PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. has ordered the El Niño Task Force to start preparations for the possible effects of the La Niña, a climate pattern that characterizes above average rains.
Defense Secretary and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) chairman Gilberto Teodoro Jr., who is also the task force’s chairman, said the President wants the task force to be prepared to mitigate and minimize of the rainy season.
“As El Niño diminishes in its intensity, we must now start preparing for the arrival of La Niña, which is expected to bring above normal rainfall in the country,” said Teodoro.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has said La Niña may start during the June-July-August season.
Last March, PAGASA reported that while the El Niño is already weakening, its effect will still persist until this month. El Niño is a weather phenomenon that increases the likelihood of below-normal rainfall conditions that may lead to dry spells and droughts.
“Let’s work to mitigate and minimize the damage it can cause to lives and properties. Let us do our best, as the task force has always been doing,” Teodoro said, referring to La Niña.
Task Force El Niño spokesman Communications Assistant Secretary Joey Villarama said that despite the weakening of El Niño, the last weeks of May are still very critical in terms of water, energy and food conservation.
“Even if we are at the tail end of El Niño, before the climate pattern shifts to neutral conditions and eventually La Niña, the lingering effects of El Niño in the remaining days of this month will still have an impact on our limited resources. We continue to enjoin everyone to be wise in using water, electricity and even food until El Niño has been officially terminated and in preparation for La Niña,” said Villarama.
The Task Force El Niño was established last January by virtue of President Marcos Jr’s Executive Order No. 53.
Under the executive order, the President ordered the task force to develop a comprehensive plan to provide “systematic, holistic, and results-driven interventions” to minimize the effect of El Niño.
The NDRRMC, in a situational report yesterday, said 280 cities and municipalities are under state of calamity due to El Niño.
It said 119 of these local government units are in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), while 39 LGUs in Cagayan Valley are also under state of calamity, as well as 35 in Western Visayas, 31 in Soccsksargen, 28 in Central Visayas, 16 in Mimaropa, four in Northern Mindanao, three in Zamboanga Peninsula, two each in Eastern Visayas and Ilocos region, and one in Cordillera Administrative Region.
The NDRRMC said 841,291 families or 3,337,154 individuals were affected by El Niño in 13 regions.
The top three regions with affected population are Western Visayas (325,469 families or 1,213,740 individuals); Soccsksargen (128,885 families or 630,745 individuals); and BARMM (126,368 families or 623,231 individuals).
