OCD: National action plan for El Niño finalized

The government has finalized its National Action Plan for El Niño to mitigate the possible effects of the phenomenon to the country, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) spokesperson Director Edgar Posadas said Friday.

Posadas told GMA Integrated News’ Unang Balita that the National Action Plan has been finalized during the meeting of the El Niño team, which is composed of various agencies, on Wednesday.

“Ang isa pong pinaka-importanteng I think 'yung napag-usapan ay 'yung pag-finalize noong National Action Plan na magiging roadmap natin para matugunan natin yung pangangailan ng El Niño kasi mukhang sasampa ito hanggang sa first quarter of next year,” he said.

(One of the most important things that was discussed is the finalization of the National Action Plan, which will be the roadmap in addressing the El Niño because it seems like it would last until the first quarter of the year.)

According to Posadas, the National Action Plan has also been finalized to determine the amount of budget needed for the programs that will be implemented to mitigate El Niño's effects.

Posadas said OCD administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno has assured them that there are enough funds to execute such programs.

During the meeting, the El Nino team discussed interventions for different sectors such as food security led by the Department of Agriculture (DA), water security by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), energy security by the Department of Energy (DOE), health by the Department of Health (DOH), and public safety led by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

PAGASA recently declared the start of the El Niño phenomenon in the Tropical Pacific and its effects are now expected in the Philippines.

Apart from the abnormal warming of sea surface temperature in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, the El Niño phenomenon is characterized by below-normal rainfall.

PAGASA is predicting that some areas will experience droughts, dry spells, and dry conditions. —KBK, GMA Integrated News