Our very own Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is one of Asia's best in weather forecasting. This can be attributed to highly skilled personnel who operated the agency's modern equipments. PAGASA acting director, Martin Rellin, relates that because of this, the Philippines's weather forecasting bureau rivals that of Malaysia and Thailand and definitely ahead of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The bureau's personnel are highly praised that they always get offers from foreign agencies to work with them.

The bureau's freshly improved weather surveillance radars located in Aparr, Tuguegarao, Guian, Eastern Samar, and Baler, Aurora is lately joined by multifunctional transport satellite (MTSAT) receiving system. MTSAT is a Japan-based transport satellite that posts satellite images on the Internet for other weather agencies worldwide. MTSAT was a chunk of a P12-million grant-in-aid project by the Department of Science and Technology and is being controlled at the at PAGASA’s main office in Quezon City.

The chief of the PAGASA satellite receiving facility, Jun Falcon relates that the MTSAT is able to supply atmospheric images every 30 minutes and that it is more superior than the Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS).

PAGASA acting director Martin Rellin said that Doppler radars will soon be the latest addition to the modern equipment of the bureau which are now open to bidders. Doppler radars are proficient in generating short-term but highly accurate weather forecasts.