Damage to agriculture in flood-hit Banaue reaches P48.8M

ALFONSO LISTA, Ifugao, Philippines — There would be enough highland vegetables coming from the Cordillera region despite the damage caused by flash floods and landslides in Banaue town of Ifugao province due to the prevailing southwest monsoon, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

The DA in Cordillera assured the public there is a sufficient supply of temperate vegetables, such as cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Over 58,000 families in Ifugao and nearby provinces of Benguet and Mountain Province rely on vegetable farming as their main source of livelihood in 2020, records from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

At least 80 percent of the country’s highland vegetables are grown in these three provinces, contributing to the 130,538 metric tons of cabbage, potato, tomato, camote (sweet potato), cassava, eggplant, and onion that the region produced in 2020, PSA data showed.

No price hikes

According to the damage assessment made by the DA, the agricultural damage and losses in Ifugao, mainly in the flood-hit Banaue, have reached P48.8 million as of Monday, from last Sunday’s initial figure of P14.6 million, affecting over 600 farmers who lost around 728 MT of produce, including rice, corn and high-value crops, such as cabbage, bell pepper, and tomato.

The DA assured that affected farmers would get assistance from the government.

Adrian Albano, administrator of the online interactive site Ifugao Highland Farmers’ Forum, on Monday said there were no reports yet of an increase in the prices of vegetables due to the damage incurred on homegrown crops. But he feared a shortage of vegetable supply could be experienced in the coming days due to the limited production.

Apart from crops, the heavy rains and flash floods also left at least P1.7 million worth of damage to Banaue’s livestock and poultry.

The Ifugao Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said the floods and mudslides affected 1,052 families, damaging 1,044 houses in nine villages in Banaue. Three people were also injured.

As of 3 p.m. on Sunday, the electricity in Banaue had been fully restored, the PDRRMO said.

Firefighters from 11 towns in Ifugao and nearby Mountain Province were deployed to Banaue to help in the clearing operations that continued on Monday.

In a statement, Banaue Mayor Joel Bungallon said they were verifying reports that some parts of the rice terraces found in the villages of Batad and Bangaan were damaged in the landslides. The tourism town hosts two of Ifugao’s five clusters of rice terraces, which are collectively a world heritage.

Bungallon said residents were also grappling with a shortage of water supply after several water lines and pipes were damaged in the flash floods.

Tulfo’s clarification

As aid poured into Banaue, Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo denied that the agency was using nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to distribute aid to the disaster-stricken town.

He clarified on Monday that it was the local government unit (LGU) that combined the relief goods from both the agency and the Angat Buhay Foundation of former Vice President Leni Robredo, to explain the photo posted by the foundation on its Facebook page that showed their relief aid next to boxes marked “DSWD.” Several netizens wondered whether the agency opted to channel food aid through Robredo’s NGO.

In a Facebook post, Tulfo said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) could not do that as it would be against the law. “We send our aid directly through the LGUs,” he said.

In response, Angat Buhay executive director Raffy Magno clarified that the photo “merely captured relief from different sources.”

—WITH REPORTS FROM KIMBERLIE QUITASOL AND KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING 

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