Manila, Philippines — Department of Science and Technology (DoST) Secretary Mario G. Montejo has pressed Congress to appropriate P50 million for the local manufacture of 10 buoys to be placed in key channels throughout the archipelago to help the navigation and agriculture sectors as monitored increases in sea water levels would be a factor in weather forecasting.

Appearing before the first hearing by the Senate science and technology chaired by Sen. Edgardo J. Angara in the current 15th Congress, Montejo said the government would save P270 million as the import cost of 10 buoy is P320 million.

Montejo also said his department needs money also to repair three Doppler radars for the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomic Administration (PAGASA) as it is in the process of installing eight radars.

Angara said the Senate is prepared to bridge the financial requirements of scientists in upgrading weather forecasting equipment and modernizing other facilities to mitigate damage and risks brought by natural disasters in the country as a result of dramatic changes in weather patterns.

‘’With a system of 12 Doppler radars installed strategically over the Philippines, we have now sufficient surveillance and forecasting capacity.

But that does not mean we now become accurate (in weather forecasting) because Montejo said even Japan, the best (weather) forecaster, is only 80 percent accurate and the 20 percent is the ability and skill of the analysts to read data,’’ Angara said.

Montejo voiced concern over the fast depreciation of many equipment and instruments. He then asked that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Commission on Audit (CoA) should have a system in taking care of equipment obsolescence.

To avoid a repetition of the widespread damage caused by Ondoy late last year mainly in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, Angara said he is prepared to recommend the approval of Montejo’s proposal for the construction of water reservoirs or water impounding dams near the Wawa dam (bounded by Rizal and Quezon).