PDRF to donate rain gauges to Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF) will donate new rain gauges for the state-run weather bureau to help the agency improve its flood monitoring and warning system.

PDRF chairman Manuel Pangilinan said they have approved funding amounting to P4 million for the new rain gauges to be installed in flood-prone areas in the country.

Pangilinan also said they are willing to provide funding assistance for the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) for the acquisition of other new equipment.

“We can help you procure new equipment, let us know what else you need,” Pangilinan told weather officials during the inauguration of the Pagasa-Office of Civil Defense-PLDT Link at the Pagasa head office in Quezon City last Tuesday.

He said the project sends the message that disaster prevention and mitigation efforts are not the sole responsibility of the government but also of the private sector and the general public.

The project, which provides fast transmission of weather data from Pagasa to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), was funded by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., which is also chaired by Pangilinan.

The project provides fiber optic connection between OCD and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

Pagasa said a study conducted by the Japan Radio Co. Ltd. and NESIC Philippines found that the NIA and OCD link was obstructed by the ongoing construction of a new building along Aurora Blvd. in Cubao.

With PDRF funding, PLDT instead connected the two departments via high-speed DSL cable and the connection is now being used to transmit weather and flood forecast bulletins to OCD’s main computer systems.