MANILA, Philippines – The country faces above-normal rainfall from La Niña, a top official of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) warned Tuesday.
PAGASA deputy administrator Flaviana Hilario said the possible occurrence of a strong La Niña or El Niño (prolonged dry season) in the country was due to climate change.
“As of now we are experiencing a La Niña condition,” she told reporters.
Hilario, who previously headed the Climatology and Agrometeorology Division of PAGASA, said although the country’s current condition could not be considered full-blown La Niña, it could also bring above-normal rainfall in the country, especially in the eastern side.
She said a full-blown La Niña event might be experienced later this year or in early 2017.
Hilario said for the past three months, the sea surface temperature (SST) in the Pacific was recorded at - 0.5 degrees Celsius.
“For it to be considered a La Niña event, the SST in the Niño 3.4 region must be – 0.5 for five consecutive months,” Hilario said.
The country had experienced strong El Niño events in 2014 to 2015, causing billions of pesos worth of damage in the agriculture sector.
An official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), meanwhile, urged local government units to adopt the manual on retrofitting of irrigation systems developed through the Philippine Climate Change Adaptation Project (PhilCCAP).
PhilCCAP, a $4.97-million project funded by the World Bank, is managed by the DENR together with the Department of Agriculture, PAGASA and the Climate Change Commission.
“The whole Philippines is vulnerable to climate perils. So it’s safe to say that almost all the irrigation systems in the country must be retrofitted. The upcoming irrigation projects should use this manual,” Wilbur Dee of the DENR’s Project Management Office said.
Dee also serves as project manager of PhilCCAP.
The six-year project aims to improve the country’s agriculture and natural resources sectors’ ability to adapt to the effects of climate change. The project will end this month.