’Twas not cloudy with a chance of meatballs but farmer storms radio station

KIDAPAWAN, North Cotabato—Weather reporters can ignore the journalistic dictum of checking and double-checking their facts, or in their case, their forecasts, at their peril.

An irate government employee in Midsayap town stormed into a local radio station early this week, bristling over a broadcaster who allegedly gave a wrong weather forecast.

Ever Dalida, an employee of the Midsayap municipal government, charged into the town’s Wow FM station on Wednesday, confronting broadcaster Arnel Guerrero who earlier that day aired a forecast of fair weather.

Relying on Guerrero’s report, Dalida, who also happens to be a farmer, left his palay on a solar drier. To his utter chagrin, it rained later that day, leaving his harvest all but ruined.

At the station, Dalida turned on Guerrero, berating him for giving the wrong information about the weather.

Guerrero reasoned that he only reported the weather forecast that he had read in www.weather.com.ph, the website of the Weather Philippines Foundation, a private weather information content provider.

Most, if not all weather reporters, rely on the official forecasts of the state weather bureau, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) whose official website is pagasa.dost.gov.ph.

“The two would have come to blows if other station employees had not intervened,” said Garry Fuerzas, president of the PPALMA (Pikit-Pigcawayan-Alamada-Libungan-Midsayap-Aleosan) press corps and vice chair of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines-North Cotabato and Kidapawan City.

Fuerzas condemned what he described as Dalida’s harassment of the broadcaster and urged Midsayap town officials to impose some sort of disciplinary action on the municipal employee.

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

He also demanded that Dalida issue a public apology for his actions. Williamor A. Magbanua, Inquirer Mindanao

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