REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

NAME OF PARTICIPANT : THELMA B. ACEBES

NAME OF ORGANIZATION : PHILIPPINE ATMOSPHERIC, GEOPHYSICAL AND ASTRONOMICAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (PAGASA)

1. General Information on the Country:

1.1 Geography and Location

The Philippines is an archipelago consisting of around 7,100 islands and rocks above water. The country lies southeast of Asia, between latitudes 4 23' N and 2125'N and longitudes 116_E and 127_E.

The total land area of the Philippines is approximately 300,000 square kilometers, 92.3% of which is contained within 11 of the largest islands. The Philippines has a very extensive coastline stretching 34,600 km.

1.2 Social and Economic Conditions

Based on 1994 national census, total population is estimated at 68.6M and is expected to reach 78.4 by the year 2000. The population is scattered among cities and other urbanized areas like Metro Manila, southern Tagalog and Central Luzon regions. Metro Manila is populated by 8.9M.

Filipinos are basically of Indo-Malay racial stock, mixed with some Chines and Spanish ancestry. More than 80% of the population are Roman Catholics while other religions include Muslims and Protestants. Democracy is the present form of government. Filipino is the national language with more than 87 other local dialects.

The national average income of a family of 5 is P65,186 wherein an average urban family earns P89,571 while that of rural family earns P41,199. In 1993, the Gross National Product (GNP) was 1,507,956 X 106 PHP based on current prices. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by industrial origin at current prices was 733,907 X 106 PHP. Major contributors to the GDP were the sectors of agriculture, fishing and forestry combined (23%); industry sector (34%(; and service sector (43%).

1.3 Climate

Due to the Country's archipelago characteristics and geographical location, the Philippines has a tropical maritime climate. The country is exposed to the Southwest monsoon, Northeast monsoon, North Pacific Trades, Intertropical Convergence Zone, tail end of the cold front, easterly waves, the passage of tropical cyclones and the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. The climate of the country is influenced by the numerous mountains and valleys, the mountain ranges and the surrounding sea. The climate of the Philippines can be described based on the characteristic features of the following weather elements.

• Temperature - The mean annual temperature of the Philippines is about 27.1 C. The hottest months are April, to May while the coldest months are December to February. The absolute maximum temperature recorded in the Philippines is 42.2 C at Tuguegarao, Cagayan Valley on April 29,1912, while the absolute mean temperature of 3C was recorded in Baguio in January,1903.
• Rainfall - The average annual rainfall ranged from 914 mm in General Santos, Cotabato to 4358.0 mm in Borongan, Samar. The highest daily rainfall observed is 979.4 mm on October 17, 1967 at Baguio, a station with an elevation of 1500 m. Some areas, particularly those located at the western portion of the country, generally have distinct dry and wet seasons, while at the other end, some areas have no dry season with maximum rainfall in winter. The rest of the country are intermediate between these two extremes.

Rainfall abnormalities are caused by occurrences of tropical cyclones in the vicinity and associated intensification of the southwest and northeast monsoons. On the other hand, drought conditions are attributed to the occurrence of below the expected number of tropical cyclones, the low rainfall amount during the southwest and northeast monsoons and the occurrence of the ENSO phenomenon.

• Humidity - The average annual relative humidity is about 82%, almost all of the stations have a monthly average relative humidity greater than 70%.
• Winds - The average annual wind speed in the Philippines is only 3 mps. The prevailing direction depends upon the dominant air streams: SW monsoon, NE monsoon or easterly trades. However, in many of the stations, the effects of topography is dominant. The speed and direction are also altered by the passage of tropical cyclones; the wind speed can exceed 50 mps and at times 75 mps. During the intensification of monsoons, wind speed can exceed 15 mps.

The Philippines is host to many natural disasters, particularly tropical cyclones, droughts, floods, earthquakes and the eruption of the Mt. Pinatubo. Among the different countries in the world, The Philippines has the most number of passage of tropical cyclones, averaging 19 up to 20 tropical cyclones per year. The Year 1993 was a record year when 32 tropical cyclones visited the Philippine Area of Responsibility. Associated with tropical cyclones and heavy rainfall are floods and storm surges of which many areas of the Philippines also suffer from droughts which are usually associated with the occurrence of El NiÒo Southern Oscillation phenomenon. The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 produced a large, transient increase in stratospheric aerosols which resulted in a surface cooling over about 2 years estimated from observations to about 0.4C (IPCC,1994).

2. Overview of Climate Monitoring and/or observations

2.1 PAGASA's Observation Network

At present, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). Figure 2 shows the organizational setup of the PAGASA. It is the sole government agency mandated to provide adequate and effective meteorological, geophysical and astronomical services. In order to effectively carry out its mandate, the PAGASA presently operates and maintains a network of synoptic, agromet, radar and rain/climat stations all over the country. As of present, the PAGASA network is consists of 60 synoptic stations, 23 agromet stations and around 150 climat/rain/visual storm signal stations. There are also 5 radar stations strategically located in typhoon prone areas in the country. Figure 3 shows the geographical location of synoptic stations in the country.

