TWENTY senators on Monday filed a resolution urging President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to declare the super El Niño calamity in affected or threatened areas, enabling the immediate mobilization of available government funds as agricultural losses and gaps in assistance threaten food and water security.
Proposed Senate Resolution (SR) No. 765 called for the declaration of a state of calamity to mobilize funds under the 2026 General Appropriations Act for El Niño Preparedness and Response.
Citing the Department of Agriculture’s report of P6.87 billion in agricultural losses across 249,028 hectares as of Sept. 26, the resolution said acting on the El Niño is an urgent need.
“We also need to ‘plant’ remedial measures — such as imposing price ceilings — to combat overpricing, profiteering, and hoarding,” Senator Francis Pancratius N. Pangilinan, the first signatory and chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, said in a statement.
Described as “crossing political divides,” all active members of both the Senate majority and minority blocs signed SR No. 765.
Among the signatories were Senate President Sherwin T. Gatchalian, Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente C. Sotto II, Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, Senators Paolo Benigno A. Aquino IV, Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, Joseph Victor G. Ejercito, Manuel M. Lapid, Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva, Erwin T. Tulfo, Rafael T. Tulfo, Panfilo M. Lacson, Sr., Francis G. Escudero and Mark A. Villar.
Minority Senators Alan Peter S. Cayetano, Pilar Juliana S. Cayetano, Christopher Lawrence T. Go, Camille A. Villar, Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios R. Marcos and Robinhood Ferdinand C. Padilla also signed the resolution. — Francessca S. Abalos