Page 1 of 6

Information and Communications Technology Management Service

Department of Social Welfare and Development

Republic of the Philippines

DSWD Disaster Mitigation and Response Situation Map http://disaster.dswd.gov.ph/maps.php

The DSWD Disaster Mitigation and Response Situation Map is an intuitive and interactive internet-based

Geographic Information System (GIS)1, spearheaded and maintained by the Information and

Communications Technology Management Service (ICTMS). The WebGIS shows the reports generated

by the Disaster Response, Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC).

The WebGIS was started during Tropical Storm Maring in August 20132. At present, a total of nine (9)

disasters have been mapped – Southwest Monsoon enhanced by Tropical Storm Maring, Tropical Storm

Nando, Zamboanga City Armed Conflict, Tropical Storm Odette, September Southwest Monsoon,

Tropical Storm Quedan, ITCZ-induced flooding, Tropical Storm Santi, and the Central Visayas Earthquake.

The WebGIS utilizes crowdsourcing for more precise geographic locations, especially for evacuation

centers, and promotes volunteerism from concerned citizens to various organizations3 nationwide.

1 A Geographic Information System (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and

displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. GIS allows us to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. (Source: Environmental Systems Research Institute) 2 See story: http://www.dswd.gov.ph/2013/08/dswd-develops-online-map-for-evacuation-centers-set-up-during-disasters/

3 List of volunteer organizations: OpenStreet Map PH, Western Mindanao State University, Rappler, Google Map PH

Page 2 of 6

Southwest Monsoon enhanced by Tropical Storm Maring (August 2013)

This is the pilot disaster for the publication of the WebGIS. It was first named Effects of Southwest

Monsoon (Habagat) enhanced by TS Maring (FL-2013-000095-PHL), which was later changed into DSWD

Disaster Situation Map, and then into its present name.

The number of affected population per city/municipality is displayed. When clicked, other important

information such as number of affected barangays and families are shown.

The evacuation centers with exact location are also displayed. When clicked, useful information such as

address, type of evacuation center, status, capacity (per person) and latest occupancy (per person) are

shown.

Page 3 of 6

Zamboanga City Armed Conflict (September 2013)

This disaster is the first on-site deployment of the ICTMS Disaster Augmentation Response Team (DART)

for mapping. It was successful in exactly locating 100% of the evacuation centers.

The affected barangays are displayed in red. When clicked, other useful information such as affected

families and persons, percentage of affected population based on 2010 NSO census, and number of

damaged houses are shown.

All of the evacuation centers are also displayed in green hollowed triangles. When clicked, useful

information such as barangay, agency/organization in-charge, capacity, latest occupancy, and vacancy

are shown.

Page 4 of 6

Central Visayas Earthquake (October 2013)

At present, this is the most recent disaster in the country. And it is also the most informative map layer

in the WebGIS, with four features. In addition to these features, the evacuation centers are also

displayed in the map.

The earthquake intensity map is displayed in different colors, with each color corresponding to a unique

value in the Modified Mercalli Intensity used by USGS. Also, the cities and municipalities that were

already assisted by DSWD, LGUs, and NGOs are highlighted and represented with dark green broken

lines in the map. When clicked, useful information in each features are shown. The first feature, shown

in the image above, presents the Disaster Response from various agencies and organizations. There is

also a link at the end that shows the distribution of relief goods across Bohol in a chart:

Page 5 of 6

The second feature presents the Affected Population information. Moreover, it shows the numbers of

affected barangays, families, and persons, as well as, the currently displaced families and persons,

damaged houses, and number of cumulative and active evacuation centers. The third feature is about

the Earthquake Intensity and a link to its original source.

The fourth and last feature is the Baseline Population Data (image on the left above). It shows the 2010

NSO census and the 2012 Poor Population data from the National Household Targeting Office (NHTO).

There is also a link at the end which shows the latest seismology report (image on the right above) from

the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).

Page 6 of 6

The evacuation centers are also displayed in the map. Majority of the evacuation centers are located by

volunteers from Google Map PH, the source link opens a new tab that shows the original Google Map: