Arroyo orders use of El Niño fund to employ farmers

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Agriculture department on Tuesday to use the bulk of the P1.7-billion El Niño mitigation fund to give alternative jobs to farmers badly hit by the dry spell. The directive was made at a meeting of the El Niño task force in Delfin Albano town in Isabela. While Mrs. Arroyo said the government should prioritize jobs for farmers who have lost their livelihood amid the drought, even as she assured that there would be enough food supply until June. "The bulk of the calamity fund for El Niño should help our farmers by giving them emergency employment," Mrs. Arroyo said in a roundtable discussion aired over dzRB radio. "The government has enough procurement to feed the population. We must understand, therefore, that the [ones most affected by the dry spell] are the farmers who are losing their income because of lower harvest," she added. Mrs. Arroyo said farmers could be hired to desilt rivers and repair irrigation facilities. — Gerard S. dela Peña, BusinessWorld