President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. gave an assurance on Friday that the country can maintain good food buffer stock until early next year, as he rallied for public support for more intensified preparations for the looming El Nino phenomenon that is predicted to persist until the middle of 2024.

“We must prepare and apply some of the lessons that we have learned during the pandemic when it came to the supply of agricultural product, of food, of the efficiency of the supply chain – all of these will be affected if our water resources are inadequate,” President Marcos said during the inauguration of Maynilad’s Poblacion Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in Muntinlupa City.

“And so, and that is why, we have now begun in government a very accelerated effort to prepare for that. We, for all intent and purposes, we have a good buffer until maybe the end of first quarter.”

“Currently, the thrust of the government and all other sectors is to prepare in increasing water capacity so that should the El Niño extend to the second quarter of next year, the country could still, at the very least, supply potable water especially in the urban areas” he noted.

By ensuring stable supply, he said, water could still be supplied to the agriculture and industrial sectors, as well as to medical facilities that could hardly operate without water.

“We think about those major uses of water. We also have to be thinking about our hospitals. Hospitals cannot operate without water, and with the onset of a drought that would become more, more important as it goes on,” he said.

But with the water projects such as the one opened in Muntinlupa City with the aid of the private sector, the President expressed optimism that the country could weather the impact of the dry spell.

According to him, there will be another such facility in Mandaluyong, and three more will be opened in Cavite.

“That will all be – that is all the good, and we have to get those facilities built and operating so that we can consider ourselves at least minimally ready for the arrival of the drought that will be coming next year,” said the President.

“Now, I do not need to frighten anyone of, but it is a serious problem. But there are – we are familiar with the capabilities of both private sector and public sector. Put such together and there is much that we can do and let us do.” PND