The government has earmarked P1-billion for the distribution of rice subsidies to families living in provinces that would be heavily affected by the El Niño phenomenon this year.

President Arroyo has approved the new food safety program in a bid to ease the burden of 26 provinces with abnormal dry weather during the Cabinet meeting last Tuesday, according to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap.

Yap said the food program would benefit around one million families living in El Niño-hit provinces which would be identified by the Department of Social Welfare (DSWD) and Development (DSWD) and National Nutrition Council (NNC).

The beneficiaries will come the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Mt. Province, Sorsogon, La Union, Quezon, Palawan, Romblon, Samar, Bohol, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Bukidnon, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Zamboanga Sibugay, Saranggani, North Cotabato, Occidental Mindoro, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.

“These food-poor areas will be affected with higher incidence of El Niño this year,” Yap told reporters after the Cabinet assembly in Novaliches, Quezon City.

The government earlier urged the public to brace for a mild El Niño phenomenon this year amid concerns it could cost around P10 billion worth of losses in food production alone.

The Department of Agriculture has set aside P1.7 billion for measures to protect the agriculture sector from the ill-effects of the El Niño phenomenon million.

The President has reactivated the El Niño task force led by the agriculture department to come up with a comprehensive plan to mitigate the El Niño weather in affected provinces.