Our lawmakers would have opportunities to understand and appreciate more the efforts and initiatives of the local scientific community, spearheaded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM).
Through the initiatives of the DOST Legislative Liaison Office or DLLO, together with the House Committees on Science and Technology, Climate Change, and Disaster Resilience, a special exhibit and series of technical forums will be conducted from January 22-24, 2024 at the South Wing Annex of the House of Representatives in Quezon City.
With the title “2024 Handa Pilipinas: Innovation in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Exposition,” it aims to provide an avenue for the DOST and its scientists and researchers, and for our lawmakers and their technical staff to have further discussions and deeper understanding of the pressing issues related to the impact of typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides in different areas of the country.
The goal of the event is to craft enabling policies and laws that will further improve our mitigation and response efforts to different natural hazards.
The opening program will be held on January 22, 2024, at 10:00 AM at the Women Legislator’s Lounge. It will be graced by the Honorable Carlito M. Marquez, 1st District Representative of Aklan and chair of the Committee on Science and Technology; Honorable Alan 1 B Ecleo, Lone District Representative of Dinagat Islands and Chair of the Committee on Disaster Resilience; Honorable Edgar M. Chatto, 1st District Representative of Bohol and Chair of the Committee on Climate Change; and DOST Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr.
On the other hand, special technical sessions will be facilitated by experts from the DOST-Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) and DOST-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). The sessions will include lectures on geological hazards, earthquake scenarios in Luzon, tsunami information, monitoring and alerting stations, hydrometeorological hazards, thunderstorm and heavy rainfall warning systems, flood forecasting, storm surge warning, and El Nino Southern Oscillation.
Furthermore, other technologies that will be featured in the exhibit area are Radiation-processed Hemostats, Radiation Monitoring Stations in the Philippines, Nuclear/Radiological Emergency Preparedness and Response Program of the DOST-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute. There will also be other innovations like the Augmented-reality Terrain and Flood simulator with Kinetic Sand, Interactive Display Information System, and Forecaster’s Workstation (2 units minimum), Telemetered River Basin Model of Pampanga River Basin (diorama display), and actual units of weather observation instruments from the DOST-PAGASA.
Lastly, Georisk Platforms (Hazard Hunter, GeoAnalytics, GeoMapper), PlanSmart, REDAS, How Safe is my House, VolcanoPH, Intensity Meter, Earthquake Simulator of DOST-PHIVOLCS will likewise be presented.
Incidentally in 2022, the DOST launched the Handa Pilipinas Exposition, that was followed by more events in 2023, where it was conducted in Pasay City for the Luzon cluster, Cagayan de Oro City for Mindanao cluster, and Tacloban City for the Visayas cluster.
For more information on Handa Pilipinas Exposition at the House of Representatives, you may send an email to the DOST Legislative Liaison Office at dllo@dost.gov.ph.
