Two months ago, the national media reported that the 2025 budget of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), including that of weather agency PAGASA, breezed through the House Committee on Appropriations.
Aside from presenting its budget priorities. Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. also reported the expansion of the Doppler radar network to 19 units last year and the finalization of the installation of nine X-Band radars in Negros Occidental, Davao and Agusan del Sur in June to improve its weather and flood monitoring.
According to a report of the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department, PAGASA has been allocated a total funding of P1.9314 billion, representing just 6.8 percent of the DOST budget but also a notable increase from its P1.679 billion this year.
The weather agency proposed P384.6 million for climate related technologies and infrastructure, including P222 million for the construction, repair and rehabilitation of damaged weather stations and P88 million for its flood forecasting and warning program.
The only new Doppler radar station proposed for 2025 is that for Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, while there is no mention of its plans for the rehab of Buenavista Doppler radar station.
The CPBRD report also notes that PAGASA’s P867.2 million for its operations is the smallest among DOST’s key programs and is just 3.5 percent of the total, while that for S&T scholarships is a whopping P9.8 billion.
A reelectionist senator vowed to defend PAGASA’s budget while pointing out that it operates with limited equipment – only 11 of its 19 Doppler radars are functional.
He did not mention the CPBRD finding that over 24 percent, or 266, are still vacant out of PAGASA’s 1,091 funded positions.
Interestingly, the senator from Mindanao made no move to increase the agency’s budget, a similar shortcoming seen in the supposedly breezy passage of the DOST kitty in the House Appropriations Committee.
Why Bicolano solons in the committee did not raise a finger to press for the rehab of the Buenavista Doppler radar station, which needs a measly P150 million, over the past three years since super typhoon Rolly tore off its radome, we may never know.
PAGASA officials have focused their efforts on convincing the Japanese government, through JICA, to finance the rehab, when they could have just asked the House to provide the P150 million.
The amount required to make the facility functional in tracking rainfall, typhoons, and thunderstorms is just the proverbial drop in the bucket compared to the P253 billion set aside by the government for its “ayuda” cash assistance.
It is only less than 10 percent of the P1.561 billion that Congressman Eulogio R. Rodriguez has proposed for flood control projects in Catanduanes for 2025.
Don’t ask us if we know that the good solon from Batalay, or the 15 other representatives as well as the several partylist solons from Bicol, ever opened their mouths to question PAGASA why it has yet to rehabilitate its facilities in the region.
“Prioritizing the weather forecasting capacity of PAGASA plays a very vital role against the increasing threats of climate change in the Philippines,” stressed the CPBRD report. “It is important to note that sufficient budget for the agency is a key element for the modernization program of the agency, shrugging off such notion will only leave the Philippines vulnerably exposed to the effects of climate change.”
It is likely that our representatives in Congress never bothered to read this report, as they are apparently interested only in budgets that matter to their pockets: infrastructure projects from which comes the cash to pay for their lavish lifestyles and the capacity to buy votes.