Farmers Government Aid

President Corazon Aquino declared a state of public calamity Friday in two southern Philippine provinces among the worst hit by a drought. Aquino ordered relief assistance and rehabilitation for more than 5,200 families farming in Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur provinces, 500 miles south of Manila. The directive did not specify what form of assistance would be given to the farmers.

President Corazon Aquino declared a state of public calamity Friday in two southern Philippine provinces among the worst hit by a drought. Aquino ordered relief assistance and rehabilitation for more than 5,200 families farming in Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur provinces, 500 miles south of Manila. The directive did not specify what form of assistance would be given to the farmers.

The House on Thursday passed a farm bill that would increase government subsidies for major commodities by 70% over the next decade, scrapping a 6-year-old law that sought to wean farmers off government aid. The bill also includes an important provision for many in California: It restores federal food stamp benefits for legal immigrants who lost them in 1996 under the Welfare Reform Act.

Contra leaders pledged Saturday to begin the stalled process of disarming their forces this week in return for the permanent demilitarization of a remote corner of Nicaragua where former guerrillas will settle as pioneer farmers with government aid. The accord, announced at 1 a.m. after 15 hours of talks, was the first step by President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro's 10-day-old administration to demilitarize Nicaragua after eight years of war between the U.S.