Marcos orders activation of El Niño monitoring platform

President Marcos has ordered the activation of El Niño Southern Oscillation Online Platform to help the public monitor and contribute to the mitigation of the impacts of El Niño.

Marcos made the directive during the sectoral meeting he presided over on Tuesday morning, March 26—his first public meeting after recovering from flu-like symptoms.

The El Niño Southern Oscillation Online Platform (ENOP) is a centralized repository of data for the understanding, monitoring, and addressing the impacts of El Niño and La Niña. It will primarily serve the public and decision makers.

According to Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Renato Solidum Jr., El Niño in the tropical pacific continues to weaken but the impacts such as hotter and drier conditions will continue.

“Although the El Niño will transition to neutral by April, May, June 2024 season, there is also the increasing probability of La Niña at 62 percent in June, July season,” Solidum said.

Solidum said ENOP was created by DOST through the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) with inputs from DOST-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), and all agencies that address the five sectors affected by the phenomenon such as food, water, health, public safety, and energy.

Through the platform, the public can know more about the different sectors affected by El Niño and government interventions. It features interactive maps, forecasts, and information materials on the actual El Nino events.

“They can also look at information materials that can help them prepare for El Niño and La Niña, and make sure that they contribute to the preparedness of their communities for these hazards,” Solidum said.

“The citizens can also report what they observe on the ground and there’s a citizen survey that can be used – there’s a QR code in the website – and this can be easily accommodated through a dashboard. As the reports come along, then the more data will be stored in the app and the more people can see which other areas are experiencing the same effects,” he added.

The platform can be accessed online through https://enop.ndrrmc.gov.ph/.

The DOST chief further said that part of the dashboard will be exclusive for local government units to have more detailed reporting and other agencies’ reporting “so that the President and other executives can look at the overall response of government so that we can have the same set of information to be shared also to the public later on.”

Solidum also said that by April almost the whole country or 72 provinces will be affected both by drought and dry spell. However, by May, it will go down to 64 provinces, noting that the less affected areas will start in southeastern Mindanao. — Betheena Unite