Marcos orders ‘whole-of-gov’t’ response to El Niño, La Niña

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered agencies concerned to work together and establish a “whole-of-government approach” to ensure public safety and help farmers cope with the effects of a strong El Niño and looming La Niña.

In particular, he directed the Department of Agriculture to work with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. to help affected farmers hurdle regulation barriers imposed by the Insurance Commission and ensure they receive immediate financial aid.

Task Force El Niño

Marcos gave the order at the fourth meeting of Task Force El Niño last month, as reported by the Presidential Communications Office only on Wednesday.

He also directed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, through the National Water Resources Board, to collaborate with the Office of the Civil Defense to gather data on water oversupply and undersupply situations affecting parts of the country.

To protect health facilities or hospitals from the threat of fire hazards during summer, Marcos instructed the Bureau of Fire Protection to work with the Department of Health in assessing and implementing needed measures.

READ: In-person class suspensions, changes from April 2 due to hot weather

The Department of Education, meanwhile, reported that more school division offices (SDOs) had also decided to suspend face-to-face classes and implement alternative delivery modes (ADM) amid rising temperatures.

Based on its estimate, 3,954 schools were implementing ADM, and 1,393,806 students were affected.

In Metro Manila, the SDOs of Caloocan, Malabon, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Pasay and San Juan had suspended classes and shifted to ADM as of Wednesday afternoon. This was also the case for five SDOs in Ilocos Region, eight in Central Luzon, and one in Cavite province.