RP sets 2.8b pesos to cushion El Nino

RP sets 2.8b pesos to cushion El Nino

MANILA: The Philippine government is setting aside 2.8 billion
pesos (US$560 million) to mitigate any adverse impact on the
country's agricultural sector that could be stoked by the El Nino
weather pattern, which is expected between October to June next
year.

Acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable told reporters Tuesday
the Department of Agriculture prepared the budget estimates using
a worst-case assumption that El Nino will reduce annual rainfall
by more than 20 percent and would affect around 43 provinces.

He said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo also ordered that
food distribution networks be set up to avoid possible shortages
of various agricultural products.

The last El Nino that hit the country in 1998 caused a severe
drought and set off a sharp rise in food prices.

Agriculture accounts for a fifth of the Philippines' annual
gross domestic output and the sector employs nearly 40 percent of
the workforce. --Dow Jones