President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (left), late former president Benigno S. Aquino III (BBM Media Bureau, MANILA BULLETIN)

House Deputy Speaker and Batangas 6th district Rep. Ralph Recto believes that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. can come up with a better version of the El Niño response program that the late former president Benigno S. Aquino III drew up during his tenure.

Recto was referring to the “Roadmap to Address the Impact of El Nino”, or RAIN.

Recto, a former Senate President Pro Tempore, recalled that RAIN was a comprehensive strategy paper drafted by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). It guided the whole-of-nation’s response during the 2015-2016 El Nino episode.

The program focused on ensuring food security, health, energy security, safety on 67 impacted provinces and Metro Manila.

Recto said the Marcos government should have a whole-of-nation response of its own, and “I believe that the BBM (Marcos) version will be a superior one because it can draw from a wealth of previous experiences.”

“Kailangan lang ay (We just need) to dust it off and brush it up, so it will be attuned to the unique characteristics of the 2023 version of El Nino,” the Batangueño.

“One big motivating factor” for President Marcos to commission an El Niño response strategy, according to the House leader, “is that (El Nino) will hit a sector which is under his jurisdiction – agriculture.”

Marcos is the concurrent secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

“Iyong agriculture natin meron ng preexisting comorbidities (Our agriculture already has preexisting comorbidities). On top of this is the recent combined fuel-fertilizer crisis. Foul weather should not be the third,” Recto pointed out.

“Scarcity in water leads to scarcity in food. This is not an alarmist statement. It is a fact, because without water, you cannot grow food,” he added.

El Niño also negatively impacts livestock and poultry as high temperatures can cause heat stress on animals, Recto warned.

“Umiinom ang hayop. At kailangan ang tubig upang panatilihing malinis at mapigilan ang sakit sa mga farms. May ASF (African Swine Fever) na nga sa baboy, tapos dadagdag pa ang kakulangan sa tubig (Livestock drink water. Water is needed to keep farms clean and disease-free. We're already contending with ASF with out hogs, we don't need a water shortage on top of it)," he said.

According to Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), there have been seven severe El Niño events since 1980, with the last one--the 2015 to 2016, episode--inflicting $327 million in agricultural losses.

Aquino served as president from 2010 to 2016.