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E-mailDespite its request for bigger funds to cover the purchase of modern equipment for weather forecasting, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) will get a huge slash off its 2010 budget.
In an inquirer.net report, Lilibeth Gonzales, chief of Pagasa's finance management division, said that the government denied the P1.7-billion budget the agency submitted to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and instead told them to stay within the ceiling of P614 million.
The requested budget was supposed to cover personnel and maintenance expenses, including capital outlays for the purchase of new equipment.
Even the Department of Science and Technology – which supervises the weather bureau – has received a 16 percent cut from its existing budget.
Anthony Sales, science and technology director for Mindanao said that his department had proposed about P5 million, which is about the same as its existing budget. However, the DBM cut the budget to only P4.2 million for 2010.
The reduced budget, science officials said, would hurt many of DOST's proposed projects which include the construction of vital infrastructure for regional offices and its laboratories.
Even with the budget cut, Pagasa officials remain positive that the weather bureau would pull through with its projects with help from donations from private and foreign institutions.
'Ill-equipped, incompetent'
The budget cuts will be alleviated by donations from the United States and Norway of close to P300 million next year, while Japan will provide a P 1.7 billion grant for Doppler radars and other weather equipment.
The ill-equipped weather bureau has received flak over its presumed incompetence to accurately predict weather disturbances. The request for Doppler radars – weather instruments which can monitor the intensity and volume of rainfall – has been dragging on for five years, a report said.
Need for “new blood”
Apart from new equipment, a Pagasa official also said the agency needs “new blood.” According to an abscbnnews.com report, 40 percent of the agency's 900 employees are between the ages of 41 and 50; while only 1.4 percent are between the ages of 21 and 30.
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