Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez (Neg. Occ. 3rd District) welcomed the release of P1 billion for Project NOAH but said the disaster risk program should eventually have permanent funding instead of depending on annual budget decisions.
In a statement Thursday, Aug. 27, Benitez said the allocation would strengthen the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute’s work on flood forecasting, hazard mapping and disaster preparedness.
The Department of Budget and Management announced on Aug. 24 that it released P1 billion to the UP System for Project NOAH, including P935 million for research services and P65 million for general management and supervision.
The funding will support AI-enhanced flood modeling, LiDAR mapping, real-time hazard assessment, data analytics, equipment and specialized technical personnel, according to the DBM.
Benitez said the funding was the result of efforts during deliberations on the 2026 national budget.
During the first livestreamed bicameral conference committee hearing in December 2025, the House asked the Senate to support a P1-billion allocation for Project NOAH, with Benitez citing the heavy public use of its hazard information and the need to update its maps.
He had told lawmakers that the NOAH website had recorded about 35 million searches and as many as 2.5 million searches in a day during periods of high demand, while some hazard maps had not been comprehensively updated since 2012.
Congress subsequently included the P1-billion allocation in the 2026 budget.
Benitez said technologies such as artificial intelligence-based flood modeling and LiDAR mapping have practical applications for local governments, allowing officials to determine which communities may need to evacuate first and providing families with earlier warnings.
“Most of the time, the difference between a hazard and a disaster is how early the warning arrives,” he said.
Benitez, however, said the P1-billion release remains dependent on a single budget year and called for Project NOAH to be institutionalized with a regular source of government funding.
He is one of the authors of House Bill 2577, which seeks to transform the UP Resilience Institute into the University of the Philippines National Climate Resilience Institute, a permanent scientific institution focusing on climate resilience and disaster preparedness.
The proposed institute would have its own appropriation under the General Appropriations Act, permanent research positions and a resilience knowledge platform that local governments could use for hazard and risk data, Benitez said.
The House committees on Higher and Technical Education and Climate Change approved in June a substitute measure consolidating HB 2577 and several similar bills seeking to establish the UP-NCRI.
Benitez said the need for stronger forecasting and preparedness is particularly relevant to the 3rd District, noting that Silay, Talisay and Victorias cities and E.B. Magalona have experienced flooding repeatedly in recent years.
“Preparing for a flood costs far less than responding to one, in lives and in pesos,” he said.
Project NOAH was launched in 2012 under the Department of Science and Technology before government funding ended in 2017, after which its work continued under the UP Resilience Institute with more limited resources.
Benitez said he will push to retain funding for Project NOAH in the 2027 national budget while pursuing passage of the bill creating the permanent climate resilience institute.
“The 2027 budget is now before the House. We will keep Project NOAH funded, and we will keep pushing House Bill No. 2577 until NOAH no longer has to wait for a good budget year,” he said.*
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