Senator Kiko Pangilinan fully supports the Inter-Agency Task Force El Niño to mitigate the adverse impacts of the drought expected to be brought about by the El Niño phenomenon later this year.
In a media interview in Albay province on the sidelines of his attendance at the Agri Fiesta 2026 there, Pangilinan explained that the task force must be composed of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Department of Finance (DOF) to activate critical interventions.
“May budget ang gobyerno para sa natural disasters, calamity relief, quick response na dapat ma-mobilize.”
“May budget ang gobyerno para sa natural disasters, calamity relief, quick response na dapat ma-mobilize. At syempre, kapag nagkaroon ng state of calamity declaration, ‘yung pondo na mare-release para sa calamity funds,” the veteran legislator said.
“So, lahat ‘yan dapat inihahanda at tiyakin na pagka ‘yung supply ng ating bigas dapat sapat. Kinakailangan tiyakin na pagdating dito sa El Niño, which they’re saying will hit us third and fourth quarter, ang interventions ng gobyerno in terms of cash for work, repair, and rehabilitation, ‘yung mga budgets na ‘yan dapat ma-mobilize,” the seasoned lawmaker added.
“Kinakailangan tiyakin na pagdating dito sa El Niño, ang interventions ng gobyerno in terms of cash for work, repair, and rehabilitation, ‘yung mga budgets na ‘yan dapat ma-mobilize.”
The senator is no stranger to mobilizing government resources to prepare for El Niño, which will have the greatest impact on the agriculture and fisheries sectors.
As the Aquino administration’s food security czar from 2014 to 2015, Pangilinan was at the helm when the most intense El Niño in 20 years hit the country.
Under his watch, the NIA has adopted several measures to mitigate the impact, including implementing the Quick Turn Around Scheme, which promoted planting the 2015 first crop immediately after the harvest of the 2014 second crop; adopting water-saving technologies; implementing a water distribution rotation; and rainwater harvesting. NIA has also encouraged farmers to plant early-maturing and drought-tolerant rice varieties to save water.
Despite the El Niño phenomenon in 2015, Pangilinan said that the price of rice was the lowest in two decades “because we made sure na sinuportahan natin ng tamang interventions”.
“So, an inter-agency task force on El Niño should be mobilized, should be organized, and should start planning for the third and fourth quarters of this year,” he concluded.
