Quezon mayor slams Pagasa storm forecasts

LUCENA CITY, Philippines—Officials in Quezon province joined those in Albay in lambasting the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration for its allegedly inconsistent storm warnings and forecasts on the directions of Tropical Storm Juaning.

“When Pagasa raised the Signal No. 2 in Quezon, our evacuees were already returning back to their destroyed villages which were earlier hit by Juaning without any warning from them. That’s how inconsistent these government forecasters are,” Mulanay Mayor Joselito Ojeda said in a phone interview Thursday.

Ojeda said his town, located at the tip of the Bondoc Peninsula, begun to experience strong rains and howling winds before dawn on Tuesday.

“I immediately tuned in to Manila radio stations for any weather advisories and even called my reporters at my own radio station in Lucena but there were no warnings or signals from Pagasa,” said Ojeda, who owns dyKI-FM.

Ojeda said he immediately convened the local disaster risk reduction and management council to face the threat from the abnormal weather condition.

“We acted on our own to save our town before it becomes too late if we will wait for official warnings from Pagasa,” the mayor said.

A 13-year-old boy drowned in the raging Mulanay River and more than 2,000 residents were evacuated to the municipal hall and barangay centers in five coastal villages hit by floods, according to Ojeda.

He said the high tide from the sea fronting the town and strong rains brought by Juaning worsened the situation.

The combined high tide and strong rains triggered flash floods that destroyed more than 20 houses in the villages of Patabog and Ibabang Yuni, according to Ojeda.

Henry Buzar, Quezon disaster council coordinator, shared Ojeda’s observation regarding Pagasa.

He said that if not for the province’s five rain gauges scattered in strategic areas in Quezon, the provincial officials could not have immediately acted to face the weather disturbance.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda had also hit Pagasa’s alleged incompetence.

Salceda complained that Albay was battered by heavy rains and strong winds that were inconsistent with the weather bureau’s lower storm signal raised over the province.

In response to criticism, Science Undersecretary Graciano Yumul said the weather bureau had been warning about rains in southern Luzon since it monitored the formation of a low pressure area.