CEBU CITY, Cebu, Sept. 28 (PIA) -- Toledo City and the municipality of Dumanjug are the recipients of the Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) to be installed in their respective area.

This as officials of the said local government units signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Science and Technology-PAGASA at the Radisson Blu Hotel, this city. 

Deputy PAGASA Administrator for Admin and Engineering and Services, Dr. Nathaniel Servando, in his message said “the project is in collaboration and funded by the government of South Korea through the National Disaster Management Research Institute (NDMI) in its continuing effort to mitigate flood disasters in the country.”

“The main goal of this project is to provide as much as possible advance notice of an impending flood to the authorities and the general public and to strengthen the capability on disaster risk reduction, particularly in Toledo City and the municipality of Dumanjug,” Servando said. 

On the other hand, PAGASA Administrator Dr. Vicente Melano said the government of South Korea is one of the many countries with several programs implemented in the Philippines involving PAGASA projects. 

Toledo City Mayor Marjorie Perales, in her message of support, thanked the national government for the projects being poured to the city especially with the installation of the FEWS. 

Dumanjug Municipal Administrator Laura Mae Alviola also thanked DOST-PAGASA for the partnership.

“It is an honor to be chosen as one of your beneficiaries of this project,” Alviola said.

She cited the importance of the Early Warning System in saving people's lives. 

The implementation of the said projects started in June 2022 and will end in November 2022 amounting to USD $1-M. 

The project is also in partnership with the private sector through the involvement of the Toledo-based Carmen Copper Corporation (CCC), a mining corporation that offered to host/co-locate the sites of some gauging stations.

The gauging stations are vital in the collection of real-time hydrometeorological data and information that serve as inputs in the formulation of warnings and advisories during actual flood early warning operations that will benefit the local communities and other stakeholders. (HFG/PIA7)