'PEPENG'S DAMAGE TO CROPS UP P116 M /
'ONDOY' RUINED P307-M ECIJA CROPS
MANILA, OCTOBER 5, 2009
(STAR) The Department of Agriculture (DA) reported yesterday
that typhoon “Pepeng” damaged P116.6 million worth of rice, corn and high-value
crops.
The department said the storm ravaged some 4,308 hectares of rice fields, 273 hectares of high-value crops, and 49 hectares of corn.
DA officials said P106.473 million worth of rice was destroyed, P9.8 million worth of high-value crops and P343.454 worth of corn.
Meanwhile, the DA said that tropical storm “Ondoy” destroyed P6.354 billion worth of crops and facilities in the agriculture and fisheries sector, mostly in Luzon.
Damage to rice, corn, high-value crops, and livestock has reached P5.533 billion.
Typhoon “Pepeng” also caused power failure in Cagayan and Isabela.
Cagayan Valley police director Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian, concurrent head of the regional disaster coordinating council, said power has not yet been restored in the entire Cagayan and parts of northern Isabela, the two worst hit provinces in Northern Luzon. – Marianne Go, Charlie Lagasca
ONDOY RUINS P307-MILLION ECIJA
CROPS / QC CLEANS UP DEBRIS
CABANATUAN CITY - By Manny Galvez – Agriculture and disaster officials have
placed the damage to agricultural crops in Nueva Ecija at P307.9 million at the
height of tropical storm Ondoy, jeopardizing production in this predominantly
agricultural province even as a local government unit was accused of bloating
its damage assessment figures.
Water released from the Pantabangan Dam also caused flooding in Barangay Ganduz in Pantabangan and rendered impassable Friday the bridge connecting the town to Rizal as well as another bridge connecting Rizal to Bongabon.
Abraham Pascua, provincial director of the Department of the Interior and Local Governments and co-chairman of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, said that based on field assessment of the reported damage, 41,8409 hectares of rice lands were destroyed by flash floods brought by Ondoy. The typhoon also destroyed 426 hectares of vegetable plantations, costing P6.9 million.
Pascua said that based on the latest damage assessment, the town of Llanera suffered the worst damage of P73 million after 2,576 hectares of rice lands were submerged under water. The amount, however, was only an initial estimate.
Other towns which suffered extensive damage were Sto. Domingo (P70 million), Licab (P49 million), Carranglan (P43.1 million) and Nampicuan (P43 million).
Also damaged were agricultural lands in the towns of Aliaga, Bongabon, Cuyapo, Gen. Natividad, Gen. Tinio, Guimba, Jaen, Laur, Licab, Pantabangan, Peñaranda, Quezon, Rizal, San Antonio, San Isidro, San Leonardo. Sta. Rosa, Sto. Domingo, Talavera, Talugtug and Zaragoza and the cities of Cabanatuan, Gapan, Muñoz and Palayan.
The damage assessment report of the Llanera municipal government, however, was marred by controversy after it was reported that the actual figures were “bloated.”
Some agriculture officials have reportedly been questioning the P73-million damage claims of Llanera, claiming it was too big.
Actual situation
But Mayor Lorna Vero told The STAR in a phone interview that their damage assessment represents the actual situation in the town. She said that up to 9,700 hectares of agricultural lands in her town were destroyed, or an average of 20-30 cavans per hectare. “These are foregone harvests. Farmers will no longer earn. If people are saying our damage report was bloated, how?” she said.
She dared officials of the Department of Agriculture to personally come to Llanera to see the actual extent of the damage. “Come here and show me where the supposed bloating was done,” she said.
Serafin Santos, provincial agriculturist, defended Vero’s figures, saying it is still premature to say whether the municipal government’s figures were bloated or not. “We are talking here of palay in the booting and vegetative stage and there is a certain matrix we use in assessing the damage. Of course, their report is still subject to validation by our fieldmen,” he said.
Moreover, Pantabangan Mayor Romeo Borja Sr. said that the National Irrigation Administration was justified in ordering the release of water from the dam reservoir since there is a coming typhoon. “It is better for them to release water now when there is still no rains than when the typhoon and rains are already there,” he said.
He said that people tend to think that when there is severe flooding even during heavy rains and typhoons, this is caused by the release of water from the dam. “People forget that Pantabangan Dam was not only built to generate irrigation and power but also to serve as flood control. Once water has been released gradually, the dam’s reservoir can then impound water during the time it is raining,” he said.
Quezon City cleans up major roads of flood debris (The Philippine Star) Updated October 04, 2009 12:00 AM
[PHOTO
AT LEFT - Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Quezon City Police District director
Chief Superintendent Elmo San Diego lead yesterday’s cleanup along Araneta and
E. Rodriguez avenues. BOY SANTOS]
MANILA, Philippines - Quezon City officials led efforts yesterday to clean major roads of debris left when floodwaters brought by tropical storm “Ondoy” receded.
“Our focus now is the cleanup of the streets so they wouldn’t cause traffic jams,” Chief Superintendent Elmo San Diego, director of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), said.
San Diego said apart from rains that persisted Friday night and caused the police to advise residents in some areas to evacuate, they feel there are “no more major threats” to the residents of the city with the passing of “Pepeng.”
“There are no more areas that are still severely flooded. The water levels at the creeks are in normal levels,” he said.
Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. – accompanied by representatives of the city government, the Department of Public Works and Highways and Bureau of Fire Protection – ordered around 1,000 policemen to clean E. Rodriguez and Araneta Avenues.
“We are helping in the clearing and rehabilitation efforts of the government, particularly in removing piles of garbage and debris along the streets, to remove the inconvenience to the public, prevent the spread of diseases caused by uncollected garbage and avoid clogging of our canals and drainage systems, which could bring bigger floods,” San Diego said.
He said Barangay Tatalon is scheduled for a cleanup drive today.
Residents of Barangay Bagong Silangan who have been staying at the village covered court opted to stay there “especially with the continuous arrival of relief goods to help them,” QCPD Station 6 commander Superintendent Constante Agpaoa said. More than 30 residents of Bagong Silangan died during the flash flood last Sept. 26.
He said the flash flood was caused by a creek passing through the village overflowed, though the water level there has returned to normal.
“Our mobile patrol still went around the village Friday night to remind the people never to go back to their houses near the creek,” Agpaoa said.
In Barangays Damayan and Del Monte, 227 families were evacuated Friday night for fear the creeks in the two villages would overflow, said Superintendent Raymundo Equibal, commander of the QCPD Station 2.
Equibal said when the skies cleared up yesterday morning, the residents went back to their homes. – Reinir Padua