COTABATO CITY – An official of the region’s Department of Science and Technology (DOST) on Thursday said the summer heat may stretch longer or until the second week of June as dry season extends next month.
“Summer is not yet over,” said DOST Regional Secretary Myra Mangkabung even as she noted that the rainy season usually starts before the month of June, “However, this year, due to the extended period of El Nino, the rainy season may start middle of June.”
In a news report, the state weather agency Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, said that the country may expect hot and humid weather with isolated thunderstorms.
Sec. Mangkabung said her agency is planning to conduct an awareness campaign next month on climate change dubbed ‘Iba na ang Panahon: Science for Safer Communities (S4SC)’ in all of the five provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The S4SC is a nationwide campaign of DOST on increasing awareness of calamities and disasters that continually affect the country. It aims at assisting the Local Government Units develop action plans to help the communities prepare for emergencies.
Sec. Mangkabung said the program is also aimed at expanding the network of contacts among disaster-warning agencies.
The S4SC program will formally start in the region on June 2, 2015 for the residents of North and South Upi in Maguindanao. It will feature workshops that focus on increasing and capacitating the communities on monitoring hazards.
The schedule of other S4SC campaigns is as follows: * 04 June in MSU-Dalican for residents of Datu Odin Sinsuat and Datu Blah Sinsuat; * 09 June in Datu Saudi for residents of Talayan, Guindulungan and Datu Saudi; * 11 June in Ampatuan for residents of Datu Unsay, Datu Hoffer, Ampatuan and Datu Abdullah Sangki; and * 16 June in Wao “After the workshop, we are expecting our participants to know the basic knowledge in addressing calamities in their respective areas,” said Sec. Mangkabung. (Bureau of Public Information)
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