P30M allocated to repair Ifugao rice terraces

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has set aside P20 million to repair the damaged rice terraces in four Ifugao towns, which were eroded through years of abnormally high rainfall, a top agency official said on Sunday.

Assistant Secretary Dante Delima, director of the DA national rice program, said the money would be distributed evenly among the towns of Banaue, Hungduan, Mayoyao and Kiangan so repairs could be completed by March, in time for the rice planting cycle.

Another P10 million from the pork barrel fund of Senator Francis Pangilinan would be coursed through the National Irrigation Administration to fund repairs of the ancient irrigation system that sustained the terraces of Banaue.