Weather Philippines, League of Provinces partner for disaster risk reduction in PHL

Weather Philippines Foundation, Inc. (WPF) and the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) recently signed a partnership agreement to assist provinces in building their capacity for weather-related disaster risk reduction and management. 
The WPF and LPP’s partnership started in 2012, when the foundation deployed 82 Automated Weather Stations (AWS) to all provinces in the Philippines. 
These AWS units are solar powered with the capability to measure various indicators for accurate, localized weather information. These weather information and forecasts are readily available to the general public through the WPF website, www.weather.com.ph. 
To date, WPF has deployed a total of 402 AWS across the country. WPF is targeting to complete its deployment of roughly 1,000 automated weather stations by 2015. 
The signatories present during the signing ceremony were LPP National President & Oriental Mindoro Gov. Alfonso Umali, Jr., LPP Secretary General and Bohol Governor Edgardo Chatto, WPF Board of Trustee Sabin Aboitiz, and WPF General Manager Celso Caballero III. 
The MOU signing, which was held during the LPP General Assembly was also attended by DILG Secretary Mar Roxas, DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson, NDRRMC Executive Director & OCD Undersecretary Eduardo D. Del Rosario, and the 80 Governors of the Philippines. 
Aboitiz Foundation, UnionBank, and Europe’s leading weather service provider mminternational (formerly Meteomedia) founded WPF with the aim to deliver critical and accurate localized weather forecasts to the Filipino community, understanding the importance of improving nationwide disaster preparedness and timely response to variable weather conditions. 
The LPP, as the mandated association of Philippine provinces is also seeking opportunities to support the efforts of provinces to become disaster-resilient and assist them in the implementation of Republic Act 10121 or the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act. 
“As typhoons like Ondoy, Pepeng, Pablo, Sendong and Yolanda are becoming the “new normal,” the WeatherPhilippines Foundation and the League of Provinces of the Philippines will also work together to upgrade our capabilities to manage the risks associated with these adverse weather conditions.” , said WPF Board of Trustee Sabin Aboitiz.