No rehabilitation yet for Yolanda farmer victims

“If there were projects for our sector such as distribution of seeds and livestocks, the beneficiaries are few, some of them are not really farmers.”

By KAREN ANN MACALALAD
Bulatlat
MANILA – Almost three years after Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) devastated the Eastern Visayas (EV) region, the agriculture and fishery sectors have yet to recover and receive rehabilitation projects that will produce livelihood for the victims.

Measures taken by the government mainly focus on infrastructure, said Nestor Lebico Sr., secretary general of the Alliance of Peasants in EV, in an interview with Bulatlat.

“If there were projects for our sector such as distribution of seeds and livestocks, the beneficiaries are few, some of them are not really farmers,” he said.

Source: National Economic and Development Authority as of March 2016 A total of 138 of 176 targeted tractors and machinery units were also distributed to victims.
Source: National Economic and Development Authority as of March 2016
A total of 138 of 176 targeted tractors and machinery units were also distributed to victims.

Coconut farmers and fishermen are among the victims who were gravely affected by Yolanda in 2013, with losses amounting to P17.9 billion ($380 million) in coconut, and P3.2 billion ($68 million) in rice productions, earlier news reports stated. The impact is worse on farmers, who are also considered the most vulnerable with 60 percent living in poverty.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) fact sheet cited government data that around 1.4 million agricultural workers, together with 1.1 other laborers, were in need of support in 2013.

Meanwhile, small-scale fishermen were provided with small boats but are being victimized by big-scale operators entering the fishing grounds of the community, Lebico said. “It is also difficult to find money to pay the registration fee before fishing,” he added.

Small fishers in municipal waters have to pay P2,000 ($42) to P5,000 ($106) per year, according to fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya. Around 1.6 million fishers operate in municipal waters, while 16,500 are into commercial fishing.

Lebico denounced the slow-paced and insufficient response of the government during the past years. He estimated that their recovery will take three to six years, following the typhoons after Yolanda that pushed further the victims into poverty such as Typhoon Seniang and Glenda in 2014.

A year after, Typhoon Nona devastated more than 70 percent of coconut plantations which is the primary livelihood of the people in Northern Samar, he said. An estimated cost of damage to infrastructure in MIMAROPA and EV amounted to P159.5 million ($3.38 million), according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

In the meantime, victims needed alternative livelihood, cash assistance, free irrigation, and necessary tools needed in cultivation of lands and fishing operations, Lebico said. “In ending poverty, there should be a genuine agrarian reform program that will distribute lands for free, and services that are needed by the peasant sector such as education,” he said.
(https://www.bulatlat.com)

Share This Post