ILOILO CITY (PNA) – Gross damage caused by the El Niño phenomenon in Western Visayas has reached P1.5 billion, said the Department of Agriculture (DA) here.

DA Regional Technical Director for Operations Engr. Remelyn Recoter reported that as of April, the value of losses incurred in the agriculture sector, including rice, corn, other crops, poultry and livestock has surpassed the P1-billion mark.

Recoter said that during the El Niño Task Force meeting held very recently, the Bureau on Agricultural Statistics (BAS) has validated such amount from reports sent by teams on the field and from provincial and municipal agricultural offices all over the Western Visayan region.

The agriculture official said that the DA Central office has received validated reports on this matter and that the agency is further funding releases.

She added that the damage estimates are lower than what had earlier been projected and that despite such negative impact, the region is managing to cope with the effects of El Niño.

Meanwhile, the DA and its attached agencies are intensifying its strategies to address the effect of the weather anomaly. These include the distribution of vegetable seeds, cloud-seeding, emergency employment, and livelihood assistance.

Likewise, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has earmarked P10-million for its El Niño fund to procure rice which will be distributed to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Aklan, Antique, and Iloilo.

The DSWD said such rice assistance will be distributed through the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC).

For its part, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is continuing its emergency employment program for El Niño-affected farmers. It is currently finalizing a community-based bamboo nursery and cutting and transplanting project in Pavia, Iloilo.

Farmers and their dependents will be the first to avail of the program which was specifically created during the ongoing the El Niño season.