Gearing up for El Niño

This week, 41 of the country’s 82 provinces have been affected by the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, prompting government to ramp up efforts to temper its repercussions.The bulletin board has been raised by Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum that all provinces will be affected depending on the month, although he said the peak will be in April, a month earlier that expected, or starting as from the end of the Holy Week which in previous years inflicted blistering heat.There is of course a Task Force El Niño, chaired by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. who emphasized this week the importance of the collective effort of various government agencies in addressing the impacts of drought.Teodoro also noted the need to strengthen public information to engage people in preparedness measures.The El Niño developed rapidly during July-August last year, and reached moderate strength by September and churned into a strong phenomenon from November 2023 to January 2024.Weather authorities now say the possible dry spells and drought could peak in April but the government, at the ready, revived a 2001 executive order creating a task force – chaired by Teodoro and co-chaired by Solidum – to start early preparations and resolve possible interventions.Solidum said the effects of the weather phenomenon will gradually decrease from April to June, which means rainfall could be back to normal levels in May or June.The Department of Science and Technology is expected to inform the local government units, being the first responders, on the conditions whether they can declare a state of calamity and use their calamity funds.There is also the El Niño National Action Plan, a living document, subject to regular reviews and revisions to maintain its relevance, effectiveness, and alignment with evolving circumstances, emerging challenges, stakeholder insights, and the attainment of specified objectives.Based on the latest assessment of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration, the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Masbate, Oriental Mindoro, Antique, Biliran, Capiz, Cebu, Eastern Samar, Guimaras, Iloilo, Leyte, Negros Oriental, Samar, Lanao del Norte, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi are now experiencing dry condition.Provinces under a dry spell are Abra, Aurora, Bataan, Isabela, Metropolitan Manila, Occidental Mindoro, Quirino, Rizal, Zambales and Negros Occidental while under drought conditions are Apayao, Benguet, Cagayan, Cavite, Ifugao, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Kalinga, La Union, Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Palawan and Pangasinan.Dry is when it is not a wet season, and the little rain dropping during that time is just normal for the period. Dry spell occurs when those little rains fall even below the normal for three consecutive months.As the El Niño continues to exhale threats on the population, there is an urgency to heed what Teodoro underscored as the importance of collective effort of government agencies in addressing the impacts of drought.They cannot be expected to turn a deaf ear to the call.

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