GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The Regional Disaster Coordinating Council in Region 12 (RDCC 12) advised various government agencies in Southwestern Mindanao to prepare their individual mitigation plans and undertake initial measures to cushion the impact of the El Niño phenomenon.

Chief Supt. Josefino Cataluña, Region 12 police director and concurrent RDCC 12 chair, also asked local and national government agencies in the area to be proactive in the face of the expected natural phenomenon.

Cataluña said the RDCC is closely monitoring the extended dry periods in various agricultural production areas in the region that were earlier identified by the national government as among the areas that are highly vulnerable to the coming drought.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) reported earlier that several parts of Mindanao have started to experience below normal rainfall due to the onset of El Niño.

The provinces of South Cotabato, Sarangani, and Sultan Kudarat were identified as among the provinces exhibiting three to four consecutive months of below normal rainfall in the Pagasa report.

He said RDCC 12 will provide them with regular updates on latest weather forecasts and advisories from Pagasa and other national agencies, including the national government’s El Niño Task Force.

The task force earlier identified the provinces of South Cotabato, and Sarangani as among the 24 provinces in the country that are highly vulnerable to the impact of the prolonged dry spell.

Dante Ariola, Pagasa weather forecaster here, said the expected long dry spell will likely hit the said areas on the third week of this month.

Ariola said that based on their monitoring, some parts of the region have started to experience little or no rain at all, and such situation would likely worsen within the next few weeks.

“Right now, the area’s rainfall pattern has become more irregular and this will lead to hotter days ahead,” Ariola said.

In 1998, an intense El Niño dried up farmlands and some water sources in the two provinces, causing billions of pesos worth of damage to agricultural crops and livestock.

Several tribal children in the area also died after they ate “kayos,” a toxic root crop, due to a shortage in food supplies.