Immediate aid for drought-stricken farmers sought
The government needs to dispatch immediate help to farmers who are now bearing the brunt of the drought caused by El Niño to help them mitigate the negative effects of the weather phenomenon, according to re-electionist Sen. Sonny Angara.
Angara, who is running under the platform “Alagang Angara,” said many farmers, especially those in food-growing areas in the country, are in urgent need of assistance, whether in the form of cash, food aid or alternative livelihood.
“The government must ensure that intervention programs reach small-scale farmers and farmworkers to help them cope with and mitigate the extreme impacts of El Niño,” he said.
“Our farmers badly need food and alternative sources of income to compensate for the huge losses they incurred due to this ongoing drought,” he added.
The administration, according to the senator, should learn an important lesson from the 2016 El Niño episode, where a massive three-day protest rally in Kidapawan City ended in a bloody dispersal of drought-affected farmers seeking urgent food aid and subsidies from government.
The Kidapawan crisis left three farmers dead and over a hundred others injured.
“How can we forget the Kidapawan crisis where the government came too late, too little? It reminds us of how important it is for the muchneeded government aid to reach its intended recipients in a timely manner,” Angara said, adding that the government can help by “flooding areas hit by drought with assistance.”
Several provinces in the country have been placed under a state of calamity due to the impact of El Niño, the latest of which is Cebu, which sustained massive agricultural damage.
Latest data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council showed that agricultural damage caused by El Niño has reached P2.6 billion.
The country’s state weather bureau said El Niño conditions are expected to last until the end of May or June and could affect 42 provinces.
Angara said it was unfortunate that farmers, who belong to 60 percent of the nation’s poor, suffer the most from the impacts of El Niño.
Stronger political party system
As the nation prepares for the May 13 elections, re-electionist Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III has reiterated the need to strengthen the country’s political party system by encouraging citizens to be part of it.
Pimentel, chairman of the Senate committee on electoral reforms and people’s participation, sponsored Senate Bill 1984 or the Political Party System Act.
“Political parties must be stable if they are to survive and to serve the greater good of our democracy. They must be allowed to spread their influence through the efforts, toils and achievements of their members collectively,” he said.
“The passage of this bill will encourage our citizens to join a political party because they can now select a party which fits their political beliefs and inclination,” he added.
The measure, according to Pimentel, aims to institute reforms in campaign financing to promote accountability and transparency as well as to reduce opportunities for graft and corruption.
“It is incumbent upon us to craft the needed legislation to enhance it in our country. This can only be done if we provide the legal framework where reforms could be instituted on election campaign financing to promote party accountability and transparency and at the same time reduce the opportunities for graft and corruption,” he explained.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson yesterday said he would vote for the seven re-electionist senators, former senator Mar Roxas and former STAR columnist Dr. Willie Ong.
Lacson said senators in the 17th Congress agreed to support the re-electionists who he said worked hard to pass landmark bills during their terms.
They are Senators Angara, Pimentel, Bam Aquino, JV Ejercito, Cynthia Villar, Nancy Binay and Grace Poe.
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