UNPRODUCTIVE El Niño is forecast to reduce rainfall and cause farms to dry up, such as this parched field in Tanza, Cavite, photographed on May 3, 2023. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines — Eight provinces are now experiencing drought due to El Niño, an Office of Civil Defense (OCD) official said on Wednesday.
“May walo na po tayong probinsya na nakakaranas ng tinatawag tagtuyot o drought dahil kulang na po ang pagbagsak o pagpatak ng ulan,” OCD Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said over radio DWPM.
(We have eight provinces now experiencing drought due to lack of rainfall.)
READ: Pagasa declares onset of El Niño
Nepomuceno said these provinces are Apayao, Bataan, Cagayan, Cavite, Ilocos Norte, Kalinga, Palawan, and Zambales.
The official further said that most parts of the country, apart from some provinces in Mindanao, may experience drought around April.
“Ngayong hanggang papuntang Abril, ang tinitignan diyan kung mangyayari, mahigit limampung probinsya, — halos buong Pilipinas po yan — ang makakaranas ng tagtuyot. Ilang bahagi lang ng Mindanao ang hindi makakaranas,” he also said.
(Until April, we are looking at more than 50 provinces, that’s almost the entire country, experiencing drought. Only some parts of Mindanao will not experience it.)
El Niño, which began in July last year, increases the prospect of below-normal rainfall conditions that could bring negative impacts such as “dry spells” or droughts in some parts of the Philippines.
The government taskforce for El Niño formally convened on Tuesday.