DA: 'Juan' inflicts P4.77B damage on farm sector

(Updated 9:40 p.m.) Typhoon Juan damaged the farm sector to the of tune P4.77 billion, particularly the palay subsector which lost 222,336 metric tons (MT) of standing crops and 600,000 MT of unmilled rice, the Agriculture Department said in a preliminary report Wednesday. As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, paddy rice destroyed by the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines in four years storm, was valued at P3.78 billion, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Salvador Salacup said in a press briefing at the department's head office in Quezon City. The losses were valued based on consolidated reports from the most devastated areas including I, II, III, and Cordillera Administrative Region, the department said. Apart from palay, "Juan" (international code: Megi) destroyed P598.41 million worth of high-value commercial crops and P312.29 million worth of corn. A total of 23,976 MT of corn planted to 13,280 hectares were also damaged. The typhoon also damaged 16,809 MT of fruits and vegetables planted to 3,680 hectares of farmlands in the four heavily-stricken regions. Losses sustained by the fishery and livestock subsectors in Northern Luzon totaled P47 million and P29.6 million, respectively. Typhoon Juan made landfall in Isabela just before noon Monday, packing maximum winds of 225 kms per hour directing impacting on 16 provinces in CAR, Regions I, III, and III. Pangasinan suffered P1.4 billion in agriculture damage, followed by Isabela (P898 million), and Nueva Ecija (P588 million). A total of 234,980 hectares of farmlands in the four regions were affected by the typhoon. The department expects more reports from the northern regionsonce communication lines are restored. Crop insurance Sen. Ralph Recto meanwhile sought the immediate passage of a bill that would provide insurance for crops in case of damage by natural disasters. Senate Bill 2131 seeks to amend Sec. 37 of Republic Act 9700 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988, granting a full-crop insurance coverage to qualified farmer beneficiaries. Under the bill, the Finance Department and the Bango Sentral ng Pilipinas will give farmer beneficiaries full-crop insurance coverage in cases of typhoons, floods, droughts, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, plant diseases, and pest infestations. The Senate bill, filed by Recto, says that the insurance coverage would be in place from the planting season to harvest time. Recto said in a statement Wednesday the proposed law should be made “mandatory" because of the devastating effects of typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng, and Juan that ravaged crops in northern Luzon. The senator noted that some 1.38 million metric tons of rice was wiped out when the Philippines was hit by storms in the last quarter of 2009. He said losses from the El Niño dry weather phenomenon this year alone could amount to as much as 816,372 metric tons of rice worth P12.24 billion. “These kinds of disasters take a great toll [on] Filipinos, especially those in the agriculture sector. And needless to say, farmers suffer the great loss," he said in a statement Wednesday. Under the existing government program on agriculture insurance, only 50 percent is subsidized by government, specifically the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC). Recto said the cumulative insurance coverage and claims for rice and corn the PCIC paid from 1981 to 2007 amounted to only P2.5 billion. “Only a small number of farmers avail [themselves of] crop insurance because of the premium that they are required to pay," he said. Power restoration Power supply in northern Luzon will be restored by Wednesday next week, the Energy Department said Wednesday. “We want to correct the impression that it will take a month to complete the restoration. It will not take that long. By Wednesday next week — since today is the start of the rehabilitation — we hopefully get to restore electricity to the Cagayan region," said Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras. Metro Manila is expected to “remain brownout-free," he told reporters in a briefing Wednesday. Almendras said the 230-kilovolt (kV) Gamu-Tuguegarao transmission line, which transmits power to Isabela, Kalinga, Apayao, and Cagayan, will likely be repaired and restored by Monday. “The Gamu-Tuguegarao line is the worst affected. The minute the line is fixed, the entire province of Cagayan will be energized since there is no problem with the distribution lines in Cagayan as they are not that affected," he said. The Energy Department is appealing to local government units in Cagayan to help the agency secure the right of ways so that the restoration of system lines would be immediately put in place, Almendras pointed out. “If we can get the right of ways approved and no one will oppose it, the expectation of National Grid Corp. of the Philippines is that [it] could fix the [Gamu-Tuguegarao line] by Monday. For the northern Isabela portion, we expect 100-percent restoration [of] all affected areas by Wednesday next week," he said. Almendras added that the restoration in northern Isabela — which has been severely affected by the typhoon — will take longer but not beyond next Wednesday. The National Grid said it is fast-tracking restoration efforts for 12 transmission towers of the 230-kV Gamu-Tuguegarao line toppled by the typhoon. It reported that electricity was 100-percent restored in Ilocos, Bataan, Benguet, La Union, Zambales, Pampanga, and Pangasinan. Baguio City veggies Meanwhile, vegetable prices in Baguio City have risen by as much as 60 percent after suppliers' transport routes were closed from the typhoon, the department’s Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) said. “Prices of some vegetables in the province increased due to typhoon Juan that caused landslides along Halsema Highway and Bokod, Kabayan-Viscaya Road," BAS report reported. Baguio City is a major vegetable producer in northern Luzon and supplies the markets in Balintawak, Quezon City and Divisoria in Manila. Native pechay and tomato went up by P20 per kilo to P30 and P80, respectively. Cabbage increased by P15 to P50 per kilo. On Wednesday, vegetable prices in Metro Manila have not yet risen or “have remained stable," according to the Agriculture Department. — VS, GMANews.TV