LOREN URGES DA TO DRAFT CALAMITY PLAN
FOR AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES

Senator Loren Legarda asked the Department of Agriculture to prepare a Calamity Plan in coordination with the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM) which she chairs.

Loren said that the DA reported yesterday a total damage in crops, livestock and fishery. The Department estimated loss at 18.4 billion pesos, with breakdown as follows: from Ondoy: P6.8 billion and Pepeng: 11.7 billion from all of Luzon's seven regions. The lady senator, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Climate Change said that the Calamity Plan should include as sources of funds the unprogrammed fund for 2009 as well as forthcoming donations from other countries. The unprogrammed fund is the excess in projected tax collections as well as other sources of revenues for the year. "The forthcoming donations are surely substantial and we do not have an idea yet how much these are going to be. They are coming even if we do not ask or beg because the world saw the devastation created by typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng", Loren said.

Senator Edgardo Angara, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance and former agriculture secretary commented during the hearing of the committee yesterday that the figures being cited by the Department of Agriculture seemed to be estimates only and prodded the department to come up with a realistic figure.

"We have to be very careful in using these funds because these are 'sacred funds'. These are given to us for those whose lives were lost, those who have caught diseases like leptospirosis and dengue, those whose livelihood vanished. Whoever has bad designs on these monies have no heart and soul. Moreover, we are also guilty of being bad stewards of these funds if we do not use them in the most efficient and effective way.", Loren warned.

Loren instructed the Department thus: "I am therefore asking the DA and all other departments concerned to draft a good calamity plan for agriculture and fishery--one that will comprehensively cover the damages and result in the recovery of lost incomes, immediate rehabilitation of infrastructure and facilities needed for production, post-production and marketing activities."

"If we are to help all the farmers and fisherfolk whose livelihoods were damaged by the typhoons, we should be very circumspect. Because they have to recover fast from the devastation, otherwise we run out of food and the unemployed swell and poverty visits us hard, let us think who we are going to give outright subsidies and who we are going to help through credit access to available loan facility for agriculture and fishery. And the requirements for provision of these assistance should be very clear and easy to accomplish.", Loren further said.

The senator said that the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997 (AFMA) has laid down all the provisions needed for the Department of Agriculture to be prepared for calamities like what we have. AFMA devoted Section 16 for "Global Climate Change" which says the Department, in coordination with the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration (PAGASA), and other appropriate government agencies, shall devise a method of regularly monitoring and considering the effect of global climate changes, weather disturbances, and annual productivity cycles for the purpose of forecasting and formulating agriculture and fisheries production programs.

"If such programs were put in place eleven years ago, maybe the damages to lives, health, and property have not been as bad as they are. But let us move forward and learn from our mistakes. We in the legislature are not remiss in our responsibilities.", Loren said.