How’s the weather, Mang Tani?

He is the familiar face that you see on hourly television reports at the height of typhoons and storms. When Typhoon Maring ravaged the better part of Metro Manila, he reported weather news round the clock to keep Filipinos in the loop. He is GMA News’ resident meteorologist Nathaniel Cruz, better known for his humble moniker “Mang Tani.”

Mang Tani graduated from Araneta University with a degree in Agricultural Engineering, but fate seemed to have a different design for him. Coming from a humble family, Mang Tani needed to help send his younger sister to school. Soon after graduation, he stumbled upon PAGASA’s need for new hires and decided to take the entrance exam to train as a meteorologist. He passed the exam, and he knew it was something he would do for the rest of his life.

“I had no idea I would become a meteorologist,” says Mang Tani, narrating his initial experience as a trainee for PAGASA. â€œSiguro talaga ang palad ko ay mapunta sa PAGASA. One year â€˜yun na walang sahod. Talagang pinagtiyagaan ko ‘yun.” As a trainee, he only received a stipend of P1,200 a month.

In 1982, after a year of rigorous training, he officially became a part of PAGASA’s new breed of meteorologists. He finished a Master’s Degree in Meteorology in the University of the Philippines-Diliman, and learned the ropes of weather forecasting through the mentorship of some of the best minds in PAGASA. To date, Mang Tani attributes most of what he knows to experience. 

For close to 30 years, weather forecasting has been the life of the affable weatherman. Until his retirement from PAGASA in 2010, Mang Tani was the agency’s spokesperson, earning the title of officer-in-charge in the Office of the Deputy Administrator. 

In 2005, while still working for PAGASA, Mang Tani received an offer to work in Australia. Back then, he says he was still unprepared. â€œAyoko pa,” he narrates. “Natakot akong iwanan ‘yung isang trabahong alam ko. Kasi aside from being a forecaster, wala na akong alam na trabaho. ‘Yung pagiging Agricultural Engineer ko, hindi ko na-practice.”

In 2009, shortly before his retirement from PAGASA, Mang Tani was informed of a vacant post in Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology. This time, he felt that the time was ripe to accept the offer.

A year after, he flew to Darwin, Australia and became one of the few international meteorologists hired by the country’s weather agency. It was a dream come true, says Mang Tani. Everything he had dreamed for the Philippines in terms of equipment and technology, he found in Darwin.

But work was very different there, he counters. Mang Tani says that the language and the workload were a complete 180-degree turn. “Kung dito before ako ‘yung spokesperson ng PAGASA, ako ‘yung nagpapaliwanag sa tao, doon di ko maintindihan ‘yung sinasabi ng mga tao, kasi nga iba ‘yung accent nila. Iba rin ‘yung kalidad ng trabaho. Kung dito ‘yung isang trabaho gagawin ng tatlong tao, doon ‘yung isang tao gagawa ng tatlong trabaho.”

Despite the challenges, Mang Tani says he still wanted to bring his entire family to Australia and stay there for good. In fact, he was in the middle of applying for permanent residency when an unexpected incident happened.

In 2011, his wife Gloria — then on a two-week visit for Mang Tani’s birthday — had a stroke in her sleep. She was in a coma at a hospital for several weeks. “The doctors said very slim ang chances niya mabuhay so kailangan operahan,” shares Mang Tani. â€œUmaga siya inoperahan sa ulo, tapos pagdating ng hapon sinabi ng doctor, wala nang pag-asa at kailangan nang tanggalin ‘yung ventilator.”

Mang Tani says that he begged the doctors not to pull the plug, firmly believing that a miracle would happen. “I didn’t want to decide on my wife’s life,” says Mang Tani. But seeing no hope on the horizon, the doctors eventually removed the ventilator and transferred Gloria from the ICU to a regular hospital room.

“God is so great,” he smiles. After Mang Tani and his children came back from church, Gloria miraculously woke up from her slumber. â€œIt’s a miracle. Hindi nila alam kung ano’ng nangyari, basta dumilat na lang siya.” After that life-changing incident, Mang Tani says he knew he had to go back to the Philippines.

Fate once again showed a new path for Mang Tani. In 2012, Tonio Magsumbol, an old acquaintance and a senior program manager for GMA News, offered him to be a part of the then soon-to-be-launched GMA Weather, GMA News’ weather arm.

As GMA’s resident meteorologist, Mang Tani simplifies complex weather data on the network’s newscasts. During typhoons, Mang Tani can be seen on GMA 7’s Unang Hirit, 24 Oras, Saksi and various flash reports, as well on GMA News TV’s State of the Nation with Jessica Soho, News To Go,Balitanghali, QRT and Balita Pilipinas. On regular days, Mang Tani reports daily on Unang Hirit and 24 Oras.

Mang Tani says that as a meteorologist for GMA Weather, he is glad to be a part of the news organization’s continuous efforts to simplify weather reports in order to be better understood by Filipinos during typhoons.“Kailangan ng information dissemination. Paano makakapaghanda ang mga tao kung hindi nila alam? That’s where we come in. â€˜Yung warning, advisory and forecasts na binibigay ng warning agency like PAGASA, â€˜yun naman ‘yung dini-disseminate namin through TV, radio and online. So tumutulong tayo roon. Through the efforts of GMA Weather — not just me, but the team as a whole — nakakatulong (tayo) sa national government, local government para makapag-prepare â€˜yung mga tao.”

GMA Weather is under GMA News’ I M Ready banner, an advocacy on disaster preparedness.

On average, the Philippines is hit by 20 typhoons a year. To this, Mang Tani advises, “It’s high time that people be more aware. Because of the changing climate, the changing weather pattern, â€˜yung mga dating hindi nila nararamdaman, ‘yung dating hindi nila nararanasan, pwedeng mangyari. Basta dapat lagi lang tayong handa.”