THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) authorized the release of P1 billion to the University of the Philippines (UP) System to boost the disaster prevention capabilities of Project Noah (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards).
A statement issued by the DBM on Monday read that the funding, chargeable against UP’s built-in appropriation under the 2026 General Appropriations Act, will scale up Project Noah’s flood forecasting powered by artificial intelligence (AI), real-time hazard monitoring and early warning systems.
Of the P1-billion allocation, P935 million is earmarked for research and development services, while the remaining P65 million is allotted to general management, supervision and operational support.
The DBM said the funding will bankroll the procurement and deployment of critical information and communications technology (ICT), digital and scientific equipment and the recruitment of highly specialized technical personnel.
‘This P1-billion investment in Project Noah is an investment in prevention. We are putting science, AI, and real-time hazard information to work so government can act earlier, communities can prepare better, and more Filipino lives and livelihoods can be protected,’ Budget Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon was quoted as saying.
‘The best disaster management is when we are able to prevent disasters from becoming a catastrophe. Every peso we invest in better forecasting and preparedness can help save lives, protect livelihoods, and avoid far greater losses later on,’ he added.
Project Noah, managed by the UP Resilience Institute, advances disaster risk reduction and management and climate change adaptation and mitigation through research, development and extension services.
The program generates real-time hazard assessments, predictive flood scenarios, and science-based information by utilizing AI-enhanced modeling, light detection and ranging mapping, data analytics and other digital technologies.
The project helps national government agencies and local governments make faster and better-informed decisions before and during emergencies.
In the past, the DBM and UP Noah collaborated to incorporate disaster risk reduction techniques into the Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation (Project Dime), which assisted in determining how vulnerable and resilient government infrastructure projects were to natural disasters.