Manila, Philippines – Lawmakers in the House of Representatives are convinced that Dr. Prisco Nilo's removal as head of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) failed to solve any problems hounding the state-owned weather bureau.

House deputy minority leader Carlos Padilla expressed doubts that replacing Nilo would change anything in PAGASA, showing frustration when acting PAGASA administrator Graciano Yumul struggled to present the branch's budget needs before the House committe on appropriations.

"Even if you replace Nilo or you change him 1,000 times, if you are not able to address the basic concerns, it would not matter, Mr. Chairman... If you now have an administrator, who could not tell you what the problems are, that could be the reason," Padilla said.

The veteran Nueva Ecija legislator delivered the statement after Yumul failed to give him a satisfying answer about PAGASA's problems in manpower and equipment, which would help the panel to determine how much to budget to give the state weather bureau for 2011.

Padilla was among several lawmakers who signified support for the appropriation committee's intention to add to the already P768-million increase in the proposed P6.09-billion budget for PAGASA.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) allocated only P258.7 million to the state-owned weather bureau that will devote a chunk of P214 million for the capital outlay to modernize PAGASA.

In a public hearing, Yumul did not even try to persuade the body deliberating items in the national budget before enumerating the PAGASA's accomplishments last year that included the installation of two Doppler radars in the country.

The government official was only able to present the targets of the state weather branch for modernization, clarifying that they will outsource funding to acquire build 10 new automatic weather stations, and three more Doppler radars through local and foreign financial assistance.

Yumul exasperated members of House committee on appropriations for giving vague answers, implying that even if the government doubles the P200-million budget for modernization, PAGASA may still not be able to produce more accurate weather forecast.

Saying that the weather forecasting is "not an exact science," Yumul said that precision in forecasts depends on "confluence of matters" other than having the state-of-the-art and skilled personnel, problems that are now being addressed by the government.

Yumul, a geologist, said that PAGASA is dealing with the issue of brain drain in the agency by planning to hire 10 government scholars, who are about to graduate with degrees on Atmospheric Science in March next year.

In July, DoST Secretary Mario Montejo sacked Nilo in the wake of incorrect forecasts on the path of Typhoon “Basyang.”