Still reeling from Kristine, Occidental Mindoro farmers now endure Leon

Farmers in Occidental Mindoro who have yet to recover from the impact of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine are now enduring the rains brought by Typhoon Leon, according to Mav Gonzales’ report in 24 Oras on Wednesday.

Some farmers in Santa Cruz are trying to harvest their crops as fast as they could since they were supposed to have done it during the middle of October but were unable to do so due to Kristine.

Other farmers have been mowing rice paddies the whole day.

“Taun-taon ho ito. Suwerte naman 'yung hindi nadapa, maraming maaani. Kami, nadapa lahat, wala na,” said Michael, a farmer.

(This happens every year. Lucky are those whose crops are still standing and can still be harvested. But in our case, we were not able to harvest any.)

“Imbes na masipag ka, wala na tatamarin na. Subukan ulit umutang kapag maani na ang lahat.”

(Instead of being motivated, it’s disheartening to work. We will try to borrow some money if we can still harvest anything.)

But not all farmers were fortunate to save their crops. In the case of Adeliza Papa, she was not able to harvest any due to the floods.

“Hindi na po tumigil 'yung ulan. Tumigil man po nang isang araw, lubog pa rin po sa tubig,” said Papa. “Pumunta po kanina 'yung asawa ko doon maitim na 'yung ilalim. Tapos may part po na maasim 'yung palay.”

(The rains are non-stop. Even if it stops, our fields are still underwater. My husband checked our crops and what’s underneath the water has turnedl dark. Some of our crops are already spoiled.)

While Adeliza’s sister was able to harvest some crops, she’s worried how she can dry them due to the incessant rains. They have no choice but to cover them along the road.

Papa said that this was the worst thing she experienced as a farmer of 25 years. She said she lost her P100,000 investment due to the typhoon.

“Inaasahan po namin na panggastos sa aming anak,” she said.

(We are expecting something to earn for our child.)

“Mangungutang na naman po ulit pang-umpisa, kung meron pa pong magpapautang.” she added. 

(We will try to borrow money again to start over, but only if someone will lend us.) 

—Vince Angelo Ferreras/RF, GMA Integrated News