MANILA, Aug. 15 (PNA) — President Benigno S. Aquino III is closely watching the onslaught of El Niño in the country, especially in the agriculture sector, which may impact on food production, a Palace official said on Saturday.
“First of all, let me say that the President has been watching the situation carefully; meaning, even before the recent news about the coming El Niño in September, the President has already been aware and he’s already been briefed on the progress of El Niño,” Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a radio interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan.
As part of government preparations, Valte said the Department of Science and Technology already made projections starting September.
Other government agencies should already be planning for their next steps with regards to the effects of El Nino, she said.
Government agencies already carried out similar measures last summer, when some areas in the country had less or experienced zero rainfall, she said.
“So our agencies have already been implementing their action plans in those areas,” Valte said during the interview.
“So that experience is helping us plan and prepare for the coming El Niño as projected by the Department of Science and Technology.”
Because the DOST has come up with its projections, different agencies can be properly guided on the preparations that they will implement such as cloud-seeding, water preparation for irrigation, and others.
“So what’s important is that the DOST already has the projection kasi doon susunod ang ating mga ahensya, in the same way that the DOST, in cases of typhoons and storms, sila ang nauuna,” Valte said.
Because experts predicted a more severe form of El Niño, the government also widened its preparations, according to Valte.
“Siyempre nag-iba na ang sitwasyon from the time that we experienced that mga more than 15 years ago,” she said
“Ngayon, what is on our side… is that we have more lessons from then…, and there is more technology that can help aid in the solution.” (PNA)