El Niño-hit Calabarzon folk receive aid
Photo shows a drought-hit farm in Imus, Cavite, taken on March 2, 2024. —RICHARD A. REYES
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. distributed cash aid on Thursday to about 4,700 farmers and fisherfolk in Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Batangas, and Quezon (Calabarzon) provinces who were affected by the El Niño phenomenon earlier this year.
In separate events in the City of Dasmariñas and San Jose town in Batangas, the President handed checks of up to P24 million to local officials and P10,000 each to individual farmers and fishermen.
Marcos also gave the provincial governments of Cavite and Rizal checks amounting to P12.36 million and P14.51 million, respectively, as well as P10,000 in cash assistance to 10 selected farmer-beneficiaries in each province.
READ: P9.5B lost to El Niño, but floods here soon
The provincial governments of Laguna and Batangas, on the other hand, received aid of P24 million and P17.42 million, respectively.
The Department of Agriculture also distributed to selected beneficiaries farm machinery and equipment, including tractors, a combine harvester, multitillers, a rice thresher, hauling trucks, and pump and engine sets. —MELVIN GASCON
READ: Lack of El Niño preparedness
