Farmers picket DA office over El Niño - report

At least 300 militant farmers picketed the Department of Agriculture office in Quezon City Friday to demand more action to cope with the effects brought by the El Niño phenomenon. Radio dzBB's Mao dela Cruz said the farmers, most of them reportedly from Cagayan province in northern Philippines, complained that they have yet to benefit from a P1.7-billion calamity fund. The farmers, who also planned a march to Mendiola Bridge near Malacañang, called for urgent relief from the dry spells, which they said had ruined their production. Friday's protest was part of a weeklong series of mass actions by militant groups calling for government action to minimize the impact of the dry spells. Earlier, militant umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said the lack of a reliable and prompt government response to El Niño aggravated current flawed policies such as privatization of multipurpose dams. Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. also said that even before El Niño, many sectors were already marginalized in terms of access to and use of water due to privatization and commercialization. "More than half of irrigable farmlands in the country are not irrigated and those with irrigation are mostly large, commercial farms. Meanwhile, more than three million poor families do not have access to potable water," Reyes said, adding that El Niño has further worsened the situation of these sectors. Last week, it was reported that 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. The dry spell has also been blamed for the looming power crisis in the Visayas and Mindanao, where dams have reached dangerously low levels. [See: El Niño, lack of govt support blamed for Mindanao energy crisis] - RSJ, GMANews.TV