Drilon: 2007 budget to provide Pagasa with modern radars
that can predict rain volume during typhoons

When President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signs the proposed P1.126 national budget for 2007, the Philippines will soon be equipped with a more modern radar system that will be able predict the volume of rainfall during frequent typhoons that visit the country.

Liberal Party (LP) President Franklin Drilon, who is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said the proposed 2007 budget bill included an appropriation of P200 million that would allow the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) to update its radar systems as part of government's disaster preparedness infrastructure.

Drilon said the funds for the purchase of two Doppler Radars could be the answer to criticisms that Pagasa and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) failed to provide sufficient warnings to Bicol residents who were devastated by Super typhoon "Reming" last November.

At present, Drilon noted, Pagasa's equipment can predict the wind speed during a typhoon but it does not have the capability to predict the amount of rains that the typhoon would dump in an affected area.

According to Drilon, the two Doppler Radars, reportedly worth P74 million each, can be deployed in the Bicol Region that is frequently battered by typhoons that hit the Philippines each year. Earlier, Pagasa recommended the installation of Doppler Radars in Mindanao.

"These radars will certainly help in the country's disaster preparedness infrastructure," Drilon said. Another P11 million had also been appropriated for the construction of buildings that will house the radars, he added.

Drilon noted the government's disaster preparedness agencies came under fire for allegedly failing to predict the amount of rainfall spawned by Typhoon Reming that triggered landslides in Albay province, killing hundreds of persons.

Phivolcs deputy director Bartolome Bautista said Philvocs should not be blamed for the deaths of the typhoon victims, noting that they issued advance warning to local government officials about the impending disaster. He said it was complacency and lack of awareness among the people that killed hundreds of people in Albay.

Drilon noted that Pagasa intended to purchase a total of 10 Doppler Radars to complete the update of the country's disaster preparedness program by year 2010 starting with the purchase of the two radars this year.

On Thursday, Drilon revealed that the Bicameral Conference Committee has broken the deadlock on the 2007 budget bill after a series of meetings with his House counterpart, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda.

The bicam committee agreed on a compromise version of the budget that shall be submitted for ratification by both chambers of Congress when session resumes this month, Drilon said. The bill can then be presented for the President's signature before Congress adjourns on February 10.