Quezon receives DA relief packages for typhoon rehab

MANILA, Philippines - Farmers and fisherfolk affected by Typhoon Glenda in the municipalities of Mulanay, Macalelon and Tayabas in Quezon separately received  replacement seeds, various farm and fishing equipment and other production inputs as the Department of Agriculture launched its typhoon rehabilitation program in the province last Sept. 6.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala led the turnover of the packages of support worth P15.64 million to the local governments of the three municipalities, where he also conducted face-to-face consultations with agri-fishery stakeholders and other community members.

“We need to listen to voices from the grassroots, especially from small farmers and fisherfolk,” he said in his brief speech in Mulanay.

Alcala urged farmers and fisherfolk who lost their livelihoods to provide accurate reports to their municipal agricultural officers tasked to assess and validate their losses. An accurate picture of the extent of damage, he said, translates to appropriate and sufficient interventions.

“President Aquino’s instruction to me is to visit typhoon victims and to focus on small fisherfolk and farmers,” said Alcala. “But as beneficiaries, you need to coordinate with your local agriculture office to help them assess your losses and immediate needs.”

He also reminded LGUs that approval for projects such as “new construction and repair of farm-to-market roads (FMRs) or water impounding systems would rely on the detailed evaluation using the supply chain analysis and a point system-based prioritization of needs.”

Alcala’s visit seemed to have successfully brought hope to the typhoon-hit communities.

In Mulanay, 43-year old banana and coconut farmer Rowena Manalo of Brgy. Sta. Rosa said the DA’s help offered a chance to rebuild her family’s source of livelihood.

“With my husband’s meager income as a tricycle driver, and two children to feed and send to school, life has been very difficult for us after the typhoon,” said Manalo. “But thanks to DA’s assistance, we can now have something to start on again.”

Among the assistance given to the three LGUs were units of cassava chipper, cassava grater, corn hammer mill, and corn sheller. Also distributed were several bags of vermicast, fertilizers, hybrid yellow corn seeds, vegetable seeds, and seedings of banana suckers, coffee and fruit-bearing trees.

Fisherfolk-beneficiaries received plywood, nail and epoxy glue so they could repair their damaged boats.

Additional items – including 10 of units fishing boat engine, two motorized bancas, 50 gill nets, five knapsack sprayer, 10 sets of spades and rakes, two units power sprayer, one hand tractor with trailer, 50 pieces drying nets, one unit rice reaper, two heads of carabao with plow and suyod, 20 piglets and tilapia and carpa fingerlings – were raffled off to registered farmers and fishers attending the fora.

Certificates of award were also given to farmers’ and fisherfolk organizations for the installation of flat-bed dryer and construction of palay (unhusked rice) shed, among others.

Two checks worth P1.5 million and P3.17 million were distributed to the local chief executives of Mulanay and Macalelon, respectively, for the construction of FMRs in their municipalities.

Wilma Dimaculangan, regional executive director of DA IV-A, urged the recipients to take good care and share with other farmers and fisherfolk the seed and equipment assistance they received.

“The distribution of the vegetable seeds, banana suckers and fruit tree seedlings will be useful in maintaining verdant Mulanay, as expressed in one of your banners declaring ‘Happy berde, Mulanay’,” she told the residents.

For their part, local officials expressed appreciation for DA’s support to their respective rebuilding efforts.

Mulanay Mayor Joselito “Tito” A. Ojeda thanked the DA for it’s continuous assistance to the municipality, including completed FMRs that now benefit the municipality’s 52,000 residents.

Ojeda added that the construction of a road leading to the oldest grave site in the Philippines, with initial funding of P20 million from DA, and the P150 million in the pipeline for the road to the “Long Beach” of Mulanay are indications of strong support from the  DA to the farmers and fisherfolk of their town.

Mayor Nelson R. Trate of Macalelon and acting City Mayor Wanda Saberona de Torres of Tayabas also expressed their gratitude to  the DA for the post-disaster support, saying that it is not usual for a Cabinet secretary to visit small LGUs like them.

Other national and regional agriculure officials who joined Alcala in the visit were DA assistant secretaries Orlan Calayag and Edilberto M. De Luna, and DA-Calabarzon regional technical directors Teodora G. Mamades and Brigida G. Mercado.