Strawberry farm in La Trinidad, Benguet damaged by floodwaters

The famous strawberry farm in La Trinidad, Benguet has been completely covered by floodwaters due to the effects of Tropical Storm Emong.

According to the report of EJ Gomez on "24 Oras" Friday, the farm looked like a lake due to the floodwater in the areas caused by heavy rains.

“Biglang umapaw yung tubig. Wala na, nasira na. Yung pananim namin... kawawa kami. Mangutang ulit, palit ng pananim,” said farmer Segundo Balanoy.

(The water suddenly rose. That was it, the farm is ruined. Our harvest... we’re unfortunate. We’ll take out another loan and replace our crops.)

The flood subsided at around 10 a.m. on Friday.

Several areas of Benguet had been previously placed under Signals No. 2 and 3 because of the active weather systems.

Tourist spots in Benguet were among the areas declared temporarily suspended by the Department of Tourism (DOT) on Friday due to the impact of bad weather.

PAGASA said that as of 5 p.m., Tropical Storm Emong is approaching Batanes and may begin to weaken for the rest of the forecast period. Only Batanes and Babuyan Islands remain under Signal No. 2. — Jiselle Anne C. Casucian/BAP, GMA Integrated News