The PAGASA receives voluminous reports in the form of coded message of weather observations every 3 hours not only from stations within the archipelago but from other countries as well. The real-time data from international sources are received by teletype transceivers through the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) while local weather stations data are received through voice transmission (radiophone). With the completion of a new and modern Meteorological Telecommunication System (MTS), which is an automatic system of data exchange, near real-time data could be obtained from all stations through computerized communication equipment. All collected data are then inputted to computers for sorting, decoding and arrangement of various meteorological parameters. The processed data are then used as inputs to numerical weather prediction models.

3. Current Climate Change Research Program In the Country

3.1 Creation of Inter Agency Committee on Climate Change (IACCC)

The interagency Committee on Climate Change (IACCC) was created by Administrative Order No. 220 signed by President Corazon Aquino on May 8, 1992. The committee is chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), co-chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and also represented by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Environment Management Bureau (EMB), National Mapping and Resources Information Authority (NAMRIA) and PAGASA.

The functions of the IACCC are:

• Formulate policies and response strategies related to climate change;
• Determine the national information requirements relevant to negotiations for the adoption of a central instrument at the UNCED (1992)
• Establish working groups to monitor and assess local climate change and its environmental and socio-economic impact in coordination with international agencies.
• Designate a focal point to serve as the link between the Philippines and the Secretariat of the UNEP and WMO.

The IACCC is now in the process of updating its organization and functions to cope with the increasing need to combat global warming. The committee will formulate policies and measures to limit GHG emissions, protect/enhance GHG sinks and adapt to global warming.

3.2 Philippine Country Study to Address Climate Change

PAGASA is the lead agency in the Philippine Country Study to Address Climate Change under the U.S. Country Studies Program. The Philippine Country Study started in September 30, 1994 and will end by in March 1997. Its overall objective is the development of Philippine capabilities to address climate change issues.

The study elements included in the Country Study are:

• Development of a National Inventory of GHG Emissions and Sinks
• Vulnerability assessment and evaluation of adaptations of coastal resources due to accelerated sea level rise, surface water resources and agriculture
• Identification of alternative programs and measures to promote mitigation and/or adaptation to climate change in the Philippines
• Public information and education campaign program on climate change issues and concerns, and
• The ultimate goal of the Country Study is to be able to develop a National Action Plan which will contain the national response strategies in order to meet the country's commitment under FCCC to contribute to the global effort to address climate change.

Current Inventory of projects in the country on climate change is shown in Table 1

Other government agencies participating in the Philippine Country study are:

* Environment Management Bureau (EMB)

* Forest Management Bureau (FMB)

* Department of Energy (DE)

* Department of Agriculture ( DA)

* National Power Corporation (NPC)

* National Irrigation Administration (NIA)

* Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS)

* National Mapping Resource and Information Authority (NAMRIA)

* Bureau of Soil and Water Management (BSWM)

4. Meteorological data set that can be made available to SEA-START RC

Database	Period Stored	No of Stations	Data Format
1. Daily Database
1.1 Synoptic data	1961 - 1996	50 Stations	ASCII,CLICOM
1.2 Agromet data	From Start to 1996	23 Stations	ASCII,CLICOM
1.3. Climat /Rain data	1951 - 1996	210 Stations	ASCII,Dbase III
2. Hourly Database	1980 - 1985	6 Stations	CLICOM
	1990 - 1995	5 Stations	CLICOM
3. Monthly Data
3.1 For all elements for Both synoptic & Agromet	1961 - 1995	50 Stations	ASCII
4. Decadal Values (Synoptic data)	1961 - 1995	50 Stations	ASCII
5. Normal Values	1961 - 1990 1961 - 1995	50 Stations	ASCII
6. Extreme Values	As of 1995	55 Stations	ASCII

The listing of stations Table 2 and data structure in Table 3 .

5. Enhancement of the Agency's Data Management Capabilities

The principal objective of data management is to ensure that the data and information requirements of its user community are satisfied. To fulfil this reponsibility, it must provide for the effective acquisition, processing, storage, documentation, retrieval and dessemination of data. The systems supporting the data management strategy must be robust and reliable. And the principal yardstick by which data mangement will always be judged is wether data users have access to the data they require.

From the meteorological standpoint, data management covers the whole life cycle of data: from observation through intermediate storage and transmission phases, to ultimate archival or disposal. The Climatology and Agrometeorology Branch (CAB) is mandated with the responsibility for the collection, quality control, processing storage and retrieval of meteorological, climatological, agrometeorological and allied data information, the provision of user services and related activities, the CAB has been directing much of its resources in building up its capability to meet increasing demands for more precise data and information, given its limited resources and the growing complexity of collecting, processing and archiving data. On a monthly basis alone CAB collects data from 53 synoptic stations, 23 agromet stations and 210 climat/rain stations.

