CARTOON BY: AARON PAUL C. CARIL
EDITORIAL
Dry run or run dry?
The warning is no longer a distant cloud on the horizon—indeed, the problem is the lack of clouds. PAGASA says a moderate to strong El Niño is already present, may become very strong before the end of 2026, and could persist through the first half of 2027. That means a greater likelihood of below-normal rainfall, dry spells and drought, even as some western areas may still receive heavy Habagat rain. The country must therefore prepare not for one neat emergency, but for the cruel possibility of scarcity in one province and flooding in another.
On paper, the government is not asleep. The National Irrigation Administration plans to use groundwater maps, repair old pumps, maintain and deploy solar-powered irrigation systems, and clear silted canals. The Department of Agriculture has been assessing major irrigation networks, updating climate-risk maps, prepositioning drought-tolerant seeds and fertilizers, reviewing planting calendars, and strengthening crop insurance and credit support. The DENR has cited rainwater harvesting, small impounding structures and fire prevention, while energy and health agencies are preparing for power strain and heat-related illness.
These are sensible measures, and several are more practical than the usual ritual of forming committees after crops have withered. Groundwater mapping can guide pumps; localized planting calendars can reduce losses; and mobile irrigation can buy time for vulnerable farms. Reactivating the El Niño Task Force also recognizes that water, food, electricity, health and social protection cannot be managed in separate bureaucratic buckets. The plans are workable—but only if “workable” means funded, scheduled, locally assigned and tested before reservoirs fall.
That is where confidence begins to evaporate. Announcements list activities, but the public still needs province-level targets, delivery dates, water-allocation rules, named accountable offices and measurable triggers for emergency aid. How many pumps are operational, where will they go, which canals will be cleared first, and how quickly will insurance claims and cash assistance reach farmers and fisherfolk? A plan without a public dashboard can become a press release with a long dry season attached.
Government must now convert preparedness into a transparent operating timetable. Reservoir levels and irrigation schedules should be published regularly; local governments should identify priority households, farms and water sources; schools and workplaces need enforceable heat protocols; and utilities must present contingency plans for reduced hydropower and rising demand. Farmers need advisories they can actually use—delivered early, in local languages, and matched with seeds, credit, insurance and market support—not merely told to plant differently after spending on the old crop.
So, has the government done enough? It has prepared a credible menu, but not yet proved that the kitchen can serve before the water runs out. The forecast has provided time, and time is the most valuable resource El Niño has not yet taken away. If agencies disclose targets, release funds promptly, test equipment and coordinate down to the barangay, today’s plans may blunt tomorrow’s losses. If they do not, “preparedness” will be remembered as another word that sounded reassuring—until the taps, fields and power lines answered otherwise.