The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) has established the Western Visayas Regional Task Group for El Niño that will draft and implement the Comprehensive and Integrated Action Plan to respond to the weather phenomenon.

Cindy Ferrer, spokesperson for the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) in Western Visayas, said the task group created during the second pre-disaster risk assessment meeting presided over by regional director Raul Fernandez on Monday, October 9, was patterned after the structure set by the national DRRMC.

“This is to help the general public cope with the phenomenon and minimize the disastrous effects of El Niño,” she said in an interview yesterday.

The OCD and the Department of the Interior and Local Government serve as task group leaders.

It has six clusters, including food security, water security, energy security, health security, public safety, and the social sector.

Among their tasks are to conduct a massive information drive to educate the public and provide needed information to reduce the expected adverse impact of the phenomenon; enlist the support of government agencies and other instrumentalities, including civil society organizations and private groups; identify funding sources to implement their activities; and regularly monitor the implementation of the plan, its timeliness and responsiveness.

Ferrer said an advisory released by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) on October 5, showed the country is currently experiencing a moderate El Niño.

“Pagasa says Western Visayas is expected to experience a strong El Niño by the first quarter of next year. The province of Guimaras is expected to experience the strong effects of the weather phenomenon,” she said.

So far, there are no reports on the impact of the moderate El Niño on agriculture, she added. (PNA)