TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA)—Welcomed by at least two batches of rainfall, one at a time he was entering the grounds of the President Carlos P Garcia Sports Complex, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., brought to completion what Boholano farmers, fisher folk and poor families have been praying for since the start of the long dry spell.
While praying for the much awaited rains to allow farmers to prepare their farms for the wet cropping season, Boholanos also sought to get government help to allow them to get good seeds, farm inputs and even food to last them through the hard time.
The president himself, handed a check worth P50 million in cash funds to acting Governor Victor Dinisio Balite, the fund supposedly to be distributed to the 7,634 farmers, fisher folk and families with incomes below the poverty threshold as identified by the Department of Agriculture (DA), the money is supposedly to help farmers and fishermen rehabilitate their cracked farms and put up a good harvest for this wet cropping season and for food to those who need a boost in the family income to get past this travail.
The funds, tagged as the Presidential Assistance to Farmers, Fisher folk and Families (PAFFF), is an initiative of the Office of the President which started last May 9, 2024, when the President himself flew to Zamboanga to bring in the assistance to drought ravaged people of the Zamboanga Peninsula, briefed Presidential Communication Office Task Force El Niño spokesperson Assistant Secretary Joey Villarama, during the media briefing a day before the president’s first official visit to Bohol.
Calibrating government response to the El Nino-brought crisis using the whole of government approach, the Marcos administration has also expanded the tasks of the government’s social welfare and development department not just to respond to calamities, storms and floods, but also to El Niño.
Marcos, who is the son of former president Marcos Sr, said, “tinitingnan natin kung sino’ng department ang makakatulong, at ang buong pamahaan ay magtatrabaho ng ina’t ibang nais natin nga mapaparating sa bayan.”
We will see which department can help and we pool government resources to work and deliver whatever is needed.
Bohol, which was badly hit by the three months dry spell, declared agricultural losses amounting to nearly P500 million in crops, livestock, fisheries and even its 16 watersheds showing distress signs.
The same has affected about 22,000 families, which is more than enough measure to get the local disaster and risk reduction management council recommend for the declaration of a state of calamity last month.
Steered now by its surging tourism industry, Bohol, according to the president is known for its white sand, world class dive sites, tangible heritage like the asin tibuok and the calamay, but he pointed out that farming and fishing are still Bohol’s prime industries.
As he called for the promotion of farming and fisheries to sustainably improve the economy, he announced the P100 million that he brought during the day: P50 million for Bohol and another P50 million for Cebu.
The fund, which the president said would be for P10,000 per beneficiary, is not enough, if all the identified 7,634 beneficiaries were to be given.
However, combined with the windfall that government agencies also turned over for Boholano individuals, cooperatives and people’s organizations as well as irrigation association beneficiaries, the Boholanos could have received even more than what the Presidential promised.
That same day, the Department of Agriculture also turned over to representatives of beneficiaries a sum of P468,228,170 comprising of funds and machineries for corn program, rice program, coconut industry development and cloud seeding fund which is under the DA GAA for 2024, according to DA Provincial Agriculture Technology Coordinating Officer Roman Dabalos.
On the other hand, the Department of Trade and Industry through provincial Director Vierna Teresa Chiu-Ligan revealed that through its Pangkabuhayan sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa (PPG), turned over a part of the P1,280,000 assistance for rebel returnees who also happen to be affected by the drought.
The Department of Labor and Employment, also turned over some P7,040,250 in livelihood grants and assistance to displaced workers through its Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), according to labor and employment officer and provincial director Maria Loida Cantona.
Meanwhile, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Bohol Provincial Director Carlito Quintano also turned over P927,816 forming part of the TESDA scholarship for training fund support and starter kits of welding machines. (PIABohol)
