'Juan' damage to Benguet crops rises to P120 million; vegetable prices won't go up

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet, Philippines – Crop damage caused by typhoon “Juan” here has reached P120 million, said the provincial agricultural office.

Officials, however, said vegetable prices are not likely to go up because only 10 percent of the total production is damaged. 

Benguet agriculturist Lolita Bentrez said some 1,400 hectares of agricultural crops, mostly highland vegetables, were damaged in 13 towns of Benguet.                          

Damaged were crops in the flowering stage and those ready for harvest.

Bentrez said the crop damage caused by the typhoon will affect the quality of vegetable supply but not the volume. Authorities are still determining the extent of crop damage in other Cordillera provinces. Agricultural damage is expected to be greater than infrastructure damage.         

“Damage on agriculture would be tremendous, more than the fatalities,” said Olive Luces, director of the Office of Civil Defense in Cordillera.

Infrastructure damage was estimated to have reached P31.424 million. Benguet suffered P13.90 million worth of infrastructure damage, and Apayao P11.45 million.

Clearing operations in most Cordillera highways are still ongoing. The main road arteries to Baguio like Marcos Highway and Naguillan Road are now passable except for Kennon Road.                                                                                

Small landslides, road cuts and boulder slides along Halsema Highway (Baguio-Bontoc Road) and the Benguet-Nueva Vizcaya Road are being cleared.

The Department of Education, meanwhile, reported that at least 31 school buildings in Central Luzon, Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera Administrative Region were damaged by the typhoon.

Thirty-six schools in the regions were converted into temporary evacuation centers.

Undersecretary Alberto Muyot said the department is still assessing the damage in other provinces in Northern Luzon. – With Perseus Echeminada