(Eagle News) — Senator Bam Aquino on Tuesday, Sept. 18, urged the government to buy the “storm-damaged palay” of farmers affected by Typhoon “Ompong” so they could get back on their feet.
In a statement, Aquino urged President Rodrigo Duterte to order the National Food Authority to do the same.
He said the NFA, after all, already did this in the past.
He said the government can also “use the President’s Social Fund or the Calamity Fund, which are both under the Office of the President, to fund the initiative.”
“Tulungan natin ang mga kababayan nating magsasaka,” Aquino said.
The Department of Agriculture said Typhoon “Ompong” damaged P14.27 billion worth of agricultural crops, with more than half a million hectares of farmland destroyed.
The DA said agricultural damage covers rice, corn, high value crops and livestock.
The DA said the rice sector had the largest share of losses since 397,204 hectares of rice fields which is equivalent to 435,997 MT or about nine days of the country’s total consumption had been laid to waste.