P360M PAGASA flood forecasting system goes deaf and blind from lack of funding

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SINCE 2022, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s (PAGASA)

P359.86 million rain and flood forecasting system has gone both deaf and blind after funding for its continued operation was cut off during the Duterte administration.

In the 2023 audit of the PAGASA, the Commission on Audit (COA) revealed that the weather bureau has been unable to maintain and operate the more than 2,000 hydrometeorological stations that form the backbone of the system.

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From 2010 to 2017, PAGASA and the Department of Science and Technology – Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) put up 2,056 hydromet stations in identified flood-prone areas all over the country capable of providing real-time date on rain and water level.

It started with 80 automatic weather stations (AWS) and 100 automatic rain gauges (ARGs) installed between 2010 to 2013 worth P78.406 million funded under the DOST Grants-in-Aid program.

Recognizing the potential of the system, then President Benigno S. Aquino III released P150 million from the calamity fund of the Office of the President to beef up the system with 760 ARGs and 428 water level monitoring stations (WLMS) in 18 major river basins from 2011 to 2014.

These were all connected to a central server in Quezon City where analysis was made and flood warnings issued when needed.

In July 2014 to June 2017, additional 252 ARGs, 173 WLMS, and 263 warning posts or beacons were installed in other areas under the Deployment of Early Warning Systems in Disaster-Prone Areas (DEWS) Project with a budget of P41.705 million.

In July 2018, an optimization project was launched to update and upgrade the capabilities of the hydromet stations to World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards with P89.75 million in total funding.

“For the development and deployment of 2,056 hydromet stations, the total amount of P359,859,387.60 was spent by the government from CYs 2010 to 2022. One of the notable accomplishments of the optimization project is the establishment of the CBFEWS (Community Based Flood Early Warning System), an integrated system of tools and plans managed by and for communities. It provides near real-time early warnings when rising flood waters are detected,” the audit team said.

But installation site inspection conducted by auditors of the monitoring equipment at the PAGASA Science Garden, the San Simon Elementary School in Dinalupihan, Bataan; the Mabiga Bridge in Hermosa, Bataan; and a warning post in Sitio Toto, Barangay Cupang Proper in Balanga, Bataan revealed the lack of maintenance.

“The physical inspection of these sensors revealed they were substantially intact but needing repair and continuous maintenance. In the duration of the Optimization Project, the repair and maintenance of the stations were done by two technical personnel per region. However, as the funding from the DOST for these projects was not renewed, the repair and maintenance efforts were discontinued,” the team said.

Since mid-2022, the DEWS website has gone quiet, with even the SIM Card load for each sensor in the hyrdromet stations no longer funded, according to the assistant project leader.

“The subscription, commonly referred to as SIM Card load, is necessary to transmit the data collected by the sensors in the field stations to the central server. He added that the subscription is P300 for each station per month. Thus, an estimated total amount of P616,800 per month or P7,401,600 per year is needed to make the 2,056 stations fully operational,” auditors said.

Other than the mobile data subscription, the batteries also need periodic replacement at P3,500 each, around P100 for rewiring, and P600 for labor to trim the vegetation in the stations.

“However, the PAGASA cannot cover these additional expenses from its own regular fund due to budget constraints. They tried to include these in the requested budget in the GAA (General Appropriations Act) for CYs 2019 to 2022, but the request was not granted,” the COA said.

PAGASA said the other option left is to ask the local government units where the hydromet stations are located to adopt them by shouldering the operations and maintenance cost.

As of the yearend 2023, only Baguio City has responded favorably by adopting four stations, while the province of Tarlac accepted the transfer of five stations under its care.

Officials of PAGASA said talks are being held with eight other LGUs regarding possible transfer of 195 other stations.

While waiting for saving hands, the audit team said 246 stations have deteriorated beyond possibility of rehabilitation while 96 were listed as inaccessible due to security concerns in the locality.

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“In light of the escalating risk of further deterioration due to discontinued repair and maintenance, the need to expedite the donation is imperative,” the COA said.

In the meantime, the PAGASA was advised to put out its hands palms up and approach Congress to allocate enough funds for renewal of cellular subscriptions and repair the remaining hydromet stations.

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