10 of 11 barangays in Rosario, Agusan Sur flooded due to LPA
by Robert E. Roperos
BUTUAN CITY, Jan. 1 (PIA) – Ten out of 11 barangays in Rosario, Agusan del Sur were engulfed with flood waters as flashflood occurred during the low pressure area (LPA) which struck 30 km west northwest of this city on Dec. 25, 2011.
Agusan del Sur Vice Governor Santiago Cane, in a recent phone-patch interview with a local broadcaster here, said the LPA brought continuous rains for five days resulting in causing floods in the said areas.
Cane said residents of the Rosario town were badly hit by the flashflood and were now housed in an evacuation center in the said municipality.
Cane, who led the team from the provincial government, was able to distribute some packs of relief goods to the said barangays who were severely affected with the flashfloods. He added the area is not accessible already as flood waters have submerged houses of the residents.
“There is one barangay in the area where only the board of the basketball ring is only visible as it is already submerged in flood water,” Cane said.
To date, the provincial government of Agusan del Sur were able to distribute relief packs to some 2,826 family-victims of the flood. Each pack contains five kilos of rice, one liter mineral water, five cans sardines, five noodles, five sachets 3-in-1 coffee, five MILO sachets, two pcs. Odong, one pack powdered milk, and some medicines, it was learned.
During the crisis situation, Governor Eddiebong Plaza immediately directed the authorities and concerned government agencies to conduct rescue and relief operations to the said affected barangays, said Cane. (PIA-Caraga)
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Corn production below 2011 target due to flooding--PAO
by Robert E. Roperos
BUTUAN CITY, Jan. 1 (PIA) -- The Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) said that the 2011 corn production target in the province of Agusan del Norte was not met due to flooding last year.
Thus, the PAO vowed to intensify corn farming this year.
According to provincial agriculture chief Maria Abastillas, they were not able to achieve their target of planting 4,710 hectares of corn, and instead, they were only able to plant some 4,574.5 hectares.
The official said this happened because of the number of floods experienced by the province in 2011. As early as first week of January last year, majority of the municipalities of the province were flooded.
“The flooding continued on the second, third, and fourth quarter of 2011 which is really the main factor why we got low corn production and we were not able to get our target,” Abastillas said.
The PAO chief also said out of the 4,710 hectares planted, only 3,467.8 hectares were successfully harvested. “Thus, the 1,242.2 hectares were considered unsuccessful because the corn did not survive,” she said.
Aside from this, Abastillas said some farmers have utilized their cornfields by planting squash and other vegetable crops.
With this prevailing condition, the official said PAO will strengthen corn production in 2012. She added if there’s a need to use state-of-the art facilities for developing the production, they will be utilizing these technologies. (PIA-Caraga)
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PIA-Caraga, NorMin on heightened alert for another LPA
by Robert E. Roperos
BUTUAN CITY, Jan. 1 (PIA) -- With another low pressure area (LPA) threatening Central Mindanao Region, Philippine Information Agency (PIA) personnel in Caraga and Northern Mindanao Regions are directed to be on alert.
In a text message sent to PIA personnel in the two regions, Northern and Northeastern Mindanao Information cluster head Abner Caga directed the personnel to be “on-call” as the LPA is again threatening Mindanao.
Caga emphasized the need for the PIA to provide communication support not only to stakeholders but more importantly, to the public.
The official underscored the importance of “Text Blast or SMS” strategy for which PIA has been conducting as one of its information and communication dissemination strategies, making the agency more significant to the society.
“It is through SMS or Text Blast that we could be able to provide communication and information support to the public especially in times of calamities and disasters,” Caga said.
RD Caga added the power of Text Blast has been proven for many times. He said that during the recent calamities in the country, lives and properties were saved because of this information dissemination strategy.
“Thus, we need to embrace this communication technology to be of service to other people,” Caga added.
In a related development, Caga said for those who want to be a recipient of the Text Blast, just email your name and mobile phone number to piacaraga@gmail.com.
Also, Caga said information on Text Blast can also be accessed through FaceBook. “Just find and like the ‘PIA Caraga Updates’ Facebook account… You may also browse the PIA Caraga blog at http://piacaraga.blogspot.com... So, what are you waiting for?... Keep posted and be one of those who are not left behind… Be informed,” Caga said.
As of 5:00 a.m. today, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) reported that as of 2:00 a.m., an LPA was estimated based on satellite and surface data at 400 km East Southeast of General Santos City in Central Mindanao. (PIA-Caraga)
PIA News Service - Sunday, January 1, 2012
