Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Rogelio L. Singson receives from Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Toshinao Urabe on Wednesday (July 9, 2014) eight (8) new mobile drainage pumps provided by the Government of Japan through the Grant Aid Program for the Project for the Improvement of Equipment for Disaster Risk Management in the Philippines.
According to Secretary Rogelio L. Singson, the procurement of mobile drainage pump utilizing part of the Grant Aid of One billion Japanese Yen (approximately 518 Million Pesos) of the Government of Japan will enable the DPWH to respond swiftly during floods usually triggered by typhoons, tropical depression, continuing heavy rains and aggravated by man-made causes such as waterways blockage by solid waste and encroachment of natural waterways.
The mobile drainage pump, mounted on a truck with a built-in standby generator set and 50 meter pump hose including accessories, has the capacity to support the flood fighting activity of DPWH by pumping flood waters from water-logged areas into river systems or drainage outfalls.
Signed two (2) years ago, the Japanese grant assistance for the project for improvement of equipment for disaster risk management, also includes the installation of Real-time Earthquake and Tsunami Monitoring Systems and a Tsunami Simulation Database to assist the Philippines’ disaster risk reduction efforts
Japan, as leading donor to the Philippines’ disaster mitigation program, shares not only the technology but the experiences and lessons learned from the past natural disasters as a disaster- prone country itself.
With the assistance of Japanese experts, laboratory works and research activities to sustain the Philippines development of technology and organization in the field of flood control and sabo engineering are conducted at the Hydraulic Laboratory Building established also under Japan’s grant aid program at the DPWH Flood Control and Sabo Engineering Center at Napindan Hydraulic Control Structure compound in Barangay Sta. Rosa, Pasig City.