Over 4,000 farmers have been affected by an El Niño-induced dry spell in the Western Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula, which has also caused an estimated P151.3 million in damage to agriculture there, the government said over the weekend.
In a statement, Task Force El Niño said the administration continues to assist farmers badly affected by the dry spell.
This was despite the number of provinces affected by El Niño decreased to 41 from 50, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
The state weather bureau said temperatures could reach up to 36.5 degrees Celsius nationwide and up to 40 degrees Celsius in Metro Manila and Northern Luzon.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., Task Force El Niño head, assured President Marcos that the agency and local disaster risk reduction and management councils (DRRMCs) were actively working to mitigate the impact of the climate disturbance.
El Niño was expected to affect 10 more provinces by the end ofFebruary, according to the task force, with 41 provinces already reeling under the intense heat.
PAGASA warned that the country still has to experience the full effects of El Niño, especially since the amihan or northeast monsoon which brings cold air, was not yet over.
“We are not yet in our warm and dry season months. We will experience more intense weather in the coming season. We will experience El Niño, possibly up to March or April and May. It can extend up to June,” Ana Lisa Solis of PAGASA’s Climatology and Agrometeorology Division said in an interview with Super Radyo DZBB.
Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Joey Villarama, spokesman for Task Force El Nino, said about 93 percent of the damage was in palay and six percent in corn.
“More qualitative. They are being given heat tolerant seeds, domestic animals, social protection, financial aid the amount of which I don’t know, but these are going on,” Villarama said in a news forum on Saturday.
“Apart from the direct interventions, their irrigation canals and equipment are also being fixed to help the greatly affected farmers,” he added.
According to Villarama, the 41 provinces identified to be affected by El Niño have already been receiving interventions from the government through the task force.
He said most of the provinces experiencing drought in Luzon have also received assistance from the National Irrigation Administration and the Department of Agriculture.
Several strategies in farming have been identified, such as alternate wetting and drying, and quick turnaround which the farmers could explore to continue planting rice, he added.
The DA also anticipates possible infestations in some farms due to the extreme heat, he said.
In the meantime, financial aid will be given to the affected farmers.
They will also be given an alternative source of income such as domestic animals or livestock and provided with heat tolerant and heat resistant seedlings, Villarama said.
The provinces of Apayao, Benguet, Cagayan, Cavite, Ifugao, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Kalinga, La Union, Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Palawan, and Pangasinan were reportedly experiencing drought.
During the second task force meeting chaired by Teodoro in Camp Aguinaldo, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Marlo Iringan said regional directors, as well as local DRRMCs are being alerted for El Niño response efforts.
“Our local chief executives and DRRMCs are in the best position to determine the needs of their communities during crisis and emergencies,” Teodoro said.
This was after the DILG agreed with Teodoro’s position to align local government units as well as provincial and city-level DRRMCs with the President’s whole-of-government approach to mitigate and manage the impact of El Niño.
“As in any disaster or calamity, the provincial, city, municipal and barangay-level DRRMCs should take the lead and get involved,” Teodoro told Iringan during the task force meeting on Feb. 12.
Teodoro stressed that the task force’s efforts will streamline the national government’s response to the weather phenomenon, saying that the President wants to focus on “systematic, holistic, and results-driven interventions.”
“We should all cooperate and coordinate as we deal with the effects of and concerns on El Niño. We do not need a new structure. What we need is to breathe fresh energy and a new lease on life on the existing networks and links that we have all access to,” the Defense chief and task force chairperson said.
“At the regional- and local government-levels, we can reignite old connections of collaboration. We have done this in handling past disasters and calamities. The provincial DRRMCs and city DRRMCs should restart reconnecting,” Secretary Teodoro said.
On January 19, President Marcos signed Executive Order No. 53 to streamline, reactivate, and reconstitute the old El Niño task forces under EO No. 16 (s. 2001) and Memorandum Order No. 38 (s. 2019).
Teodoro was designated as chairperson of the task force, while Secretary of Science and Technology Renato Solidum was designated as co-chairperson.
Under EO No. 53, the President instructed the task force to develop a comprehensive disaster preparedness and rehabilitation plan for El Niño and La Niña to provide “systematic, holistic, and results-driven interventions” to help the public cope and minimize their devastating effects.