The provincial board of Bohol has passed a resolution expressing condolence to the bereaved family of Philip Jubane and commending him for his laudable job in cloud seeding when he died after the airplane he piloted crashed in barangay Coloma, Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya on May 4, 2014.  Provincial Board Member Tomas D. Abapo, Jr., initiated the measure during his short privilege speech during the regular session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) presided over by Vice-Gov. Concepcion Lim on Friday. The said Resolution was unanimously adopted and sponsored en masse, Abapo said.  The veteran lawmaker pointed out that it is but worth giving commendation to Jubane, a Boholano, a resident of Barangay Bungahan, Antequera town, for his job in making rain for the cushion the impact El Niño.

 Jubane is survived by his wife, Heidi and a young son, municipal Kagawad Cecille Rebosura, who is a relative of the deceased, said during his burial at public cemetery last week.  Jubane's companions in the airplane who also died in the crash are Christopher Evan Borja, Melvin Simangan ug Leilanie Naga, all were employees of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management, Department of Agriculture. Jubane and company flew the RP C1974, a Baron fixed-wing airplane in the cloud seeding, during the last flight of four when it crashed at past 2 PM in barangay Villa Coloma, Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya. They flew over Magat river and watershed areas as part of the “flight plan” for cloud-seeding from Cauayan City airport, Isabela, a neighboring province of Nueva Vizcaya, the report said. Reports from Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) in Bagabag airport said that the airplane was commissioned by SN Aboitiz Power-Magat Inc. for cloud-seeding over Magat watershed.  “Cloud seeding, a form of  weather modification , is the attempt to change the amount or type of  precipitation  that falls from  clouds , by dispersing substances into the  air  that serve as  cloud condensation  or ice nuclei , which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud. The usual intent is to increase precipitation (rain or snow),” according to Wikipedia. In Bohol, cloud seeding was also employed with the use of an airplane rented by the province as the dry spell hit the province sometime in 2012. (RVO)