Community Disaster Management in the Community of Tio-Angan in the Philippines
Abstract: Natural hazards have affected human society throughout history. The Philippines is a country particularly vulnerable to natural hazards due to its geographical location and widespread social vulnerabilities. This research is conducted in the Philippine province La Union, and aims to investigate community-based disaster management as an approach to strengthening disaster resilience of communities. The research design is an explanatory case study, and data was collected through eleven semi-structured interviews and unstructured observations of field work. The study was conducted through an internship in the Philippines, with the organisation Alay Bayan-Luson, Inc. Two research questions are explored. The first investigates the practice of disaster preparedness and response in the community of Tio-Angan, before the members received training in community-based disaster management. This training forms a community disaster management organisation. The second question investigates how and why a community-based approach to disaster management is helping communities increase their disaster resilience. To analyse the collected data, a conceptual framework was constructed, consisting of the concepts disaster risk reduction, disaster risk management, community, vulnerability, capacity, local ownership and resilience. The findings are that members of Tio-Angan community prepare for disasters by telling their neighbours about them and securing their houses and their animals. Post-disaster assessment includes cooperation to clear roads. Furthermore, in communities with an established community organisation for disaster management, members state a greater unity among the people. Moreover, they describe an increased knowledge about disasters and how to mitigate their effects. Implementing community-based disaster management takes time, but the findings show it brings positive effects to the communities targeted.
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