AT least 131 cities and municipalities across the country have declared a state of calamity due to the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, Task Force El Niño spokesman Joey Villarama said yesterday.
Villarama, in a chance interview, said this includes seven provinces, namely, Occidental Mindoro, Antique, Sultan Kudarat, Basilan, Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, and South Cotabato which have declared a province-wide state of calamity.
He said most of the areas are experiencing drought.
Under a state of calamity, local governments can access their calamity funds and use them to mitigate the effects of a calamity and rehabilitate their jurisdictions.
The government expects the worst of El Niño to last until the end of May before the climate pattern transitions to neutral conditions.
“Pero it doesn’t’ mean na kahit nandun na tayo sa tail-end ng El Niño e kailangan na tayong maging complacent. So nandun pa rin po iyung panawagan na magtipid tayo sa tubig dahil… patuloy na bumababa iyung resource talaga (But it doesn’t mean that while we are at the tail-end of the El Niño we would already be complacent. The call to conserve water is still there… because our water sources continue to go down),” Villarama said.
Villarama also said that vital sources of water, as well as food, remain stable but due to the prevailing dry conditions, there is a possibility that the food supply will be affected.
“Stable pa po lahat ang ating vital resources, iyun nga lang po patuloy po ang ating panawagan na mag-tipid pa rin po at mag-conserve (the vital resources remain stable, but the call to save and conserve remains),” he said.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has reported that loss and damages to agriculture due to El Niño have reached P4.39 billion. Some areas, such as the Cagayan Valley region and those near the Magat dam, have already requested cloud seeding operations to increase water supply.
Villarama said the government is looking at implementing cloud seeding in mountainous areas to increase surface water supply.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), meanwhile, said P93.569 million worth of food and non-food relief items have been distributed to 2.9 million people or 681,198 families affected by the El Niño.
Those affected came from 3,780 barangays in Regions I (Ilocos), II (Cagayan Valley), III (Central Luzon), IV-B (Mimaropa), V (Bicol), VI (Western Visayas), VII (Central Visayas), VIII (Eastern Visayas), IX (Zamboanga Peninsula), XI (Davao), XII (Soccsksargen), Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
EXTREME HEAT
Ana Solis, chief of the climate monitoring and prediction unit of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the country is likely to experience a high heat index up to the first week or first half of May.
During the “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” public briefing, Solis said: “So we need to refresh and rehydrate because based on DOST-PAGASA monitoring, we will continue to experience high heat index or discomfort level, around 42 to 51 (degrees Celsius) or what we call danger level (heat index).”
Solis said that with El Niño waning, there will be a decrease in the number of areas experiencing high heat index.
“What will happen is, there will be a reduction of areas because we will continue to experience high heat index or discomfort level even in the the months of May or even June and July. There will just be a reduction of areas with high heat index,” she also said.
Yesterday, the PAGASA said Dagupan City in Pangasinan is expected to experience a heat index of 48 degrees today, while 35 other areas will have similar but lower danger level heat index.
Four of these areas are Tuguegarao City and Aparri town in Cagayan, Iba town in Zambales, and Aborlan town in Palawan, which are forecast to have a heat index of 46 degrees.
Thirty-two areas, on the other hand, will have a heat index of 42 to 45 degrees. These are Quezon City, Pasay City, Sinait town in Ilocos Sur, Laoag City and Batac town in Ilocos Norte, Bacnotan town in La Union, Bayombong town in Nueva Ecija, Echague town in Isabela, Clark in Pampanga, Munoz town in Nueva Ecija, Baler and Casiguran towns in Aurora, Olongapo City in Zambales, Sangley Point in Cavite, Tanauan town in Batangas, Calapan town in Oriental Mindoro, Puerto Princesa and Coron town in Palawan.
It will also be swelteringly hot in San Jose town in Occidental Mindoro, Virac town in Catanduanes, Masbate City in Masbate, Pili town in Camarines Sur, Roxas City and Mabusao town in Capiz, Iloilo City and Dumangas town in Iloilo, La Carlota City in Negros Occidental, Catbalogan town in Samar, Tacloban City in Leyte, Guian town in Eastern Samar, Zamboanga City in Zamboanga del Sur, and Cotabato City in Maguindanao del Norte.
A heat index ranging from 42 to 51 degrees Celsius has been classified by PAGASA under the danger level. It said heat cramps and heat exhaustion are likely to be experienced by residents, while heat stroke is possible under this condition.
In a hearing in the Senate, PAGASA chief Nathaniel Servando said the country may still experience hot weather conditions from March to May next year.
Servando said, though, that the hot conditions will ease a little due to the expected rainfall caused by the La Niña phenomenon.
“By next year, we are expecting naman na La Niña. So, based on historical records, during La Niña, that’s a little bit cooler compared to El Niño,” Servando said during the Committee on Basic Education hearing on the effects of the summer heat on schools.
Servando, however, said that while La Niña is expected next year, this does not mean that there will be more rainfall during the summer season.
LEARNING CAMP
In a related development, the Department of Education said it is mulling the holding of a three-week national learning camp if face-to-face classes remain suspended due to extreme heat.
As of April 25, DepEd data show that 7,188 schools nationwide out of the 47, 678 total number of schools are implementing alternative distance learning mode.
DepEd assistant secretary and deputy spokesperson Francis Cesar Bringas acknowledged that learning has been affected by the suspension of in-person classes.
Bringas said though students learn from alternative distance learning, it is not enough compared to what they learn during F2F classes.
“Based on our experience during the pandemic noong wala tayong face-to-face classes, merong natutunan ang mga bata sa asynchronous classes pero hindi sapat gaya ng natututunan kapag naka face-to-face or synchronous classes (Based on our experience during the pandemic when we have no face-to-face classes, students also learned during the asynchronous classes but these were not enough if compared to what they learn during face-to-face or synchronous classes),” Bringas told TeleRadyo Serbisyo.
To address the learning gap, Bringas said the department is setting its sights on conducting a three-week national learning camp, especially if in-person classes remain suspended in May.
“Kung hindi magkaroon ng face-to-face classes hanggang May, malamang ay hindi na magkakaroon ng opportunity this month na magkaroon ng interventions for them but ikakasa ng DepEd ‘yung national learning camp by July (If face-to-face classes remain suspended until May, we may have opportunity this month to do interventions but the DepEd is planning to hold a national learning camp by July),” Bringas said.
If the plan pushes through, Bringas said attendance in the learning camp will be voluntary but, he added, that the DepEd will encourage students, especially the academically challenged, to participate.
Last year, close to one million Grades 7 and 8 students nationwide registered for the national learning camp, a voluntary three-to-five-week learning recovery program meant to improve the students’ learning performance and teachers’ skills and capacity.
The national learning camp is part of the overall learning recovery initiatives of the DepEd to improve the quality of basic education in the country, especially after the pandemic when schools were physically closed and students had to cope with blended learning. – With Victor Reyes, Raymond Africa and Ashzel Hachero
