The Marcos administration is continuously giving out aid to farmers affected by the El Niño phenomenon, particularly in hardest-hit areas of Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, and even in other regions, the Task Force El Niño said.
 

(Photo courtesy of Department of Agriculture-PhilRice)

In a news forum over the weekend, Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Joey Villarama reported that some 4,000 farmers in Western Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula were affected by the dry spell.
 

“Mas qualitative po, binibigyan sila ng seeds na heat tolerant, binibigyan din ng domestic animals, may social protection, may financial aid although as I said I don’t know how much pero tuluy-tuloy po iyan (It’s more qualitative, they are being given heat-tolerant seeds, domestic animals, social protection, financial aid although as I said I don’t know how much but that is continuing),” he assured.
 

“Tapos bukod sa direct interventions for them, inaayos din po iyong mga irrigation canals pati iyong equipment themselves para matulungan po iyong mga greatly-affected farmers (Aside from direct intervention for them, we are also fixing the irrigation canals and equipment themselves to help the greatly-affected farmers),” the official added.
 

Villarama noted that all 41 provinces identified to be affected by El Niño have been receiving interventions from the government.
 

Among the problems they encounter are damage to agriculture or difficulty obtaining water.
 

“So, lahat po ng 41 provinces na naitala as of this time na apektado tinutulungan naman po ng (So, all of the 41 provinces we recorded as of this time that are affected are being helped by the) Inter-Agency Task Force,” he said, adding that there could be more affected regions than the earlier reported.
 

Earlier, the official cited that 17 provinces are currently experiencing dry condition, 10 provinces are under a dry spell, and 14 provinces are experiencing drought.
 

Those experiencing drought are Apayao, Benguet, Cagayan, Cavite, Ifugao, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Kalinga, La Union, Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Palawan, and Pangasinan.
 

The official affirmed that most of the provinces experiencing drought are in Luzon and they are already receiving interventions from the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and Department of Agriculture (DA).
 

Meanwhile, the task force is also closely monitoring water, power supply, and food prices amid the strong dry spell.
 

“In terms of what is being monitored at kung ano po iyong binabantayan ng task force, ayon na rin sa direktiba ng ating Pangulo, iyan po ang food security, ang water supply, power supply, health at saka po iyong kung magkakaroon po ng pagtaas sa mga presyo (and what else the task force is monitoring, based on the directives of our President, that’s food security, water supply, power supply, health, and price increase),” Villarama explained.
 

So far, the agricultural damage, particularly in rice and corn, in Western Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula reached P151.3 million.
 

As for the temperature, the official cited the latest briefer by the state weather bureau last week, which said that temperatures could reach 36.5 degrees in Metro Manila and could go as high as 40 degrees in Northern Luzon.