Manila, May 7 -- All agricultural damage reports on the ground due to the El Nino phenomenon undergo thorough verification before being released to the public, a Department of Agriculture (DA) official said Monday.

"Walang underreporting, lahat ng damage na nare-report sa amin, after careful validation, nire-report iyan at nilalabas (There's no underreporting, all damage reported to us, is being reported and released after careful validation)," Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said in an ambush interview on the sidelines of the Philippine Inter-Agency Committee on Zoonoses leadership turnover on Monday.

The DA official made the statement after former agriculture chief Leonardo Montemayor relayed a report that supposedly sho...