND [Department of National Defense] because we are looking at public safety, public security, and emergency situations. OCD will be able to provide rice to the affected farmers and their families.”

According to DA’s latest assessment, the damage and losses to local crops due to El Niño are now hitting P357.38 million.