Although Typhoon Lando did not directly hit Nueva Ecija but the nearby provinces of Aurora and Nueva Vizcaya, its howling winds and strong rains resulted in massive floods that greatly affected the standing rice crops and vegetables in October. The flood carried with it silt that flattened the crops.
About 137,000 hectares of ricelands suffered huge losses in expected harvest due to the strong winds and flood, according to a report of Serafin Santos, provincial agriculturist of Nueva Ecija.
He said most of the rice crop in the province was about to be harvested when the typhoon unleashed its force in the province. He reported that the damage wrought P3.4-billion losses.
Santos said that all of the 27 towns and five cities in the province reported heavy losses.
The standing rice crop in 7,088 hectares were totally destroyed while those in 130,413 hectares suffered partial damages.
Gabaldon town, which is at the foot of the Sierra Madre mountain ranges, reported total palay damage in its 1,095 hectares.
The other towns and cities which reported heavy losses in expected harvest from the riceland areas were Cabanatuan City (9,966 ha), Guimba (8,000 ha), Sta. Rosa (7,448 ha), Science City of Muñoz (7,392 ha), Gapan City (7,193 ha), San Antonio (6,712 ha), Cuyapo (6,435 ha), Rizal (5,958 ha), Jaen (5,863 ha), Talavera (5,818), Gen. Natividad (4,550 ha), Aliaga (4,671 ha), San Jose City (4.441 ha), and Zaragoza (3,893 ha). The farmers lamented that had they planted earlier, their crop could not have suffered huge losses. They blamed the late release of irrigation water which prevented them from planting earlier.
Farm workers
Also affected by the failed rice cropping were the farm workers who get their share from harvesting the crop at seven cavans per 100 cavans harvested.
“I only got a share of two cavans from harvesting the palay crop,” Marlon Manale, 38, of the Science City of Muñoz, said. “I used to take home more than 12 cavans during the harvesting season,” he added.
He also lamented the use of combine harvester machine by the landowners which robbed them of the opportunities to earn from harvesting. The machine harvests, threshes, cleans and bags the grains in single operation.
In the aftermath of flood brought by Typhoon Nona, report officer Amalia Bulanadi in the provincial agricultural office, said 42,272 bags of seeds in seedbeds or in seedling stage and newly planted ones were either totally or partially destroyed. The value was placed at P338,197,380.
For the hybrid rice seeds alone close to 10,000 bags of 15 kilograms each were totally destroyed. Each bag costs P4,500. The towns of Zaragoza, San Antonio, and Sta. Rosa suffered the most in terms of seeds, seedlings and newly planted rice.
Nueva Ecija, which had been the consistent top rice producer in the country, heavily depends on the rice economy valued at over P60 billion.
A consolidated report in year 2000 said that of the total labor force of 617,000 (37 percent of the population), 287,000 were in agriculture. About 60 percent of the farmers in Nueva Ecija have landholdings of about one hectare while 34 percent have landholdings of three to four hectares.
Hope
But there is big ray of hope for Nueva Ecija despite the big loss in palay production and slackened business in milling and trading of rice as “packets of economies” are coming to the province. They are, according to Gov. Aurelio Umali and Reynaldo Arimbuyutan, chapter president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Nueva Ecija, expected to boost employment opportunities that will provide income to many Novo Ecijanos.
Umali said the construction of the P50.18-billion facilities of the New Bilibid Prison in Barangay Nazareth in Gen. Tinio town within the Army reservation in Fort Magsaysay is already ascertained.
To be completed in three years, it will employ an estimated 40,000 construction workers during the development phase and 4,800 custodial and rehabilitation officers and 9,000 people for prison maintenance during the operation phase.
“Once operational, it will spawn big business opportunities to cater to the needs of the 21,000 inmates from Muntinlupa and 2,000 from the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong and from many vistors,” Umali said.
Also set to operate in the province is the newly established P80-million “Bagsakan Center” in Barangay Caalibangbangan in Cabanatuan City. The center, a joint project of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the provincial government, will serve as a trading post for various Nueva Ecija–produced agricultural products.
In Palayan City, a P1.6-billion business hub and government center will be established by a Malaysian conglomerate in cooperation with the provincial government. “When completed, it will generate 13,000 jobs, 10,000 of which will be in call center, with the rest to come from the operations of the various commercial establishments, the hotel and the national government offices,” Umali said.
Arimbuyutan said the coming May elections next year will provide “huge money flow” that will benefit small businessmen with income in terms of campaign materials. It will also provide opportunities in earnings for those that will provide services for the candidates, he said.
“More shopping malls and big hotel will be opened next year in Nueva Ecija towns and cities,” Arimbuyutan said. They will be located in Cabanatuan and San Jose cities and in Sta. Rosa and Talavera towns,” he added.
SM
In Cabanatuan City, two branches of the SM chain of malls one of which is the biggest in Luzon outside of Metro Manila, are currently operating, “They are employing 15,000 workers,” said Cabanatuan Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara.
A branch of Walter Mart opened in Cabanatuan City recently.
Arimbuyutan said the Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEx), which will connect Tarlac, Cabanatuan and San Jose City with a four-lane highway, is providing hope for a rosier future for a brisk business in Nueva Ecija. Phase
1 of the 65.4-km expressway, will be completed in July 2017. Construction of Phase I of the project, which is 30.7 km in length, will start next year while Phase II, which is a 37.7 expressway from Cabanatuan to San Jose City, will follow next.
The total cost of the expressway to be funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and its maintenance and operation thru a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme is about P19 billion.
