Philippine National LiDAR Conference 2017 takes Cebu City by Storm

The Philippine National LiDAR Conference 2017 hosted by the University of San Carlos (USC) and University of the Philippines, Cebu (UP Cebu) took place in Waterfront Cebu City Hotel last January 18-20, 2017 with the theme "On the Cutting Edge: Geospatial Technology at the Forefront of Disaster Risk Reduction and Natural Resource Management in the Philippines." This was attended by more than 500 stakeholders coming from all corners of the Philippines. Present were Department of Science and Techology (DOST) Secretary Fortunato Dela Pena, the Cebu City Administrator representing Cebu Provincial Governor Hilario P. Davide, III, Father Dionisio Miranda, President of the University of San Carlos, Dr. Enrico C. Paringit, Program Leader of the Phil-LiDAR 1 Program, Dr. Ariel C. Blanco, Program Leader of the Phil-LiDAR 2 Program, DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development Usec. Rowena Guevara, Congressman Erico Aumentado who is the Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee in the 17th Congress, DOST Region VII Regional Director Edilberto Paradela, Mr. Rene Meily, President of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), Mr. Baltazar Tribunalo, Jr., Cebu PDRRMO representative, Dr. Alfredo Mahar Lagmay, Executive Director of Project NOAH, Atty. Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, VP of Oceana Philippines, Engr. Ayin Tamondong, Project Leader of CoastMAP, and For. Nerissa Gatdula, Chief Science Research Specialist of PARMAP, as well as the partner state universities and higher education institutions of both the Phil-LiDAR 1 and 2 Programs.

The partner SUCs and HEIs are: 

LUZON

Central Luzon State University

Ateneo de Naga University

MAPUA Institute of Technology

University of the Philippines, Baguio

University of the Philippines, Los Banos

Isabela State University

Mariano Marcos State University

VISAYAS

University of San Carlos

University of the Philippines, Cebu

Visayas State University

MINDANAO

University of the Philippines, Mindanao

CARAGA State University

Central Mindanao University

The first day of the 3-day event began with the Welcome Address of the City Administrator followed by the Opening Remarks given by Dr. Ariel Blanco. The Keynote Speech was delivered by none other than DOST Secretary Fortunato Dela Pena. Afterwards are the Special Sessions on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, the Environment, and Agriculture. For the DRRM Session, Dr. Lagmay's presented "Four Years of NOAH and the Way Forward," while Mr. Tribunalo's presentation was entitled "Maximizing Cebu Maps to Cebu's Resilient Development." Mr. Rene Meily ended the session on DRRM with his talk on the "Private Sector Role in Disaster Risk Reduction." 

The Session on the Environment commenced with the presentation of Cebu PENRO representative Mr. Jose Cleo Cary F. Colis, followed by Atty. Estenzo-Ramos' talk on "Science-based Fisheries Management for a Sustainable Tomorrow." Engr. Ayin Tamondong wrapped up the Session on the Environment with her presentation entitled "Coastal Applications of Remote Sensing in the Philippines: An Overview and New Research Directions."

The day's sessions concluded with the Session on Agriculture and Infrastructure started by the talk of Usec. Rowena Guevara on the "Sustainability of Phil-LiDAR Facilities through the Efforts of Academic Institutions. For. Nerissa Gatdula presented her powerpoint on the "Agricultural Applications of LiDAR and other Remote Sensing Data." The closing remarks were given by Dr. Enrico Paringit, who expressed his insights on the need for LiDAR institutions in the Philippines and that the collaboration of the partner universities is essential for the sustainability and continued relevance of the Phil-LiDAR Program in the aspects of Disaster Risk Reduction, the Environment, and Agriculture.

Meanwhile, the second day's morning parallel sessions was opened with a plenary speech by Engr. Edilberto Paradela, while the afternoon's parallel sessions was opened to the plenary by Cong. Aumentado. There were a total of 4 parallel sessions, 2 focused on DRRM themes, while the other 2 parallel sessions centered on resource assessment.

On the third day, Cebu LGUs attended the 1-day seminar on Flood Risk Management using LiDAR-based products. This was simultaneous with the Project Meeting Updates of the Phil-LiDAR 1 and Phil-LiDAR 2 SUCs/HEIs. 

The 3-day event was held as a venue for sharing the latest LiDAR data applications in the Philippines, as well as to foster knowledge management in studies pertaining to LiDAR technology and LiDAR-based outputs and research. It also showed LiDAR potential in the Philippines, as well as the importance of LiDAR for accurate and reliable disaster risk reduction and resource assessment in the country. The Phil-LiDAR 1 and 2 Program Partner SUCs and HEIs were able to share their accomplishments, best practices, and catch-up plans to meet their target goals and deadlines.