00:00Project NOAA receives a 1 billion peso fund release from the 2026 national budget,
00:05half of which goes to up-to-date equipment and the rest to operations and its researchers.
00:10But even then, there remains the problem of reaching more local governments with
00:14knowledge and maps that scientists generate. Project NOAA is a hazard monitoring program
00:18launched in 2012, considered a landmark project in the Philippines as Disaster Risk Reduction
00:23and Management. But Rodrigo Duterte's administration pulled the plug on the program in 2017,
00:28and while it did not completely disappear, the program lost most of its experts and reach.
00:34Currently, the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute manages Project NOAA. With
00:38the new funds, UPRI intends to prioritize the use of cutting-edge technology. This would allow UPRI to
00:45generate higher resolution maps of river basins, a huge improvement from the maps generated when
00:49Project NOAA was launched 14 years ago. UPRI Executive Director Maharlagmay says the Institute
00:55needs help in disseminating information, including reaching more local governments so they can apply
01:00science to disaster risk management. He says, we can mainstream the science, the knowledge,
01:05knowledge into the plans of the community.
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