Poe pushes for water department to address El Niño threat

PARCHED In this photo taken in May, a boy walks through a parched rice field in Tanza, Cavite, as the state weather bureau issued an El Niño alert. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe has vowed to continue pushing for the passage of bills proposing a Department of Water Resources especially as a stronger El Niño looms in early part of 2024.

Poe in a statement on Thursday said that they will also continue consolidating efforts to ensure water supply, amid rising demand and the threat of El Niño.

“We will continue to work for the passage of our bill creating a Department of Water Resources to lead and consolidate a whole-of-society efforts for the comprehensive and integrated development and management of water resources,” she said.

“We need this new body amid the rising demand for water with the population growth and increasing commercial activities,” she added.

READ: Stronger El Niño phenomenon in 2024 threatens 65 provinces — DOST 

The Senator, who heads the Senate committee on public works, also said that the assurance of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) that it has prepared for El Niño is a welcome development.

However, Poe stressed that it must be complemented by proper policies to ensure that water supply remains adequate.

“The assurance of the MWSS that it has prepared extensively for El Nino is a welcome news to consumers who have to grapple with the water shortage yearly when rains fall short. Mahalaga na laging may dumadaloy na malinis na tubig sa bawat tahanan. Sana naman hindi na ito kailangan pilahan ng ating mga kababayan kapag may El Nino,” she said.

(It is important that clean water is continuously provided to households. I hope we do not see our people lining up for water again when El Niño strikes.)

“The preparations of our water regulator and concessionaires during the dry months should be complemented by proper policies in place to spare our people from the brunt of the perennial water crisis,” she added.

On Tuesday, cabinet officials announced that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had already revived the Task Force El Niño, in anticipation of possible drought and dry spells in different parts of the country due to the weather phenomenon.

READ: Food, agri products buffer stock good until Q1 2024 amid El Niño threat — Marcos 

According to Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr., who chairs the task force as the head of the Department of National Defense (DND), Marcos made some revisions to Executive Order No. 16 which created the task force in 2001.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) defines El Niño as the unusual rise in average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, resulting into warmer waters.

As an effect, below-normal rainfall is expected, which can cause dry spells and droughts in several areas.

Information from Pagasa, as presented by Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr., showed that the peak of the drought and dry spells due to El Niño is in April 2024, and not May as initially reported.

Marcos also previously assured the public that the government has been preparing for the El Niño phenomenon, saying that the country’s buffer stock of agricultural products and food may last up to the first quarter of next year.