Recipe for disaster?: Why the abundance of disaster related laws in the Philippines does not necessarily spell resilience (original) (raw)
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Philippine disaster management: Disaster policy or policy disaster?
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2022
In economically and politically volatile polities, do disaster mitigation policies create resilient communities? Both conventional wisdom and academic literature suggest that the presence of disaster related legislation create resilient communities by institutionalizing preparation and planning as a component of day to day governance (Ndille and Belle 2014; Jiang 2013, Ye et al 2012; Shi 2012; Norio et al 2011). This view, however, is more an ideal than praxis in many states, particularly in fledgling democracies that have yet to contend with stabilizing economic and political institutions, as well as in polities with preexisting vulnerabilities such as poverty and social marginalization. This paper argues that the presence of disaster risk reduction legislation per se is not what mitigates the negative impact of disasters but the basics such as mechanisms that empower people and redistribute assets across social structures, infrastructures that spur economic activities and create livelihood, and institutions that ensure the accountability of those who create and implement policies. I show this by examining the evolution, adoption, and implementation of the Philippine disaster risk reduction framework encompassed in the RA10121 and related policies that mainstream DRRM into decision making and encourage or promote the use of modern technology such as ICT. I analyze these efforts and point out the inconsistencies and disconnects in RA10121 and extant policies—disconnects that make the whole attempt towards a holistic approach towards DRRM fall short of resilience. The paper concludes with some recommendations to harmonize and consolidate these efforts towards a more adaptive, resilient and responsive disaster framework
Resilience and Disaster Trends in the Philippines: Opportunities for National and Local Capacity Building – PLOS Currents Disasters http://currents.plos.org/disasters/article/resilience-and-disaster-trends-in-the-philippines-opportunities-for-national-and-local-capacity-building/ Introduction: The Philippines is one of the top countries in the world at risk of climate-related disasters. For populations subsisting at the poverty line in particular, but also the nation as a whole, daily lives and wellbeing are routinely challenged. The Philippines government takes disaster risk seriously and has devoted significant resources to build disaster capacity and reduce population exposure and vulnerability, nationally and locally. This paper explores the policy and institutional mechanisms for disaster risk reduction management and research which have been conducted in the Philippines related to disaster preparedness, management and resilience.
Critical Junctures in Disaster Governance: Lessons from Marikina City, Philippines Post-Ketsana
Asian Journal of Resilience, 2020
Disasters as opportunities is an emerging niche of investigation but empirical evidence remains sparse. As such, this paper described how Typhoon Ketsana affected various levels of resilience in Marikina City's disaster governance institution. This determined whether the city has built back a better disaster governance institution post-Ketsana. This also highlighted lessons to Disaster Risk Management (DRM) scholarship and practice. The study proposed a framework to describe the dynamic process of institutional change post-disaster. Data were collected using key informant interviews, document analyses, and literature review, and interpreted them using thematic analysis. The study revealed that Ketsana stimulated systemic interactions leading to policy reforms at the national and local levels, and significant improvements in the city's disaster governance institution. Extreme events also heightened issue awareness for better disaster governance and emphasized the value of science-driven policy approaches. Furthermore, institutional change after the typhoon highlights the value of human ecology in understanding how non-human factors affect social systems; thus, providing an opportunity for theory-testing and exploratory theoretical framework building to explain lesson-learning from disruptive events. However, comparing pre and post mandate delivery of disaster governance institutions, using bigger case samples for theory-testing, and focusing on micro-level analysis can be explored in future research.
The Philippines is a country located at the typhoon belt and Pacific Ring of Fire. Given its geographic location, the country is ranked as 3rd in the 173 countries in terms of disaster risk by the World Risk Report. The Philippines is prone to multiple hazards such as cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, and floods. With this recurring hazards, it is expected for the country to have a reliable and functioning disaster risk reduction and management. However, after a super typhoon "Yolanda" (international name: Haiyan) had struck the country, the gaps and inefficiencies on the country's disaster response and management had been exposed. This paper will assess the policy of disaster management in the educational system of the Philippines, and how the government implemented this by analyzing the policy content, context, process, and the actors.
Building Disaster Resilient Local Economy: The Case of the Philippines
Journal of Public Administration and Governance
The study explored the key trends and various issues surrounding disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) in the Philippines by analyzing the interrelationship of disaster risk, revenue generation capacity, and DRRM capacity of local governments in the Philippines. The study analyzed the economic implications of disasters to the local economy and analyzed how revenue generation capacity of local governments contributes to realizing disaster-resilient local economy. The study found out that while the law encourages local governments to invest on DRRM, the current system, however, puts local governments with lower income at a disadvantage as they have lower revenues and thus, less resources to utilize for DRRM. The varying income among local governments create disparity not just in local growth but also in performing their DRRM devolved functions. Therefore, the revenue generation capacity of local governments is crucial to strengthen DRRM at the local level. The study suggests t...
