The State of the Nation Address given to us by our President Aquino has cleared or has enlightened the public of the latest improvements of our country under his leadership and management. I was glad that the SONA for this year is not just some talk concerning the past administration else it was an address directly pointing out to the public. The Geohazard Mapping and Assessment Program and the Project NOAH of the DOST are the 2 areas that are related to ICT, said by our President Benigno S. Aquino III in his SONA this year.  Thus, the following areas that have been cited are to help our disaster preparedness. In which it also concerns the welfare of the Filipino citizens against the disaster.

First of the given areas is the Geohazrd Mapping and Assessment Program. But before anything else, what is Geohazard Mapping and Assessment Program? Its main objective is to identify areas in the country which are susceptible or vulnerable to various geologic hazards, or geohazards. The program also seeks to provide information to various stakeholders in order to lessen or mitigate the impact of these events. -DENR

The Geohazard Mapping and Assessment Program can definitely improve our quality of life. This program might not be recognized by most but it definitely helps the public. Geohazard Mapping is one way of taking care of the people. The project itself might take a lot of time but the result will be absolutely fruitful. Determining the areas that are close to disasters will improve the actions of the government agencies. The government agencies or the different departments will be able to respond fast if the Geohazard mapping is already done. This project might be able to help prevent or lessen the possible outcome or effect of the natural disasters. It will be a big help anytime a disaster comes knowing that the areas are already mapped; either it is an area which is close to floods, landslides, earthquakes, tornadoes and other calamities else it might also be made by human activities. However, areas that are usually affected by floods will be given an earlier warning if ever the water rises. Regions that are often affected by earthquakes will also be given a much earlier caution and so on.

Geohazard mapping doesn’t only limit to that but also it will make the response team an easier task of knowing the places which needed their help the most. And also, every place, barangays, districts, municipality, cities and regions in the country will be easily monitored. However, the point is that our quality of life will very much improve knowing that Geohazard mapping is part of their project for disaster awareness. Though most of all, this Geohazard mapping should really be done in any way possible.

Second is the Project NOAH of the DOST. In which, also involves past students of the Institute of Computing from USEP. Anyways, what is the mission of the Project NOAH? The Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (NOAH) program team will collaborate with government agencies to promote and integrate advanced science and technology to enhance disaster management and prevention capacity of the Philippine government. These include: the deployment of instruments and state-of-the-art methods to construct high resolution hazard maps that are relevant to the community and local government units; delivery of readily accessible, timely and accurate hazards information through various media and communication platforms; disaster research and development; integration of disaster efforts by the national government, academe and civil society organizations; and application of a bottom-up approach by communities to resilience against disasters.–DOST

The Project NOAH of the DOST can also help the quality of life here in our country. Taking notice of the disasters in our country will be of great aid thinking that disasters are one of the causes as to why the value of life here in the Philippines is low. The enhancement of the prevention and disaster management of our country definitely shows that the security of the citizen has become at a top priority. Our countries citizen should always be on top priority since we are the ones that compose this country. By considering how this project works, it aims to give the citizen safety and early awareness. This project is great considering that our country doesn’t have state-of-the-art equipments for many years. The development of this project can be of assistance to the different communities if ever there will be any disasters. Having timely and accurate information can also make announcements to the public “absolute”, rather than what happened to the past where the government would only send announcements when the situations has already became worst.  

It is good that the government has supported these projects. The application of ICT has definitely improved and lessens the work of the departments assigned to these tasks. Also, with the use of ICT these projects came to life. Aside from making things easier it can also prevent further damage and catastrophe in the country. There will be faster communication between the different government agencies and so response would be sooner. Having integration of the disaster efforts will improve the movement of the government agencies and also further disaster research and development.

The saying “Prevention is better than Cure” does mirror how these areas are working. By giving earlier warning and caution to the public there will be an earlier prevention to the worst possible scenario. It will result to lesser casualties or better yet it might help the public avoid any further danger. The combination of these two would improve our countries function especially that our country is close to disasters and natural calamities. Combining both projects will make things quicker since Geohazard mapping and assessment program refers to the identification of hazardous places around the country and as to Project NOAH which aims to have integration in the field of disaster management and prevention. Aside from being able to avoid disasters we can also see that the government is working its way to be able to produce results. This action only shows that the welfare of the citizens of our country is watched over by the government.