Noynoy blows top, berates Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino gave weather officials a dressing down yesterday for their wrong forecast of the direction of typhoon “Basyang,” which hit Metro Manila Tuesday night and caught residents and disaster officials by surprise.

“This is not acceptable. I hope this is the last time that we are all brought to areas different from where we should be,” Mr. Aquino told red-faced weather officials during a meeting at the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) at Camp Aguinaldo.

Basyang, packing winds of 120 kilometers per hour, triggered a Metro-wide blackout, although there were no reports of casualties, at least in the metropolis.

Metro Manila streets were littered with tree branches, roofing sheets, and even power pylons yesterday.

The typhoon also forced the cancellation of flights and classes.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration(Pagasa) said on Tuesday that Basyang was heading straight for Central and Northern Luzon. Metro Manila was then only under signal No. 1.

“That information is sorely lacking and we have had this problem for quite a long time. You do what you are supposed to do,” a visibly upset Mr. Aquino said.

“We rely on you to tell us where the potential problems are. All the agencies have adequately met their responsibilities at this point but your information is sorely lacking,” Mr. Aquino said.

While acknowledging that weather prediction is “not an absolute science,” Mr. Aquino maintained that improvements should be made in charting crucial storm or typhoon information like wind direction.

“It (forecast) has to be closer to what will transpire. A storm system can move erratically and we’re trying our best. But we would want to have more timely information. Significant changes should be made known to the public the soonest possible time,” he said.

He said he was informed that Basyang was 60 kilometers from Baguio City, but was not told that it would hit Metro Manila.

“Lumalakas iyung pagtitiis ng ating kababayan na hindi dapat nangyayari (Our countrymen have to bear more sacrifices when they should not have to),” the President pointed out.

Surprise visit

The NDCC had originally planned to hold a press conference on the latest storm updates at 10 a.m., but the plans changed after Mr. Aquino decided to show up earlier to get an update directly from the NDCC.

Instead of a press conference, the NDCC held a briefing for Mr. Aquino, with media allowed to cover the event.

In an ambush interview after the meeting, Mr. Aquino said he merely emphasized the need to improve the way important information is relayed to the public.

“We want to know what needs to be improved. Obviously we need to improve. I just want to stress to them (Pagasa) that it would not be okay if we made preparations in certain areas only to find out that the storm was in other places,” he said in Filipino. 

He nevertheless gave his Cabinet officials, particularly those involved in disaster preparedness, a passing mark, noting that this was his administration’s first time to deal with a natural calamity. “You can check this, but I think we have been pro-active,” he said.

“We had a meeting precisely to talk about these disasters and they seem to have lived up to all their commitments,” he said.

“I will have to trust the competency of the various local government units and the other agencies of government and give them all the assets that are at our disposal, and not to impose further hardships on them,” Mr. Aquino said.

Asked about the recommendation of Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman to increase the calamity fund from P500 million to P1 billion, Mr. Aquino said they have to consult first with the Department of Budget and Management.

“We have to wait for the DBM. All the agencies have needs. We have to consult the DBM and national treasury first, and our economic managers still have to manage the debt cut. I will wait for them to discuss this,” he said.

He also praised Soliman, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Energy Secretary Jose Almendras for giving him regular updates on the typhoon and on disaster preparations.

“They have demonstrated their functions and the results speak for themselves. At asahan na natin ito (and rest assured), that this will be a common occurrence, a government that works,” the President said.

But Pagasa administrator Prisco Nilo said they merely received a rebuke and not a scolding from Mr. Aquino.

“The President did not get mad. He merely made a comment so we can improve. That was his point,” he said.

Pagasa senior weather forecaster Robert Sawi, for his part, claimed they had warned Metro Manila of Basyang’s onslaught.

“We warned the public that signal No.2 might be raised over Metro Manila during a press conference Tuesday morning. A radio reporter asked me if there was a possibility that Basyang world cross Manila and I said ‘yes there is a high probability that it will pass near Metro Manila’,” Sawi said.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, meanwhile, has refiled a bill requiring Pagasa as well as television and radio networks to provide the public with hourly updates on storms.

“They (Pagasa) should not say they do not have the equipment. They had billions in calamity funds to work with over the years,” he said.

Local alarm system

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said the disaster alarm system should be improved in the local level.

Robredo said an alarm system should include information on the specific amount of rain as well as typhoon speed.

“I think the important thing is the preparedness part of it. It might be good to look at it from two dimensions: the strength of the wind, the duration of the rain, and their effects,” Robredo said.

Robredo said he would meet with regional disaster coordinating councils headed by police chiefs to discuss the matter.

“We’ll try to address exactly the specific problems on the ground,” said Robredo.

“In Naga City, there is zero casualty and the reason for that is we have local typhoon tracker. It’s based in a college or a school, he does typhoon tracking for us with minimum investment. I remember the city government invested around P100,000 for it that worked for the province,” he said. “If we can only replicate that experience – probably it’s not as sophisticated as Pagasa’s – but it will be good in the sense that you’re more concerned with just your jurisdiction,” he said.

Damage minimal

Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said Basyang only caused minimal damage to national roads and bridges.

“We are lucky that the damage is minimal,” Singson said.

He said the only major reports he received from his field personnel as of yesterday were a landslide in Quezon province and flooding in Aurora province.

The landslides blocked the Infanta Road while the flooding affected the Nueva Ecija-Aurora Road.

He said that even before onslaught of Basyang, men and equipment – including bulldozers – had already been positioned in areas deemed vulnerable to landslides and flooding.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) also said it had deployed personnel in key areas as part of its disaster preparations.

“The PNP made preparations before Basyang started to affect the country. All affected regions were directed to operationalize their disaster incident management operation centers,” PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz said.

“We have also coordinated with the various local government units for the preparation of evacuation centers and also provided security in these centers. We also made sure that the major thoroughfares are cleared of debris,” Cruz added.

Meanwhile, the arrival of several flights that had been diverted to other airports at the height of Basyang caused congestion at the immigration counters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Airport Operations Division chief Ferdinand Sampol said immigration officers were in full force attending to passengers of affected airlines.

The continuing bad weather, meanwhile, prompted the cancellation of 50 domestic flights – 36 of Philippine Airlines and 14 of Cebu Pacific – mostly bound for northern Luzon.

PAL also cancelled four international flights – three bound for Hong Kong and one for Inchon, South Korea. – Alexis Romero, Evelyn Macairan, Mike Frialde, Rudy Santos, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Marvin Sy