DA Bicol spends Php72M to rehab typhoon-hit provinces

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is spending Php72 million to rehabilitate the agriculture sector in the three typhoon-affected provinces in the Bicol region. (Photo by “Oryza sativa of Kadavoor” © 2009 Jee & Rani Nature Photography is used here under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License [CC BY-SA 4.0)

MANILA—The Department of Agriculture (DA) is spending Php72 million to rehabilitate the agriculture sector in the three typhoon-affected provinces in the Bicol region.

The DA regional office has started initial rehabilitation efforts in the provinces of Camarines Sur, Albay and Catanduanes by providing palay, corn, assorted vegetable seeds, seedling of various fruit trees and drugs and biologics for animals.

More assistance to the affected farmers and fisherfolk are coming with the expected release of the Php500-million commitment of Presidente Rodrigo Duterte he himself announced when he came over to Catanduanes and Camarines Sur a few days after the typhoon in late December.

DA-Bicol regional executive director Dr. Elena B. de los Santos has endorsed to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol the proposal of PhilFida for the rehabilitation of typhoon-damaged abaca areas in Catanduanes.

Said proposal is now being considered to be funded under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) as abaca is among the identified priority of the provincial local government unit Catanduanes in its Priority Commodity Investment Plan to be funded by the project.

Moreover, DA Bicol has already submitted to Piñol its rehabilitation plan for the rice, corn high value commercial crops, livestock and abaca subsectors, including various infrastructures and facilities totaling to over Php1.4 billion.

Final damage on these subsectors is placed at Php5.1 billion with about 86,735 farmers affected.