RAYMUNDO S. PUNONGBAYAN

A Profile

Dr. Raymundo S. Punongbayan was the Director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) from 1983 to December 13, 2002. PHIVOLCS is the agency mandated by the Philippine government to conduct volcanic and earthquake monitoring in order to generate data that could be used to predict volcanic eruptions and earthquake occurrences. Dr. Punongbayan graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of the Philippines in 1960. He later obtained his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Colorado in 1972. He is also a licensed geologist. He has been and continues to be a professor, a consultant, a public servant, an author as well as a father to four wonderful children who are also successful in their own rights. He is into the myriad topics of Earth Sciences but it is in the fields of Volcanology and Seismology that he became known for in the local and international geoscientific communities.

Under his stewardship, PHIVOLCS has evolved from an obscure agency to an institution recognized, both locally and internationally, as an authority on volcanological and seismological phenomena. The present status of PHIVOLCS was made possible through his able leadership and exceptional science management skills. He accomplished this by restructuring the activities of the Institute and directed it to pursue aggressive research and development (R & D) programs, the infusion of young blood in the roster of PHIVOLCS personnel including changes and improvement in staffing pattern, provision of high-quality trainings and education to promising staff and establishment of linkages with other local and international geoscientific institutions.

From one doctoral degree holder in 1982, PHIVOLCS now boasts of 17 graduate degree holders (8 doctoral and 9 masteral). This is aside from three who were transferred to DOST as Associate Scientists, two who transferred to the University of the Philippines as Professors and one who was promoted to a Director position at the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). At present, thirteen staffs are pursuing their graduate studies in Philippine and international universities. All of these studies were obtained through scholarship grants and merit systems that entailed no unnecessary expense on the government part. About 70% of its technical personnel had undergone at least one international training in such fields like volcanology, seismology and disaster management. PHIVOLCS has collaborative projects with such prestigious international institutions such as various United Nations organizations, Asian Disaster Research Center, Earthquake Disaster Mitigation (Japan), Kyoto University, United Nations University, Indiana University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Kanto Gakuin University, Clausthal University, Academia Sinica of Taiwan, Aichi Institute of Technology, Saitama University, Kanagawa University and etc. These linkages were made possible through his extensive professional linkages and excellent communication skills.

Director Punongbayan became known for his outstanding expertise in handling two world-class events – the July 16, 1990 Luzon earthquake and the 1991 Pinatubo eruptions. The 1990 event became the germination of the future activities that PHIVOLCS will pursue in the field of Seismology as the Seismological function was a new mandate for PHIVOLCS at that time. On the other hand, the 1991 Pinatubo eruption was a test bed of the expertise gained during past eruptions. The Institute had managed to successfully forecast the eruption of Pinatubo Volcano in 1991 where several thousands of lives were saved by the Institute’s timely forecasts. Smaller but also potentially deadly eruptions of Mayon Volcano in 1999-2001 were also forecast resulting to zero casualty.

Throughout his 20 years of being the PHIVOLCS Director, he managed to infuse his vision and mission to the Institute which now is almost synonymous to his name. Among his key accomplishments were:

1. Under his direction and vision, PHIVOLCS generated volcano and seismic hazard maps to serve as major inputs to long-term development plans of the Philippines. At present, active faults map of the Philippines, volcano hazard maps of some of the most active volcanoes and seismic hazard maps of Metro Manila were among the maps produced during his term.

2. He advocated for infusion of geologic hazards in the school curricula

3. He pursued for the adoption of PHIVOLCS findings by policy makers

4. He supported and campaigned for the implementation of the JICA-assisted project on the “Improvement of the Earthquake and Volcano Monitoring Network in the Philippines” which will be ultimately upgrade the PHIVOLCS monitoring setup to high standards

5. He brought the level of scientific understanding of volcano and scientific processes to the level of ordinary people through various fora and effective use of the tri-media

6. He pursued and supported the idea that volcanoes can be ecotourism sites

7. He organized and developed the PHIVOLCS Quick response Team, a team that can be deployed to any site in the Philippines that exhibits volcanic and seismic unrest

8. He batted for the harnessing of community participation in volcano and earthquake monitoring

9. He conceptualized the idea of producing reading materials and audiovisual packages that explain volcano and earthquake hazards effectively

10. He stressed the need to use other innovative techniques in promoting knowledge about earthquakes and volcanoes such as science caravans, essay writing contests, movie plugs, and etc.

11. He pursued the development of a graduate study program in Earthquake Engineering, the first of its kind in the Philippines, in a local state university

12. He developed international linkages that enabled PHIVOLCS to implement international collaborative projects as well as enabled its technical staff pursue graduate studies from various prestigious academic institutions

13. He lobbied and urged lawmakers to give support to enable PHIVOLCS build its own building

To date because of the leadership of Director Punongbayan, PHIVOLCS has been recipient of three awards from the US, Philippines and the United Nations. Director Punongbayan himself has been awarded 19 awards and recognition for his role in science and disaster management. Among these are the 2001 National Disaster Coordinating Council Special Citation Award, the 1998 Dioscoro L. Umali Medal Outstanding Science Administrator Award, the 1996 Model Public Servant of the Year and the 1996 Lingkod Bayan Presidential Awards. His most recent award, which he will be awarded in April 2003 in Nice, France, is the Sergey Soloviev Medal by the European Geophysical Society for the year 2003. This award is for scientists who have shown exceptional contributions to natural hazards by increasing our knowledge of their basic principles as well as their proper assessment with a view of protecting the environmental and saving lives and properties.

On December 13, 2002, Dr. Punongbayan retired as PHIVOLCS Director. However, he continued his commitments as Governor of the Philippine National Red Cross, as member of the EqTAP International Guidance and Oversight Team and as Executive Director of the Earthquake and Megacities Initiatives, Inc. He likewise continued to lecture on Applied Geology at the Graduate School of Engineering at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. He continued to lend his expertise to local and international geoscientific communities through joint undertakings and collaboration. But the real legacy of the service of Dr. Punongbayan is to the Filipino nation when he made volcanic and earthquake hazards understandable to the public and when he lent his expertise in the saving of lives during potentially disastrous geologic events in its nation’s history.