President Arroyo ordered Friday the implementation of water conservation measures as well as the improvement of the operations of water service providers to maximize limited supply brought about by the El Niño phenomenon.

The Chief Executive issued the order after a Department of Agriculture (DA) official projected that some 300,000 hectares of rice farms will be affected by the dry spell.

As this developed, a congressional recommendation asking President Arroyo to declare a state of emergency appears imminent as stakeholders in the power industry warned that Mindanao faces power crisis that could even disrupt the orderly holding of the May 10, 2010 automated elections.

At a special congressional hearing on the power crisis, opposition stalwart Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (PMP, Cagayan de Oro City) said Mrs. Arroyo must issue the declaration to allow government to pursue muchneeded solutions that would address the energy problem that has triggered power outages that lasts as 10 hours in certain localities in the South.

“We are going to call on Malacañang to declare a state of emergency and for the President to call for a special session. We are all suffering in Mindanao,” said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez warned that unless a solution to the power shortage is put in place soon, the holding of the May 10 elections in Mindanao faces a possibility of severe disruption.

“This (power crisis) will become a political issue, we are facing an election. Unless we solve this soon, 12 million votes will not be counted in Mindanao,” warned the opposition lawmaker.

In Mrs. Arroyo’s Administrative Order No. 278, signed on Feb.8, the President called on concerned government agencies to adopt “urgent and decisive measures” to address the water shortage in Metro Manila following the dry spell.

Under the directive, she cited the critical need to institute appropriate measures to ensure the optimum utilization of water resources in Metro Manila.

“There is a need to actively implement water conservation measures and to improve the operational efficiency of water service providers to maximize the limited supply of water,” the AO stated.

Mrs. Arroyo named the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to take the lead in implementing the order.

The President also asked the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), along with the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) and Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), to engage experts in identifying all possible options on demand-side management, including the use of water-free urinals; operational efficiency improvement and the new water supply sources that will avert the water crisis.

Agriculture Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla said that even with the scaled down impact of El Niño, he projects that 300,000 hectares of rice farms would be parched by a “mild” dry spell that may last until April or July.

In Kalinga province, at least 4,000 hectares of rice and corn plantations were already damaged by the onslaught of the El Niño, inflicting heavy losses to thousands of farmers who rely on agriculture as their main source of livelihood

Kalinga is known to be the rice granary of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and is one of the major corn producers in Northern Luzon for the past several decades.

While the effects of the prolonged dry spell in Kalinga may not that damaging because of the availability of water for irrigation from the Chico River, Gov. Floydelia Diasen pointed out the urgent need for both the government and private sector to work together in formulating possible solutions to prevent bigger losses among farmers.

The Chico River is one of the 13 major river systems flowing from the Cordillera mountain ranges to the lowland communities, thus, the water is then used for domestic, irrigation and industrial purposes.

To mitigate the impact of El Niño in 14 provinces, the DA has set aside an initial P882.18 million as aid package for farmers and fisherfolk.

These provinces in Luzon and the Visayas are expected to be battered by a prolonged dry spell that may last anywhere from April to May.

Latest assessment is that over 200,000 metric tons (MT) of palay, corn, and other crops with an aggregate value of P2.84 billion have been damaged.

Agriculture Undersecretary Joel Rudinas said in a briefing in Davao City that the mitigation measures range from cloud seeding to the provision of shallow tube wells (STWs) and open source pump (OSP) irrigation systems to the strict monitoring of a drought-triggered outbreak of pests and diseases.

With the current dry spell, the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) may be compelled to increase crop loans to rice and corn farmers as many regions are expected to suffer from the dry spell.

In a press briefing, Landbank president and chief executive officer (CEO) Gilda E. Pico said farmers and fisherfolk availed themselves of P22.6 billion in loans last year, up by P1.4 billion from the figure for 2008.

Meanwhile, in an interview, Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said he was puzzled by the insistence of the energy sector that only Luzon may be spared from the regular power outages resulting from acute energy shortage.

Suarez also asked consumers to be wary about claims that the drought triggered by the El Niño climate change, saying that there is a possibility that such situation should not be used to justify increases in the price of electricity.

“It is wrong to limit the assurance of good power supply only for Luzon. That’s quite unfair for Mindanao and the Visayas,” the Quezon lawmaker told reporters during the Usaping Balita News Forum. (With reports from Marvyn N. Benaning and Dexter A. See)