Damage from El Niño may have reached P7B

Damage from the El Niño-induced drought has reached P3.7 billion as of Feb. 17, but the number could go as high as P7 billion to date. Affected were paddy rice, corn and high-value commercial crops in 22 provinces, a field report from the Agriculture department’s Central Action Center showed. "There are some areas that are experiencing good farm conditions even if some areas are badly affected... This is still within our estimated damages under El Nino," Agriculture Undersecretary Joel Rudinas told reporters on Wednesday. A well-placed official from the department, however, said El Nino-related crop damages have ballooned to P7 billion. "We cannot release the figure officially yet. We still need the go signal of [Acting Secretary Bernie] Fondevilla," the official said. The source added that the report had been disseminated to attached agencies but their representatives had been told to keep mum about it so as "not to cause undue concern to affected stakeholders." Already affected are the provinces of Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan, Masbate, Antique, Guimaras, Negros Occidental, Davao del Sur, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Basilan. The government expects P8 billion in damages under a mild El Niño and up to P20 billion under a severe dry spell. Reports said a mild El Niño could affect 264,940 metric tons (MT) of rice worth P4 billion and 174,224 MT of corn worth P2.26 billion. The fishery subsector could lose 21,181 MT of catch worth P1.27 billion, while high-value crop losses could reach 3.17 million MT worth P583 million. Meanwhile, a severe dry spell could lead to losses of 816,372 MT of rice worth P12.24 billion; 440,429 MT of corn worth P5.2 billion; 42,362 MT of marine catch worth P2.54 billion; and 3.08 million MT of high-value crops worth 443 million. The El Niño Task Force has already allotted P880 million to fund measures to help farmers affected by the drought. The amount is part of P1.7-billion budget to prevent losses in the agriculture sector. — NPA, GMANews.TV