Farmers in Baggao, Cagayan face mounting debts as harvests were swept away by floods

At the height of Typhoon Leon in Baggao, Cagayan, several farmers braved the raging flood waters to salvage sacks of corn they had earlier harvested.

In his "24 Oras" report, Jonathan Andal found out that the men were among the farmers residing in the far-flung area of  Barangay Hacienda Intal.

Around 100 corn farmers were affected by the typhoon, according to a local official.

The farmers fear the possibility of facing mounting debts as the income they expect from the last harvest could no longer be realized due to the flood.

Now, they need to seek loans anew to plant new crops.

"Pampalit lang po sana ng binhi. Farm inputs po kasi ang problems dito sa main. ...Kahit ganito ang nangyayari sa main, binabayaran namin ang interest," said Jaylord Pattung, a barangay councilman.

GMA Integrated News is trying to get the reaction of the local government.

Josie Quibasan, a farmer, said she lost three tons of corn harvest.

"Sana may mabuting pusong tumulong sa amin para mabalik lang yung nawala sa amin sir kasi utang lang namin yun sir. 'Di ko alam kung paano namin yun mababayaran," she said.

(We hope good-hearted people will come so we can recover our losses.  Those are loans, we don't know how we can pay them.)

Quibasan was able to salvage 45 sacks of corn, but some have turned black and could no longer command a good price.

The farmers said the floodwater came from a stream that overflowed for the first time and reached the area where they store their corn harvests.

The GMA Integrated News team, through the GMA Kapuso Foundation, distributed bags of relief items to the community.

"Hindi ko... akalain na makarating kayo dito sa amin kasi malayo po ito sa amin sir," Quibasan said, thanking the foundation.  —LDF, GMA Integrated News