House proposes P1B for Project NOAH in 2026

The House of Representatives proposed to allocate P1 billion for Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) during the Bicameral Conference Committee deliberation of the P6.793-trillion 2026 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

During the first-ever live-streamed bicameral conference hearing on Saturday, House contingent head Nueva Ecija 1st District Representative Mikaela Suansing said, “We proposed to add an additional P1 billion for Project NOAH.”

Project NOAH is an initiative, launched in 2012 under the Department of Science and Technology, that maps areas with high risk of floods, landslides, and storm surges. However, it was defunded in 2017.

The initiative was then adopted by the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute (UPRI) and has since been operating with limited funding.

“For Project NOAH, while the funding is lodged under the UP System, we actually increased the funding for Project NOAH for the benefit of the whole country and all the agencies, primarily the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways),” Suansing said.

“Ang hinihingi natin sa Project NOAH kapag binigay na natin ang pondo na ‘to is for them to work more closely with the DPWH in terms of refining the way flood control projects are designed and monitored. Ang pangako ng Project NOAH sa atin ay kapag nabigyan sila ng sapat na pondo, they can actually help the DPWH design the flood control projects,” the House appropriations committee chairperson added.

(What we are asking from Project NOAH when we give them the funds is for them to work more closely with the DPWH in terms of refining the way flood control projects are designed and monitored. Project NOAH promised that when they are given enough funds, they can actually help the DPWH design the flood control projects.)

"We will be able to simulate a particular area and pinpoint exactly, up to the coordinated level, where a flood control structure should be placed."

In September, Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III met with Project NOAH executives for a briefing about its crucial role in the country’s disaster risk reduction and management efforts.

Dy had said that the House would ensure that the budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways would only fund meritorious flood control projects and those recommended by Project NOAH. — VBL, GMA Integrated News