UP needs fresh funding for NOAH

The UPRI received P1 billion this week from the Department of Budget and Management for Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards). It was earmarked in the 2026 budget after the government cut P255 billion from the Department of Public Works and Highways budget in the aftermath of the flood control scandal.

STAR / File

MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines is seeking fresh funding in the 2027 national budget for Project NOAH, the core component of the UP Resilience Institute responsible for developing hazard maps that policymakers and the public use to plan for weather events.

The UPRI received P1 billion this week from the Department of Budget and Management for Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards). It was earmarked in the 2026 budget after the government cut P255 billion from the Department of Public Works and Highways budget in the aftermath of the flood control scandal.

The UPRI will use the mon- ey to upgrade its equipment, enhance hazard maps and fund research endeavors.

But the 2027 National Ex- penditure Program, for now, contains no new money for Project NOAH

The university pointed out that its funding in the 2026 budget was finalized only uring the bicameral conference committee.

UPRI executive director Mahar Lagmay said the P1 billion is “a good start,” but is not enough to execute all the plans they have in mind.

However, it’s a marked improvement from 2017 when NOAH was transferred to the UPRI.

Project NOAH had an annual budget of only over P30 million at the time, which it used to help cities craft their flood control master plans.With the huge increase in NOAH’s budget, Lagmay lai out the UPRI’s priority spending areas: high-resolution mapping of major river basins, support for the government’s Oplan Kontra Baha, simulation of major detention basins, drone surveys with state colleges and universities, native-tree mapping, sediment erosion and delivery assessment, mapping hidden waterways, promotion of nature-based solutions and artificial intel- ligence for disaster management.