Molave, Zamboanga del Sur, Jan. 5 – Farmers in the seven towns in the Salug Valley Area of Zamboanga del Sur affected by Typhoon Vinta received seeds, farm inputs, insurance payments and a commitment of a P35-M production loan facility during the Biyaheng Bukid sortie on Jan. 5.
Flying in from Pagadian City where I spent the night with the Department of Agriculture team which included Fisheries Undersecretary Eduardo Gongona, the damage caused by Typhoon Vinta was visible in the air.
What used to be green rice fields were turned into a brown sea as the mud swept by floods from the overflowing Salug Diut River covered the farm lands.
A bridge in Mahayag town was also destroyed by the flash floods.
The DA team delivered seeds, farm inputs and a commitment of a P35-M loan facility under the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) Program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC).
The ACPC team will be back in Molave on Jan. 15 to conduct the orientation and training on how to avail of the loan and will accredit farmers who will then be issued the Juan Magsasaka Identification Card which would serve as their loan credential.
Farmers organizations also expressed interest in availing of the equipment loan where reliable cooperatives and associations could borrow money from ACPC through its conduit banks to buy farm machineries and equipment at 2% interest every year payable in eight years.
While the damage was not as bad as it was in the Kapatagan Valley of Lanao del Norte, local leaders of Salug Valley towns expressed fear of a repetition of the same destruction because of the denuded mountains north of the Valley from where the Salug Diut River flows from.
This is the bigger problem which I will present to President Rody Duterte during the first Cabinet Meeting on Monday which I hope would be addressed jointly by all agencies of government.
(Photos of flooded rice fields from the air were taken by me using an iPhone while photos of the farmers forum in Molave town were taken by Bong Piñol.)
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