HyDEPP-SATREPS revisits Laguna area with Group 2: Flood and Drought Risk Assessment

December 1, 2022

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The HyDEPP SATREPS Team conducted a second visit to Laguna sites on November 25, 2022. The areas visited were mostly the same areas as last September with an additional barangay which was not included the last time due to time constraint.

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Particularly, this second visit was by Group 2: Flood and Drought Risk Assessment led by Dr. Koki Homma (Japan side Group Leader) and joined by Dr. Tsuyoshi Sumita (Japan side Group Member). The team aimed at familiarizing themselves about the situation of each area in terms of agriculture and livelihood and how they are affected by floods and droughts.

The barangays visited were namely: Brgy Gatid led by Hon. Frederick Ambrosio (Brgy. Captain) and Hon. Milandro Amil (Brgy. Councilor for Agriculture); Brgy. Bagumbayan led by Hon. Gregorio Milano (Brgy. Councilor); Brgy. Santisima Cruz led by Hon. Josefina Alfonso (Brgy. Captain) and Hon. Crisanto Patinio (Brgy. Councilor for Agriculture); and Brgy. San Pablo Norte (the one which was skipped last September due to time constraint) led by Hon. Melchor Dionisio (Brgy. Councilor for Agriculture).

In each of the barangays, Dr. Homma and Dr. Sumita were able to obtain information such as number of households and percentage among these which are engaged in agriculture, existence of farmers’ associations, machineries available for farming, frequency of planting, main crops, etc. In some, the team was also able to meet with local farmers and farmers’ association leaders to obtain the details first hand from them.

After the meeting with the local officials and the local farmers, the team then toured the rice field areas around the barangays as requested by Dr. Homma. Dr. Homma and Dr. Sumita moved to fully utilize their limited stay in the Philippines by obtaining all information they could get from the local officials and residents and visiting as many sites as possible to verify satellite data.