5,000 families in Albay affected by ‘habagat’ get sacks of rice

LIGAO CITY — The Ligao City government in Albay distributed Friday food assistance in the form of sacks of commercial rice to 5,000 families who suffered from the effects of the southwest monsoon (habagat).

Mayor Fernando Gonzalez said most of the beneficiaries were upland farmers whose livelihoods have been compromised by adverse extreme weather conditions.

“With the weather disturbance, it disrupted the planting production and cycle causing economic difficulties. To ease and reduce their hardships, one bag (50 kilos) of first class (commercial) rice was given to large families and 25 kilos of rice to small families (with three to five members),” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said seven villages from the city’s coastal area were already served while the remaining 5,799 families in the upland will receive their rice assistance in the coming days.

The southwest monsoon, locally called “habagat,” is the warm moist winds from the southwest which cause rains over the western portion of the country from May to September.

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