NEW YORK
Last year had already been unkind to Renato Gameng, a farm worker in the Philippines’ northern Isabela province. The coronavirus brought periodic lockdowns, leaving farmers stranded from their crops. A controversial rice import liberalisation law had decimated domestic rice production, leaving fewer jobs.
Then, late in 2020, the Philippines was hit by six straight storms culminating in November’s Typhoon Vamco. The floods that followed washed out farm land in Gameng’s Cagayan Valley region, sweeping away houses and animals, and destroying corn and rice crops during the harvest season.
Today, food prices have skyrocketed in local markets, and temporary farm jobs are scarce. “Our normal lives are in poverty,” said Gameng. “This is not normal for us.”