Floods ruin farms in 3 Ifugao villages

LAMUT, Ifugao: Flooding in this town on Monday, August 1, destroyed farmlands in the low-lying villages of Bimpal, Nayon and Payawan. Damage to agriculture was placed at P17 million.

Heavy equipment was not immediately available on Monday night but clearing operations were completed on August 2.

Mayor Victomar Bunnol said the flooding serves as an “eye-opener” on the need to be always ready for calamities.

“The bayanihan (cooperation) spirit of the people is admirable for they have to manually work together in clearing clogged canals and roads during and after the floods,” Bunnol added.

Despite lack of funds, according to the mayor, local officials and villagers have been resilient in coping with the floods as well as the strong earthquake that hit neighboring Ilocos Region last week.

The P24-million national tax allotment this year from Lamut’s P164-million annual share in 2021 is a big factor in funding disaster-related assistance, he said.

But Bunnul added that the town cannot fund river-control projects with its P140-million fund for this year and they would ask for assistance from the national government.

Relief goods were given immediately to victims of the flooding, including stranded students at an Ifugao state university, he said.