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By Ira Karen Apanay, Senior Reporter
Agricultural damage inflicted by typhoon Cosme
on six provinces in Northern Luzon has reached P1.54 billion, the
Department of Agriculture said Friday.
In a report to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap,
the Department of Agriculture Central Action Center said high-value
commercial crops sustained the heaviest damage worth P759.47 million
combined.
Damage to the fisheries subsector in typhoon-hit
La Union and Pangasinan was initially estimated at P416.87 million
based on figures from local government units and Bureau of Fisheries
and Aquatic Resources.
Typhoon Cosme also ripped through Benguet,
Ifugao, Mountain Province and Zambales.
Recorded damage to palay (unhusked rice) in the
six Luzon provinces totaled P49.64 million.
Some 80 fish cages from the total 300 in Sual,
Pangasinan were damaged by the typhoon. This loss caused Yap to
order the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to source fish
for Metro Manila from Central Luzon, Southern Luzon and Western
Visayas.
The Central Action Center also reported that the
damage to livestock was valued at P4.06 million. Reported lost were
poultry, swine, cattle, carabaos, and goats from the provinces of La
Union, Pangasinan and Zambales.
Irrigation facilities in the Ilocos Region and
the Cordillera Administrative Region damaged by Cosme were valued at
P 224.45 million.
On the damage to palay and corn crops brought
about by flash floods from continuous rains in Palawan, South
Cotabato and Maguindanao, the action center reported that production
losses amounted to P74.32 million.
Damage to palay crops from these three provinces
was placed at P38.18 million with the loss of 949 metric tons of
palay from 2,125 hectares of affected areas.
Yap said corn fields sustained heavier damage in
Pangasinan, the reason he called on farmers to replace their
destroyed crops by planting palay instead.
Damage to corn crops in the provinces of South
Cotabato and Maguindanao was placed at P36.14 million with the loss
of 3,669 metric tons of corn from a total affected area of 2,154
hectares.
For corn, the loss of 13,285 metric tons caused
a reduction of 1.07 percent of the production target of 1.24 million
metric tons for the same period.
The report also said the flash floods and Cosme
ran up a total loss of 3,640 metric tons of palay, which is 0.12
percent of the total production target of 3.13 million metric tons
for the April to June period.
Yap, who went on an aerial inspection of
Pangasinan, said the effects of the tropical storm on palay in the
province could be considered relatively limited, because most
farmers already finished harvesting their crops by the time Cosme
struck last week.
He also ordered the National Food Authority to
deploy more rolling stores selling affordable basic goods in
storm-ravaged areas of Luzon and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources to ensure steady supply of fish to Metro Manila after
Cosme damaged the fish cages in La Union and Pangasinan.
To enable Pangasinan folk to rebuild their homes
destroyed by the typhoon, President Gloria Arroyo ordered the
release of P500 million in emergency assistance to them.
The Chief Executive, who went to Pangasinan, met
with local government executives and officials of the National
Disaster Coordinating Council.
Mrs. Arroyo instructed the Government Service
Insurance System and Social Security System to extend calamity
assistance to their members.
She also ordered the Department of Education to
fast-track repair and rehabilitation of damaged schoolhouses and the
restoration of electricity in Pangasinan and Zambales before Monday.
The Agriculture department will also extend
assistance to the agricultural sector for the damage caused by Cosme,
based on the President’s instruction.
The Department of Health will also deploy health
surveillance teams to prevent outbreaks of diseases in the
typhoon-hit areas.
-- With Angelo S. Samonte
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