Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer III Engr. Wilson Ramos said that the discussion on El Niño is timely because July is the National Disaster Risk Reduction month. | CDN File photo from Emmariel Ares
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Office (PDRRMO) will focus on “augmentation” during El Niño, according to an official from this provincial office.
In a news forum on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, Engineer Wilson Ramos, Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management officer III, said that the discussion on El Niño is timely because July is the National Disaster Risk Reduction month.
Unpredictable weather, despite El Niño
He said that other people would not believe that it was already El Niño despite Pagasa’s announcement because it still kept on raining from time to time.
He said that this was because the weather had been “unpredictable.”
With regard to El Niño preparation, Ramos said that the Province of Cebu had prepared mitigation measures on the local government units (LGU).
“In fact, ang kanang gibuhat ron sa mga LGU…kay naa nay pahimangno sa mga katawhan nga to conserve water,” he said.
(In fact, what the LGU are doing…because there is an advisory to the public to conserve water.)
PDRRMO’s job
“Sa pagkakaron, di pa gyud mafeel nila ang El Niño kay naa pa man tay enough water sa mga kalungsuran,” he added.
(For now, they still could not feel the El Niño because we still had enough water in the towns.)
He clarified that PDRRMO would be “more on augmentation” on the LGUs while the LGUs would prepare on “what to do” during the phenomenon.
However, he did not specify yet what those preparations would be.
Trainings
For this month, he said that they would continue to conduct training to the responders in LGUs on basic first aid, basic life support, swift water rescue, and search and rescue operations.
He said that at the end of the month, there would be a major activity in Toledo City which would be attended by all disaster risk reduction officers for a culmination program, at the same time for the planning of preparation for El Niño phenomenon.
Ramos said that the province had created augmentations, and for instance, some LGUs had requested for barrel tanks.
No budget allocated
However, there is no budget allocated for the El Niño as of the moment since their “green fund” has been allocated “during the planning.”
“[It] depends sa unsay kinahanglan sa every council member especially sa agriculture department, pilay need nila sa El Niño preparation,” he said.
(It will depend on what every council member especially in the agriculture department, how much they would need for the El Niño preparation.)
He clarified that every LGU had a green fund (for equipment purchase), and they would just “augment” them if needed.
Water resources
In other words, the LGUs will be on the front line in resolving El Niño while the provincial office will be for augmentation.
Moreover, Ramos said that there would be resources (of water) that would be located in different provinces, especially in southern Cebu where a number of waterfalls could be found.
“Naa may mga mitigation measures nga gibuhat si Gov (Gwen Garcia), especially naa may uban nga mga structures nga iyang gipademolish gyud,” Ramos said.
(Gov (Gwen Garcia) has made some mitigation measures, especially that there are structures that had been demolished.)
The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) would be the one managing the inventory of the water sources, according to Ramos.
However, Ramos said that PDRRMO did not have a copy of the inventory because they were focused on “risk assessment.”
He also emphasized that what would be important would be the public’s preservation of water sources.
El Niño
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has issued an El Niño Advisory on Tuesday, July, 4, 2023 stating that the El Niño phenomenon is present in the tropical Pacific.
It will persist until the first quarter of 2024.
READ: PAGASA: El Niño to intensify on last quarter of 2023
Engineer Al Quiblat, chief of Pagasa Mactan, told CDN Digital that phenomenon had been showing signs of strengthening in the coming months.
He also clarified that the state weather bureau issued an advisory to prepare for its effects in the country.
He also told CDN Digital that the phenomenon occurred at the center and the east portion of the Pacific Ocean.
Since the Philippines is in the western part, El Niño is weak here. but its effect is what the country is anticipating. That is according to Quiblat.
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