The Philippine government has allocated 17 million pesos (US$300,000) to upgrade the country's weather forecasting system, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.
Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz told Philippine Daily Inquirer that the money from the Department of Science and Technology will be used to link the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) to forecasting centers in Hawaii, China, and Japan.
An information drive would also be launched in coastal communities on what to do in case of either a tsunami or tidal wave warning, Cruz said.
Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Juliano Soliman said that her department was coordinating with the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) for the completion of geohazard maps for each region.
An 8.7-magnitude earthquake, followed by gigantic tidal waves Sunday hit several Southeast and Southern Asian countries, including Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, leaving at least 50,000 dead and thousands missing so far.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo earlier said that it was necessary to modernize the country's forecasting system and link it with international warning networks to avert a repeat of Sunday 's tragedy.
"We must know the geophysical hazards around us and strengthen the capacity of our local government units and communities for mitigating loss of lives and property," Arroyo said in a statement.
She also warned that a similar tragedy could also happen in the Philippines, which has the longest shoreline in the world.
Arroyo approved a proposal by Vice President Noli de Castro to include "ecological intelligence" as part of the work of the defense and military establishment.
"Aside from the destabilizers, insurgents, secessionists, kidnappers, drug lords, we will also go after illegal loggers and other poachers of the environment who will be our public enemies and who will be subjects of surveillance. So we can catch them, and find them and arrest them," she added.