TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, May 17 (PIA) -- The Provincial Government of Bohol has started preparing for the possible adverse effects of the looming El Niño phenomenon.

Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado called for an urgent Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) meeting on May 16 at the Ceremonial Hall of the Provincial Capitol as a follow-through of last week’s El Niño Task Force meeting.

This is part of the preparations to mitigate the impact of El Niño after the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) issued an El Niño alert level indicating an 80% probability in June-July through the first quarter of 2024.

After El Niño Alert, the next status is El Niño Advisory, which is issued when the weather phenomenon is already ongoing.

Main discussions tackled during the meeting were the preparations for the impacts of El Niño in the province with reports from PAG-ASA, National Irrigation Administration, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, and local Irrigators Associations.

The Provincial Government is undertaking quick action in allocating funds for possible cloud seeding, calling for harmonization of policies in rice seeds distribution with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and NIA, and requesting assistance from relevant national government agencies in efforts to protect the province’s agriculture sector.

This is also the response of the Provincial Government to the directive of Pres. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to implement a "whole-of-government" and "whole-of-nation" approach to prepare for the possible impact of a widespread drought.

On May 13, the Marcos administration has reconstituted the El Niño task force to respond to the looming El Niño.

El Niño occurs every two to seven years.

The last El Niño occurred from the last quarter of 2018 to the third quarter of 2019. (ECB/PIA7 Bohol)