THE country's weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) should be taken more seriously by the public due to the unpredictable weather patterns.
Like other weather bureaus around the world, it receives its fair share of criticisms if their forecasts come out wrong at times, but it cannot be denied that it lacks funds to help them perform better.
That should not be the case. Pagasa is under the Department of Science and Technology and it should be supported by the National Government if it is expected to do its job well. That job is all the more crucial, given how Mother Nature is now getting back at humanity for neglecting to take care of the environment based on the number of snowstorms, typhoons, and tornadoes happening around the globe.
I am reminded of Pagasa because of what happened last week in Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao. I look for Pagasa online to check for data that may help city residents in the future.
Pagasa can collaborate with telecom companies like Smart, Globe, Sun and PLDT in informing the citizens so they can be better equipped to deal with natural and even man-made calamities.
I can only speak about North Carolina where I am now living in. Using the forecast for a week or a month, agencies and institutions like schools can already predict which days to suspend classes and the days when they can schedule make up classes.
In fact, it is easier in the Philippines since we only have the dry and rainy seasons. Here in the US, we check on cellphones or watch the TV for weather advisory to prepare ourselves before leaving our homes. We don’t take weather updates lightly.
If there are any changes to weather forecasts, these are slight. But most of the time they're accurate. A search on Google showed me the Pagasa app, which is good to know so I can receive Philippine weather updates.
One cannot expect their governments to always be there for them since the government has a lot of things to handle, so apps like the Pagasa app can help empower the citizenry to be self-reliant.
I suggest that weather science be included in the Philippine curriculum and if it is already included, then it should be promoted so students can know when to track and know how to predict weather anomalies. The National Government and its local governments should help purchase equipment to help Pagasa do a better job in analyzing and predicting weather patterns.
Pagasa should also hire additional personnel to augment their services. Ask Amy Baino, information officer of the regional office of the Department of Agrarian Reform and past president of the Government Communicators on Effective Reporting what this means and she will tell you that it would help agencies campaign better in persuading people to be more proactive in empowering themselves.
I would continue talking about the weather since I remembered saying in my previous article that a day, month and year after the rain is gone, we forget and become complacent until the next typhoon.
