The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has earmarked P1 billion for the University of the Philippines (UP) System to enhance Project NOAH’s artificial intelligence (AI)-driven flood forecasting and disaster monitoring systems.
The funding allocation reinforces the Marcos Jr. administration’s effort to pivot disaster management from responding after calamities strike toward using science, technology, and data to anticipate risks and prevent hazards from turning into catastrophes.
“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,” said DBM Acting Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon.
Chargeable against the University’s built-in appropriation under the FY 2026 General Appropriations Act, P935 million of the total release will support research services, while P65 million will fund general management and supervision for the implementation of Project NOAH.
The fresh funding will support the procurement and deployment of critical ICT, digital, technical and scientific equipment. It will also enable the engagement of highly specialized technical personnel and the establishment of operational support systems needed to strengthen the country’s hazard assessment and forecasting capabilities.
Implemented by the UP Resilience Institute (UPRI), Project NOAH advances disaster risk reduction and management and climate change adaptation through research, development and extension services. The program harnesses AI-enhanced modeling, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) mapping, data analytics, and other digital technologies to generate real-time hazard assessments, predictive flood scenarios, and science-based information that help national government agencies and local governments make faster and better-informed decisions before and during emergencies.
For De Leon, strengthening disaster prevention is also a matter of protecting public resources, as major disasters can destroy homes, livelihoods, infrastructure and years of government investments in a matter of hours.
“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,” De Leon stated.
He stressed that while typhoons and heavy rains are inevitable, possessing the right information at the right time reduces their impact, fulfilling the mandate of public funds to deliver protection before a disaster happens.
The DBM previously partnered with UP NOAH to integrate disaster risk reduction strategies into the Digital Information for Monitoring and Evaluation (Project DIME), helping assess the exposure and resilience of government infrastructure projects to natural hazards. The latest release builds on that partnership by strengthening the scientific and technological capabilities needed to translate hazard data into earlier warnings, better planning and faster action on the ground.