Cotabato, Maguindanao residents try to earn extra income amid dry season

Some Mindanao have residents tried to make the most of the dry season by seizing opportunities to earn extra income.

According to a report by Lala Roque in GMA News TV's Balita Pilipinas Ngayon on Wednesday, selling watermelons on roadsides is quite a thing now in North and South Cotabato.

Watermelon stalls were delightful sightings for thirsty motorists.

"Dumaan ako dito kasi mainit. Okay din talaga ang pakwan kasi nawawala ang init sa ating katawan," customer Peter Naldo said.

Meanwhile, water shortage is being experienced in the town of South Upi in Maguindanao, where a state of calamity has been declared.

Some families have to fetch water from a stream for their daily needs.

A resident with a motorcycle sidecar offers his services to help others collect and transport water from the stream. His customers pay him P10 per container.

In the town of Upi, which is also under a state of calamity, some natural water sources for agriculture and household use have already been parched.

Owners of fishponds in Sto. Niño, South Cotabato, on the other hand, were forced to harvest their cultured tilapia.

The businessmen said that the operational cost in aquaculture has gone up because they have to use water pumps to supply additional water in the fishponds.

The agriculture damage caused by El Niño in six regions of the country has already reached P2.2 billion, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. — Dona Magsino/BM, GMA News