HyDEPP-SATREPS holds the 2nd Joint Coordination Committee Meeting
June 14, 2022
The HyDEPP-SATREPS held its 2nd Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) on June 10, 2022 via Zoom.
The meeting was attended by more or less 50 participants from Group Leaders, members and cooperating agencies from the Philippine side led by Dr. Patricia Ann Sanchez (Project Manager) and Japan side led by Dr. Miho Ohara (Project Leader). Mr. Tomohiro Matsubara, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Japan to the Philippines was also present at the event.
Mr. Masanari Yanagiuchi, the new JICA Philippines Senior Representative, opened the event by commending the research teams’ and partners’ current accomplishments on the project now on the 1st quarter of the 2nd year of its 5-year timeline. He is currently new to the project and looking forward to working with everyone towards the goals.
Dr. Patricia Sanchez presented the general summary and overview of the current progress of the entire project to be discussed by each Group Leaders/Representatives for each part.
“Group 1: Data Collection and Sharing” Leaders Dr. Masaki Yasukawa (Japan side) and Dr. Roger Luyun, Jr. (Philippine side) presented updates in databasing and training and which parts are yet to be completed.
For “Group 2: Flood and Drought Risk Assessment”, Dr. Aurelio Delos Reyes, Jr. (Leader, Philippine side) presented the summary update followed by detailed reports from 3 units under the group namely: “Integration of WEB RRI and SIMRIW” by Dr. Koki Homma; “Satellite-based inundation/agricultural monitoring” by Dr. Kentaro Aida; and “Downscaling of climate change model” by Dr. Ralph Acierto.
Updates for “Group 3: Resilience Assessment”, on the other hand, was summarized by Dr. Patricia Sanchez, leader for the Philippine side, with 5 units each reporting detailed updates after. The unit presentations were: “Analysis between disaster by Typhoon Ulysses and SDG’s” and “Resilience Study in Laguna Lake Area” both by Dr. Ohara; “Resilience study in Pasig-Marikina-Manila Bay area” by Dr. Shinichiro Nakamura (through a recorded video); “Analysis of environmental impact of flood by focusing Laguna Lake Turbidity” by Dr. Kensuke Naito; and “Laguna Lake water quality” also by Dr. Ohara.
Lastly, for “Group 4: Economic Scenario and Policy Recommendation”, Philippine Group Leaders Dr. Maria Angeles Catelo and Dr. Agnes Rola reported the percentage completion and target completion date for each action plan from the 1st JCC. Dr. Rola also discussed the “protocol for Adaptive Collaborative Water Governance”. This was followed by new Japan side Group Leader Dr. Tomohiro Tanaka’s discussion of his “Agent-based model” through a recorded video. Dr. Miho Ohara then shared the schedule of upcoming trainings and activities and invited everyone to participate.
After all the updates, representatives from partner agencies Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) provided insights and inquiries which were responded to by the Group Leaders. Dr. Takashi Asaeda from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and Dr. Koike Toshio (Project Executive Director) also participated in the discussions.
Dr. Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr. (Project Director, Philippine side) gave his closing remarks through a recorded message. Acknowledging the unfortunate scenarios (e.g. typhoons) that may be brought by current rainy season in the country, he emphasized on using this to the advantage of the research team. “This is an opportunity for us to further investigate the effects of extreme weather conditions and their implications for the development of our hybrid water related disaster risk assessment models especially in assessing the effectiveness of investing in disaster prevention measures”, he said.
Each study group are now all set with their next activities, meetings and trainings towards completing their action lists for the next phase of the project.