TYPHOON RAVAGED TOWN
RECEIVES P30-M FROM DA
By Manny Piñol
Jipapad, Eastern Samar – People of this 5th Class Town with a population of 8,000 said that they will remember Nov. 26, 2018 as the day when they first felt that government cared for them.
The residents said it was also the first time that a Cabinet Secretary personally checked on them to find ways to help.
A barangay chairwoman stood up during the forum in the town gym yesterday and cried openly as she said that people of the town felt that they are cared for by government.
Officials of the Department of Agriculture yesterday travelled for 8 hours back and forth overland to deliver assistance and projects worth P30-M to help farmers and fishermen recover from a flash flood brought by Typhoon Samuel.
The flood was so violent rising to about 10 feet and swept away almost everything that they owned.
When I arrived in Jipapad at noon yesterday people were cleaning their houses of debris and drying whatever was left of their farm produce.
Newly-planted rice farms estimated at 640 hectares were totally destroyed.
Among the interventions committed yesterday which will be delivered starting next week were:
1. A P5,000 per farmer and fisherman family affected by the floods amounting to P9.4-M under the Survival and Recovery Loaning Program;
2. P10-M in loan funds under the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) Program of the DA Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC);
3. Rice Seeds good for 641 hectares and vegetable seeds for women’s groups;
4. P1.5-M capitalisation and P1.5-M for the purchase of a hauling truck for coconut farmers so they could buy copra and deliver this directly to the Oil Mills;
5. Two 35-hp tractors with plow and rotavators for the rice farms;
6. Three 30-footer Fiberglass Fishing Boats from the Bureau of Fisheries;
7. Special NFA Outlet to sustain the rice needs of the town until the farmers have fully recovered.
Regional DA officials were also directed to validate the typhoon damage in the other towns in Samar, particularly Catubig and Las Navas.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development has already distributed food packs to the residents.
The DSWD was the first agency to respond right after the devastation of the area by Typhoon Samuel.
(Photos were taken during yesterday’s visit to Jipapad, Eastern Samar
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