Iloilo farmers lose PHP18M to ‘Tino’

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

Iloilo province suffered an estimated PHP 18.27 million in agricultural losses from Typhoon Tino, making it the hardest-hit area in Western Visayas, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 6 reported.

The storm damaged 810.14 hectares of cropland in the province, resulting in a production loss of 704.04 metric tons.

At least 130.76 hectares were declared beyond recovery, the OCD-6 report stated.

A total of 1,233 farmers were affected by the typhoon, which brought heavy rains and widespread flooding to several municipalities.

Iloilo accounted for nearly half of the region’s total agricultural losses, which reached PHP 40.07 million.

Guimaras and Antique sustained agricultural damage worth PHP 9.78 million and PHP 7.04 million, respectively.

Infrastructure losses across Antique, Iloilo, Guimaras, and Aklan amounted to PHP 9.1 million, with Aklan recording the highest at PHP 3.3 million, followed by Iloilo with PHP 1.5 million.

The storm also damaged 12,773 houses in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and Guimaras, including 317 that were totally destroyed.

Iloilo logged the highest number of damaged houses at 5,802, followed by Antique with 2,980 and Guimaras with 2,249.

Due to the extent of the damage, the local governments of Pototan and Dumangas in Iloilo declared a state of calamity on November 7.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development said PHP 52.4 million in assistance had been distributed to 73,092 families, out of 198,286 families identified as in need of aid.

The regional death toll from Typhoon Tino remained at six.

Uwan leaves 915 stranded

At least 915 passengers were stranded across Western Visayas as Supertyphoon Uwan disrupted sea travel over the weekend.

The OCD-6 said the stranded passengers included 789 in Iloilo and 115 in Aklan, while 458 rolling cargoes, 40 vessels, and four motorbancas were unable to set sail due to rough seas.

The storm also damaged 41 houses in Capiz and Iloilo, 11 of which were totally destroyed.

OCD-6 added that Uwan prompted local governments to conduct preemptive evacuations involving 2,956 families or 9,099 individuals, mostly from coastal areas.

Of these, 2,792 families were from Capiz and 155 from Iloilo.

Data also showed that 8,970 families or 26,989 individuals across 136 barangays in Western Visayas were affected by heavy rains and flooding.