We called for this press conference because of the many requests for interviews regarding the end of Project NOAH.
On 29 January 2017, we had an interview with DZRH regarding the NOAH program. The radio show highlighted the importance of Project NOAH in saving lives. The program was closed with a statement that Project NOAH will end on 28 February 2017 “dahil wala nang pondo”. This was tweeted by DZRH and was picked up by media.
The ensuing discussions on Facebook and Twitter required us to elaborate on the topic since it was being used by political supporters as an issue against the administrations of Aquino and Duterte, which is not primary to the issue of the termination of a program that saves lives.
The statement regarding the termination of DOST-Project NOAH at the end of February was validated by the Official Statement from the Office of the DOST Secretary, confirming the project’s closure.
Our team of scientists from UP produced nationwide-scale datasets and information known as Project NOAH. They were generated for all agencies of government and all Filipinos free of charge, downloadable in the NOAH website. Even though the source of funding from DOST has ceased, the name Project NOAH will remain because it is the government program that funded the generation of the products. Communities associate the name NOAH to everything we have produced and it is our only link as creators/authors of the datasets.
We thank the DOST for allowing us to take part in creating a responsive program for disaster prevention and mitigation and the opportunity to serve the Filipino people through DOST-Project NOAH. We also thank the Filipino people and all those in the DRR community for your continued support to all our endeavors. UP is a public service institution. We will continue to work for our countrymen and without hesitation respond when called again by Disaster Risk Reduction agencies and communities for assistance.