COTABATO CITY, Philippines \u2014 A construction worker died on the spot after he fell from a backhoe and rolled over by one of its large wheels in Barangay Macaguiling in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Lt. Col. Esmael Madin, chief of the Sultan Kudarat Municipal Police Station, told reporters on Saturday morning that the victim, Bernie Calile, 30, and the 38-year-old backhoe operator Nicael Gontenas of the Vicente Lao Co nstruction Company where on their way to a project site when they figured in the accident.<\/p>\n
The construction firm employing them both had promised to provide the f amily of Calile monetary support needed for his burial and compensate them for his death\u00a0during working hours.<\/p>\n
Madin said they have temporarily impounded the firm’s heavy equipment for documentation purposes.<\/p>\n
MANILA, Philippines \u2014 The Department of Agriculture (DA) is preparing for a \u201cmore destructive\u201d La Ni\u00f1a even as El Ni\u00f1o continues to affect t he agriculture sector.<\/p>\n
At a press conference yesterday, Agriculture Assistant Secretary U-Nichols Man alo noted that the DA has started its La Ni\u00f1a preparations by looking into areas severely affected by La Ni\u00f1a in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the past 25 years, based on our record, we have had at least eight El Ni\u00f1o, meaning the current El Ni\u00f1o that we are experiencing is the eighth. For La Ni\u00f1a, if ever it will arrive, it will be the 17th. As early as now, we are preparing,\u201d Manalo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do the math, the damage is bigger for La Ni\u00f1a and it is always on rice, corn and high value crops,\u201d Manalo said.<\/p>\n
He added that like with El Ni\u00f1o, they are focusing on the management of water for irrigation during La Ni\u00f1a, when there will be an excess of water.<\/p>\n
The DA is currently coordinating with concerned local government agencies and local government units (LGUs) to prepare for the threat of La Ni\u00f1a, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain, it follows the original instruction that it will be a whole-of-government approach, not only DA and it is science-based,\u201d Manalo added.<\/p>\n
President Marcos on Thursday urged LGUs to brace for the impact of La Ni\u00f1a.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe prepared at all times. Let\u2019s be aware of the needs of our constituents and make programs that will definitely help our countrymen,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Presidential Communications Office Assistant Secretary Joey Villarama also urged LGUs to identify flood-prone areas.<\/p>\n
He said Task Force El Ni\u00f1o has been discussing preparations, including the building of water impounding facilities or rain catchment systems in the country.<\/p>\n
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that La Ni\u00f1a still has a 60 percent chance of developing by June to August this year.<\/p>\n
La Ni\u00f1a is characterized by unusually cooler than average sea surface temperature and is associated with above normal rainfall conditions that may bring adverse impacts such as floods and landslides.<\/p>\n
The ongoing El Ni\u00f1o continues to weaken, but state climatologists said the hotter and drier conditions still persist with neutral conditions anticipated from April to July.<\/p>\n
A transition to the southwest monsoon could also cause rains over the western portion of the country from May to September.<\/p>\n
The declaration of the rainy season will be upon the onset of the southwest monsoon.<\/p>\n
PAGASA said that for the month of May, one to two tropical cyclones may enter the country and other weather systems could include easterlies, localized thunderstorms, intertropical convergence zone, a low-pressure area and a ridge of a high pressure area.<\/p>\n
Below normal rainfall conditions will likely still be experienced in most parts of Luzon and the Visayas.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, more El Ni\u00f1o-hit provinces in Mindanao received cash and other assistance from the government yesterday as areas declaring a state of calamity due to extreme heat and dry conditions now number 276 cities and municipalities.<\/p>\n
President Marcos led the distribution of financial assistance to farmers and fisherfolk in Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato and General Santos City.<\/p>\n
The President assured affected residents the administration would exhaust all resources to help them recover from the impact of El Ni\u00f1o on their livelihood.<\/p>\n
He extended P10,000 from the Office of the President to each affected farmer, fisherfolk and their families along with the P5,000 cash assistance from the DA under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Farmers Financial Assistance. \u2014 Romina Cabrera, Helen Flores<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COTABATO CITY, Philippines \u2014 A construction worker died on the spot after he fell from a backhoe and rolled over by one of its large wheels in Barangay Macaguiling in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte on Friday afternoon. Lt. Col. Esmael Madin, chief of the Sultan Kudarat Municipal Police Station, told reporters on Saturday morning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[2326],"class_list":["post-2545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Nation","tag-ACCIDENT"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asianews.ph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}