The cold weather has started to take its toll on crops and livestock in Cebu’s mountain barangays.
At least 14 cows died because of the low temperature, agriculture officials said.
Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, who visited the uplands yesterday, said he would convene the City Disaster Reduction and Mitigation Council to declare a state of calamity in the affected mountain barangays.
The state-owned weather station of Pagasa in Mactan recorded the coldest temperature around 4 a.m. Tuesday at 21.8 degress Celsius.
On Monday, the temperature was 23 degrees.
Oscar Tabada, chief of Pagasa in the Visayas, said the temperature in the mountain areas could be lower.
The previous coldest temperature recorded in Mactan was 19.2 degrees Celsius in January 1997.
January is normally the coldest month of the year due to the monsoon Amihan when winter winds from China and Siberia blow.
The cold snap will last until second week of February, said weather specialists.
Tumulak said he saw two dead cows in in sitio Satuhan, Sudlon Uno and two other cows died in sitio Marag, Sudlon 2.
Tumulak said the dead cows suffered skin cracks in their backs because of the cold. Other cows and carabaos were weakened.
Vegetable farms, including lettuce fields, in the uplands were also affected.
Tumulak said residents in upland Cebu City don’t recall experiencing this kind of weather.
He asked the city agriculturist and city veterinarian to assess the situation and see what help the city can give.
The Cebu Provincial Veterinary Office also reported deaths of livestock especially cows in Balamban town because of the cold weather affecting 1 cow in barangay Gaas; 6 cows in barangay Sunog and 3 cows in barangay Lamesa.
Dr. Louie Maestrado, head of the Animal Health Division of the Provincial Veterinary office, said he had verified the information from theBalamban municipal agriculture office.
Gaas barangay Captain William Genel in Balamban said their animals also suffered from the cold and rainy weather for the past two weeks.
He said seven cows and a carabao suffered severe chills locally called “puwang,” a condition wherein the animals are so weak they can no longer stand.
The owners decided to slay them before the animals would die of illness. /with reports from Carine M. Asutilla
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