SAN MANUEL -- What has happened to the P208 million calamity assistance from the Department of Agriculture (DA) for the farmers of Pangasinan?

This was the question of the local officials and farmers whose rice crops were destroyed when a one-storey high floodwater last October 9 caused by typhoon Ondoy drowned Eastern and Central Pangasinan.

"The Manny Pacquiao Blog". Click here for stories and updates on the Filipino boxing champ.

Senator Loren Legarda revealed last Wednesday during the onsite hearing of the Senate Committee on Climate Change here that of the P1.8 billion calamity assistance fund of the DA for affected farmers, P208 was alloted for the Pangasinan.

But more than a month after the onslaught of typhoon Pepeng, the affected farmers in Pangasinan have yet to feel the P208-million assistance.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said Thursday when asked on the status of the fund "I will check on that."

Yap graced the groundbreaking of the San Roque Dam re-regulating pond here, as well as, the Korean funded Rice Processing Center at the provincial nursery in Sta. Barbara town.

"The problem is the gap between what the National Government says and the DA Central Office and the DA Ilocos Region office," Legarda expressed.

"Despite the fact that the DA has allocated that and it has been almost two months since Pepeng has hit ... and there has been a request. In fact, they (DA) even have a breakdown of how they spent it," she remarked.

"That's what I want to confirm ... they have alloted funds for rice, for corn, for high value crops, for poultry, fisheries ... and this is for P208 million. Iba pa yong request ng DA for the P4.9 billion from the P12 billion unprogrammed fund," she further stated.

Legarda also chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and is vice chairman of the Committee on Finance.

"We allocate budget but we seemed haven't seeing results and improvements," she said.

Because of this, the Senator said she want to see first what happened to the 2009 budget before they approve the budget for next year.

Meanwhile, Vice Governor Marlyn Primicias-Agabas said during the committee hearing that the report presented by the DA regional director during the question hour last Monday is not in consonance with the report of the provincial agriculturist.

DA Region 1 (Ilocos Region) Technical Officer Chris Bautista reported at the committee hearing that in Pangasinan, 60,259 hectares of rice were damaged by the flooding.

Out of this, 12,300 hectares of rice crops were declared as totally damaged while 47,969 were partially damaged.

On the distribution of seeds and fertilizer assistance to the farmers, Yap said: "a delay of two weeks or three weeks, if we follow the process of procurement, it is better. Because if we rush it, we cannot answer if we were asked. We are careful on procurement."