We got our power and internet connection back last night around 10:00 p.m. It was really hard living without power and internet even just for a day. I was listening to battery operated radio for the news updates. I suddenly remembered when we were still in the province and had no electricity yet. My grandmother used to listen to the radio for the news and “Gabi ng Lagim”.Another typhoon hit the country and left Metro Manila and surrounding areas in Luzon without power. Unexpectedly, typhoon Basyang had directly hit Metro Manila the other night with a howling wind in the speed of 95kph. Even the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) raised signal warnings earlier in different areas they said that the typhoon is expected to hit the north so the people in Metro Manila were caught in a surprise by the howling typhoon that left uprooted trees, fallen electric posts, debris and 20 casualties.
Because of the said incident, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III warned the PAG-ASA for failing to give earlier warning about the changes in the direction of typhoon Basyang. “This is the last time that this is going to happen,” Aquino told officials of the PAG-ASA.
But can we really blame the PAG-ASA? With their stone-age equipments it is hard to give reliable weather forecasts. Japan promised to sponsor three Doppler radars which will be operational on 2013 yet. Can we still wait for 3 years with almost twenty typhoons hitting the country each year? I think it is about time that the government gives priority to PAG-ASA. The agency needs 1.8 billion for the state-of-the-art equipments and telecommunications upgrade. A very big amount but nothing compared to the pork barrels of the congressmen and budget of the senators.
2 replies on “Is the PAG-ASA to Blame on Late Typhoon Warning”
yes may pagkukulang sila and they admitted it. it's a shame that we have to rely on other countries' resources for accurate predictions while we can have our own reliable equipments kung gugustuhin ng gobyerno.
Alam mo ba my husband has been obsessively following the storm's path at storm 2k and swear it would hit Manila. He even forced me to look at the website and I saw their prediction myself that it was bound for NCR not Central Luzon. So we were surprised to hear PAGASA made a different forecast on TV. Kelangan ng PAGASA ng equipment but they can also use the internet to follow other countries' forecast while they don't have the necessary equipment they dream of. They have to be able to use the resources they have in the meantime and I think they have internet connection naman. Incompetent talaga sila.