THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has launched a new platform designed to be a unified system for early warning, disaster preparedness and response, Phivolcs chief Teresito Bacolcol said on Thursday.
Called “Handa” (Ready), the platform was envisioned to be institutionalized as the country’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (DRR–CCA) platform for early warning data and analytics, enhancing public awareness, strengthening planning and coordination mechanisms, and building more resilient communities nationwide, Bacolcol said.
Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said Handa was in response to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to establish a unified platform for early warning and disaster-related information.
Developed under the Geospatial Analytics and Technology Solutions Program-Project 3, Handa reflects sustained multiagency collaboration and advances the integration of DRR-CCA into a unified geospatial and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled platform, said Solidum, Phivolcs’ former director.
Bacolcol said that Handa — powered by GeoRiskPH — integrates these capabilities into a unified system, ensuring informed decision-making across the phases of the disaster risk reduction management.
Handa offers near real-time monitoring, location-based alerts, AI-assisted tools and interactive dashboards, according to Phivolcs, a Department of Science and Technology’s attached agency.
“It visualizes geologic and hydro-meteorological hazards, as well as critical facilities, and integrates advisories and warnings to Phivolcs as well as from state weather bureau, and Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,” Bacolcol said.
The platform also enables incident reporting to support response coordination and emergency operations, while users can report real-time incidents such as flooding, fires, road accidents or other on-ground emergencies.
“In urgent situations, users can activate the Emergency SOS alert to share their location with responders. An AI-powered assistant chatbot provides access to hazard, weather and location-based safety information,” Bacolcol said.
