After the devastations wrought by strong typhoons last year, the country is again put to the test as the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) forewarns on the effects of the El Niño phenomenon this year.

While the agencies in the region braces for the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, the Regional Development Council (RDC) of Ilocos Region together with the Department of Agriculture (DA) will endeavor to put all of these efforts into a region-wide El Niño Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Plan (DMAP).

On February 19, 2010, the RDC-I scheduled an El Niño Conference dubbed as “Gearing Up for the El Niño in the Ilocos: Disaster Planning and Management” to prepare a comprehensive El Niño DMAP for the region and for each of the provinces.

“The entire region is among the areas in the country identified by DA as highly vulnerable to the onslaught of El Niño, particularly the agriculture sector. The DA shall be in the forefront, along with other government agencies, to assist our local government units in the preparation of their respective contingency plans” emphasized Director Leonardo N. Quitos, Jr. Vice-Chairperson of the RDC-I.  He explained that the region’s economy is driven by the agriculture sector, and the adverse effect of the El Niño phenomenon in the agriculture sector will significantly affect the region’s economy.

In line with the national government’s efforts to minimize the adverse effects of El Niño, the RDC-I is considering the reactivation and mobilization of the El Niño Task Force to ensure the implementation of the El Niño DMAP.  (RTA)

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A pool of trainers from NEDA and other partner agencies (DENR (FMS and MGB), DMMMSU, MMSU, DA) will be trained on geographic information system (GIS) application for integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in local development planning and decision-making process.

The two-week training in the University of the Philippines will equip the participants in using computer applications as an aid in planning for disaster risk reduction.  The pool of trainers will commit to train and assist other partner institutions and LGUs in the region. (RTA)