ILOILO CITY, Feb. 1 -- Governor Arthur Defensor on Thursday assured the provincial government is prepared to assist Iloilo farmers affected by the El Nino phenomenon.

"We are prepared to give input assistance that we can source from our disaster funds. But one of our measures, because El N Nino means a reduction of water, we are prepared to add to our small-scale irrigation projects, and we have a budget for that already," Defensor said in a media briefing.

"And instead of giving cash assistance, we help secure insurance for our qualified farmers so that when they are hit, they get the benefit of the insurance policy of the government, which is bigger," he added.

The governor said the province's measures are contained in the agricultur...