Farmers fear destruction of crops due to Pepito

Farmers in Nueva Ecija were worried that Tropical Storm Pepito would destroy their palay or rice fields.

The province was placed under signal number 2 and experienced heavy rains.

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James Agustin reported on “24 Oras” that Lito Cauzon could not harvest around 3 hectares of rice on Tuesday morning due to the bad weather.

“‘Pagka ganito pong masama panahon lalo na mag a-ani, mahirap po kasi nga po, una-unahan diyan bababa ‘yung presyo ng palay. Hindi bale po sana kung ang presyo ay mga P16, okay an rin po may kita ng kaunti,” Cauzon said.

According to Cauzon, the palay was sold at P12.35 per kilo on Monday.

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The farmer added they were already losing profit due to the low price. He now expects further loss due to the crops destroyed by Tropical Storm Pepito.

“Kapag inani po ‘yan halos wala na po matitira dahil po sasama na sa harvester, sasama na sa dayami. Ang matitira na lang po diyan baka po sa halip na, halimbawa po umani ka ng isang daan sa isang hektarya, baka ma-swerte na po ‘yung matiran ka ng dalawang kaban,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Office of Civil Defense IV-A situation report said that more than 2,000 families in Quezon province were affected by Pepito.

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Pepito destorys crops in Nueva Ecija

The affected families, 2,312 of them or 5,783 individuals, including those outside evacuation centers, were from the towns of Lopez, Calauag, General Luna, Gumaca, and Tagkawayan.

According to Pagasa’s severe weather bulletin issued at 8 am today, Pepito is forecast to move westward over the West Philippine Sea today before slowing down and turning northwestward tomorrow.

It is forecast to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) tomorrow morning or afternoon. On the forecast track, Pepito will accelerate and turn westward beginning Friday towards Vietnam’s central portion.

Today, Pepito will bring moderate to heavy rains over Batanes, Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, La Union, Apayao, Benguet, Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro, and Calamian Islands. Light to moderate with heavy rains will be experienced over Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon.