Sponsorship Speech

on the PAGASA Modernization Act

10 June 2015
Giving Hope to the PAGASA of the Nation
In one sentence, this bill is about giving hope to PAGASA.
Whether we live in a place that sizzles in May or is submerged in water in
July, we rely on the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical
Services Administration to give us the heads up so we can have a head start
on what to do.
But PAGASA is not just a foul-weather friend. Its mandate goes beyond
issuing hourly bulletins during typhoons.
On ordinary days, it provides information, which, though boring, is basic for
society to function and for the economy to run.
Tides help guide ships to ports, pla nes plot their flights on when the sun will
rise or set. And both fishermen and feng shui-believing Taipans consult the
lunar calendar for good fortune.
PAGASA tells us when and where it would rain, and by how much, so that the
man behind the carabao in Mindoro will know when to plow the field and the
man behind the wheel in Malabon will know when to plod through flooded
streets.
All these data come from PAGASA.
And so do the time, the temperature, and weather icons on our cellphone
screen.
But PAGASA is more than just the nations timekeeper or thermometer.
It is becoming an increasingly needed app for a country which has to cope
with an increasingly changing climate.
We dont need historical weather data to tell us that storms are getting
frequent, fickle and ferocious.
Each of us has been a victim of at least one in the past nine years. So we
dont just read about typhoons, we reel from them.
There was the triple whammy of Milenyo-Reming-Seniang in 2006.
Frank laid waste to Panay in 2008, but, thankfully, there was another Frank
who helped it back on its feet.

Ondoy marinated large swaths of Manila the following year. And it was also in
2009 that Pepeng temporarily transformed that flatland from Bulacan to
Pangasinan into the Central Lake of Luzon.
And like a sickle, Pablo in 2012 hacked its way in the most unexpected place
and time, December, in Mindanao, catching many by surprise as it came
outside the typhoon belt and calendar.
A couple of storms since then had barreled across Mindanao, blowing away
its idyllic status of being typhoon-free.
And of course, there was Yolanda, the most powerful typhoon in recorded
human history.
But even if you take Yolanda out of the tally, the resulting figure would still
show that typhoons from 2004 to 2014 claimed the most lives and wrought the
greatest damage to property than in any decade in our history.
From 2004 to 2014, this parade of cyclones left 14,150 dead, 46,691 injured
and 4,169 missing.
It affected almost 100 million persons, damaged 4.5 million houses, and
destroyed P338 billion worth of public and private property.
If you count the missing as dead, the typhoon death toll in the Philippines is
higher than the civilian lives lost in Afghanistan during the same period.
But our experiences in 2012, 2013 and 2014 prove that you dont need a
typhoon to trigger heavy rains.
Because theyre not baptized in the meteorological tradition, we have given
this massive annual flooding phenomenon in Mega Manila a generic name
Habagat.
The problem with Habagat is what it lacks in wind, it compensates with water,
lots of it.
But having too much water is as harmful as having too little of it.
The other end of the climatic pendulum swing are droughts and we have
come to know that a dam without water is more frightening than one that is
about to overflow.
This year alone, mere dry spells in 54 provinces have altered the rice
production outlook and led us to scout for sources abroad, in case the dry
spell graduates into drought.
That search for a safety net is not without basis nor precedents.

