MANILA, Philippines- Ipinagpaliban ng Commission on Appointments (CA) nitong Martes ang deliberasyon sa ad interim appointment ni Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) Director General Joel Joseph Marciano Jr. sa paghayag ng mga mambabatas ng pagkadismaya nila sa paghawak ng ahensya ng climate risk data.
Binatikos ni CA Majority Leader Rep. Elray Villafuerte ang PhilSA dahil sa hindi direktang pagbahagi ng mahalagang satellite data sa local government units (LGUs), partikular sa banta ng matinding pagbaha dahil sa La Niña phenomenon.
“If those provinces experience floods and there are casualties, you should be indirectly responsible for not sharing that data,” pahayag ni Villafuerte sa hearing.
“You have the data, yet you are not proactively distributing it to LGUs, which are on the frontlines of disaster response.”
Binigyang-diin ni Villafuerte ang importansya ng pagbabahagi ng satellite projections sa Department of Public Works and Highways at iba pang kaukulang ahensya upang maibsan ang potensyal na pinsala tuwing may kalamidad.
“We will do a better job in reaching more communities and directly working with LGUs,” wika ni Marciano said, binanggit na 51,000 satellite images ang naipamahagi sa iba’t ibang grupo.
“We recognize the need to strengthen our engagement to ensure space technology benefits the public more effectively.” RNT/SA