MANILA HOTEL—Academician Guillermo Q. Tabios III represented the National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL) in the 6th Philippine Professional Summit (PPS) as he spoke on “Breakthroughs in Science and Technology and their Impact on the Philippine Infrastructure Development Program.” This event, co-organized by the Philippine Association of the Professional Regulatory Board Members, Inc. (PAPRB) and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), gathered Filipino professionals from around the world to engage them on “THE GLOCAL FILIPINO PROFESSIONALS: Responding to the Philippine Aspirations and International Development with ‘MALASAKIT AT PAGBABAGO.
The Summit was organized to discuss the Philippine Development Plan 2017 – 2022, covering both of its hard and soft infrastructure programs, which serves as leverage for the country’s competitiveness. PAPRB and NAST PHL coordinated in observance of science and technology’s role in improving the competitiveness of the Filipino professional, specifically on “Breakthroughs in Science and Technology and their Impact on the Philippine Infrastructure Development Program.” His Excellency, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, delivered the keynote address for the event, standing firm behind his administration’s actions against corruption, illegal drugs and extremism. He ended his speech by emphasizing his task to “protect the people and preserve the Republic of the Philippines.”
Acd. Guillermo Q. Tabios III, member of the Engineering Sciences and Technology Division of NAST PHL, discussed the Role of Science and Technology in Water Resources Infrastructure Development. Three water resources systems were showcased to illustrate the use of science-based tools to evaluate alternative plans and configurations. These systems are namely: (1) Metro’s Manila New Centennial water supply project to meet the increasing domestic water demand of Metro Manila; (2) Balog-Balog Dam to augment the irrigation water needs of Tarlac rice farms; and (3) Cagayan de Oro River flood mitigation plan, which had to be revisited after Typhoon Sendong of December 2011.
The first case study was conducted to evaluate the reliability of the Kaliwa, Kanan, and Agos River basins’ nine configurations to augment the growing Metro Manila water demand. Reservoir releases were simulated with the following optimization considerations: 1) minimizing water supply-demand violations, 2) maximizing hydropower benefits, 3) minimizing reservoir spills, and 4) future benefit function through moving planning horizon.
The second case of the Balog-Balog Dam was conducted to compare two proposals: a multipurpose, single dam versus a multi-dam system. The two options were compared on the following items: 1) reservoir life due to sediment deposition, 2) reliability of irrigation water delivery, 3) reliability of hydropower generation, 4) dam backwater upstream inundation, and 5) flood control benefits to downstream. Acd. Tabios used a combined optimization-simulation model for this system, and with the former case study.
The third case study focused on the flood risk management project for Cagayan de Oro River, which produced seven alternative flood mitigation schemes. These range from river flood storage with overflow weirs to the DPWH-JICA Proposed Long-Term Mitigation Project, with adjustments on alternative retarding basins.
Lastly, Acd. Tabios ended his presentation by demonstrating the link between science, policy and management decisions. Decision support systems, such as research institutions, influence public policy actors to form shared vision strategies. This bridges the gap between civil society, government agencies, industries, and NGOs to the scientific disciplines and supports management decisions for institutional improvement, scientific and technological advancement.