Despite the series of typhoons that entered the county, the National Rice Program has assured that the county has a sufficient supply of rice for the holiday season.

The NRP estimated that local production this year is seen reaching 19.5 million metric tons, still enough to cover the estimated national demand of 15.14 million MT.

The agency noted that the projection was slightly lower than the 19.96 million MT recorded last year as tillers endured high fertilizer prices, which affected their production costs.

Brace for price spikes

The Department of Agriculture, however, warned consumers of about a 15 to 20 percent hike in the prices of rice and vegetables after Super Typhoon "Karding" devastated Luzon, where the country's rice capital is located.

Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said on Thursday that the projection stemmed from the mounting losses recorded in the rice-producing regions.

As of Friday, special imported rice is sold for P50 per kilogram while well-milled commercial rice is at P40 per kilogram.

The damage and losses incurred by the agriculture sector from the onslaught of Super Typhoon "Karding" have reached close to P3 billion as of Friday morning.

Based on the latest monitoring of the Regional Field Offices of the DA, the typhoon devastated the sector and left about P2.95 billion worth of destruction as of 8 a.m. on Friday.

The assessment of the agency also showed that 103,552 affected farmers and fishers were reported. The volume of production, on the other hand, clocked in at 154,734 MT while ravaged farmland reached about 164,217 hectares.

P709-M war chest

Amid increasing losses, the DA has earmarked P709 million to aid the fast recovery of the sector — this includes the P500 million quick response fund.

Also, it includes P185.69 million worth of rice seeds, P23.16 million worth of corn seeds, and P13.55 million worth of assorted vegetable seeds that are ready for distribution.

In a related development, P2.45M worth of animal heads, drugs, and biologics for livestock and poultry, as well as fingerlings and fishing paraphernalia to affected fisherfolk from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources will be released.

The DA said the fund will compensate for the destroyed properties and livelihood in various parts of the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, CALABARZON, and Bicol Region.

The DA also said farmers and fishers can also utilize the Survival and Recovery Loan Program from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council, where they have a loanable amount of up to P25,000 payable in three years at zero interest.

Damaged schools

Meanwhile, the estimated cost of repair of the damaged schools due to super typhoon "Karding" has reached P1.17 billion, an official of the Department of Education said on Friday.

In a press conference at the agency's central office in Pasig City, DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa reported that at least 165 schools incurred damage from the powerful typhoon that hit Luzon over the weekend.

"For now, the number of schools with damages or infrastructure damages has reached 165," Poa said.

"Again, this is a moving number because day-to-day we have a field assessment," the DepEd official emphasized.

Poa also said that at least 386 classrooms were totally damaged by the typhoon.

He added that around 561 schools were used as evacuation centers, of which 92 schools are still being used as evacuation centers.

with NEIL ALCOBER