The onslaught of El Niño has continued to make its presence felt in the country as the areas placed under state of calamity due to the weather phenomenon climbed to six as of Sunday.

Based on the latest report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, two towns in Oriental Mindoro have been declared under the condition, three for Occidental Mindoro and one for Zamboanga del Sur.

The municipalities declared to be under a state of calamity are Bulalacao (San Pedro) and Mansalay in Oriental Mindoro; Looc, Magsaysay, and San Jose in Occidental Mindoro; and Zamboanga City in Zamboanga del Sur.

The NDRRMC reported that the production loss of Oriental Mindoro due to El Niño now stands at P223,606,077.25, of which P148,424,500 is registered from Bulalacao.

From the estimation, P126,230,400 was worth of high-value crops damaged, while P22,194,100 was for rice.

Meanwhile, agriculture damage and losses to Occidental Mindoro are currently valued at P48,219,736. The area that incurred the highest production loss was Sablayan, where P27,422,107 worth of corn was damaged.

Assistance provided to Mimorapa is now over P430 million.

Despite this, the Department of Agriculture assured that the country's supply of rice and food would be unlikely to be affected, as it noted that the affected areas were less than 1 percent of the total number of farmers who planted rice in 2023.