Bulacan now on rehab mode

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines – Bulacan is now on rehabilitation mode more than a week after tropical storm “Ondoy” wreaked havoc on 30,370 hectares of fishponds and farmlands, leaving agricultural losses estimated at P685 million.

Gloria Carillo, head of the Provincial Agriculture Office, said Gov. Joselito Mendoza has committed funds to help Bulacan farmers get back on their feet.

Carillo said Malcolm Sarmiento, director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), will also help local fishpond operators restock their ponds.

“Bulacan farmers need all the help they can get now to rehabilitate their farms and their lives,” Carillo said.

Based on reports, worst hit in Bulacan were the vegetable farmers who lost P247 million worth of crops when Ondoy dumped heavy rains that inundated 975.55 hectares of farmlands.

Rice farmers were left with P232 million in losses as heavy floods swamped 24,460 hectares of ricefields, while fishpond owners suffered losses amounting to P90.7 million.

Livestock producers and fruit farms had combined losses of P111 million, and corn producers, P624,611, as Ondoy damaged 29.85 hectares of corn crops.

Carillo said the losses were heavy, as the crops destroyed were already about to be harvested.

She also reported that a number of commercial poultry growers in Sta. Maria and Marilao towns also suffered losses.

Asked if Bulacan’s agricultural losses would affect food supply to Metro Manila in December, Carillo said they still have to determine the contribution of the province to markets in the metropolis.

Rhine Aldana, provincial supervisor of the Department of Trade and Industry, said they are closely monitoring the prices of local commodities, including agricultural products.

She said though that prices might go up a bit due to short supply.

Earlier, Melencio Domingo, chairman of the Malolos City Agriculture and Fisheries Council, warned that prices of agricultural products might increase by December as a result of Ondoy’s damage to farms in Bulacan and other parts of Central Luzon.