Farmers and fishermen hit by Typhoon “Rolly,” the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year, are seeking immediate assistance from the government.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas said the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) rehabilitation aid to typhoon stricken-farmers and fisherfolk is not enough.
“Today and in the coming months, the farmers don’t have food and livelihood. It will take a long time before they can start to farm again as most of their lands are covered with lava and sand,” KMP chair Danilo Ramos said in a statement.
For rehabilitation efforts, the group lamented the farmers and fisherfolk need seeds and seedlings, farm tools, farm animals, bancas, and fishing equipment and production subsidies.
The KMP said that agricultural provinces on Bicol and Southern Luzon were the hardest hit by Rolly.
The typhoon flattened farmlands and wreaked havoc on fisherfolk living in Albay, Catanduanes, Masbate, Camarines Sur, and Camarines Norte.
It also ravaged parts of CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon province) and MIMAROPA (Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan), as well as Samar provinces in Visayas.
According to the DA, Rolly initially caused about P1.1 billion losses in high-value crops such as rice and corn. This amount included the damages to fisheries.
KMP has already mobilized its Oplan Sagip Kanayunan relief and rehabilitation program before Rolly made landfall to warn peasant communities to prepare and help monitor its impact.
This program also seeks to “gather support and donation for typhoon-stricken farmers, fisherfolk and rural families.”
The group is asking for donations of rice, food, relief packs, hygiene kits, drinking water, clothes, sleeping kits, and medicines.