The Zamboanga Peninsula is the latest region to adopt the rapid damage assessment tool that the Department of Science and Technology has developed to prepare the communities to prepare and respond to disasters and emergency situations.
The DOST said slightly more than half, or 43 out of 75, of local governments in the Zamboanga Peninsula have officially adopted a hazard assessment system called Rapid Earthquake Damage Assessment System (Redas).
This number placed the Zamboanga Peninsula, which consists of the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga Sibugay, as the region with the most numerous LGUs that have manifested their intent to adopt Redas.
The DOST said this number was confirmed during the celebration of the 2025 Regional Science and Technology Innovation Week (RSTW) in Zamboanga Peninsula, when 43 municipalities and cities signed the memorandum of agreement with the DOST Regional Office 9 to formally integrate Redas into their disaster risk assessment efforts and emergency plans.
‘For region 9, we are facing a severe drought and heavy rains. With heavy rains, accounts are very heavy with flooding. With that, with the REDAS, some of our local government units have already initiated preparation activities related to, in terms of mitigating the rains, and the efforts to protect against disasters,’ said DOST 9 Officer in Charge Jennifer A. Pidor.
In a forum titled ‘Strengthening LGU Preparations Through DOST-DRRRM Innovations,’ representatives of local governments shared their experiences and best practices in addressing disasters like flooding through the use of science-based technologies like GeoRiskPH, Hazard HunterPH, and project Redas, Pidor said.
Take for example, she added, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) of Diplahan, Zamboanga Sibugay, which installed early warning devices to detect floods in their communities with the help of the data they get from the Redas software.
Redas is a software developed by the DOST-Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (DOST-PHIVOLCS) in 2002, after the devastating 1990 Luzon earthquake, the DOST said.
The software can simulate earthquake hazards such as ground shaking, liquefaction, landslides, and tsunamis. It can also compute earthquake impacts in terms of physical damage, casualties, and economic loss, allowing communities to make practical and science-based solutions.
Although Redas was originally conceived for use in earthquake hazard and impact assessment, other multi-hazard maps, such as floods, storm surge, and rain-induced landslides, are already incorporated into the software, according to Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
‘Here in Region-9, innovations are translated into concrete action, ensuring that science benefits local governments, schools, barangays, fisherfolk, farmers, and marginalized groups. From 2023 to 2024, 74 of 75 LGUs in the Zamboanga Peninsula completed training on the Rapid Earthquake Damage Assessment System (REDAS),’ Science Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. said.
He added that DOST 9 led the passage of Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (RDRRMC) Resolution 016, series of 2023, to institutionalize the use of REDAS and to ensure that the LGUs are strictly implementing the project after the adoption.
Meanwhile, Pidor said the remaining 31 LGUs that did not sign the MOA but nonetheless sent personnel to undergo training on the implementation of project Redas have already manifested their intent soon and will be adopting the REDAS software officially through a memorandum of agreement.
She said the DOST has targeted the entire Zamboanga Peninsula to adapt the tool, and including 19 more municipalities from the island province of Sulu, which has been recently integrated into the region.