CEBU CITY Mayor Nestor Archival Sr. urged businesses and developers to conserve water and reduce their use of single-use plastic bottles as Cebu prepares for potential water shortages linked to a projected “super El Niño.”
Speaking at the 2026 Subdivision and Housing Developers Association Central Visayas summit, Archival said companies, particularly those involved in construction and property development, should adopt water-saving practices as water demand continues to rise alongside economic and residential activity.
“Everybody uses water in construction. We use water,” Archival said, urging businesses and households to help the community prepare for possible water stress.
He cited information from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on the possibility of a super El Niño in the coming months, which he said could further strain water resources.
Archival promoted the city government’s “one tumbler at a time” initiative, encouraging residents and businesses to use reusable containers instead of bottled water.
The mayor said his advocacy was partly prompted by the volume of plastic bottles consumed during government meetings. On his first day as mayor, he said, about 28 bottles of water were placed on the conference table for a meeting with department heads. Several meetings in a day could result in hundreds of discarded plastic bottles, he said.
“We need to have a tumbler because if you have a tumbler, then you are going to drink. After drinking, you are not going to throw this away,” he said.
This urgent call comes as businesses and local governments prepare for possible disruptions from extreme weather, with water availability emerging as a key concern alongside energy, supply chains and employee safety.
Strengthen business resilience
Barbara “Bambi” Gothong-Tan, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), said businesses also need to strengthen their resilience as extreme weather events pose risks to operations and supply chains.
“While the potential for severe weather globally is staggering, its local impact hits close to home,” Gothong-Tan said.
She said the potential impact of a super El Niño highlights the vulnerability of the Philippines as an import-dependent economy.
At MCCI, she said, the chamber is helping member companies update their business continuity plans and prepare for weather-related disruptions.
Among the measures being promoted are the installation of rainwater catchment systems, expansion of solar power capacity for energy resilience, supply-chain mapping and building up core inventories.
The chamber is also launching information drives focused on employee health and safety guidelines during extreme weather, Gothong-Tan said.
El Niño to persist through February 2027
The current El Niño is expected to strengthen into a very strong event by the end of 2026, raising the risks of drought, flooding and extreme heat through 2027, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Sept. 3, 2026.
El Niño is already established, with an almost 100 percent probability that it will persist through February 2027.
Sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific were 2.2 to 2.6 degrees Celsius above average from late July to mid-August, while subsurface waters in some areas were more than 8 degrees above average, the WMO said.
For September to November, it expects above-normal temperatures across almost all land areas, alongside significant shifts in rainfall patterns, which could disrupt climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water and energy.
The WMO said the strength of El Niño alone does not determine how severely a country or region will be affected, as other climate drivers, including the Indian Ocean Dipole and Atlantic conditions, can influence its impacts.
It urged governments, businesses and communities to strengthen preparedness and early-warning measures against weather-related disruptions. / KOC