Ondoy, Pepeng damages reach P12-B
Crops, livestock, and farm structures destroyed by two weather disturbances that hit the Philippines have surged to almost P12 billion, an updated government report said.
The figure – the amount allotted for a subsidy for poor families under the 2009 budget – is likely to go up, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday.
Damages wreaked by Pepeng, a previous typhoon, continue to rise, the report added.
Ondoy, a storm that brought record rainfall that submerged three-fourths of Metro Manila, have reached P6.8 billion.
Currently, Pepeng’s damages are pegged at P5 billion but it may climb further, DA Secretary Arthur Yap said.
“We saw a sudden jump in damages,” Yap told reporters in an impromptu briefing on Monday at the DA office in Quezon City.
Vegetables planted in the highlands and lowlands were decimated, severely cutting supplies of wholesalers and retailers in Metro Manila and
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