The Department of Agriculture (DA) has provided P10 million worth of “Survival and Recovery” (SURE) loans to farmers and fishermen in Marawi City who are adversely affected by the continuing firefight between government security forces and local terrorists.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the DA is also planning to seed the 35,000-hectare Lake Lanao, which straddles the city, with 5 million indigenous fish fingerlings.
The DA turned over P10 million on July 22, the DA chief said, in a bid to spur recovery of local farmers and fishermen from economic losses inflicted by the battle to flush out ISIS-linked terrorists from the city. The turnover was led by Agriculture Undersecretary Ranibai Dilangalen, Piñol said in a statement.
Each Marawi farmer identified by the regional DA office could avail himself or herself a loan of P25,000 at zero interest, of which P5,000 has already been distributed to farmers, according to Dilangalen.
“The DA is the first agency to distribute cash relief to the Marawi farmer-evacuees under the Task Force Bangon Marawi approved by President Duterte for the recovery of Marawi,” Dilangalen said.
The DA also delivers weekly relief goods to the Departments of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of the National Defense (DND) for distribution to evacuees from the city and soldiers battling the insurgents, Piñol said.
He said the DA expects to receive a fresh donation of 100,000 ready-to-eat halal food packs from Ana’s Breeder Farm, owned by the Suy family of Davao City, for distribution to the affected farmers and soldiers.
The Suy family has already made an initial donation of halal-certified food packs.
The DA has coordinated with the DND to identify the safe and best area in Lake Lanao to sow the fingerlings, Piñol said. “Most fishermen in Lanao del Sur and Marawi are currently unable to fish in the lake because of security concerns.”
Piñol said the DA would also distribute 500 new fiberglass fishing boats to fishermen in Lanao del Sur.