PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — The provincial government of Palawan wants to hire its own weather forecaster to provide support to the state weather bureau’s local office after hurdling three tropical disturbances in a span of two weeks.
Provincial Information Office (PIO) chief Gil Acosta Jr. said Wednesday night one of their realizations during the onslaught of “Urduja”, “Vinta”, and “Agaton” was the need for the province to have its own meteorologist who could help make short- and long-range forecasts of weather patterns.
“We realized that our weatherman here, Mr. Sonny Pajarilla, was the only one relating information, and sometimes he goes to meetings from here to there. We pity him because that is tiring,” he said.
Hiring for the provincial meteorologist position may occur in the first quarter of the year, said Provincial Administrator Joshua Bolusa in a press briefing Wednesday night called for by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC).
“Our idea is for the provincial government to pay his salary, but we will still find out how much his/her salary will be. We will propose this either contractual or plantilla position to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Board),” he said.
He added that the hired weatherman can stay at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) office in Puerto Princesa and make daily reports to them but should report to the PDRRMC when there is a typhoon.
Pajarilla, however, said there is actually “no need” for the provincial government to hire a contractual staff because his office has four personnel.
“Nagkataon lang na nagkasunod-sunod ang bagyo, at pati patawag na meeting din (It just so happened that the typhoons came one after the other, and the meetings were called at the same time). We have enough warm bodies here in PAGASA,” Pajarilla said.
He explained that if the provincial government pays for the contractual weather forecaster, that person’s “work contributions” will not be regarded as “official”.
Pajarilla suggested that if the provincial government wants to help, it can do so by passing a resolution that would persuade PAGASA to fill up four of seven plantilla positions in Palawan.
“Right now, only four out of seven plantilla positions are filled, including me. We need three more to be assigned in Palawan. That’s what we only need,” he stated further.
Since they are not receiving representation and transportation allowance under their salary grades, Pajarilla said, the provincial government could help provide this as it is allowed.
Acosta said local government units , they realized, should now utilize part of their calamity fund for disaster preparedness on logistics, skills training on quick response and other related aptitudes, reliable communications system, and sturdier evacuation centers in strategic sites.
“The absence of reliable communications systems was one thing we realized, and we definitely don’t want that every time there is a calamity. Satellite phones do not work there when the clouds are thick, and Malaysian SIM cards are being used there. It’s expensive,” he said.
Last year, the provincial government started the procurement procedure for the purchase of satellite phones, and single sideband (SSB) radios to be distributed in isolated areas like Mangsee.
Mangsee, a 23-hectare isolated island in Balabac town in the southern area, suffered 37 casualties and 60 missing persons after “Vinta’s” onslaught shortly before the New Year.
He said an SSB communications system that had already been set up in Barangay Sebaring, Balabac, would be augmented with two more, while another would be put up in Taytay town.
As of Wednesday, the PDRRMC has facilitated through its municipal counterparts the preemptive evacuation of 1,524 residents in 11 affected towns in the province.
Acosta said some of them were already sent back home after “Agaton” crossed central Palawan. (PNA)
