ANGELES CITY – His country severely devastated by the historic earthquake and tsunami last March 11, Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura expressed optimism that the newly finished 154-million flood fore-casting and warning system (FFWS) his government had funded at the Agno river system would save lives of Filipinos in Central Luzon.
“With the completion of the Phase 2 of this project, we believe that the disaster preparedness and prevention will be further enhanced contributing to enhanced protection of life and property of the people of Central Luzon,” Kastura said.
Phase 1 of a similar project costing some P312 million, also funded by the Japanese government, was already finished at the Pampanga river system in 2009.
Pres. Aquino and Katsura led in the inauguration of the Phase 2 project that improved flood forecasting ahd warning system in Carmen Rosales in Pangasinan last Friday.
In a statement, the Japanese embassy said that a Japanese government grant amounting to some P154 million was used for the Agno river project. “The project aims to improve the existing gauging stations and telecommunication facilities for fast data transmission of observed data to ensure the issuance of timely and reliable warnings to flood-threatened communities,” the embassy said.
“Through combined Phase 1 and 2 projects, the flood mitigation system in the flood-prone areas in Central Luzon will be significantly improved. The project will contribute to enhanced protection of life and property of the Filipino people,” the embassy added.
In his speech during the inauguration, Katsura said “This project reaffirms the continued commitment of Japan to extend cooperation in minimizing threats of disasters. This project is expected to further foster a strategic partnership between the two countries towards the future.”
Japan had earlier also funded other similar projects such as flood control facilities at the Pasig-Marikina river, Mangahan floodway and the flood forecasting and warning system in Bicol and Cagayan. They were all funded from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Dr. Susan Espinueva, chief of the hydrometeorological division of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said the already finished Pampanga river FFWS consists of 17 unmanned stations monitoring rainfall and water levels along the Pampanga river system that runs from Nueva Ecija through Bulacan and Pampanga.
She said that regardless of weather conditions, these stations relay information on river situation by the hour to the Pampanga River Flood Forecasting and Warning Center (PRFFWC) based at the Pagasa office in Barangay Maimpis here.
“During bad weather, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) base themselves at the center so that they could issue appropriate warnings for evacuation once the unmanned stations relay information in potential danger from the river system,” Espinueva said.
Yasushi Azuma, Japanese consultant of Pagasa on the project, said that the FFWS could be configured so that information from the unmanned stations could be had every 15 minutes during bad weather.
She said the newly inaugurated FFWS at the Agno river has 13 unmanned monitoring stations.
Espinueva said the Philippine government provided funding counterpart in terms of buildings housing the modern FFWS equipment.
She said that the initial FFWS for the Pampanga river was initially founded in 1973 after the historic floods that hit Central Luzon in 1972 when waters from the Pampanga and Agno river basins merged, while the FFWS for Agno river was established 10 years later.
She recalled that at that time, the FFWS center was based in Quezon City and that its system had already deteriorated over time.
The new modern FFWS for Pampanga had its center finished here in 2009, while the new FFWS at Agno has its new center in Carmen Rosales in Pangasinan.
Azuma said the upgraded FFWS projects include the replacement of old rainfall and water level equipment with state-of-the-art facilities, the establishment of additional new rainfall and water level gauging stations, and the upgrading of the “backbone multiples radio equipment to enhance transmission capacity.”
He said the new systems also involved “the establishment of monitoring system to directly access the observed real time rail fall and water level data and other information such as flood forecasts and warnings issued by Pagasa.”
He also said the modernized FFWS also “enhances flood forecast and warning information with the provision of the extent and depth of inundation using the runoff analysis software couples with Geographic Information System.”
This, even as Espinueva appealed to local officials to help secure the unmanned monitoring stations along the river basins, after some cables were stolen by still unidentified persons in Barangay Mayayap in Cabanatuan City.
“It’s embarrassing to our donors, who we had to replace the cable immediately,” she said.
“But what’s more significant is that these equipment are supposed to save many lives by way of early warning during bad weather,” she added.
“With the completion of the Phase 2 of this project, we believe that the disaster preparedness and prevention will be further enhanced contributing to enhanced protection of life and property of the people of Central Luzon,” Kastura said.
Phase 1 of a similar project costing some P312 million, also funded by the Japanese government, was already finished at the Pampanga river system in 2009.
Pres. Aquino and Katsura led in the inauguration of the Phase 2 project that improved flood forecasting ahd warning system in Carmen Rosales in Pangasinan last Friday.
In a statement, the Japanese embassy said that a Japanese government grant amounting to some P154 million was used for the Agno river project. “The project aims to improve the existing gauging stations and telecommunication facilities for fast data transmission of observed data to ensure the issuance of timely and reliable warnings to flood-threatened communities,” the embassy said.
“Through combined Phase 1 and 2 projects, the flood mitigation system in the flood-prone areas in Central Luzon will be significantly improved. The project will contribute to enhanced protection of life and property of the Filipino people,” the embassy added.
In his speech during the inauguration, Katsura said “This project reaffirms the continued commitment of Japan to extend cooperation in minimizing threats of disasters. This project is expected to further foster a strategic partnership between the two countries towards the future.”
Japan had earlier also funded other similar projects such as flood control facilities at the Pasig-Marikina river, Mangahan floodway and the flood forecasting and warning system in Bicol and Cagayan. They were all funded from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Dr. Susan Espinueva, chief of the hydrometeorological division of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said the already finished Pampanga river FFWS consists of 17 unmanned stations monitoring rainfall and water levels along the Pampanga river system that runs from Nueva Ecija through Bulacan and Pampanga.
She said that regardless of weather conditions, these stations relay information on river situation by the hour to the Pampanga River Flood Forecasting and Warning Center (PRFFWC) based at the Pagasa office in Barangay Maimpis here.
“During bad weather, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) base themselves at the center so that they could issue appropriate warnings for evacuation once the unmanned stations relay information in potential danger from the river system,” Espinueva said.
Yasushi Azuma, Japanese consultant of Pagasa on the project, said that the FFWS could be configured so that information from the unmanned stations could be had every 15 minutes during bad weather.
She said the newly inaugurated FFWS at the Agno river has 13 unmanned monitoring stations.
Espinueva said the Philippine government provided funding counterpart in terms of buildings housing the modern FFWS equipment.
She said that the initial FFWS for the Pampanga river was initially founded in 1973 after the historic floods that hit Central Luzon in 1972 when waters from the Pampanga and Agno river basins merged, while the FFWS for Agno river was established 10 years later.
She recalled that at that time, the FFWS center was based in Quezon City and that its system had already deteriorated over time.
The new modern FFWS for Pampanga had its center finished here in 2009, while the new FFWS at Agno has its new center in Carmen Rosales in Pangasinan.
Azuma said the upgraded FFWS projects include the replacement of old rainfall and water level equipment with state-of-the-art facilities, the establishment of additional new rainfall and water level gauging stations, and the upgrading of the “backbone multiples radio equipment to enhance transmission capacity.”
He said the new systems also involved “the establishment of monitoring system to directly access the observed real time rail fall and water level data and other information such as flood forecasts and warnings issued by Pagasa.”
He also said the modernized FFWS also “enhances flood forecast and warning information with the provision of the extent and depth of inundation using the runoff analysis software couples with Geographic Information System.”
This, even as Espinueva appealed to local officials to help secure the unmanned monitoring stations along the river basins, after some cables were stolen by still unidentified persons in Barangay Mayayap in Cabanatuan City.
“It’s embarrassing to our donors, who we had to replace the cable immediately,” she said.
“But what’s more significant is that these equipment are supposed to save many lives by way of early warning during bad weather,” she added.
