LEGAZPI CITY -- The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will set up a Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) regional forecasting center following the firm request of Albay province for its services to improve weather forecasting in times of typhoons and other weather disturbances.

        No other than Regional Development Council (RDC) Chairman and Albay Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda said that there is a need to establish a regional forecasting center aimed at giving the public with accurate and relevant information concerning, weather disturbances.

        Dr. Graciano P. Yumol Jr., DOST undersecretary said that Salceda’s request to have a regional forecasting center of PAGASA is already in the pipeline. “Our agency is now scouting for the right man to do the job,” he added.

        The regionalization of PAGASA was announced during the relaunching of upper air receiving equipment and the 13th DOST-PAGASA Media Seminar Workshop with the theme, “Sustaining Partnership: A Key to Effective Delivery of Public Weather Services” held over the weekend

        The two-day activity was designed to showcase PAGASA’s improved forecasting capability while the information education campaign aims to complement such capability.

        DOST relaunched the Upper Air Receiving Equipment to improve the agency’s forecasting capabilities here in order to effectively monitor weather disturbances in the country particularly in Bicol which is a typhoon-prone area in Luzon.

        Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro graced the event last Friday and said that her office had infused P18 million to improve the forecasting facility as part of PAGASA modernization program.

        “The government invested P18 million to provide additional equipment to respond during weather disturbances,” Alabastro said adding that the fund is part of the modernization program of the agency.

        Salceda for his part lauded the DOST program saying that it will greatly help disaster officials to collate and analyze data and disseminate this information to the public.

        The upper air receiving equipment is one of the world’s most sophisticated and accurate upper-air weather-measurement devices being used by almost all nations to monitor and analyze the type of clouds, according to Dr. Prisco D. Nilo, director of PAGASA.

        Nilo said the fund would be used to maintain the air station in this city where in the daily release of an air balloon equipment would cost the agency P30,000 a day to monitor the weather during normal days, but in times of bad weather it has to release four balloons a day.

        In 2006, the government embarked in intensified radar rehabilitation program to strengthen the thrust for an enhanced tropical cyclone forecasting.

        At least 2v0 tropical cyclones enter the Philippine area of responsibility every year, of these, half of this number are classified as typhoons.