85% of agrarian reform communities face La Niña threat, says DAR

MANILA, July 29 (PNA) – Close to 85 percent of the 115 agrarian reform communities (ARCs) nationwide are facing threats from the La Niña phenomenon which will be felt by September, officials of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said Wednesday.

DAR Undersecretary for Support Services Rosalina Bistoyong said during a press briefing at the DAR Central Office in Quezon City that they based this on the findings of Climate Change Congress of the Philippines (CCCP) satellite mapping expert Dr. Esteban Godilano who said 69 of the 80 provinces are landslide prone.

The DAR official together with officials from the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Climate Change Commission (CCC) and Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) also presented their findings about La Niña at the briefing.

"At the moment, we are still trying to come up with the exact figure because we are updating the maps. Dr. Godilano has a geohazard map which were overlaying," Bistoyong said.

Currently, there are 4.1 million hectares of agricultural land granted by DAR to some 2.4 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) located in 2,115 ARCs. (PNA)