Two Lakas-Kampi-CMD senatorial candidates Tuesday urged both the national and local governments to cushion the impact of the El Niño dry spell on farmers by recruiting them to fill vacancies for cash-for-work programs.

Broadcast journalist Rey Langit and Binalonan City Mayor Ramon Guico aired the proposal as they backed presidential bet Gilbert Teodoro’s view that government must extend immediate assistance to the displaced farmers and their families.

Teodoro said basic needs of farmers, including the educational needs of their children, should be addressed by government, adding that workers in the agricultural sector are now feeling the brunt of the adverse effects of the El Niño phenomenon.

Langit and Guico noted that farmers from Northern and Central Luzon have been rendered jobless and require immediate government attention.

“People are starving in El Niño-affected areas and I don’t think we should just sit down and do nothing,” Langit said.