BUTUAN: The three-day distribution of financial aid to farmers and fishers in this city, whose sources of livelihoods were affected by the dry spell caused by the El Niño phenomenon, started Tuesday under the Presidential Assistance to Farmers, Fisherfolk and Families (PAFFF) program. During the three-day payout facilitated by the city government and the Department of Agriculture in the Caraga Region (DA-13), 4,684 farmers and fishers from different villages in this city will receive PHP10,000 each or a total PHP46.8 million. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. handed over the PAFFF funding to Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada during his visit here in June. Among Tuesday's aid recipients was Maricris Mundia Holzhauer, a vegetable farmer who thanked the government for the assistance. "It's my first time receiving this kind of assistance, and I'm very grateful. I appreciate that we will become beneficiaries if you are directly affected by El Niño, regardless of how many hectares you are tilling," Holzhauer said in an interview. She said the money would help her vegetable farm recover and ensure increased production after the drought. During the same June visit, Marcos turned over PHP12.48 million worth of PAFFF assistance for Surigao del Sur, PHP50 million for Agusan del Sur, PHP46.8 million for Butuan City, PHP28.2 million for Agusan del Norte, PHP10.5 million for Surigao del Norte and PHP10 million for Dinagat Islands. Source: Philippines News Agency