The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) advised the public to conserve water and do every little thing they can to save resources to mitigate the effects of El Niño.
Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, OCD administrator, expressed worry that the government is "not 100 percent ready" for the prolonged drought.
"Ang mabilis na sagot kung dapat mabahala ay talagang dapat tayong maghanda at mabahala (The quick answer as to the question whether or not we should be worried is, we really need to be prepared and worried)," Nepomuceno said in a radio interview at dzBB on Wednesday, Jan. 17.
El Niño increases the likelihood of below-normal rainfall conditions, potentially causing dry spells, droughts, and other adverse environmental effects.
A strong El Niño is expected to continue until this month, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). However, majority of global climate models suggested that El Niño will likely persist until May, the state weather bureau added.
"Baka nalilito po ang ating mga kababayan kasi may mga shearline na madalas na pag-ulan sa Mindanao. Nasa gitna na po tayo ng El Niño at ito'y palala pa ang inaasahan hanggang Mayo (The public might be confused because of the rains experienced in Mindanao due to shearline. We are in the middle of El Niño and this is expected to worsen until May)," Nepomuceno said.
"Halos buong Pilipinas ang magkakaroon ng drought o 'yung 90 days halos na tagtuyot, 65 provinces 'yun mula norte hanggang Mindanao. Kung ako ang tatanungin, dapat ang buong paghahanda ay buong Pilipinas (Almost the entire Philippines will suffer from a 90-day drought that will affect 65 provinces from the north to Mindanao. If it is up to me, the preparation should include the whole Philippines)," he added.
In December last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the creation of the El Niño Task Force, composed of various government agencies and led by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), to consolidate all measures to mitigate the impacts of the phenomenon.
Nepomuceno, who concurrently serves as the executive director of the NDRRMC, said the task force is focused on addressing the immediate impact of El Niño to the food supply, energy resource, health, security, and water.
This month, the official said that the OCD is not seeing any adverse situation related to the dry spell although the Office has received a report that some deep wells in Bukidnon have already dried up last week.
"Kami po magpapadala ng water filtration machines para makatulong sa mga kababayan natin doon. Pero kapag nagsabay-sabay ang mga probinsya na ganyan, kulang naman ang filtration machines, eh 'yun ang panandaliang pang-inom. Iba pa ang pansaka (We will send water filtration machines to help the people there. But if more provinces request for assistance, our water filtration machines are not enough to provide immediate potable water. The [water supply] for farm needs is a separate issue, too)," Nepomuceno said.
"Kapag lumala talaga, medyo hindi natin masabi na ang paghahanda natin 100 percent. Mababawasan lang ang kaya ko pong sabihin na magagawa natin pero 'yung 100 percent na talagang naresolba natin 'yan, kailangan talaga ng long-term solution, ingenious solution (If the situation worsens, we cannot say that our preparation is at 100 percent. We can only mitigate the impact but the 100 percent resolution of the problem needs a long-term solution, ingenious solution)," he stressed.
The long-term solution, according to Nepomuceno, includes building infrastructure such as catch basins and water irrigation canals for the farmers.
"Dapat din may madaliang solusyon. Halimbawa 'yung pagbubukas ng alternative deep wells para pandagdag sa tubig na inaasahan natin na mabawasan (We also need immediate solutions. For example, we need to open alternative deep wells to augment the water in areas that are expected to be affected)," he stated.
"Tayo ho lahat ang maaapektuhan nito kaya 'yung maliit na kontribusyon sa pagtitipid ng tubig, sa kabuuan niyan malaking tulong na 'yan (We are all affected by this so the small contributions like water conservation, in the end, it's a really big help)," he concluded.