OCD to reconvene National El Niño Team amid threats of 'severe' dry spells, drought
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) will again convene the National El Niño Team in a bid to further harmonize the implementation of efforts to prepare and address the possible adverse effects of the dry spells and drought in the country.
In a statement, the OCD said the meeting will be on July 19 and will be will tackle the ongoing activities of the government agencies for El Niño.
“Also, priority among the discussion points is the presentation of the short, medium and long term plans of various team clusters to address the effects of El Niño on food security, water security, energy security, health, public safety and cross cutting issues,” the statement read.
Undersecretary Ariel F. Nepomuceno, OCD administrator and executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said they want to finalize the National Action Plan for El Niño especially that the start of the El Niño phenomenon was already declared on July 4.
Nepomuceno will preside the meeting where the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) will also be providing an updated forecast of the climate phenomenon as well as the status of the various dams in the country.
“We are looking forward to the finalization of the National Action Plan for El Niño by this team as we continue to undertake various activities specific to our agency mandates to ensure that the effects of El Niño-induced dry spells and drought to the country can be countered,” said Nepomuceno.
Pagasa forecasts the possible strengthening of El Niño towards ‘moderate” to “severe” degree by the latter part of 2023.
The National El Nino Team regularly convenes for updates on the actions taken by agencies following the President’s instructions for a science-based, whole-of-nation strategy to prepare the country for the adverse effects of the climate phenomenon.