Advancements and collaborations mark success at the 5th Joint Coordination Committee Meeting for HyDEPP-SATREPS Project
December 18, 2023
The 5th Joint Coordination Committee Meeting of the Project for Development of a Hybrid Water-Related Disaster Risk Assessment Technology for Sustainable Local Economic Development Policy under Climate Change in the Philippines (HyDEPP-SATREPS) brought together experts and cooperating agencies at Luxent Hotel, Quezon City last 20 November 2023 to present project’s progress as part of the
Dr. Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr., Project Director, officially opened the program, stressing the resolved issues and challenges of the project through the guidance and assistance of partners in the past six months. From this experience, he implies that everything can be solved by working hand in hand.
In another opening remark, Mr. Masanari Yanagiuchi, Senior Representative of JICA Philippines, shared that JICA anticipates policy recommendations outputs of the project to be integrated into local and national policies, including action plans for disaster mitigation and prevention strategies. He also emphasized JICA’s enhanced commitment to cooperation with the Philippines and strengthened the foundation of both countries' relations through joint research.
Dr. Patricia Ann J. Sanchez, Project Manager, provided the project overview as a refresher to attendees at the meeting. She outlined the overall goal of the project, target basins, implementation structure, and the four study groups to guide participants, especially the members of cooperating agencies and guests, during the meeting.
Following the project overview, Dr. Miho Ohara, the Project Leader from the University of Tokyo, shared the commendable news of the project's overall evaluation grade of “A” during the midterm review of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) last 9 May 2023, which indicates project’s steady progress despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 situation.
Prof. Toshio Koike, Executive Director of ICHARM, gave insights in reference to global events, emphasizing international cooperation and technological advancements in disaster risk reduction from Kumamoto’s Declaration. Moreover, Prof. Koike also believes HyDEPP-SATREPS' direction is in parallel with the need for comprehensive approaches to water-related issues shared by Ms. Yoko Kamikawa during the UN 2023 Water Conference.
In the social context of the project, Dr. Maria Angeles O. Catelo, Group 4 Leader, shared the first policy brief from the DOST-PCAARRD funded project supporting HyDEPP-SATREPS, outlining the strategies crucial for effective disaster management in Bay, Laguna.
As the highlight of the meeting, study leaders and members of the four sub-groups delivered respective progress and plans. For Group 1: Data Collection and Sharing, Dr. Roger A. Luyun, Jr. (UPLB) and Dr. Momaru Miyamoto (ICHARM) underlined data and equipment status, training conducted locally and in Japan, and updates on Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) as an effort to strengthen collaborations with cooperating agencies.
Reports on Group 2: Assessment of Flood and Drought Risks were provided by Dr. Rubenito M. Lampayan (UPLB) and Dr. Mohamed Rasmy Abdul Wahid (ICHARM), pointing out updates on hydro and agricultural model calibration and validation in past and future scenarios of target study sites. Members of Group 2 also gave reports during the session. Engr. Vicente G. Ballaran, Jr. (UPLB & ICHARM Ph.D. Student) shared recent findings in calibration and validation of the model with observed data about inundation in Laguna Lake Basin, and Dr. Kensuke Naito (ICHARM) highlighted the H-Q curve developments in Sta. Maria and Pagsanjan Rivers.
Dr. Patricia Ann J. Sanchez (UPLB), Dr. Miho Ohara (University of Tokyo), and Dr. Kentaro Taki (University of Shiga Prefecture) spearheaded the updates on Group 3: Assessment of Water-related Disasters, emphasizing the developments of set indicators to analyze socio-economic resilience during floods and droughts from SDGs viewpoints, local community mapping, and the September 2023 activities conducted in Laguna Lake and Pasig-Marikina River. One of the Japan trainees and a member of Group 3, Engr. Christine Jane E. Ramacula presented flood risk map outputs based on lake elevation in selected Barangays in Bay, Laguna as an essential part of the resilience assessment of Laguna Lake. Additionally, three students from CEAT-UPLB involved in the Laguna Lake Sedimentation Group also delivered their respective study progress in the meeting.
Dr. Maria Angeles O. Catelo (UPLB) and Dr. Tomohiro Tanaka (Kyoto University) delivered progress of Group 4: Sustainable Local Economic Development, outlining identified major causes of flooding through reviews of existing policies and plans of national and local governments, and updates in the agent-based model (ABM) simulations.
Members of cooperating agencies namely Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (DOST-PAGASA), and Japan International Cooperation Agency Philippines Office (JICA Ph) actively participated during the overall discussion. They also expressed a desire for HyDEPP-SATREPS to offer and strengthen capacity building to cooperating agencies’ personnel to apply technical concepts in real-life situations, especially in a disaster-prone setting like the Philippines.
The HyDEPP-SATREPS Project looks forward to fortify partnerships with organizations involved and to contribute in addressing hydrological, agricultural, and social challenges posed by climate change in the country.