APRIL 3. It was a sunny day in the City of Batac and there were no chances of rain. The thousands of graduates and their families observed this through common sense, but two MMSU graduates had a professional understanding of the weather.

The university made history this year as it produced two of the country’s first batch of BS Meteorology graduates: Renier Agas and Romeo Ganal.

This was made possible through the Consortium for Meteorology Education and Training (COMET) carried out by the Agham Party List, DOST, CHED, and four state universities including MMSU.

The course was offered in 2012 to meet the demand for meteorologists in this country which experiences 19-20 tropical cyclones every year, and where PAGASA, the country’s weather bureau, is experiencing brain drain as its professionals are enticed to move abroad for better career opportunities. In the past, meteorology was offered only as a subject in graduate programs of the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Ateneo de Manila University.

Prior to enrolling in BS Meteorology, Agas and Ganal were under the BS Computer Engineering and BS Agricultural Engineering programs, respectively. After rigorous screening, they were enlisted for the course which was offered only to qualified incoming third year students taking up mathematics, engineering, and science courses. For two years, they underwent classes at the PAGASA Main Office in Diliman, Quezon City with professors coming from PAGASA and UP. They also had extensive field exposure in various weather stations.

Under a DOST scholarship, they enjoyed free tuition and miscellaneous fees, living allowances, book stipends, and transportation provisions. Agham also provided additional monthly allowances.

A total of 16 graduated under Project COMET’s program. Aside from the two from MMSU, seven were from the Central Luzon State University; 4, Bicol University; and 3, Visayas State University.

Unfortunately, Agham lost in last year’s elections. As a result, the BS Meteorology program is currently frozen.

Immediately after graduation, Agas and Ganal will undergo training at PAGASA where they are expected to be employed and, hopefully, shine.