CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – After 36 years, the Pampanga River Basin Flood Forecasting and Warning System (PRBFFWS) serving Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Bulacan has been modernized through a P400-million grant from the Japanese government to improve life-saving efforts in communities.

The PRBFFWS, the country’s first facility of such nature, was not only fitted with modern component. Its operational base was transferred from the Quezon City center of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) to the Diosdado Macapagal Government Center here. This was the Philippine government counterpart in the grant.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura inaugurated the upgraded facility on Wednesday here.

During the briefing by Dr. Prisco Nilo, Pagasa administrator, Ms Arroyo sat in front of one of the computer monitors to see the transmission of data from a network of automatic monitoring stations, including three repeater stations set up in the three provinces.

These provide hourly, real-time information on the intensity of rainfall and levels of water in the Pampanga River and its tributaries, including the Guagua River in Pampanga.

About 30 river systems in Central Luzon drain out to the Pampanga River before exiting to the Manila Bay.

The backbone multiplex radio network, which has been equipped since 1973 with 800 megahertz and 2 gigahertz frequencies, has been upgraded to 7.5 GHz.