Loren urges probe of gov’t El Niño policy

SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA FILED A RESOLUTION FOR AN URGENT INQUIRY INTO THE POLICIES OF THE GOVERNMENT TO COUNTER EL NIÑO AND ENSURE FOOD SECURITY.
Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on food and agriculture, filed the resolution as the weather bureau has announced that the El Niño phenomenon or prolonged drought has already hit the Philippines and may last for six months until May.
The Department of Agriculture has also warned that the prolonged drought would drastically cut down the production of local crops, like rice, corn, sugar cane, vegetables and other agricultural products.
Officials say three provinces in the central region have started to feel the effects of the El Niño phenomenon by having below normal rainfall. The provinces of Capiz, Aklan and Guimaras in the Central Philippines have had below normal rainfall since August and have already started experiencing drought.
In her resolution (P.S. Res. No. 1540), Loren asked the Senate to direct the Senate committee on agriculture and food and the committee on climate change to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the government’s policies and programs to address the effects of El Niño.
The purpose of the inquiry is to recommend policies and programs to institute “robust adaptation strategies to enhance food security and alleviate rural poverty,” Loren said.
Source: Journal Online