Sara Duterte urges government to prepare food supply amid El Niño

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The government should prepare the country's food supply and not just urge Filipinos to ready their buckets in response to the impacts of the very strong El Niño phenomenon, Vice President Sara Duterte said.

"Ang warning ng mga experts sa El Niño ay hindi pangkaraniwan. Sinasabi nila na meron talagang punto na aabot sa drought… Kahit ilan pang balde ang ihanda mo dyan, hindi yan makakatulong," Duterte said during a gathering with overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong over the weekend.

(The experts warned that this El Niño would be extraordinary. They say we will experience drought... No matter how many more buckets you prepare, it won't help.=

"Ang kailangan paghandaan ng pamahalaan ay kung ano ang supply ng pagkain pagdating ng panahon na 'yan kasi ibig sabihin, pag nasira yung ating ani, mag-import tayo," she added. "Kailangan paghandaan yun ng pamahalaan na hindi lang balde-balde."

(What the government needs to prepare for is the food supply when El Niño hits, because that means if our harvest is affected, we will have to import. The government needs to prepare for that, not just bucket by bucket.)

GMA News Online has reached out to Malacañang for comment on the matter.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had urged Filipinos to collect rainwater amid the ongoing El Niño phenomenon. To collect rainwater, Marcos said people need to buy buckets.

Malacañang defended the President and explained it is part of rain collection and water purification, one of the government’s responses to the El Niño phenomenon.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) then said it was preparing to distribute free water filtration devices, promising to teach communities how to use them.

According to PAGASA, the El Niño phenomenon from the latter part of 2026 to the first half of 2027 is expected to be record-breaking in terms of heat, with temperatures across the Philippines expected to rise by 2C.

“Most climate models predict that the ongoing El Niño will persist until the first quarter of 2027, with its peak expected before the end of 2026. And its associated impacts may continue through the first half of 2027,” PAGASA Climate Monitoring and Prediction Section Chief Ana Liza Solis said.

Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. had said that there was no need to hoard water amid the El Niño phenomenon as supply remains sufficient in the next several months.

He urged the public to save rainwater and use it for household needs like washing the car and watering the plants.

The World Food Programme said there is food security when "people have access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development."

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called for soil assessment in the country's farmlands to ensure food security amid the El Niño.

"There may not be rain, but if our groundwater is really secure and it's available, then farmers would be able to produce food," said Dulce Carandang, FAO Philippines assistant representative for the programme. –NB, GMA News