Crops, livestock and fishing boats worth some P78.781 million were lost in the five towns in northern Cebu that were affected by typhoon Ruby last week.

The Provincial Government distributed 1,182 sacks of rice to these areas, based on the data provided by the Provincial Information Office (PIO) last Wednesday.

Provincial Agriculturist Roldan Saragena said they already assigned a team to these areas.

The most affected crops are bananas and corn, he said.

According to records of the Provincial Agriculturist Office (PAO), Tabogon’s damage to crops and livestock reached P3.702 million.

In Bantayan, the damage to corn, banana and vegetables reached P3.302 million. The town also lost fishing boats worth around P405,000.

At least P27,500 worth of crops were damaged in the town of Carmen.

In the data provided by PIO, San Remigio lost P71.55 million worth of crops, while Medellin lost fishing boats worth P200,000.

The Province said the seawall in midwestern town of Ronda was also damaged, and it will cost P100,000 to fix.

Saragena said farmers and fishermen who are insured in the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. can visit their office or go directly to the insurance agency so the damage to their crops or fisheries can be assessed and the agency can process the release of assistance.

He said the delay of the municipalities’ submission of their damage assessment to agriculture is either due to lack of manpower or the availability of data in the barangays. Also, local counterparts may have been victims of the calamity, too.

In a separate interview, Gov. Hilario Davide III said the assessment that the Province did was not easy that’s why the Capitol deployed rapid assessment teams after the typhoon.He said local government units were better prepared this year compared to when super typhoon Yolanda struck last year.

Source - http://www.sunstar.com.ph/