ROXAS CITY – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Capiz is urging more local government units (LGUs) in the province to adopt Project SIGNAL (Strategic Incident Georeferencing for Nationwide Alertness), a disaster monitoring and reporting system that enables responders and communities to quickly relay incidents such as flooding, landslides, and other weather-related emergencies.
According to Ryan Vilmor Dumpit, Capiz Assistant Provincial Science and Technology Director, only five LGUs in the province have so far implemented Project SIGNAL, with the Municipality of President Roxas being the first adopter.
Dumpit said their office continues to provide capacity-building for LGUs and is encouraging other localities to integrate the system into their disaster risk reduction and management operations. He expressed optimism that Capiz will eventually achieve 100 percent adoption of the project.
He emphasized that if a similar system were to be developed by the private sector, it would cost millions of pesos, making LGUs fortunate to have access to the project through DOST’s local information and communications technology initiatives.
Launched in 2022 in partnership with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Project SIGNAL aims to strengthen disaster preparedness and enhance real-time reporting and response across the country.
Dumpit underscored the importance of digitization among LGUs, warning that failure to embrace such innovations would leave local governments behind in terms of global development and disaster resiliency.
