MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Monday, October 19, said 14,434 barangays, or 34% nationwide, are considered “priority intervention zones” for super El Niño.

Priority areas include Masbate City, Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro, and seven localities in Isabela.

For the assessment, the DENR used drought projections by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), groundwater stress data from the National Water Resources Board, and available water service provider data.

The DENR’s geospatial database office ranked barangays by El Niño vulnerability, from lowest to highest priority, as follows:

• High priority: 14,434 barangays or 34%
• Moderate priority: 17,046 barangays or 41%
• Low priority: 9,685 barangays or 23%
• Not affected: 883 or 2%

DENR Undersecretary Ignatius Loyola Rodriguez said over P142 million has been allocated in the 2027 budget for the expansion of water service coverage. This comes in the form of grants to water districts and local governments.

“We have water refilling stations, water tanks for water districts and LGUs, and geo-resistivity survey,” Rodriguez said on Tuesday, during the Senate hearing on their proposed 2027 budget.

“The total number of water-related projects that we’re looking at the target for 2027 would be 180,” said Rodriguez.

According to the Local Water Utilities Administration, additional funds to address water supply issues that might arise because of El Niño should go to water source development, non-revenue water recovery, and network expansion.

– Rappler.com