Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women called for fair compensation and financial support for farmers and the poor who were devastated by typhoon Enteng last week. The cost of damage to agriculture has reached ₱659 million based on the estimate of the Department of Agriculture-Disaster Risk Reduction and Management today, September 6.

The typhoon destroyed an estimated 28,788 metric tons of crops. Damage to rice crops was greatest at ₱624 million. At least 27,598 farmers from Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Bicol, Western Visayas, and Eastern Visayas were affected. Camarines Sur was hit hardest by the typhoon.

The initial report of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Bicol (KMB) said nearly 400 hectares of rice fields in the towns of Libon in Albay and Nabua and Bato in Camarines Sur remain submerged in floodwaters. Farmers said floodwaters usually recede after only one to two months. The water reaches from waist-level up tp 6-8 feet.

An estimated 90-100% of crops ready for harvest this September were damaged in the flooded paddy fields. They will harvest only 5-10 cavans (1 cavan = 50 kilos) of poor quality rice, the group said. “Almost all expenses for planting are from loans that can no longer be paid,” KMB added.

“It is distressing that the DA has absolutely no budget allocated for compensating and indemnifying farmers and fisherfolk victimized by disasters,” Cathy Estavillo, Gabriela Women’s Party Consultant on Peasant Women Affairs and Amihan secretary general, said.

KMB itself said the DA has yet to visit them several days after Typhoon Enteng. The group demanded, the agency to heed the requests of the farmers who were devastated by Typhoon Enteng, including the farm workers who lost their income and give them financial aid.

Estavillo stressed that costs of production for paddy fields is at ₱60,000 per hectare. “Farmers still borrow a large part of the capital. Without compensation and aid, how would they sustain their livelihood and food in the coming and the next cropping?”

Amihan added that big business and bureaucrat capitalists are accountable for severe floods because their environmentally destructive projects worsen floods and landslides. These include reclamation projects, rampant land use conversion, destructive mining, illegal logging, and expansion of plantations.

This is also the sentiment of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya). The group said stronger waves hitting coastal communities were noticeable in Manila Bay during the typhoon. They blame the seabed quarrying or dredging and Manila Bay reclamation as the culprit here.

“The waves hitting the coasts have gone beyond normal strength since the dredging in 2021. We can’t see any other reason but the seabed quarrying which quickly resulted in the erosion of the beach sands to the sea. Households became more vulnerable because their foundations have gradually crumbled,” Ronnel Arambulo, Pamalakaya Vice Chairperson and Koalisyong Makabayan senatorial candidate, said.