By Lea Victoria D. Serrano, UP NOAH Center and Richard Ybañez, Education Division
Last 21 February 2025, the UP Resilience Institute (UPRI), together with its partners in the Philippine Preparedness Partnership (PhilPrep), met with the Tarlac City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) and officials of barangays Tibag and San Isidro in Tarlac City to launch Talagháy, a project supported by the Asian Disaster Readiness Fund (ADRF).
The ADRF, institutionalized within the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), funds local preparedness and readiness initiatives to enhance emergency response through multi-stakeholder approaches.
This one-year initiative, led by PhilPrep–which includes the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), Center for Disaster Preparedness (CDP), and the UPRI in collaboration with local partners in Tarlac City–aims to localize the national-level partnership by engaging local actors and integrating community strengths with national and global best practices.
As PhilPrep’s academic pillar, the UPRI has proposed the establishment of an Internet-of Things (IoT)-based decision support system for the selected barangays in Tarlac City. This involves installing web-enabled sensors capable of transmitting real-time seismic and hydrometeorological data. These low-cost technologies will equip barangay and city officials with additional data and tools to anticipate and respond to disasters to reduce or ultimately avert their impacts. Officials will also receive training on the Citizen Science Seismic Network and the UP NOAH Center’s Impact-Based Forecasting Module. The UPRI is represented by Richard L. Ybañez, Chief Science Research Specialist of the Education Division, and Lea Victoria D. Serrano, Senior Science Research Specialist of the UP NOAH Center.
UPRI’s IoT initiative will integrate into Tarlac City’s broader early warning system, which PDRF will further strengthen by improving communication channels across barangays and between communities. To ensure the sustainability and scalability of these initiatives, a collaborative learning conference will be held towards the end of the project, led by CDP. This conference will bring together national and subnational stakeholders to document best practices and explore opportunities for replication in other communities.
Through Talagháy, the collaborative efforts of PhilPrep and its partners aim to strengthen disaster preparedness in Tarlac City by integrating innovative technologies, enhancing communication systems, and fostering multi-sectoral cooperation. As a pilot project, its successes and lessons will be documented to support replication in other communities through experience-sharing and collaborative learning. Ultimately, this initiative seeks to build a more resilient and adaptive disaster preparedness framework that empowers both local and national stakeholders.
See more pictures of the event from the Tarlac City Information Office.