An El Nino episode in 1997 to 1998 parched 600,000 hectares of land and

racked up P9 billion in farm losses.
The new normal in an era marked by weather extremes is that our crops are
vulnerable to death by drought or by drowning.
But even without the spectre of climate change, our geographical location and
topographical makeup expose us to natural disasters.
We are perched atop the Ring of Fire. We serve as the tollgate to a typhoon
passageway, being the first landmass which greets typhoons born in the
Pacific.
At least 20 typhoons hit us each year, some brushing the fringes of our
archipelago, others hitting our cities bulls eye.
Sadly, a marriage of natural mishaps and, yes, man-made missteps, like our
infatuation with erecting homes on waterways and our love affair with cutting
trees, have made us the second most disaster-prone country in the world.
One study even tagged us as the country which absorbed the most number of
disasters since the 1900.
And our being a doormat to typhoons which crams more people per square
kilometre than China aggravates the threat of climate change.
Scientists have come up with dire predictions on the fate, if not reversed, that
awaits us.
By 2100, annual mean temperature will rise by 4.8 degrees Celsius from the
1990 average, and sea level by 70 centimeters, which means senators who
will sit in the 44th Congress of the Philippines, like Chiz Escudero V or Sonny
Angara IV, if the Senate will still be here, will ride rubber boats, and on the
hottest of days wear rubber boots to work.
On agriculture, the forecasts say, that sans mitigating measures, rice yield will
plummet by 75 percent.
This is based on the calculus that every 1 degree Celsius increase in
temperature decreases rice harvest by 10 percent. Goodbye, unli rice.
Though this is still far away, we have been given a preview of things to come.
This summer, mercury rose to 38 degrees but feels like hell levels. And as
Ive mentioned before, in the past years, more and stronger storms dump
more rain for longer periods.
Against this backdrop, a lot of climate change-adaptation and disaster riskmitigation measures have been proposed and adopted.

The Philippines has passed a raft of laws which comply with global trends and
best practices.
Even the budget now contains mandatory earmarks for climate change
resiliency.
There is, however, one measure that needs to be passed, and it is this bill,
because there can be no climate change adaptation without weather bureau
modernization.
Cutting emissions might be a tall order, but by passing this bill, government
can no longer be accused that when it comes to modernizing PAGASA it has
so far been spewing hot air.
But climate change or not, a modern and efficient weather agency is public
service for which there is no substitute.
This is because human activities depend on the weather: planting intentions,
holiday plans, construction schedules, travel timetables.
When you march down the aisle, you look up to God for blessings and to the
sky to see if rains will mar your wedding.
When you plan a family picnic, you want to be assured that the date chosen is
not actually an appointment with a typhoon.
If human activities are weather-dependent, then we need a dependable
weather service.
One which can spot a speck of low pressure area thousands of miles away,
project if it would develop into a typhoon, and when it does, plot its track with
precision, like where it will make landfall.
In short, an agency that will tell a storm, Ive got my eye on you.
One which can forecast local weather, especially in Metro Manila, where the
economic cost of vehicular traffic is already P2.4 billion on an uneventful day
and possibly twice that amount on bad weather nights.
One which can offer a full package of services that could predict and profile
weather and climate events and prescribe measures that will protect life,
property and livelihood from these.
One which will tell us of our weaknesses, like villages prone to landslides,
storm surges, or those areas which can rapidly turn into a Waterworld.
At present, among PAGASAs mandate is to provide up-to-date, timely and
reliable information on atmospheric, astronomical and other weather-related
phenomena.

It is tasked to help the government and the people prepare and respond to
typhoons, floods, landslides, storm surges, extreme climatic events, El Nino,
and climate change.
It is also required to provide inputs on disaster-risk reduction, climate change
adaption, and integrated-water resources management.
Another mandate is to ensure that the countrys international commitments
are met, because if typhoons respect no boundaries, so must meteorological
work span borders.
There are seven components of PAGASAs modernization.
First is equipment modernization.
On this, PAGASA sent a shopping list costing a little less than P3.9 billion.
Expensive? Not really, if compared to the P172 billion in combined damages
to agriculture, property and infrastructure which four typhoons Ondoy,
Pepeng in 2009, Yolanda in 2013 and Glenda last year caused.
Second is Research and Development (R&D) enhancement.
Third is the establishment of the PAGASA data center.
This is to centralize technical outputs in one data bank.
Fourth is expanding the reach of PAGASA.
PAGASA must go local. Localized weather forecasting is the way forward. The
benefits of Doppler radars must be replicated. This requires expanding its
network of weather data capturing stations.
Fifth is empowering it to disseminate its information further and faster.
Information not disseminated is information wasted. Much of PAGASAs data
is perishable. Storm notices, for example, have a quick shelf life. Because
timely information saves lives, PAGASA must go retail in communicating its
findings. If flooding is imminent, PAGASA must send of a flood of tweets and
texts.
Sixth is boosting its cooperation linkages and joint venture programs, both
domestic and international.
For example, local non-government weather outfits, if tapped, are effective
force extenders. Tapping this network and harvesting their data will cut both
time and expenses. The same openness by which it forges bilateral and
multilateral relations abroad must also animate its dealings toward local
stakeholders.
Seventh is building up its human resources.

