Sugarcane pest hits 36,000 WV families as aid expands

ILOILO CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is ramping up cash assistance for sugarcane farmers hit by the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI) as the infestation has affected at least 36,361 families in Iloilo and Capiz.

Based on DSWD data as of Sept. 21, 18,719 affected families are in Capiz, 16,642 in Iloilo, and 2,082 in Passi City, which declared a state of calamity on Aug. 25 because of the infestation.

The DSWD data also showed that 498 barangays have been affected by RSSI: 170 in Capiz and 328 in Iloilo. Passi City accounts for 43 affected barangays.

First detected in the Philippines in 2022, the pest feeds on sugarcane sap, and heavy infestations can reduce sugar content by nearly half, according to the Sugar Regulatory Administration.

Provincial data as of Sept. 3 showed that the infestation had affected 9,908.57 hectares of sugarcane and 9,432 farmers in 27 local government units in Iloilo.

Passi City Mayor Stephen Palmares said Monday that the number of sugarcane planters and workers affected by RSSI in the city had reached “more or less 7,000.”

The infestation has affected 49 of the city’s 51 barangays, he added.

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Monday led the distribution of Emergency Cash Transfer assistance to affected sugarcane farmers in Passi City. Each qualified beneficiary received PHP 10,325.

“Our target here in Passi City is 6,000 sugarcane farmers who will receive PHP 10,000. We will continue monitoring our farmers. The president cares for you; you are important, which is why he sent me here to know what else our sugarcane farmers in Passi City need,” Gatchalian said.

During the initial rollout, 1,163 beneficiaries received assistance totaling PHP 12,007,975.

Palmares said the initial rollout prioritized farmers who were among the first to be affected by the infestation.

“RSSI is progressive, and the first affected is the first to get assistance. When we say progressive, the impact of RSSI on us is not uniform. It goes from one place to another and, at times, expands,” he said.

Palmares said agricultural extension workers in each barangay helped the city government identify beneficiaries for the DSWD assistance.

“Now, we were able to slightly contain it. But we will have a second round of beneficiaries,” he said, noting that the city’s declaration of a state of calamity helped facilitate the procurement of insecticides as a preventive measure.

Aside from Passi City, the neighboring town of San Enrique also declared a state of calamity on Sept. 22 because of the RSSI infestation.

Meanwhile, the DSWD distributed more than PHP 105 million in emergency cash assistance to RSSI-affected sugarcane farmers and plantation workers in Capiz from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.

The first batch covered 9,810 beneficiaries from the municipalities of Pilar, President Roxas, Dao, and Ma-ayon.

On Aug. 10, the Capiz provincial board, or Sangguniang Panlalawigan, passed a resolution declaring the province under a state of calamity.

New DSWD regional warehouse

Gatchalian also inspected the ongoing construction of the agency’s regional warehouse in Barangay Tumcon Ilaya, Pototan, Iloilo, as part of efforts to strengthen disaster preparedness and response in Western Visayas.

The facility will serve as a regional hub for receiving, storing, processing, and packaging donated and procured food and non-food items intended for disaster-affected families.

The warehouse is being built on a lot of nearly half a hectare donated by the Pototan local government.

The facility will be able to store up to 150,000 family food packs (FFPs) and will serve as the DSWD’s primary regional stockpiling hub.

DSWD data showed 171,143 prepositioned FFPs across the provinces of Western Visayas as of Oct. 1. The agency also has 35,521 FFPs at its regional warehouse in Oton and another 3,400 at the new warehouse in Pototan.

Gatchalian said the warehouse’s central location would allow the agency to expand its stockpiling capacity and facilitate the distribution of relief supplies across Western Visayas.

“Pototan is centrally located, near Roxas and Antique, and airport, seaports around the corner, It is important that we can expand it all the way to 150,000 FFPs by early next year so we can have a larger stockpile here in Western Visayas,” he said.

The facility is currently undergoing its first phase of construction and is targeted to be fully operational by the first quarter of 2027.

Gatchalian said funding for the second and third phases had already been allocated.