UP Resilience Institute (UPRI) Executive Director Mahar Lagmay said the recently released P1-billion budget would further expand Project Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (NOAH), focusing on strengthening flood management, hazard monitoring and disaster risk reduction systems as the country confronts the effects of climate change.
Lagmay, a UP geology professor, said he hoped that the government’s funding for UPRI “will continue to transform scientific knowledge into practical action that protects lives and helps build safer, more resilient and sustainable communities.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order to infuse P1 billion into Project NOAH, which UPRI manages, will boost impact-based forecasting developed by the project researchers using years of historical information, satellite images, rainfall data and other datasets.
This directive from Marcos to the Department of Budget and Management is another critical move in his data-driven governance, which recognizes the vital role of hard science in statecraft, notably the national infrastructure spending of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) being guided by scientific data from UPRI’s NOAH.
Lagmay said NOAH’s impact-based forecasting system is projected to forecast, one day in advance, where flooding may occur and its impact on roads, homes, buildings and vehicular flow.
“The P1 billion allocation for UPRI will be measured by better information, transparency, evidence-based governance and decision-making, effective flood management and reduced disaster risks and losses,” he said.
Of the total allocation, P935 million will support research services, while P65 million will fund general management and supervision of NOAH’s implementation. The allocation is part of the UP System’s built-in appropriation under the 2026 General Appropriations Act.
Lagmay said UPRI’s budget will fund high-resolution mapping of major river basins, hazard assessments, land-use planning and Oplan Kontra Baha initiatives, in coordination with the DPWH, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, local government units and private-sector partners.
The allocation will also support Light Detection and Ranging drone topographic surveys, capacity-building programs with state universities and colleges, native tree mapping, sediment erosion assessments, mapping of hidden waterways, nature-based solutions, and the use of artificial intelligence and analytics for disaster risk management.
Founded in 2012, NOAH seeks to assist the country in disaster risk reduction and management, climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts, and related activities through research, development and extension services.
The DPWH has begun laying the technical foundation for future, science-backed flood management infrastructure to strengthen long-term disaster preparedness and climate change risk response nationwide.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered the updating of all flood management master plans to protect Filipinos from massive flooding year after year.
On Sept. 2, the president said the government is now implementing a flood control master plan that has been in place for decades.
“We already have a master plan. It’s just never been executed. We are only executing it now,” Marcos told reporters after inspecting repair works at a collapsed bridge in Tarlac.
“We have had a master plan for decades but nothing was done. We are only starting it now,” he added.
The president’s statement comes as Central Luzon, Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon grapple with widespread flooding brought by heavy monsoon rains.
The administration has repeatedly called on national government agencies to implement long-term flood control measures, including de-clogging and dredging waterways, improving drainage systems and proper land-use planning, as the government responds to increasingly intense rainfall linked to climate change.
Meanwhile, UP President Angelo Jimenez said the Marcos administration’s funding for UPRI is “an investment in the power of research and innovation to serve the nation.”
“We do research because knowledge matters, and knowledge matters most when it can help us make better decisions, solve real problems and improve the lives of our people,” Jimenez said.
