TASK Force El Niño, led by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., stressed the importance of the collective efforts of government agencies in mitigating the impact of the weather phenomenon, particularly on agriculture.

Teodoro instilled on members of the task force the need for cooperation and coordination, not just for El Niño but for other emergency and disaster concerns.

"There is a need to strengthen public information to engage people in preparedness measures," he said.

Last Wednesday, Teodoro directed all military camp commanders to conserve water as the nation begins to experience El Niño's effects.

He emphasized the need to repair facilities such as leaking pipes to prevent water wastage, instructing all military personnel and their dependents living inside military camps to "do their part in the whole-of-government approach to mitigate the El Niño effects."

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. named Teodoro as the task force chairman and Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum as co-chairman.

The Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Information and Communications Technology will work closely to ensure effective use of the so-called El Niño Platform.

Task Force El Niño was reactivated under Executive Order 53, which took effect on January 19.

The task force will formulate interventions for key sectors and further actions to ramp up efforts to ease El Niño's impact, especially in the provinces that are experiencing it.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration (Pagasa) said 41 provinces are being affected by El Niño.

Experiencing dry conditions are Batangas, Laguna, Masbate, Oriental Mindoro, Antique, Biliran, Capiz, Cebu, Eastern Samar, Guimaras, Iloilo, Leyte, Negros Oriental, Samar, Lanao del Norte, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.

Under a dry spell are Abra, Aurora, Bataan, Isabela, Metropolitan Manila, Occidental Mindoro, Quirino, Rizal, Zambales and Negros Occidental.

Drought conditions are being felt in Apayao, Benguet, Cagayan, Cavite, Ifugao, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Kalinga, La Union, Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Palawan and Pangasinan.

Pagasa also noted that the number of provinces affected by El Niño is down from 50 on January 21 to 31.

Despite the reduction, the task force reiterated the need to reinforce preparedness due to the strong and mature El Niño that is expected to continue through February and will likely persist until May.

Lead agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Energy (DoE), the Department of Health (DoH), and the Department of Agriculture (DA) presented situation updates and interventions on the water sector, public safety, energy sector, health sector and food security.

DENR reported that the water from the dams is still sufficient until May, but advised the public to conserve water. The department continues to monitor the water supply sources and has been working on setting up alternative water sources.