Occidental Mindoro, March 18 -- The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) here has formally recommended to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) or provincial council that the entire province be placed under a state of calamity due mainly to the severe dry spell.

In a social media post on Monday, Governor Eduardo Gadiano, who concurrently chairs the PDRRMC, said an estimated PHP300 million worth of crops have already been ruined by the lack of water caused by El Nino.

Making matters worse, the island province is simultaneously battling an onslaught of armyworms (Spodoptera frugiperda), locally called "harabas," which is exacerbating the devastation to agriculture caused by the drought, the governor noted, quotin...