“I was assigned as PAGASA OIC Administrator for three months only so I would rather follow the orders of DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo and focus on the urgent tasks assigned to me”.  This was the statement of DOST Undersecretary Graciano P.  Yumul after the press conference held in PAGASA, together with DOST Secretary Montejo and PAGASA Deputy Director Dr. Nathaniel Servando.  It was his second day as PAGASA OIC on 10 August.

Asked about the marching orders from the DOST Secretary, Dr. Yumul said that he will look into the overall management side and not the technical side because this is the assignment of Dr. Servando. His statement clarifies issues that he is taking over as Chief Meteorologist.  In taking charge of the management side, Dr. Yumul will go by the list of things to be done per order of DOST Secretary Montejo.  Foremost of these is the assessment of the programs and projects currently undertaken by PAGASA particularly on the installation of additional equipment which were sourced from ODA (Official Development Assistance) funds.

Notably, since 2005, when Dr. Yumul was assigned as Supervising Undersecretary of PAGASA, he was able to shepherd 11 out of the 13 ODA programs of PAGASA which resulted in the acquisition of the much needed Doppler radars and other forecasting equipment. The equipment, including those for communications, are expected to give near real-time weather forecasts which will allow the concerned agencies and the public in general to appropriately prepare and respond to typhoons or other natural calamities.

Another urgent matter is the need to make weather forecast bulletins to be easily understood by the general public.  Some activities are now directed towards this with the help of the media.

While the reassignment of Dr. Prisco Nilo under the DOST Special Projects has elicited so much flak in the past days, the DOST Secretary consistently gave his statement that before this event, all efforts were made and dialogues were conducted with Dr. Nilo on how to ease up their fundamental differences in handling matters.  “It was not an overnight decision, a whim or a decision based on hearsay or the urging of some people.  It was a well-thought of decision that I reached—to reassign Dr. Nilo to DOST Special Project and to designate Dr. Yumul as PAGASA OIC for three months.  This I believe is for the good of the agency”, he said. 

Why Dr. Graciano P. Yumul? 

As early as 2004, the position was already offered to Dr. Yumul but he declined.  But upon his appointment as Undersecretary for R&D, he naturally assumed the position as Supervising Undersecretary for the DOST R&D Institutes (RDIs) and Service institutes like PAGASA and PHIVOLCS.  With an unqualified passion, energy, and vibrancy for science and technology innovations, Dr. Yumul wasted no time in reorganizing and making the DOST-PAGASA more responsive. From the period 2005 to present, he generated about Php3.5 billion worth of grant funds, from both local and foreign funding agencies, devoted to upgrading of PAGASA’s weather forecasting capability.  Other funds generated are in the areas of disaster risk management, energy, climate change, food, transportation, construction, mining and minerals, biotechnology, metals and engineering, environment, among others.  He was also instrumental in facilitating budget matters for the PAGASA personnel to get their share of benefits for S&T workers which they never received before. 

As a Geologist, he is part of the team that would make PAGASA more responsive to its mandate.  The PAGASA needs experts from almost all fields like meteorology, hydrology, geology, agriculture, communication and information. It cannot really survive with meteorologists alone, it must work hand in hand with all the experts in these sectors.

“Three months is not a long time to achieve the orders of my boss, but I will follow his orders and definitely within the period we will all see a better, sexier and friendlier PAGASA that rises above the storms with more accurate forecasts”, he said.

With his sense of urgency, brimming energy and fast way of thinking and doing things, so much is expected of the new PAGASA OIC within three months.  At the moment, this stance is what the beleaguered agency needs. (Lynn Talingdan-Tabangcura, S&T Media Service)