From Managing Disasters to Managing Risks: Key Efforts in the Philippines
In March 2015, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) released the Global Assessment Report (GAR) on DRR in which it noted that a country’s development may only be truly sustainable once disaster resiliency is embedded in its policies on poverty alleviation, health, education and infrastructure development, among others. GAR2015 cautioned that most disasters that could happen have not happened yet. Reducing disaster risks will not only complement preparedness efforts, but will also greatly contribute to the state’s sustainable development drive to minimize disaster risk while addressing problems related to poverty, infrastructure and health, among others.
International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research, 2019
Disaster risks are major bottlenecks to economic development. In the Asia-Pacific region alone, disasters have caused 2 million deaths and accounted for $2.4 trillion in economic losses since 1971. The current trend shows that disasters are getting stronger due to climate change and are disproportionately affecting people in developing countries and the poorest of the population. Despite the growing literature on disaster risk management (DRM), there still exist knowledge gaps particularly on how to strengthen local institutions to manage risks. As one of the first of its kind in the Philippines, the institutionalization process of the Marikina City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MCDRRMO) can provide lessons on how to create and sustain local DRM bodies. Using the institutionalization process framework by [1], interviews and document analysis were conducted. The study identified that variation in political leadership, funding, technology, legislation, and ability to meet the desired outcomes can facilitate or hamper the institutionalization process of a DRM structure. These findings can aid policymaking, especially in improving local resilience.
2020
Within the broader framework of the research project on “Leave No One Behind. Developing Climate-Smart/Disaster Risk Management Laws that Protect People in Vulnerable Situations for a Comprehensive Implementation of the UN Agenda 2030” – the present study is aimed to identify gaps and good practice drawing from findings and experiences collected in the Philippines, one of the most exposed countries in the world (see Section 1). In light of the fact that this country also has one of the most recognised and well-established cultures of climate and disaster risk governance, the present work assesses the current functioning of its normative and institutional systems in terms of CCA-DRR/M integration (see Section 2) as well as its impacts across different sectors of the population, including the most vulnerable categories of individuals in at-risk communities (see Section 3). Finally, research findings and lessons learned (Section 4) will provide the basis for the development of a list of key recommendations (Section 5). Together with the results collected in other regions and countries (i.e. Pacific Island Countries, the Commonwealth of Dominica and Kenya), these will support the development of advocacy tools for the IFRC Disaster Law Programme, whose main objective is to globally advocate for new and more effective normative frameworks that protect the most vulnerable against major hazards. This will also reflect the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s ambitions to address the climate crisis, which expressly include among its activities to “[a]dvise local and national governments in assessing and, as necessary, strengthening relevant disaster and climate-related laws and policies”.
DISASTER GOVERNANCE AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE: THE LAW AND THE ROLE OF SDMAs, 2019
Disasters have become more profound in intensity and frequent in occurrence due to climate change. The unpredictable and devastating consequences of rising global temperature has raised the alarm bells for 'rapid and far-reaching' transitions in land, energy and urban governance. The recent devastation due to floods in Kerala in August 2018, has brought disaster governance to the mainstream in government accountability. Despite high performance on Human Development Indicators and social infrastructure, the failure of the state government in ensuring adequate preparedness and mitigation through capacity building has pushed back the development of the state by decades. Trust deficit in the face of administrative negligence and executive callousness hindered the translation of scientific information into understandable warnings for first line responders. The havoc was significantly man made as the local administration failed to regulate blatant violations of Coastal Zone regulations even after repeated warnings from Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report. The focus of state policy on human development has ignored the crucial aspect of ensuring active citizen participation in the development process. This has resulted in citizens becoming passive recipients of state entitlements, rather than active agents in a democracy. This paper is a critical view on disaster policies in India, which continue to ignore the decentralized institutions as crucial institutions in disaster management. The laudable role of fishermen in rescue and relief in the aftermath of Kerala floods clearly emphasizes that communities can no longer be ignored in the framework of disaster cycle. In a country which witnesses ubiquitous 'regime of noncom-pliance' to building bye laws, coastal zone regulations, land use plans and other safety laws, decentralized disaster management can help in building community resilience and ensuring accountability and transparency of government institutions. The argument gets underscored in a scenario where institutions of Disaster Management continue to focus on post disaster relief and rehabilitation, due to lack of enforcement powers of disaster management institutions, to ensure compliance of preventive measures in development planning and infrastructure.