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