The Office of Civil Defense said it has started implementing interventions to mitigate the effects of the El Niño phenomenon even as disaster management officials downplayed the possibility that a prolonged dry spell will result in a declaration of a nationwide state of calamity.
“The impact of El Nino will be area specific. I doubt we will come toa point where a national state of calamity will be declared but we are prepared for that,” Department of the Interior and Local Government Director Edgar Allan Tabell said.
The state weather bureau said the El Niño phenomenon could peak in the last quarter of this year and drag on until February next year.
“[But] it does not mean that after February, the El Niño is over.
There is a residual effect so you have to prepare for a long time,” said OCD administrator Ariel Nepomuceno.
As of August 21, PAGASA said 10 areas are already experiencing the dry spell, including Aklan, Capiz and parts of Mindanao.
“We are in the implementation phase because the situation calls for the immediate execution of the needed interventions. Now, to make the plan more comprehensive and encompassing, we are in discussion with private, local and international organizations,” Nepomuceno said.
Part of the government masterplan to counter the impacts of El Niño are to save vulnerable agricultural areas through appropriate water management and to rehabilitate irrecoverable areas.
Agencies such as the departments of Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources, Energy, Health and Interior have already presented their plans and activities for the areas of food security, water security, energy security, health, and public safety, respectively.
Joining the discussion with government agencies were officers andrepresentatives from the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), Arise Philippines, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) and UN-Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO).
The UN-OCHA and UN-FAO highlighted the support given by the UN humanitarian country team in previous El Niño experiences, including the distribution of farming equipment to agricultural folk.