QUEZON CITY, Philippines — The La Niña weather phenomenon, characterized by excessive rainfall, is expected to affect the Philippines by the last quarter of 2024, the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced. The department assured the public of its commitment to enhancing the readiness of the country, particularly in the farming and fishing sectors.

“Ngayon ay La Niña watch pa lang, hindi pa officially pumapasok ang La Niña. Inaasahan ito last quarter ng 2024. Ang major interventions natin for La Niña… it’s more on water management,” DA Assistant Secretary and Spokesman Arnel de Mesa shared during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

He emphasized, “Iyong natapos na El Niño, over 9 billion pesos ang total damage na naitala. Pinakamalaki ay sa Region IV-B or MIMAROPA. Ang ating assistance na naibigay ay PHP9.2 billion sa ating mga affected farmers and fishers.”

“Nung El Niño, kakulangan ng tubig [ang problema], itong La Niña, sobra-sobra naman,” he remarked.

One of DA’s interventions for La Niña, he said, is ensuring the efficient operation of irrigation in farms.

“Iyong mga irrigation canal, daluyan iyan ng tubig papunta sa bukirin, at the same time, daluyan din iyan palabas. So, tinitiyak natin through NIA [National Irrigation Administration] at saka sa ating mga DA regional field offices, na maayos itong mga irrigation system na ito,” he pointed out.

Regarding the country’s vast rice farms, he remarked, “Hopefully iyong ating harvest especially for rice ay matatapos na, kasi mag-start iyan September, October, November. October ang peak ng harvest ng wet season, sana huwag sumabay iyong La Niña.”

Because of the expected floods in several farms, the department prepared flood-tolerant varieties of rice for distribution to farmers.

He further discussed, “Patuloy din ang pagsasagawa natin ng mga water impounding projects para iyong mga tubig na ipinapatak lalo na sa mga watershed areas ay masalo at magamit pagdating naman ng tagtuyot.”

He said that impounding the huge volume of rain water is very important, stressing, “Iyong mga water-impounding projects, whether small dams or big dams, nakakapag-hold talaga iyan ng tubig.”

“Ang pinaka-objective ng mga water impounding projects o ng mga dam natin ay ma-hold iyong tubig for a period of time at dahan-dahang iri-release. Maraming purposes iyan – for irrigation, for power generation, of course for potable water din natin,” he explained.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that La Niña normally occurs during the last quarter of the year and lasts up to the first months of the succeeding year.

La Niña has brought floods, flash floods, and landslides especially as it magnifies the impact of typhoons, resulting in severe devastation in agriculture and infrastructure, and deaths of hundreds, and even thousands, of people.

Pagasa particularly noted that in 2020, La Niña aggravated the effects of Typhoon “Rolly” (Goni) in October and Typhoon “Ulysses” (Vamco) in November. The two cyclones devastated the Visayas and Northern Luzon, respectively.

Also, Pagasa said that the severe flooding and landslides in Mindanao in January 2009 could also be attributed to La Niña, as well as the massive landslide in Guinsaugon, Leyte on February 17, 2006.

In the Leyte tragedy, barangay Guinsaugon in the town of St. Bernard was ravaged by 10 days of non-stop heavy rains, leading to a massive landslide that buried 1,126 out of the 1,800 residents, including all 246 students and teachers who were attending regular classes at an elementary school there. Only one adult and one child pupil were rescued from the disaster.

📷 Simon Fanger, Unsplash