the direction of the Jesuits and for the first time, the bureau had an all-Filipino staff headed by Mr. Maximo Lachica, head of the Department of Geodetic Engineering of the University of the Philippines. The Japanese occupation period marked limited activity in the Central Office. However, in the field, bureau personnel were instrumental in bringing accurate weather information over enemy-occupied territory to the combined liberation forces of the American and Filipino soldiers. In February 1945, the Second World War brought the operations of the Weather Bureau to a halt when its offices were destroyed during the Battle of Manila. Nothing but the burnt-out shell of its astronomical dome in Padre Faura St bore testimony to its once glorious past. All the instruments, records, mass of scientific knowledge accumulated through the decades were lost. After the war, the Observatorio ceased to function as the Weather Bureau. The former would later resume independent operations in 1951 as the Manila Observatory. Postwar Era (1945–1972): Rebirth The rebirth of the Weather Bureau began on July 24, 1945, when it was reestablished by seven constituent personnel under the leadership of Edilberto Parulan as Officer-in-Charge. In 1946, pursuant to the Tydings War Damage Act (Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946), a US Weather Bureau mission was sent to Manila by the United States government to undertake a survey of the needs of the Weather Bureau. As a result, the Bureau was able to acquire meteorological equipment and technical assistance from the United States that paved the way for the establishment of standard weather services patterned after similar meteorological institutions in more technically-advanced countries. Furthermore, the Weather Bureau was transferred to the Department of Commerce and Industry. The Bureau's functions were then carried out by five divisions (Synoptic, Climatological, Geophysical, Astronomical, and Administrative). In 1947, the central office of the Weather Bureau was moved to Marsman Building (opposite Pier 15 at the Port Area of Manila), while the Forecasting Center was transferred to the old Balagbag terminal (site of the first terminal of Manila International Airport) and became the Manila Main Meteorological Office (MMMO). The first post-war geophysical observatory of the bureau was established in 1949 behind the campus of the University of the Philippines in Diliman. In 1948, a set of electromagnetic photorecording seismographs was installed to improve its seismological services. On April 5, 1949, the Philippines was admitted into the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with the