Press Release
August 2, 2007

Zubiri recommends bigger budget for PAGASA
Cloud-seeding pilots paid less than GOCC clerks

Senator Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri yesterday recommended increasing the budget for the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) calling it "the favorite whipping boy for extreme weather condtitions experienced throughout the country."

"No one gets blamed for the weather except the weatherman. Rain or shine, technocrats to street vendors blame PAGASA," Zubiri said.

"We blame it even for low public awareness about climate change and global warming. I dread to think what victims of tornados that slammed Bulacan, Pampanga and Nueva Ecija and the hale that struck Baguio must be saying." The tornado crushed houses, uprooted trees and toppled electric posts.

Zubiri noted that on news of critical levels in major water reservoirs that supply drinking water, irrigate farms and electrify Luzon , no one gets the most flack but PAGASA.

"If we compare the budget we allot to PAGASA and the amount of blame laid at their door, I think the climate agency is at the end of a raw deal."

"We pay a pilot of PAGASA whose job includes cloud-seeding less than a clerk's salary in a GOCC. A pilot gets an additional pay of P25,000 per annum only which is equivalent to 25 per cent of his base pay," Zubiri said.

The pilots' pay is drawn from the P3.245 Million personal services for "weather modification activities and natural disaster reduction activities". It is part of the 2007 operations budget for "research on atmospheric, geophysical and allied sciences" amounting to P30.6 Million.

Meanwhile, the operations budget for agro-climatic research and farm weather services, and, climate variability and climate change studies is P3.07 million only. The whole agency itself runs on P541 million only this year which already includes the purchase of two units of Doppler weather radar woth P204 Million.

Zubiri took the cudgels for the beleaguered weather forecasting office whose mandate it is to gather scientific data that will guide government on steps to take to avert disasters or prevent extensive damage. As of press time, government has yet to produce estimates of crop and livestock damage and harvest shortfall.

"The weatherman needs a beefier budget especially now that extreme weather, coming from cyclical climate system changes or global warming can mean food and water shortage, diseases, power blackouts, and breakdown in government's delivery of basic services. Our preparedness for emergencies will only be as good as the data and forecasts we have."

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