Philippine schools are getting a new layer of protection as the Department of Education (DepEd) turns to geospatial data, satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to determine which learning institutions are most exposed to floods, typhoons, landslides, extreme heat, earthquakes and other hazards.

The system, called LIGTAS, or Learning Institution Geohazard Tracking and Assessment for Safety, is being developed by the DepEd Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (DRRMS) and the Education Center for AI Research (ECAIR).

Its objective is straightforward—instead of treating an entire city or municipality as equally vulnerable during a disaster, DepEd can examine risks at the school level. The LIGTAS platform says it monitors more than 48,000 public schools and assesses multiple hazard types using geospatial analytics, historical hazard information and weather intelligence.

That could change how DepEd responds when severe weather threatens. Rather than relying solely on broad forecasts or generalized warnings, officials can look at the specific risk profile of individual schools and use that information in deciding whether classes should continue, be suspended or require other safety interventions.

DepEd officially launched Project LIGTAS+ in May, describing it as a risk-intelligence platform designed to provide real-time and school-specific risk profiles. Its tools include a multi-hazard map, flood intelligence using satellite synthetic aperture radar data, earthquake impact assessments, volcanic activity monitoring and AI-powered weather forecasts extending up to 10 days.

The technology is particularly significant in a country where disasters routinely disrupt education. Flooding, landslides, typhoons and extreme heat can force schools to close, damage classrooms and interrupt learning.

For families dependent on daily wages, prolonged school closures can also have consequences beyond education. DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara said the effectiveness of LIGTAS+ should ultimately be measured by whether it protects students, reduces classroom disruptions and helps keep education running during disasters.

From hazard maps to school-specific intelligence

LIGTAS builds on DepEd’s years-long effort to institutionalize disaster preparedness in schools. The department’s DRRMS is mandated to protect learners and education workers, institutionalize disaster risk reduction and climate-change adaptation, and strengthen the resilience of basic education against natural and human-induced hazards.

DepEd has previously relied on systems such as the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Information System, including tools for rapid damage assessment and school-level hazard monitoring.

The department also requires student-led school watching and hazard mapping, allowing learners themselves to identify hazards within and around their schools. LIGTAS represents a more data-intensive evolution of that approach. Instead of simply documenting hazards after they occur, the platform is designed to help anticipate where risks are likely to emerge and how those risks could affect individual schools.

ECAIR said LIGTAS completed User Acceptance Testing with DRRMS on April 19, 2026, after being presented to the DepEd Executive Committee. The system was given conditional acceptance and was positioned to complement existing DepEd tools for hazard monitoring, class-suspension decisions and school-level risk assessment.

The promise of LIGTAS, however, is not simply the production of another digital map. The real test will be whether the information reaches school heads, division officials and local authorities quickly enough to influence decisions on the ground.

A sophisticated hazard forecast is useful only when it translates into action—moving students away from danger, suspending classes when necessary, protecting school facilities, preparing evacuation arrangements or deploying assistance before conditions deteriorate.

DepEd already operates a virtual disaster operations center with dashboards covering school preparedness, incident reporting, rapid damage assessment, class suspensions and multi-hazard risk profiles.

LIGTAS is intended to make those decisions more precise. For example, a storm may affect an entire province, but the risks facing a school on elevated ground may be dramatically different from those facing a campus beside a river or in an area historically prone to landslides.That distinction matters.

A blanket suspension can protect students but can also unnecessarily interrupt learning in areas that remain safe. Conversely, keeping classes open based on a generalized assessment could expose a vulnerable school community to unnecessary danger. The promise of school-level risk intelligence is to narrow that gap.

From reacting to predicting

The evolution is also visible in DepEd’s disaster-reporting systems. In January 2026, the DRRMS instructed regional, division and school DRRM coordinators to use its Incident Management Reporting System for reporting fires, floods and other incidents that cause learning interruptions or damage to school infrastructure.

That system is largely about documenting and responding to incidents. LIGTAS moves another step upstream: identifying risk before the incident becomes a crisis. ECAIR describes the platform as a multi-hazard forecasting and assessment system that brings flood, heat, typhoon, landslide, seismic and volcanic intelligence into school-level profiles.

If fully operationalized, this could give DepEd something it has long needed in disaster management: a common, continuously updated picture of which schools are most vulnerable at any given time.

Not a replacement for local judgment

But technology will not eliminate uncertainty. Hazard models are only as good as their underlying data, assumptions and ability to reflect rapidly changing conditions on the ground. A forecast cannot replace reports from school personnel, local disaster officials or communities experiencing an actual emergency.

For that reason, LIGTAS is best understood as a decision-support system, rather than an automatic substitute for human judgment. Its value will ultimately depend on how well its warnings are integrated into DepEd’s existing emergency protocols—and how quickly those warnings result in concrete action.

For a country repeatedly battered by typhoons, floods, earthquakes, volcanic activity and extreme heat, that distinction could be crucial. The goal is not merely to know which schools are in danger. It is to know before the danger arrives—and act while there is still time.

You can download the app at ligtas.cair.ph