1,000 El Niño-hit farmers, fishers in Zambales get cash aid

FARM FRESH A farmer in San Marcelino, Zambales, shows his freshly harvested singkamas (turnip) in this photo taken in February this year. Farmers in the province are among those who suffered from the impact of the dry spell and drought that accompanied the El Niño weather phenomenon early this year. —Joanna Rose Aglibot

SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES, Philippines — One thousand farmers and fishermen in the province received cash aid from the government on Monday after suffering from the prolonged dry spell early this year caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Each beneficiary, who were vetted by the Zambales Provincial Agriculture Office, received P10,000 each from Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. during the event held at the Botolan People’s Plaza.

Ebdane, in a statement, said the fund came from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meant for fishing and farming folk who lost their livelihood during the dry spell.

READ: Agri damage from El Niño balloons to P15B

“We are thankful to the President for this assistance, and we hope that this will help ease the loss of income among farmers and fisherfolk because of this weather phenomenon,” the governor said.

Last month, Marcos released P311.16 million in financial assistance for drought-affected farmers and fishermen in six provinces during an award ceremony in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga, including the P10 million for Zambales. Other provinces that received assistance were Pampanga, Bataan, Bulacan, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija.

In June, Eduardo Lapuz Jr., director of the Department of Agriculture in Central Luzon, said at a press briefing in Pampanga that the effects of El Niño in the region was “mild.”

Still, the dry spell, drought and pests that thrived during El Niño damaged P386 million worth of rice, corn and other high-value crops in the region’s seven provinces as of May 31, he added.

According to Lapuz, the El Niño’s mild impact was due to the “convergence of responses by various agencies, adding that farmers also delayed planting and maximized available irrigation to mitigate the effects of the prolonged dry spell and drought. —Joanna Rose Aglibot