The local government of Marikina said it has sufficient water supply to mitigate the effects of El Niño.

Harvesting facilities in public schools are set up to store water and there are six deep well systems which are connected to the Manila Water in case of reduced allocation or rationing, Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said in a phone interview over the weekend.

“Nagrerecyle tayo ng tubig, ‘yung rainwater. Pangalawa meron tayong mga deep well system with Manila Water. Hindi ito ordinaryong deep well. Ito ‘yung mga nakakabit doon sa pipeline ng Manila Water (We recycle rainwater. Secondly, we have deep well systems with Manila Water. This is not an ordinary deep well. This is connected to the pipeline of Manila Water),” Teodoro said.

On Jan. 19, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order (EO) No. 53 to streamline, reactivate, and reconstitute the old El Niño task forces under Executive Order No. 16 (s. 2001) and Memorandum Order No. 38 (s. 2019).

National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Secretary of Science and Technology Renato Solidum was designated task force chairpersons.

Under EO No. 53, the President instructed the task force to develop a comprehensive disaster preparedness and rehabilitation plan for El Niño and La Niña to provide “systematic, holistic, and results-driven interventions” to help the public cope and minimize their devastating effects.

Teodoro said the task force’s efforts will streamline the national government’s response to the weather phenomenon, saying that the President wants to focus on “systematic, holistic, and results-driven interventions.”

“We should all cooperate and coordinate as we deal with the effects of and concerns on El Niño. We do not need a new structure. What we need is to breathe fresh energy and a new lease on life on the existing networks and links that we have all access to,” Teodoro said in a previous interview.

“At the regional- and local government levels, we can reignite old connections of collaboration. We have done this in handling past disasters and calamities,” he added.

The state weather bureau said El Niño will peak from March to May. (PNA)