President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. on Monday said he tapped the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), DENR-Water Resources Management Office (WRMO) board, the Department of Agriculture (DA), and other concerned government agencies to submit a contingency plan for the mitigation of the El Niño phenomenon within the week.
In a video statement released by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Facebook, Marcos said DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga has promised to present a contingency plan for El Niño.
"We are going to make an overall plan. And assisting us in this is the best water manager that I know in the Philippines, in the person of Babes Singson. That is his expertise. So he is helping us to, number one, come up with a contingency plan for El Nino, and secondly to make an overall plan for the Philippines," he said.
According to Marcos, the conversion of groundwater to surface water is one of the mitigations planned for the El Niño contingency plan.
"We have enough surface water. It's just a question of collecting," he noted.
The President also shared that they are in the process of designing a "system of catchment basins not only for flood control."
Marcos further said that the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has designed existing dams to ensure a continuous supply for irrigation.
Last June 5, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) announced that weak El Niño has begun in the Tropical Pacific and it may strengthen in the next months.
PAGASA said that El Niño may be felt in the country by the last quarter of 2023 and the first half of 2024.
As of July 11, the water level of the Angat Dam stood at 178.80 meters, lower than the normal operating high water level of 210 meters.
Due to El Niño phenomenon threat and Angat Dam's water level, DENR-WRMO issued a bulletin directing local officials to advise their constituents to conserve water.
