El Niño to affect over 70 provinces in next 3 months — task force

More than 70 provinces will be affected by El Niño effects in the next three months, despite the reported weakening of the weather pattern, a government task force said on Wednesday.

“Meron at meron pa ring mga probinsiya na maaapektuhan,” Task Force El Niño spokesperson Assistant Secretary Joey Villarama said in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview.

“In fact, doon sa projection ng PAGASA ay tataas pa mga to mid-70s, mga 76 pa po ang puwedeng maapektuhan na probinsiya in varying degrees in the next three months,” he added.

(Provinces will continue to be affected. In fact, based on PAGASA's projection, the number of affected provinces will increase to the mid-70s, or around 76, in varying degrees in the next three months.)

Currently, 67 provinces are experiencing the effects of El Niño, and 30 of them are facing drought, Villarama said. 

PAGASA defines drought as having three consecutive months of way below normal rainfall conditions with over 60% reduction from the average rainfall. 

It could also be five consecutive months of below normal rainfall conditions, with a 21% to 60% reduction from the average rainfall.

A state of calamity was declared in six areas: Bulalacao and Mansalay in Oriental Mindoro; Looc, Magsaysay, and San Jose in Occidental Mindoro; and Zamboanga City in Zamboanga del Sur.

Villarama said the town of Pio Duran in Albay would also declare a state of calamity due to the effects of El Niño. 

Diarrhea cases increased in Paluan, Occidental Mindoro, due to the limited supply of potable water, according to Villarama.

According to the Department of Agriculture, a total of P1.75 billion in damage to agriculture has been reported so far due to El Niño.

Some 24,409 farmers and fisherfolk as well as 26,731 hectares of crops, were affected, based on the latest report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

State weather bureau PAGASA declared the start of the El Niño phenomenon on July 4 last year.

The El Niño phenomenon is characterized by the abnormal warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, leading to below normal rainfall. — VBL, GMA Integrated News