Malacañang directed Cabinet agencies over the weekend to step up measures to prepare for the potential impact on the country of the El Niño phenomenon, amid warnings it could start earlier in June, and could cause more and stronger cyclones even while drying up farms and water sources like Angat Dam in Bulacan.
The marching order was announced by Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. on Sunday over state-run Radyo ng Bayan, drawing attention to the latest update on El Niño by Science Secretary Mario G. Montejo who issued his latest advisory that the weather phenomenon’s onset may start in June, earlier than expected, and could last about nine months until early 2015.
The update from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) included a report on the continuing decline in the water level at Angat Dam, which supplies 90 per cent of Metro Manila’s requirements, and is used as well for irrigation and electricity.
On Sunday Coloma cited the update from Montejo: “El Niño could affect the normal rainfall pattern in the country, generally resulting in reduced rainfall. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration [Pagasa] will be furnishing a monthly rainfall outlook for six months for the different parts of the country.”
El Niño, Montejo said, “causes the behavior of tropical cyclones to become erratic, affecting their tracks and intensity. The tropical-cyclone tracks are expected to shift northward and their intensity could become stronger. Concerned agencies are advised to take precautionary measures to mitigate the potential impact of this phenomenon.”
Coloma said the relevant agencies expected to respond quickly to the pre-El Niño onset may draw from the existing interventions outlined in the Philippine Development Plan, where climate-change mitigation and adaptation “is one of the priorities.” President Aquino had given out marching orders to the entire Cabinet as early as January to take necessary steps to prepare for the impact of El Niño.
The Palace official also drew attention to the urgent call by the DOST and weather bureau Pagasa on the need to conserve water and use it wisely.
Government experts warned that the water levels at Angat Dam have entered the “critical” level. Since El Niño causes more dryness, the evaporation of water at Angat could even accelerate. Pagasa hydrologists were earlier quoted as saying the water level has been declining at 0.3 meter daily—a rate that, if continued, would cause the dam to hit the critical elevation of 180 meters by May 12.
Experts said El Niño is a condition characterised by unusually warm ocean temperature in the equatorial Pacific. It is the opposite of La Niña, a condition marked by unusually cold ocean temperature there. Drier and warmer conditions characterise El Niño, but at the same time, it affects cyclone tracks and intensity, and therefore could mean more and stronger cyclones.
