MANILA, Philippines—Besides the need to upgrade its equipment, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration also needs to do something about its aging staff.

Catalino Davis, Pagasa’s administration and engineering chief, told reporters during a media seminar in San Manuel, Pangasinan, that 40 percent of the agency's 900 employees are between the ages of 41 and 50. On the other hand, only 1.4 percent of its employees are between the ages of 21 and 30.

"We are an aging agency. We need new blood and we need to attract new personnel," Davis said.

Around 39 percent of the employees are between 31 and 40 years old while 11 percent are between 51 and 60 years old.

He said the ideal number of field employees for the agency to function well is around 600 instead of its current 500. Davis added that even with a full complement of 1,000 employees, the assumption is that the agency will achieve its automation goals by 2013.

Davis also said the agency's personnel would need more training, with only 1.4 percent having PhDs, and only 4 percent with master’s degrees.

At present, Davis said Pagasa is training 15 employees for various tasks. The agency offers various courses, seminars and workshops in various fields like meteorology, weather forecasting, hydrology, climatology and various information technology fields.

Actually, the government rationalization program would have meant the cutting of around 300 jobs from the agency. But Davis said they managed to bargain for only 140 jobs to be cut.

Davis said they were able to secure permission to open up 20 more positions.

Pagasa Director Nilo Prisco expressed hope that the next administration would support the agency's efforts to upgrade both its staff and equipment.

"We hope we get the support of the new administration," Nilo said.

Nilo explained that efforts are under way to improve Pagasa’s weather and flood forecasting to meet the changing times.