As part of the ongoing collaborative project between UP-NIGS Environment Monitoring Laboratory (EML) and the British Geological Survey (BGS), titled “Philippine Hydro Hub: Collaborative Hydrological Research for a Sustainable Water Future,” a field visit to the Upper Amburayan Watershed in Benguet was conducted from May 3 to 4, 2025. The delegation included Dr. Robert Michael DiFilippo from EML, and researchers Dr. Christopher Jackson, Dr. Andrew McKenzie, and Dr. Emmanuel Zarate from BGS. Mr. Jose Ernesto Wijangco, Director for Environment at the Cordillera Hydro Electric Power Corporation (COHECO), also participated and helped coordinate the trip.
The event began with a roundtable discussion in Baguio City, attended by representatives from local government units with jurisdictions within the watershed. These included the Municipal Planning and Development Officers, Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officers, and a few barangay captains from the municipalities of Atok, Kapangan, Kibungan, and Tublay. Also present were engineers from the Baguio City Environment and Parks Management Office, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources CAR - Water Resources Utilization Section, the National Irrigation Administration - Operations and Maintenance Unit, and the Department of Agriculture CAR - Regional Agricultural Engineering Division. Key themes that emerged from the discussion included resiliency and adaptation strategies to climate change on water resource management and their influence on growing/production strategies.
Following the roundtable, the group visited the Madaymen Barangay Hall in Kibungan, Benguet, located at the headwaters of the Watershed. There, Mr. Edgar Ablos, President of the Madaymen Water Users Association, and Mr. John Olayo, Barangay Kapitan, provided a tour of local farms and the land use system, and highlighted pressing challenges in water use and management, including operational limitations and environmental stressors.
This field reconnaissance and the resulting dialogue are expected to enhance understanding of the challenges in managing water resources. These insights will inform the development of the Philippine Hydro Hub, which aims to establish a research center that builds the capacity of the water science community and stakeholders in promoting sustainable water management. The Philippine Hydro Hub project is a collaboration among UP-NIGS, Ateneo de Manila University, and the British Geological Survey, funded by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s International Science Partnerships Fund, in partnership with the British Council.
(top) discussion in Madaymen, Kibungan, Benguet (middle) Upper Amburayan Watershed (bottom) Project Team with COHECO Representative