US providing $900,000 for disaster data platform

MANILA, Philippines — The United States government is providing $900,000 (about P53 million) to support a data platform project for disaster risk and response, the US embassy in Manila said yesterday.

Through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the funding will support the second phase of an information management system project to enhance the Philippines’ capacity to identify disaster risks and support disaster response operations.

USAID Philippines Mission Director Ryan Washburn and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) administrator Raymundo Ferrer made the announcement during the launch of Phase 2 of the Early Warning and Decision Support Capacity Enhancement project.

Washburn noted the timeliness of the project in light of recent disasters in the country, including the Abra earthquakes this year, Tropical Depression Agaton and Super Typhoon Karding.

In September, the World Risk Index Report 2022 ranked the Philippines on top of the list for highest natural disaster risk among 193 countries.

The initial phase of the project was implemented from 2019 to 2021 in partnership with the University of Hawaii’s Pacific Disaster Center. It introduced

PhilAWARE (AWARE: All-hazards Warning, Analysis and Risk Evaluation), a customized data platform that collects complex information on disaster risks, vulnerabilities, and other real-time data to assist disaster response operations.

The OCD Operations Center used the PhilAWARE system to support monitoring and response efforts during the passage of typhoon Karding in the Philippines in September.

The system was also used to establish the flight path that allowed President Marcos and his officials to conduct damage assessment in affected areas shortly after the storm had passed.

In the second phase of this project, the OCD will further develop data sharing and processing, roll out pilot systems in regional offices, provide more training to deepen the integration of PhilAWARE within the NDRRMC, and reflect a whole of government approach to enhance digitization, data sharing and reporting.

“Information and communication management is among the most challenging aspects in disaster response.  We are proud of our latest collaboration with the OCD and the Pacific Disaster Center on the PhilAWARE information management platform,” Washburn said.

“The US government, through USAID, remains steadfast in our commitment to boost the Philippine government’s capacity to improve disaster preparedness and management systems for the benefit of the Filipino people,” he added.

Peace Corps returning

Meanwhile, visiting US Peace Corps chief executive officer Carol Spahn announced yesterday the resumption of the organization’s operations in the Philippines at the start of next year.

Speaking at a press conference, Spahn announced the return of one of the largest batches of American volunteers in January 2023 in the project sectors of education, youth development and coastal resource management in Luzon and Visayas.

Sixty volunteers will arrive and work for two years at the invitation of host communities, highlighting the Peace Corps’ strong collaboration with the Philippine government, especially Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency director Donald Gawe.

“This group will be one of the largest that the Peace Corps has organized since resuming overseas operations in March 2022,” Spahn said.

By September 2023, more than 120 volunteers would be working alongside community members in the country.

Spahn said the volunteers will be among the first to implement the Peace Corps’ new climate initiative support of over two million hours of volunteer and staff service.

Up to 40 coastal resource management volunteers will help identify and implement strategies that contribute to climate priorities and local government units’ climate change adaptation plans.

“I believe every person, every volunteer who comes in has a role to pay in support of climate change initiatives so this can be turned into education and teaching  of students and coastal resource management which is directly impacting,” she added.

During her visit, Spahn was also in Cebu to see the work of longtime Peace Corps partners, including Rare Philippines, Glory Reborn and My Refuge House.

They discussed the various ways they have been able to work together through the pandemic, including through Climate Change adaptation efforts and he Peace Corps’ virtual service pilot.

Spahn also visited two COVID vaccination clinics and observed how Peace Corps’ staff have partnered with local health officials and USAID ReachHealth staff in Cebu and other provinces this past year to vaccinate nearly 27,000 Filipinos.