Villar pushes for prompt rehabilitation of farms affected by typhoons

The excessive damages that the typhoons "Ondoy" and "Pepeng" have brought to the country took its toll most on our farmers in Northern Luzon. "The rice and corn fields in Cagayan Valley were degraded to pools of mud, which in turn cancelled crop harvests which could have given the small farmers a boon in profits," said Nacionalista Party President Senator Manny Villar.

Reports from the NDCC said that over 70,000 families in Luzon were affected by the typhoons, and 70% of these families come from small farmers.

Villar suggested that the farmers should be rehabilitated. He said, "The government should provide emergency rice loans from NFA to stem them from hunger and enable them to re-plow their fields. Then they should be provided with new palay seeds, preferably certified seeds that mature early to prepare for the damaging El Nino where they may again lose their crops if the irrigation systems will not be rehabilitated immediately."

Villar also said that the producers of palay or the farmers need to be empowered more. "There should be a policy that enables farmers and producers to administer the market; there would be free competition of prices, it would prevent rice crop hoarding, and the eventual extinction of rice cartels."

"The Ilocos Region is easily the country's main rice supplier and represents one-fourth of the total rice area in the country. The Ilocano farmers and their families were hit hard by the disaster since they chose to stay with their rice fields, which have prevented them from venturing into Metro Manila," He added.

There is also an update from the Department of Agriculture's Central Action Center, saying that there has been P6.8 billion in agricultural damages brought about by "Ondoy" and about P1.14 billion of damages from "Pepeng." Almost P81 million pesos, that were supposed to be the farmers' capital, were lost due to the floods. Senator Villar also proposes that a bigger budget should be allotted to PAG-ASA to be able to be equipped with weather machines and instruments, providing for more effective weather forecasting for future natural calamities. Furthermore, Villar said, "Better weather equipment would greatly benefit our agricultural sector. The farmers would then be forewarned earlier so that they could prepare for the incoming typhoons and floods that would destroy their crops."