Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan has called on the government to immediately repair and restore roads, bridges and irrigation systems damaged recently by the southwest monsoon and typhoons that hit the country.

As reports of agricultural losses were brought to open following the devastating floods that hit several parts of Metro Manila and nearby provinces, Pangilinan expressed belief that these damages will seriously impede the country’s food security agenda.

Pangilinan warned that prolonged damage to agricultural infrastructure could further harm farmers and fisherfolk and threaten the country’s food supply.

Thus, he said the government must move quickly to restore vital farm-to-market roads, irrigation, and mechanization and dryer facilities so farmers can return to their fields, transport their produce, and prepare for the next planting and harvest cycle.

“Farmers and fisherfolk are among the sectors of society most affected by weather disturbances such as the southwest monsoon and typhoons,” Pangilinan noted.

“Roads and crops get destroyed; this means not only is there no harvest, but there is also no way to transport the produce, even if they manage to salvage a small portion of it,” he pointed out.

The senator stressed roads are vital to the transport of agricultural products from farms and therefore, should be prioritized as part of the government’s food security response in times of natural disasters.

Pangilinan pointed out agricultural production cannot fully recover if farmers cannot access their farms or transport their produce to markets.

“The impact of flooding and crop destruction is not merely a matter of infrastructure and produce; it is a matter of food. We here in the city will also be affected if harvests from farms or the catch from the sea cannot be brought down,” he added.

Likewise, the lawmaker urged the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Department of Agriculture (DA), the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), and local governments units (LGUs) to conduct rapid assessments of damaged agricultural infrastructure and to prioritize repairs in heavily affected farming communities.

The government should also ensure the timely release and proper use of available funds for rehabilitation, saying repairs must be durable and withstand increasingly frequent and intense weather events.

“We cannot keep facing the same problems every time there is a typhoon or the southwest monsoon. We need to be proactive, not reactive. We need to build roads and irrigation systems that can withstand these severe weather events. Let us not wait for the next disaster before undertaking repairs again. We must ensure that what we build now can withstand future rains,” Pangilinan emphasized.

Earlier, the DA reported that agricultural damage from the enhanced southwest monsoon and tropical cyclones Luis, Maymay, and Neneng has already reached P2.32-billion.

So far, the weather disturbances have affected 69,615 farmers and fishers in eight (8) regions and have also damaged 60,896 metric tons of crops over 62,732 hectares of farmland.