Based on data recorded by the PAGASA Virac Synoptic Station in San Isidro Village, April 2026 is not only the driest month of the year but it is also the driest April in the last seven years.
Chief meteorological officer Juan Pantino Jr. said the total rainfall for last month was only 42.2 millimeters, which is even less than the 50.6 mm total for March 2026.
The volume of precipitation for April 2026 is also much less compared to the figures for the same month in the past six years: 49.4 mm for 2025; 60.4 mm for 2024; 105.8 mm for 2023; 276.8 mm for 2022; 565.9 mm for 2021; and 72.7 mm for 2020.
To clarify the high rainfall data for April 2021, most of the precipitation for the month is due to super typhoon Bising, which made its closest pass to the country on April 19 at about 400 kilometers east of Catanduanes and brought 520 mm of storm rainfall to Virac in the process.
Unfortunately for the Virac Water District and local farmers as well as residents, not one typhoon or even a low pressure area developed last month that would have brought some relief from the summer heat to parched water sources and farms.
Even this month’s first named storm, Caloy, is expected to disintegrate by Tuesday when it reaches the dry area of the atmosphere east of Samar island.
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Local officials and residents of Baras town can now look to the example set by the city of San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan where the LGU assumed control and management of the PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. and the San Jose del Monte Water District last week.
It did help that the city mayor, Florida Robes, had her husband, Congressman Arthur Robes, during the takeover of the city’s water service facility operations.
According to press reports, the move came more than a month after the city declared a state of calamity due to the worsening water shortage affecting several villages, insufficient water supply and high water rates.
In case it pushes through with its threat implied in a recent protest rally in front of the BWD office, the administration of Mayor Jose Paolo Teves III would likely follow the same playbook – with the Sangguniang Bayan led by Vice Mayor Rico Tating declaring a state of calamity based on a recommendation from the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
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As directed by the Energy Regulatory Commission and pursuant to an order from Pres. Bongbong Marcos, FICELCO and other cooperatives have suspended service disconnections of residential and non-residential consumers for non-payment of electricity bills for the period May 2026 to July 2026.
In addition, those with monthly consumption of not more then 200 kilowatt-hours are allowed to pay their bills for said period on a staggered basis for at least three months from receipt of the bill.
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The presumed EPSA 2 supplier, Vivant Corp., won the right to deliver power to Siquijor island.
Last August 2025, the ERC terminated the contract of Siquijor Island Power Corporation (SIPCOR) over regulatory non-compliance issues, contract violations, and general complaints from member-consumers.
The possibility that the same could happen to SUWECO is not far-fetched given its financial troubles and management issues.
It is hoped it can hold on until the CSP is completed and a new supplier is chosen.
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THE THEFT. The sergeant answered the phone at the police station. The voice at the other end was slow and slurred.
“I wanna report a theft, offisher. I’ve been robbed. Shum dirty crook has shtolen things from my car.”
“What kind of things?” asked the sergeant.
“My shteeing wheel, brakes, dashboard, accelerator…the bloody lot’s gone.”
The sergeant humored him for a moment and said he would investigate. “Bloody drunks,” he said when he hung up.
Five minutes later, the phone rang again.
“Cancel that report. It’s all right. Yers can stop lookin,’” said the same voice. “My mishtake. I got inter the back seat.”