Officials alarmed over brain drain in PAGASA

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Ralph Recto on Tuesday expressed concern over the report that there have been 32 employees, mostly weather forecasters, who have left the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) since 2005.

“From 2005 up to the present, there are already 32 personnel who have gone abroad, most of them are forecasters, few are sub-professional level,” PAGASA officer-in-charge Vicente Malano told the Senate committee on science and technology hearing on Tuesday.

Recto said the Senate committee is conducting the public hearings to speed up the modernization of the PAGASA to restore “hope” for the agency. The committee also heard measures that will increase the hazard pays for all science and technology personnel in the government.

During the hearing, Recto manifested that the hazard pay should be placed at 30 percent across the board.

DOST Assistant Sec. Oswald Santos is optimistic that the proposal will lift the morale of employees “because it will definitely solve or address our problem of brain drain.”

Santos revealed that there were also reports of some staff members from the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), who are seeking greener pastures abroad.

Santos attributed the brain drain to the “temptations being offered by companies in other countries for higher paying jobs.”

“Of course, you cannot really blame our science and technology personnel because of the need to support their families but we assure that the department is doing its best in implementing… in giving the benefits of (science and technology) personnel, the magna carta benefits,” Santos said.

Ramon Agustin, president of the Philippine Weathermen Employees Association, said the situation is more alarming this year since three to four employees are being pirated abroad. 

Agustin told the committee that the Magna Carta for Science and Technology workers have only been accorded budget in 2010. In the previous years, weathermen have not received their longevity pay, hazard allowance and subsistence allowance.

The eight-month delay in the distribution of benefits can also be seen as reasons for workers to look for better careers outside the DOST.

When Recto pressed for the root cause of the delay, Santos explained that the budget is placed in the General Appropriations Act but it will take time since the DOST determines the amount of hazard pay only after they established the level and number of days of exposure. “Naturally, it will take time,” Santos said.

Apart from the PAGASA modernization bill, the Senate committee also looked into measures that will provide free WiFi services in Metro Manila and the Science Laboratory for Basic Education Act of 2013.