After Typhoon Enteng damaged their crops, farmers in Bicol, especially in Libon, Albay and Nabua and Bato, Camarines Sur, are calling for compensation and subsidies from the Marcos regime. According to the initial survey and interviews with conducted by the Magbubukid ng Bicol (KMB), nearly 400 hectares of rice fields remain submerged in floodwaters. Most of it would have been harvested this September. The group reported that many as 18,000 farmers have been affected.

The KMB reported that farmers typically harvest an average of 60-150 cavans per hectare depending on fertilizer use and irrigation conditions. However, due to the typhoon, many harvested nothing or a maximum of 5-10 cavans if at all.

Floodwaters typically take one to two months to subside, with water levels reaching waist-deep to above head height (or about 6-7 feet), according to the KMB. An estimated 90-100% of the crops in the flooded rice paddies were damaged, and no harvest is expected.

“Nearly everything spent on planting was borrowed and nothing is left for payment,” the KMB explained. “Relying only on one’s own labor and using the least fertilizer and other farm inputs brings down expenses at the lowest ₱30,000.00-₱40,000.00 per hectare. Those who only reduce fertilizer spends ₱60-₱70k per hectare.”

Thus, expenses and the expected earnings from the harvest cconstitute the total amount lost. The farmers will bear the additional burden of doubling their loan interest because they will not be able to pay.”

KMB is calling on the Department of Agriculture and the Marcos Jr regime to heed the clamor of farmers affected by Typhoon Enteng, including farm workers who have lost their livelihoods, and to give them financial aid.

Food aid alone is not enough, the farmers said. They are calling for the recovery of investments lost to stormsm, enabling them to replant once the floodwaters recede. In addition, they are calling for the construction of dikes, assistance in purchasing farm inputs, and capital for land preparation and planting.

The damage caused by Typhoon Enteng in Bicol is estimated to reach ₱350 million. Following this storm, the region experienced further devastation from successive typhoons Ferdie, Gener and Helen.