PRC CamSur Receives P1m Financial Assistance from Davao City

Philippine Red Cross -Camarines Sur Chapter is a grateful recipient of a P1M financial assistance coming from the City Government of Davao.

The P1M check was personally handed over to PRC Camarines Sur OIC Chapter Administrator Maria Theresa Bongiad on Thursday, May 16 at the PRC Headquarters, Panganiban Drive here, by Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office Head, retired PNP Officer PSSUpt. Alfredo D.Baloran.

“The dry spell’s effect chooses no one but harms the poor farmers the most. That is why we are indeed very grateful for this gesture of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte. This amount will surely help our local farmers and their families whose farmlands were gravely affected by the El Niño phenomenon,”Bongiad said.

Recipients of the cash grant will definitely be farmers whose livelihood is massively affected by the ongoing dry spell.

“We will have a consultation with the affected communities first. We need to validate the data that we need, to determine the rightful recipients of the cash grant. Initially, we will look for LGUs with the highest percentage of farmers that are affected by the dry spell and the only water source is dependent on rain. The Department of Agriculture called them rain-fed farmlands,” Bongiad added.

Early this March, Camarines Sur Governor Miguel Villafurte declared a State of Calamity in the province due to the reported damage to crops and farmlands in most part of the province.

On March 22, the Provincial Agriculturist Office (OPA) declared a partial damage to the agricultural sector amounting to almost P6.8M covering excessive loss to crops such as rice, corn, High Value Crops (HVC). Even livestock and the fishery sector also shouldered the brunt of the unusual warming of the earth’s surface.

Initially, OPA listed rice farmers who were gravely affected numbering to 15,706 coming from 408 brgys. This covers 18,177.79 hectares which dried up and cracked due to the absence of enough water.

PRC Camarines Sur is now drafting points of reference to identify the beneficiaries of the said cash grants. Initially, some of the criteria are; the recipient should be a tenant-farmer, he must have more or less one hectare of farmland and members of the family are socially-vulnerable. (LSMacatangay-PIAV/Camarines Sur)