LINGAYEN, Pangasinan -- Amid the challenges encountered in 2019, the agriculture industry in the province of Pangasinan remained steadfast due to the support from the national government and the local government units (LGUs).
El Niño phenomenon has brought severe damages to the crops in farmlands of other provinces, nonetheless, the farmers in Pangasinan have already prepared for it with the help of the Provincial Agriculture Office and the Department of Agriculture (DA), as well as the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), among other agencies.
The province’s agriculture office provided technical assistance, while the DA and DAR provided farm machinery, such as water pumps.
“Since we already knew of the coming dry-spell as forecasted by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration, we asked the farmers to plant ahead of their schedule, and to choose crops that will not require much water,” provincial agriculturist Dalisay Moya said in a recent interview.
Moya said most of the farmlands in the province have already been irrigated with the projects under the National Irrigation Administration.
Weather disturbances in August, such as Tropical Storm Ineng (Bailu) and Tropical Depression Jenny (Podul) benefited some 180,000 hectares of farmland in the province with the rains they brought during the dry-spell. However, the onslaught of the southwest monsoon (habagat) caused PHP63.7 million losses in agriculture in the province.
The DA, Land Bank of the Philippines, and the Agricultural Credit Policy Council launched the Survival and Recovery Assistance (SURE Aid) loan program that benefited 5,000 farmers.
“This is just an initial assistance as the agriculture sector in the country faces many challenges so we hope this program will help you. The local government unit and the national government are working together to uplift (the) economic condition of the agri-fisheries sector,” Moya added.
Filipina Monje, Landbank Northern and Central Luzon lending group senior vice president, said each farmer received cash cards containing PHP15,000 loan without interest and collateral, payable in eight years with six-month grace period.
The farmers were also affected by the Rice Tariffication Law with low palay prices.
The DA also recently launched in the province the Rice Farmer Financial Assistance (RFFA) Program that would benefit some 87,175 qualified rice farmers in Pangasinan.
DA Secretary William Dar said the program is part of the assistance of the national government for rice farmers affected by the low price of ‘palay’.
“This is for selected rice farmers who are tilling 0.5 hectare to two hectares of land in all 33 provinces in the country who were assessed to be needing assistance,” he said during the sidelines of the launch.
Dar said RFFA is an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) while other financial aids, such as loan programs, are available for farmers,
“RFFA is not a loan program. The PHP5,000 is given to them, it is UCT,” he added.
Dar said the national government has allotted PHP3 billion this year for the nationwide program, and another PHP3 billion next year.
Backyard hog raisers and dealers have also experienced setback this year with the African Swine Fever (ASF), affecting primarily the towns of Mapandan and Bayambang, and the sale of hogs and pork products from the province.
Dar has declared that Pangasinan pork and pork products are free of ASF after some hogs in the province were earlier tested positive of ASF.
“For Pangasinan, the feedback I got is that there is no outbreak,” he said during his visit to the province as he attended Urdaneta City’s fiesta and lechon (roasted pig) festival in Rosales town.
The affected hog raisers whose pigs have been culled were given assistance by DA and the LGUs.
Rural development projects
Some 13,194 residents of six barangays in this town are now enjoying better quality of roads with the rehabilitation of the 10.63-kilometer Gonzales-San Juan farm-to-market road under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRPD).
Provincial Engineer Antonieta delos Santos said the 10-meter wide road project benefits residents of barangays Gonzales, Prado, Casillan, Luna Weste, Concepcion, and San Juan.
Delos Santos said the road rehabilitation project that started last quarter of 2017 and completed this year was funded by the World Bank, the national government through DA, and the provincial government of Pangasinan.
Also under PRPD, tomato trading post facility in Barangay Tugui Grande here is expected to benefit farmers from the first district of Pangasinan and nearby towns once it becomes operational.
Economy and business
The Internal Revenue Allotment share of the province increased from PHP3.49 billion in 2019 to PHP3.79 billion in 2020, hence, the province will operate on PHP4.46-billion budget next year, up by 10.3 percent from this year’s PHP4.13 billion.
Dagupan City and San Carlos City are among the top component cities in overall competitiveness in the Ilocos region based on the results of the 2019 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Dagupan City also tops in government efficiency, infrastructure, and resiliency among component cities in the region. San Carlos City follows in government efficiency.
Meanwhile, the national government, through the DTI, continues to help fourth, fifth, and sixth class municipalities or those with low income, with the “Negosyo Serbisyo sa Barangay” program.
Some 983 individuals from 70 barangays in the nine municipalities of Pangasinan are the beneficiaries of the program.
Peace and order
One of the high-profile cases recorded in the province on 2019 was the ambush of former Pangasinan Governor Amado Espino Jr. that killed his driver and one of his security aides.
Pangasinan police provincial director Redrico Maranan said cases against identified suspects have already been filed in court.
Authorities have filed two counts of murder and four counts of frustrated murder against 12 identified suspects and 10 other unidentified ones allegedly responsible for the ambush of the former governor.
Maranan assured that the province remains generally peaceful and orderly. (PNA)
