Drought hits 8 provinces due to El Niño — NDRRMC

Eight provinces are now experiencing drought due to the effects of the El Niño phenomenon on the country, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Friday.

“Iyan po ay karamihan ay nasa (Most of these areas are in) Apayao, Bataan, Cagayan ,Cavite, Ilocos Norte, Kalinga, Palawan, at (and) Zambales,” NDRRMC executive director Undersecretary Ariel Francisco Nepomuceno told Dobol B TV.

Drought means three consecutive months of rainfall conditions with over 60% reduction from the average rainfall, or five consecutive months of rainfall conditions with 21% to 60% reduction.

By April, Nepomuceno said that almost the entire Philippines, except for some Mindanao areas, will also experience drought.

“Pagdating pa ng Abril, sa projection ng PAGASA, mahigit 50 probinsya, parang buong Pilipinas na po iyon e, except in some areas of Mindanao, 56 provinces, kaya pinaghahandaan natin itong pilit,” he said.

(By April, according to PAGASA's projection, drought will hit more than 50 provinces, like the whole Philippines, except in some areas of Mindanao, 56 provinces, so we are really preparing for it.)

On July 4, 2023, state weather bureau PAGASA declared the start of the El Niño phenomenon in the Tropical Pacific. Its effects are now being experienced in the Philippines.

The El Niño phenomenon is characterized by the abnormal warming of sea surface temperature in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean leading to below normal rainfall.

To mitigate its impact, Nepomuceno said agencies are working on short and long-term solutions like irrigation canals, deep wells, cloud seeding, and construction of catch basins and dams, among others.

Recently, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. directed the reactivation and reconstitution of the Task Force El Niño.

In Executive Order No. 53, Marcos said the "recurrence of the El Niño phenomenon calls for the implementation of both short and long-term solutions to ensure food, water and energy security, safeguard livelihoods, and improve the country's disaster and climate resilience." — RSJ, GMA Integrated News