Farmer goes ballistic over radio’s wrong weather report

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines—A farmer stormed into a local radio station and berated its  broadcaster for giving a wrong weather forecast, an official of a local press association said.

An irate Ever Dalida, who is also an employee of the local government of Midsayap in North Cotabato, went to the Wow FM station in that town last Wednesday to confront broadcaster Arnel Guerrero about his forecast of fair weather earlier in the day.

Relying on Guerrero’s report, Dalida  left his newly harvested palay or unmilled rice in a solar drier. But then it rained, and his palay got wet.

At the station, according to Gary Fuerzas, president of a local press association and vice chair of the North Cotabatao chapter of the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines, Dalida berated Guerrero for giving wrong information about the weather.

Guerrero replied that he simply read the forecast from www.weather.com.ph.

“They were about to engage in a fistfight but were stopped by station employees,” Fuerzas told the Inquirer.

Fuerzas condemned the alleged harassment and urged local officials in Midsayap to take disciplinary action against Dalida.

“We don’t condemn the person but we condemn the act, he being a government employee,” Fuerzas said.

Fuerzas said the local press association wanted Dalida to issue a public apology for what he did.

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