By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter
THE PHILIPPINES needs to work on long-term preparations and inter-agency communication to mitigate the impact of drought and dry spells during El Niño episodes, according to the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Philippines.
At a Senate hearing of the environment, natural resources, and climate change committee, UN OCHA Philippines Head Manja Vidic described El Niño as a slow-onset disaster requiring a different approach to preparations compared to typhoons.
“El Niño becomes a crisis because we wait too long, but we have enough time and months to prepare for this compared to typhoons,” she said.
“It’s probably a governance issue rather than something that is purely a natural disaster issue.”
She said her office has noted some sound practices in response to El Niño, singling out the information caravans organized by Bicol local governments.
“The LGUs did go ahead and communicated with the tools it had in place and engaged with the local population,” Ms. Vidic said.
Farm damage caused by El Niño was reckoned at P15.3 billion, with 333,195 farmers and fisherfolk affected by droughts and dry spells, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
In its final farm damage bulletin connected to El Niño, the DA said crop losses amounted to 784,344 metric tons, spanning farmland of 270,855 hectares.
About 184,182 hectares of crops were deemed recoverable, it added.
Palawan, Iloilo, Camarines Sur and Occidental Mindoro were most affected by these dry spells and drought, the DA said.
In June the government weather service, known as PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration), announced the end of El Niño after conditions in the tropical Pacific returned to El Niño Southern Oscillation neutral levels, meaning neither El Niño nor La Niña was in effect.
