San Fernando City, Pampanga – September 16, 2025 — The Development of a Hybrid Water-Related Disaster Risk Assessment Technology for Sustainable Local Economic Development Policy under Climate Change in the Philippines (HyDEPP-SATREPS) project conducted a Policy Workshop on Climate Change: Floods and Droughts in the Pampanga River Basin at Microtel by Wyndham Pampanga.

​

The workshop aimed to disseminate and discuss findings from the project's research on flooding, agricultural mapping, and community surveys in the Pampanga River Basin. It also provided a platform for stakeholders to give feedback and insights that would strengthen the project’s policy recommendations.

​

A total of 39 participants attended, including disaster risk reduction, planning, and agriculture officers from Pampanga, representatives from DOST-PAGASA, JICA, and academic partners from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), University of Tokyo, International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM), Kyoto University, and Tohoku University.

​

Dr. Patricia Ann J. Sanchez, Philippine project manager from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), officially opened the program by welcoming the participants and providing an overview of the workshop’s objectives. Dr. Miho Ohara, Japanese project leader from the University of Tokyo, followed with an introduction to the HyDEPP-SATREPS project and its collaborative framework between Philippine and Japanese institutions.

 

The first set of lecture presentations focused on climate change impacts on the Pampanga River Basin. Dr. Ralph Allen Acierto (ICHARM) discussed projected changes in rainfall climatology, while Dr. Abdul Wahid Mohamed Rasmy (ICHARM) introduced the WEB-RRI hybrid model for assessing dam discharges, paddy flooding, and land use impacts. Dr. Tanaka Tomohiro presented sustainable local economic development scenarios, analyzing future policy directions and socio-economic consequences of climate change. Complementing these, Engr. Hanz Lester C. Lunas (UPLB) presented localized flood projections for Candaba.

 

Findings from community-level research were also highlighted. Ms. Pang Zhaoxia (University of Tokyo) provided an overview of survey objectives and methodology in Candaba, after which Mr. Marco Rafael M. Espino (UPLB) presented residents’ perceptions and coping experiences in relation to flooding. Their analysis underscored the importance of integrating community perspectives into disaster risk management programs.

 

Further discussions emphasized innovations in flood monitoring and agricultural damage assessment. Dr. Tamakawa Katsunori (University of Tokyo) showcased the Data Integration and Analysis System (DIAS) for flood simulations and provided hands-on demonstrations to show the simulation outputs, while Dr. Koki Homma (Tohoku University) presented satellite-based assessments of flooding impacts on rice production. His PhD student, Mr. Kohei Hosonuma, supplemented this with findings from drone surveys on rice yields and flood damage estimation, demonstrating the value of remote sensing technologies in agricultural resilience.

​

The workshop transitioned into policy-focused discussions. Dr. Alma Lorelie D. Abejero (UPLB) synthesized recommended interventions derived from project outputs, which participants further refined through dialogue. Insights from local disaster risk reduction and agriculture officers were integrated into proposals addressing both current and future needs of communities in Pampanga.

Facilitated by Ms. Catherine B. Gigantone (UPLB), the interactive session adopted a “world café” approach, encouraging participants to identify where interventions should be prioritized, who would benefit most, and how these strategies could align with ongoing local programs. This collaborative exercise allowed stakeholders to critically reflect on both immediate and long-term policy directions for the province.

​

In her closing remarks, Dr. Sanchez thanked participants and emphasized that stakeholder insights will play a critical role in refining the project’s final outputs. The workshop is among the project’s last activities before the completion of its implementation.