Following the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm Opong, Iloilo suffered the biggest amount of agriculture losses among the provinces in Western Visayas.
Data from the Department of Agriculture (DA-6) showed that the weather disturbance left P1.4 million (141.5 metric tons) worth of damage in the province.
The province was followed by Guimaras, which incurred P231,836 (19.4 metric tons) in farm losses, and Antique with P19,464 (1.3 metric tons).
Overall, the damage to agricultage was pegged at P1.7 million covering more than 116 hectares of farmland in the region.
According to the agriculture department, vegetable farms were the hardest hit, with some rice fields also affected.
Opong also damaged 40 houses in the region. Antique recorded the highest with 16 damaged houses, followed by Iloilo with 15 houses (nine damaged and six destroyed), and Aklan with eight houses (seven damaged and one destroyed).
Flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains from Opong affected a total of 39,086 residents or 10,403 families in the region.
As part of their relief operations, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-6) provided P1.98 million worth of food, non-food items, and financial assistance to the affected families.IMT