It has been reported that more and more PAGASA personnel leave the
Philippine area of responsibility yearly.
This alsa-balutan has inspired the rewording of a popular ballad, which,
thankfully, I should only recite and not sing, if we dont want to rain tonight:
Walang tigil ang ulan
At nasaan ka, araw
Wala na bang nananatili sa PAGASA
Nakapagtataka, saan sila napunta?

We must stop this exodus of talent while we train and develop more of them.
This bill instructs the creation of a pay scale for PAGASA employees, which
has long been authorized by the Magna Carta for Science and Technology
Personnel. This has been pending for 17 years now.
In addition, it calls for a personnel retention incentive, not exceeding 20
percent of the basic salary of qualified personnel.
It also creates a scholarship program for undergraduate and graduate
degrees in Meteorology and related fields. More training programs will also be
offered.
Ideally, adjusting the public sector pay should be bureaucracy-wide.
Revenues have been on the rise since the present government salary rates
were authorized in 2009.
When it comes to salaries, I have always believed that a rising tide must raise
all ships. But I will settle for a situation where rising floodwaters will, in the
meantime, raise just one boat.
In all, the total cost to modernize PAGASA is capital outlay of P3.9 billion, P45
million annually to fund the compensation adjustments and P70 million for
training and scholarships.
To finance these, as well as future needs, your Senate bill taps both
budgetary and off-budget sources.
Included in the latter is a proposed P3 billion from the net income of
PAGCOR, to be taken from the 50 percent share of the national government,
which, by the way, was P14 billion in 2014.

If we need to get it from gaming revenues, so be it. We need the money so we

don't have to roll the diceor read the cards in predicting if it will rain
tomorrow.
Another revenue source we are eyeing is income from PAGASAs specialized
products and services, as well as cost recovery programs.
There is actually a market for customized weather data. For example, it is
common practice for aviation and maritime companies to pay for these.
While some services to private firms will come with a price, there shall be no
fee charged on the issuance of regular and special forecasts and warnings
that affect safety and such other material for the public good.
Other sources are grants, bequests, donations, ODA, budgetary surpluses,
and income from the PAGASA Modernization Trust Fund.
The modernized PAGASA will be led by an Administrator with the rank of
Undersecretary. He will be assisted by three deputies.
The Administrator will join the Secretaries of Science and Technology, Budget
and Management, and NEDA in implementing the modernization program, the
timetable and contents of which will be spelled out in the IRR which shall be
issued 90 days after the enactment of this bill.
To ensure that this law will not end up as yet another unfunded mandate, the
annual cost of modernization shall be included in the General Appropriations
Act
Whatever the amount, I am confident that investments in PAGASA will dwarf
the damages caused by typhoons in this climate change era when theyre
coming in from unexpected places, with unexpected strengths, and at
unexpected times.
Mr. President, my dear colleagues:
As we chart PAGASAs future, let me take you back to its past.
PAGASA traces its beginnings to January 1865, when two Jesuits started
recording daily weather data in the Observatorio Meteorologico of the Ateneo
Municipal in Intramuros.
The observatory soon became a public institution through a Spanish royal
decree.
So this year is PAGASAs 150th founding anniversary.
But we must approve this bill not because we want it to be our birthday gift to
this agency. We must pass it because this is what our people, our country,
and our future need.

As the dark clouds of climate change hover on the horizon, we can however
look forward to the future with hope if PAGASA is given one.