Damage to crops due to bad weather has ballooned to over P300 million, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) reported on Tuesday.

In a briefing in Palace on Tuesday, NIA Deputy Administrator Josephine Salazar said around P339.3 million worth of crops were damaged while 23,385 farmers were affected in the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Cordillera Administrative Region and Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (UPRIIS) area.

However, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported a much lower agricultural losses of P134.66 million in the same regions except CAR and UPRIIS area.

Of the amount, rice crops had the highest recorded losses of 90.51 percent amounting to P121.88 million.

Other losses also incurred due to damage to corn at 3.96 percent (P5.34 million), high value crops at 3.37 percent (P4.53 million) and others including livestock and poultry (P2.85 million), fisheries (P44,950) and cassava (P9,000) at 2.16 percent.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) the damage to infrastructure in Ilocos, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao and CAR also doubled to P413,020,214.38.

The death toll also increased to six persons with six missing from the seven reported on Monday.

Affected families rose to 362,465 or 1,266,322 persons affected because of the bad weather condition. Out of the number, 4,991 families or 17,116 persons were displaced and being served within the 277 evacuation centers while 14,524 families or 65,219 persons were outside evacuation centers.

As of Tuesday, the number of stranded passengers, truck drivers and cargo helpers went down to 21 in two ports in the National Capital Region, Southern Visayas.

It also recorded one stranded vessel and eight others with 54 motorbancas that are taking shelter due to the Southwest Monsoon. Robina Asido/DMS