The Quezon City government has partnered with a renowned disaster research center to craft a drainage master plan that will help the city improve its facilities against flooding and response during disasters and calamities.

Mayor Joy Belmonte said the partnership with the University of the Philippines Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (UP-NOAH) Center is essential in protecting citizens from the effects of natural calamities.

“The recent typhoons showed our aggressive efforts to protect our citizens from damages caused by natural calamities,” said Belmonte.

“Through this partnership with UP-NOAH Center, we will be able to prepare strategic programs and facilities against flooding and improve its local development plans for disaster risk reduction,” she added.

The Mayor said the local government and UP-NOAH Center will cooperate and collaborate on drainage planning which will identify flood-prone areas and develop a new drainage system.

The partnership will also develop an online-based decision support system which will provide real-time information for enhanced public service, emergency response, and other necessary decision-making capacities of the city during floods and typhoons.

The system can also be used in flood monitoring, flood forecasting, and an early warning system, Belmonte said.

Karl Michael Marasigan, head of the QC Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (QCDRRMO), said the partnership with UP-NOAH Center will help them to prepare informed action on disaster risk reduction amidst the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Through this, the QCDRRMO will be battling urban flooding tenaciously with science and information as tools for moving the city towards building disaster-resilient communities,” Marasigan stressed.

The move is part of the city government’s duty, as mandated by the Local Government Code of 1991 and other laws such as the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 and the Philippine Climate Change Act of 2009, to create development plans on resource management and environmental issues including flooding.

The Quezon City government is eyeing to develop its Comprehensive Drainage Master Plan (CDMP) that will be instrumental in linking economic planning and development projects such as solid waste and water resources management, roads, ports, and other transport infrastructure, information and communications technology, power-generating and support facilities, coastal protection works, and reclamation activities to resource management goals for the city.

It will also address social and ecological/environmental issues such as public health and biodiversity.