COTABATO CITY (April 5, 2019) — To facilitate an immediate response to the affected areas of El-Niño in the Bangsamoro region, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (MAFAR-BARMM) led an inter-agency planning workshop on Friday, April 5, in Cotabato City.
During the workshop, the BARMM agencies prepared an El-Niño Damage Assessment Report, El-Niño Action Plan for the months of April to December 2019, which were already proposed during the inter-agency convergence meeting on March 27, 2019.
Engr. Mohajirin Ali, RPDO-BARMM Acting Executive Director, said the Action Plan will be the basis of the Bangsamoro Government in responding to the needs of affected residents and in accessing potential assistance from the donors or partners who are willing to provide various support.
“The RPDO is committed to any possible help and willing to provide the necessary services to the areas,” he added.
The agencies agreed to form a Task Force El-Niño, which will vice-chaired by Ministry of Local Government (MLG) and with the Regional Planning and Development office (RPDO-BARMM) as its technical secretariat.
The Task Force has set an initial meeting on April 11, 2019 to evaluate plans that have been identified during Friday’s activity.
The El-Niño phenomenon is characterized by an unusual warm sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern part of equatorial Pacific.
According to Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), the country has been experiencing El-Niño since early February and will possibly last until May of this year.
BPI-BARMM
