ROSALES–President Benigno Aquino III inaugurated last Friday the upgraded Agno River Basin Flood Forecasting and Warning System (ARBFFWS), an early warning facility for flooding that will impact on the provinces of Pangasinan and Tarlac.

The flood warning system now has improved gauging stations and telecommunication facilities for fast data transmission of observed data to ensure the issuance of timely and reliable warnings to flood-threatened communities.

It is equipped with automatic monitoring stations that observe every hour, in real time, the intensity of rainfall and the level of the Agno River and its tributaries including the Sinocaloan River.

The project, Phase II of the Improvement of Flood Forecasting and Warning System in the Pampanga and Agno River Basins, was funded by the Japanese government through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at 376 million yen (about P154 million).

Phase 1 of the facility covered the Pampanga River Basin and was completed in March 2009.

The project is the pilot FFWS in Asia and the first big-scale project of JICA.

Meanwhile, Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura thanked the Philippine government for being among the first members of the international community who came to the aid of his country when it was hit by a high magnitude quake last March.

In his speech, the President called on all government agencies on the need to maintain a state of preparedness for any calamity that may strike.

Governor Amado Espino Jr. thanked the Japanese government and PAGASA for setting up the facility that would help saving lives of people living in the areas downstream of the Agno River.

Norio Matsuda, chief representative of JICA, joined the President and Ambassador Katsura in unveiling the marker of the project.

The President was accompanied to Pangasinan by Department of Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo and former Senator Mar Roxas III.—LM

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