'La Nina' looms for Philippines

Thu, 16 Apr 1998 | Source: AP

MANILA (AP): The Philippines, still reeling from the effects of a severe drought caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon, is now bracing for floods from a La Nina that may follow, officials said yesterday.

Agriculture Secretary Salvador Escudero said heavy rains from the La Nina could begin in the last quarter of this year, which is normally harvest season.

Flooding could threaten rice crops and the government is encouraging farmers to plant early in order to harvest in the third quarter of the year, Escudero said.

He said 23 provinces, many of them rice-growing areas, could bear the brunt of the heavy rains and floods.

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