Monkayo 'rain watchers' bag top prize

MANILA, Philippines –  For undertaking the best rain gauge study, students from Monkayo National High School in Monkayo, Compostela Valley won the 1st Rain Watchers Awards conducted by the Typhoon Committee Foundation, Inc. (TCFI) and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), in partnership with Smart Communications, Inc.

Smart’s Project Rain Gauge aims to give young high school students an applied science project where they have to regularly monitor and record rainfall and at the same time help PAGASA set up additional ground stations monitoring rainfall in the country.

Second and third places went to San Miguel National High School in Bulacan and Aurora National Science High School in Baler, Aurora respectively.  

A special prize went to SSS Village Elementary School in Marikina City as Rookie Rain Watchers of the Year.  

The public elementary school is one of 18 schools that joined Project Rain Gauge this year after Smart opened the project to non-Smart Schools Program partners to involve schools in areas like the cities of Marikina and Antipolo as well as some parts of Rizal that were hard-hit by tropical storm “Ondoy.”

Though initially a science education project, Project Rain Gauge was envisioned to eventually create a network of supplementary ground stations across the country to provide additional data on local rainfall measurement in specific areas for more effective and accurate local weather monitoring. 

Its importance is underscored by the fact that the Philippines has a complex weather system and that there are only 58 ground stations for weather monitoring in the entire country. There are now 68 public schools participating in the project since its launch in 2007.

The winners, composed of three representatives from each winning school, were also treated to a field trip at the Manila Ocean Park, a visit to the PAGASA and PHIVOLCS offices where they met with agency administrators and officials and a tour of the PAGASA Doppler Radar station in Subic, Pampanga.