9 LGUs partner with Pagasa to set up climate info centers

MANILA, Philippines - Nine local government units (LGUs) in the Bicol region and Mindanao will set up climate information centers to help farmers and rural communities adapt to extreme weather conditions and other effects of climate change.

The Climate Information Centers will be established in the towns of Dumingag in Zamboanga del Sur; Esperanza, Bagumbayan, Columbio in Sultan Kudarat; Jabonga in Agusan del Norte; Pigcawayan and Alamada in North Cotabato; and Sorsogon City and Castilla in Sorsogon.

Officials of these LGUs recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) for the establishment of the community-based early warning system in their respective areas.

The LGUs will introduce climate information and forecasting for agriculture to give farmers sufficient warning on extreme weather conditions.

The Climate Information Center will be equipped with weather monitoring instruments compliant with standards of the World Meteorological Organization.

“This is a big help to our farmers. We thought the (PAGASA) forecasts/warnings are too technical, but we found out that these can also be contextualized to help our farmers,” Dumingag Mayor Nacianceno Pacalioga Jr. said.

As part of the agreement, PAGASA’s Climatology and Agro-meteorology Division will provide appropriate data to these LGUs and assist in the calibration, installation and maintenance of the weather monitoring instruments.

The agency will also provide technical assistance in the operation of the local weather and monitoring instruments, and assist in the training of personnel.

PAGASA deputy administrator Flaviana Hilario earlier said there is a 50-50 chance of El Niño developing in the third quarter of this year.

El Niño refers to the unusual warming in the equatorial Pacific and is usually associated with below normal rainfall.

The last time an El Niño phenomenon happened in the country was in 2009 but it was not an intense one.

The country experienced the worst El Niño in 1997 and 1998 in which the estimated damage to agriculture reached more than P3 billion. Reports said drought affected 68 percent of the country, compared to only 28 percent in 1972 and 16 percent in 1982.

Meanwhile, the non-government organization Rice Watch and Action Network (R1) also forged a partnership with PAGASA and the nine LGUs to assist farmers through its Climate Resiliency Field School.