KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato, May 26 (PIA)---In an effort to help drought-affected families in the province, the provincial government has fast tracked rice distribution to over 200,000 family beneficiaries.
Per report of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO), the relief operations which started on April 25 and will end today has benefited families from over 300 villages in the province’s lone city and 17 municipalities.
The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) headed the distribution in line with the May 9 local and national elections prohibition for local government units to distribute relief goods.
It can be noted that on January this year, the province was placed under state of calamity due to the effects of the El Niño which affected a total of 263,773 families and damaged around P1.1 billion worth of agricultural crops.
Meanwhile, aside from the rice distribution, the provincial government has initiated cloud seeding operations to combat drought.
Further, North Cotabato LGU has also strengthened the implementation of the Animal Dispersal Program to augment the qualified and affected families’ source of income.
Also, seeds assistance such as corn, rice and vegetables for farmer-beneficiaries has been regularly implemented in the province. (SJDuerme-PIA12 with report from LGonzales&RASotto-NorthCot Media Center)