Zamboanga adopts DOST’s rapid damage assessment tool to boost disaster preparedness of communities

From the DOST public archive. Original source publication date: 2025-09-25. Captured 2026-09-04. Read the original DOST source.

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Forty-three out of 75, or 57.33 percent, of the local government units (LGUs) in the Zamboanga Peninsula region have officially adopted a hazard assessment system to further boost disaster preparedness and emergency response in their communities.

The Zamboanga Peninsula, which consists of the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga Sibugay, is the region with the highest number of LGUs that have manifested their intent to adopt the Rapid Earthquake Damage Assessment System (REDAS).

In this year’s celebration of the 2025 Regional Science and Technology Innovation Week (RSTW) in Zamboanga Peninsula, 43 municipalities and cities have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Science and Technology Regional Office 9 (DOST 9) to formally integrate REDAS into their disaster risk assessment efforts and emergency plans.

REDAS is a software developed by the DOST-Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (DOST-PHIVOLCS) in 2002, after the devastating 1990 Luzon earthquake.

The software can simulate earthquake hazards such as ground shaking, liquefaction, landslides, and tsunamis.  It can also compute earthquake impacts in terms of physical damage, casualties, and economic loss, allowing communities to make practical and science-based solutions.

“Here in Region-9, innovations are translated into concrete action, ensuring that science benefits local governments, schools, barangays, fisherfolk, farmers, and marginalized groups. From 2023 to 2024, 74 of 75 LGUs in the Zamboanga Peninsula completed training on the Rapid Earthquake Damage Assessment System (REDAS),” DOST Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. said.

He added that DOST 9 led the passage of Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (RDRRMC) Resolution No. 016, s. 2023, to institutionalize the use of REDAS and to ensure that the LGUs are strictly implementing the project after the adoption.

Meanwhile, DOST 9 Officer-in-Charge, Regional Director Jennifer A. Pidor, assured that the remaining 31 LGUs of the total 74 who have undergone training on the implementation of project REDAS have already manifested their intent and will be adopting the REDAS software officially through a memorandum of agreement.

She added that DOST targets 100% of the Zamboanga Peninsula LGUs, including 19 more municipalities from the province of Sulu, which has been recently integrated into the region.

Moreover, although REDAS was originally conceived for use in earthquake hazard and impact assessment, other multi-hazard maps, such as floods, storm surge, and rain-induced landslides, are already incorporated into the software, according to PHIVOLCS.

In a press conference, Pidor said that drought and flooding are the most common disasters in the region.

“For region 9, we are facing a severe drought and heavy rains. And of course, with the heavy rains, accounts are very heavy with flooding. With that, with the REDAS, some of our local government units have already initiated preparation activities related to, in terms of mitigating the rains, and the efforts to protect against disasters,” Pidor said.

In a forum titled “Strengthening LGU Preparations Through DOST-DRRRM Innovations,” LGUs share their experiences and best practices in addressing disasters like flooding through the use of science-based technologies like GeoRiskPH, Hazard HunterPH, and project REDAS.

Take for example, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) of Diplahan, Zamboanga Sibugay, said they have installed early warning devices to detect floods in their communities with the help of the data they get from the REDAS software.

This year’s celebration of the RSTW in Region 9 is unique as it is its first time focusing solely on DRRM technologies through the Handa Pilipinas Mindanao leg.

The HANDA Pilipinas sa Bagong Pilipinas: Innovation in Climate Disaster Resilience Nationwide Exposition 2025 is a strategic initiative aimed at strengthening the disaster resilience of Filipino communities through science, technology, and innovation.

REDAS is one of the many initiatives of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) aimed at providing science-based, innovative, and inclusive solutions across four strategic pillars: human well-being, wealth creation, wealth protection, and sustainability. These pillars embody the mantra OneDOST4U: Solutions, Opportunities for All. For more information, visit www.dost.gov.ph. (By Claire Bernadette A. Mondares, DOST-STII)

The facade of Zamboanga City Hall, situated at Valderosa Street, Zamboanga City. Zamboanga City is among the LGUs who officially adopted the project REDAS, during the conduct of 2025 Regional Science, Technology and Innovation Week (RSTW), featuring HANDA PILIPINAS Mindanao leg. (Photo by Kesha Shua Leosala)