1. The document discusses a project by the Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) to strengthen disaster risk reduction capacities in communities in Asia that face floods, landslides, and droughts. 2. As part of the project, ESSC staff visited communities in the Philippines affected by drought and landslides to understand their experiences and identify areas for research. 3. The project aims to improve understanding of natural hazards, develop social preparedness, build regional collaboration networks, and establish learning centers for disaster risk reduction across Asia Pacific.

1. Facing floods, landslides, and droughts with hope
and determination
Posted by admin On May 24th, 2013 / No Comments
Rowena Soriaga
From 22 – 24 April, ESSC’s Wendy Clavano and Rowena Soriaga joined the students of the University for Peace in
their visit to Barangay Sila-e and SitioMahayag. The initial objective was to investigate the communities’
experience of drought, but interactions revealed that concerns over landslides are more pressing.
The visit is part of the groundwork for the project on Strengthening Disaster Risk Reduction Capacities and
Developing Disaster Protocols in Asia under ESSC’s program on Developing Disaster Risk Resilience through
broadening the Disaster Discourse. Program activities are organized into four components with local communities,
governments, educators and civil society organizations:
1. Learning to improve understanding of natural hazards and related risks through scientific analysis
and disaster risk assessment
2. Creating to develop capacity for risk reduction through social preparedness
3. Accompanying to build a regional network of partners and collaborators who contribute to dialogue
and exchange on disaster risk reduction and management
4. Emerging structures to assist “centres of living and learning” across Asia Pacific and sustain
engagements in disaster risk reduction and related concerns
Learning
The visits to Sila-e and Mahayag, and later to the Cagayan de Oro river basin from 10-11 May 2013 by Pedro
Walpole, Wendy Clavano and Joseph Labrador, stem from a site selection workshop that ESSC’s multidisciplinary
research team conducted on 1 April 2013. To identify learning areas where the project will focus its research, ESSC
reviewed areas in the Philippines that were hit by disasters over the last two decades. Based on a set of criteria that
can provide broad-based learning about disaster risk reduction, four sites were initially selected for further
exploration: (i) flooding in Iloilo City; (ii) landslides in Quezon Province (Municipalities of Real, Infanta and
General Nakar); (iii) drought in the Pulangi watershed; (iv) watersheds on the path of Tropical Storm Sendong
(Washi).
Work in these initial learning sites will complement current research being undertaken on: (i) landslides in Upper
Pulangi in Bukidnon with Eric Esteba; (i) safety and sustainability of raw materials for low-cost housing such as
lime soil and tannin with Hilti Foundation; and (iii) methods for village-level disaster risk assessment with Xavier

2. University using Barangay Carmen in Cagayan de Oro City as a pilot site. The research will also feed into strategic
research partnerships to strengthen local governance in land and water management for greater human security in
Mindanao.
Creating
The Homeless Peoples Federation Philippines (HPFPI), a social movement of 161 urban poor community
organizations, mobilizes members who live along danger zones and disaster-prone areas to build resilience. ESSC
works with HPFPI in developing adaptive mechanisms to reduce disasters from climate-induced hazards,
through site assessments and training members how to assess environmental risks in their area. Activities have
previously been conducted with HPFPI members in Davao City, Davao Oriental, Bicol, Iloilo, Rizal, and
Kidapawan City. The next step is to document the site assessment methods developed with local communities into a
manual that can be shared more broadly. Initial efforts to communicate these methods have been done through
contributing to the Quick Guide on Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience in Urban Poor Communities in Asia-
Pacific being produced by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP). In April
2013, ESSC agreed to be one of the rollout partners in the Philippines for the Quick Guide.
Given previous work on land use analysis and natural resource management with local governments in Aurora,
Eastern Samar, and Allah Valley (South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat), ESSC is also considering the possibility of
rejuvenating partnerships, this time to focus on building capacity for risk reduction and social preparedness.
Accompanying
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) wants to contribute to achieving the President’s directive
of providing a 6-hour lead-time warning to vulnerable communities against impending floods. In May 2013, ESSC
signed an agreement to assist DILG in strengthening local government capacities in using participatory mapping and
other decision support tools for disaster risk reduction. Activities will be supported through World Bank’s Global
Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) on the Open Data for Resilience Initiative (OpenDRI), and
will build on the lessons from InaSAFE (Indonesian Scenario Assessment for Emergencies).
The initiative with DILG complements efforts in the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that is mandated to produce geohazard maps and disseminate
information to prepare, warn and capacitate communities against impending land and coastal geohazards. ESSC
currently hosts the online facility for MGB geohazard maps to enable broader public access to information on areas
prone to landslides and flooding. These maps can be downloaded for free and can be used as inputs to land use
planning and development.
Emerging Structures
The Church is often at the forefront of disaster response to care for people who are most affected. Learning from
experience during Typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng, and Sendong, the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (popularly
known as Quiapo Church) realized that there is a lack of facility to gather speedy information for efficient disaster
response in dioceses around the Philippines. ESSC is assisting Quiapo Church to build the capacities of its newly-
formed Disaster Management Ministry in becoming a resource center for disaster risk
reduction. Collaboration revolves around three components: scientific analysis, information and technology, and
parish training and mobilization. On 29 April 2013, ESSC’s Emmanuel Sambale and NerizaPantanilla presented on
the progress of activities with volunteer women and youth members of Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) in the
parish.

3. Many places in the Philippines, and indeed in many parts of Asia, are susceptible to hydrogeomorphologic hazards,
which include floods, landslides and drought. These have happened in the past. With climate change, it is likely that
that these will happen more often and with more intensity. Even if the number of events does not change during any
given period at any location, the impact of such events may increase in severity, not because the event itself is
extreme, but simply because there are more people at risk.
Through this project, ESSC strives to contribute to the growing body of knowledge, exchanges and partnerships for
the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) under the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
(UNISDR) to build resilience of nations and communities to disasters.[1]
Early action and response can spell the
difference between a natural hazard and a natural disaster. And so we face the next floods, landslides and droughts,
with hope and determination.
[1] UN ISDR. 2007. Hyogo Framework for Action: Building Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disaster.