Crops worth P3B to be lost from El Niño, NDCC chief says

The Philippines is expected to lose at least P3 billion worth of crops such as rice and corn from the El Niño phenomenon, Defense Secretary and National Disaster Coordinating Council chairman Norberto Gonzales said on Monday. Efforts to bring rain through cloud seeding operations have failed because the appropriate clouds could not be found, Gonzales said during a meeting of the Regional Consultative Committee on Disaster Management. As a result, the NDCC — which is tasked to coordinate relief efforts during disasters — “may have to resort to just helping the farmers," he added. Poorer farmers expected to be most affected since they cannot afford irrigation, the NDCC chairman said. Other efforts to cut El Niño’s effects include the repair of leaking pipes, especially in Metro Manila, where 40 percent of water supply are wasted. “The first step that we took is to make sure that no wastage of water," Gonzales said. Gonzales said he was pleased that local government units like Quezon City and Manila are no longer requiring permits from water distributors during excavations to repair or replace pipes. “Right now, we are going from city to city," said Gonzales, adding that Quezon City and Manila Mayors Sonny Belmonte and Alfredo Lim, respectively, are cooperating in the repairs. He also raised the possibility that Maynilad Water Services Inc. (MWSI) may ration water in 300 barangays if the situation worsens. Maynilad serves the west zone of Metro Manila. “El Nino is always alarming because you know we don’t know how long it will last," Gonzales said. “We are worried how much we have water in our dams so the important thing is to conserve, its better to conserve and then if it end early better for all of us." - GMANews.TV