By Martin Sadongdong The ongoing unrest of Taal volcano has dealt a P74.5-million damage to agriculture in Batangas and Cavite provinces, affecting thousands of hectares of corn, livestock, and high-value crops including its famed commodity, coffee, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported Wednesday. (MANILA BULLETIN FILE) "A total of P74,549,300 worth of damage to agriculture was incurred in the provinces of Batangas and Cavite," NDRRMC Executive Director Ricardo Jalad said in a situation report. Known for its "kapeng barako," Batangas' coffee industry incurred the biggest loss in the (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) Calabarzon worth P69.105 million when Taal started spewing volcanic ash over the weekend. Cavite's coffee loss amounted to P4.851 million. The combined P73.956-million losses in the coffee industry of Batangas and Cavite accounted for 99 percent of the total agricultural damage in the affected areas, Jalad said. Aside from this, a combined P528,300 loss to the corn industry of the two provinces was also reported. Cavite lost several hundreds of chickens and carabaos which has an equivalent of P65,000 worth of damage in its livestock. Jalad said the Department of Agriculture, among other concerned government agencies, will extend the necessary aid to the farmers and other agricultural workers affected by the eruption to help them get back on their feet. Meanwhile, the number of affected persons of Taal's eruption has increased to 12,486 families or 53,109 individuals as of 6 a.m. Wednesday. At least 10,000 families or 43,681 individuals were temporarily sheltered at 217 evacuation centers in Batangas, Cavite, and Laguna. Several barangays in at least 12 cities and municipalities in Calabarzon also experienced power outage due to Taal’s eruption including Lipa, Tanauan, Laurel, Talisay, and Lemery in Batangas; Amadeo, Tagaytay, Alfonso, Indang, and Mendez in Cavite; and Calamba and Cabuyao in Laguna. Jalad said that after President Duterte visited the evacuees in Batangas City on Tuesday night, his office distributed 449 family food packs to the victims while 17 families received P3,000 worth of assistance each. He said a total of P4,971,175.28 worth of aid has already been provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and Department of Health to the affected families. The NDRRM official assured the people that they have enough stockpile of resources to attend to the needs of the evacuees.