Philippines to beef up disaster response

The Philippine government will tap state-of-the-art technology for more accurate weather and disaster information following the destructive tropical storm Washi (local name: Sendong) that struck the country recently, a senior official said Friday. Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Florencio Abad said President Benigno Aquino III has directed his office to release 1.6 billion pesos (34.45 million U.S. dollars) for the acquisition of new technology. Abad said the released funding issued to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will be used for its "Nationwide Disaster Risk Exposure, Assessment and Mitigation (DREAM) Program. " "The Aquino administration is beefing up its capacity for disaster planning and response. Through the use of the latest technologies, DOST - under the leadership of Secretary Mario Montejo - is beefing up its capacity to produce weather information, flood maps and other critical data accurately and rapidly," said Abad. Over 1,200 people died and scores were still missing when flash floods brought by tropical storm Washi hit parts of the central and southern Philippines earlier this month.