ILOILO CITY — The province of Iloilo has officially been placed under a state of calamity following a massive infestation of the Red-Striped Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) that has devastated local sugarcane plantations and driven agricultural losses to an estimated ₱1.81 billion.
The Iloilo Provincial Board greenlit the resolution declaring the calamity status on Thursday, October 15, after the destructive pest outbreak ravaged more than 10,342 hectares of sugarcane fields throughout the region.
The legislative action came on the heels of an urgent recommendation by the Iloilo Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC). The endorsement aims to grant local authorities immediate access to the Quick Response Fund (QRF) to extend vital financial and operational assistance to struggling farmers and impacted rural communities.
Acting Provincial Agriculturist Geron Magbanua disclosed that the agricultural crisis has already infiltrated 27 out of the 43 towns in Iloilo, directly threatening the livelihoods of approximately 9,491 sugarcane growers.
Prior to the province-wide declaration, three local government units had already independently invoked a state of calamity within their jurisdictions: Passi City, alongside the municipalities of Dueñas and San Enrique.
Statistical data revealed that Passi City bore the heaviest brunt of the disaster, suffering a staggering 99% infection rate across its sugarcane farmlands. It was closely followed by Dueñas at 98% and San Enrique at 58%.
Magbanua explained that the provincial calamity proclamation empowers the local government to bolster municipal efforts by deploying targeted biological control strategies mandated by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
These interventions are designed to help municipal governments contain the ongoing pest plague, cushion the blow to regional sugar production, and jump-start livelihood recovery for affected agricultural workers.
The sweeping outbreak has triggered deep anxieties regarding the future of Iloilo’s sugar industry, leaving thousands of producers grappling with severe financial setbacks as agricultural agencies race to suppress the infestation.