For its data processing activities, the CAB at present relies heavily on PC-based computing facilities, consisting of the 4-user CLICOM system , one 486 class desktop and 2 older PC-XT's These have proven to be grossly inadequate to meet even its barest minimum requirements.

As of the end of 1996, the Climate Data Section has incurred a backlog of 1,750 station-months of hourly data that have to be keyed-in to computer compatible media, processed, quality controlled and archived. And to obtain a zero-backlog in 2 years time, the CAB would need at least 18 workstations and 24 data encoders.

In response to the expectations and challenges for 1997, CAB proposes to enhance its data processing and user services, particularly for research and climate monitoring purposes, through the acquisition of at least 20 desktop computers. The desktop computers will be set up under a Local Area Network (LAN) environment. This will augment the CAB's existing computer facilities in order to meet its data processing requirements and enhance user services.

TABLE 1. PHILIPPINE INVENTORY OF PROJECTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Project Title	Project Description	Contact Person	Institutions Involved
Environmental Management Audit of Selected Power Plants and Industries	To establish baseline data on the performance of different pollution mitigation equipment and environmental management practices power plants and energy industries.	Ms. Clarissa Cabacang	DOE- EPMD, NPC,PNCC, DENR,LLDA
National Inventory of Energy-Related Emissions	Develop a comprehensive national inventory of emissions on various energy project and energy-related activities.	Ms. Clarissa Cabacang	EMPD-DOE, NPC,PNOC, DENR, LLDA
Global and Atmospheric Watch (GAW) Programme	Establishment and operation of Background Air Pollution (BAPMON) and ozone monitoring stations using Dobson's Ozone Spectrophidometer	Dr. Aida Jose PAGASA, Quezon Ave., Quezon City Fax 922-78-13	PAGASA
World Weather Watch Programme	Operation and maintenance of network of Synoptic Weather Stations, Climatological rain stations, agrometeorological stations and visual storm signal stations	Dr. Aida Jose, PAGASA, Quezon Ave., Quezon City
TIROS-N/NOAA Series Satellite	Trashing and processng data	- do -

Project Title	Project Description	Contact Person	Institutions Involved
Climate Monitoring	Monitoring of chemistry acidity of Philippine precipitation
	Use of satellite technology net only for operational weather monitoring but also for the enhancement of existing rainfall based crop condition assessment Development and operationalization of a system for the enhancement of existing rainfall based condition Establishment and operationalization of the Drought Early Warning and Monitoring Systems (DEWMS) in the Phils. Derivation of indices of global anomalies
Vehicular Emmission Control Planning in Metro Manila	Establishment and operation of 5 air quality monitoring stations in Metro Manila	Erlinda Gonzales, EMB	EMB-DENR-NCR

Project Title		Project Description	Contact Person			Institutions Involved
Natural Forest Management, Industrial Forest, Plantation Development and National Reforestation Programs		Expansion of forest biomass especially of intensively managed forest.	Wilma Sabado Forest Management Bureau, Visayas, Quezon City
1990 Air Pollution Emission Inventory for Metro Manila		Air Quality Pollutants from Mobile, Stationary, and area sources inventory	Erlinda Gonzales, EMB, 99-101 Topaz Bldg. Kamias Road Quezon City			EMB
Climate Change U.S. Country Study for the Philippines		This study will address all major elements being considered under the emerging Philippine National Action Plan for Global Climate Change Study Elements are as follows: A. Development of a National Inventory of GHG Emissions and Sinks B. Vulnerability Assessment and Evaluation of Adaptations	Dr. Leoncio A. Amadore (PAGASA)			PAGASA, DENR,DOE, DFA,DECS, DILG,DA, NEDA,PIA, DOST
Project Title	Project Description			Contact Person	Institutions Involved
	C. Identification of Alternative programs and Measures to Promote Mitigation of Climate Change in the Philippines D. Public Information and Education Campaign Program on Climate Change Issues and Concerns E. Development of National Action Plan
Methane Emissions from Ricefields	To quantify methane emission from major rice ecosystem in Asia			Ms. Rhoda Lantin (IRRI-Los BaÒos, Laguna)	IRRI
Tides and Tidal Phenomena Project	Maintenance of a network of Tide stations located in strategic ports/harbor as a means of providing oceanographic data and information - aims to serve the maritime needs of its member countries and present interest in ASEAN Maritime research			Mr. Jose G. Solis, NAMRIA, NCA Bldg., Fort Bonifacio , Makati City	WMO-IOC,TOGA, WOCE, IGOSS (ISLP) GLOSS
Biostratigraphy and Environmental Chemistry of Manila Bay	Distribution of recent foraminifera			Dr. Prescilla J.M. Matias (UP)	UP

TABLE 2: INVENTORY OF EXISTING DAILY DATABASE