The purpose of this study is to describe how the people in two coastal communities in Batangas and Mindoro respond to the effects of these seasonal changes on their lives and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to describe how the people in two coastal communities in Batangas and Mindoro respond to the effects of these seasonal changes on their lives and livelihood.
Design/methodology/approach
The study makes use of findings from a previous study conducted by the author in Batangas and from primary data gathered in Mindoro through interviews with key informants.
Findings
The study shows that people in the two communities visited viewed the monsoon rains and typhoons brought about by seasonal changes as being part of the daily life challenges they had to face. The rainy season was also the lean food season which they called inaagosto in Batangas and nordeste in Mindoro. Hence, their responses were mostly at the individual or household level, rarely taking advantage of community programs and projects that could help them survive the lean food season. Although divided by a body of water, the people in Batangas and Mindoro employed very similar strategies. These strategies included negotiating for entitlements, engaging in extra‐income‐earning activities, and reallocating scarce food resources in the home. They differed, however, in ways in which they had “reinvented” food during the lean season. In both communities, coping was seen to be gendered.
Practical implications
The paper provides an understanding of how people respond to hazards that accompany the lean season and how best to approach these responses to achieve optimum results that would truly address the challenges faced by affected communities.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the development of more appropriate programmes and projects that would alleviate the effects of inaagosto and nordeste.
Details
Keywords
Soledad Natalia Dalisay and Mylene T. De Guzman
The purpose of this paper is to look into the socio-cultural contexts that shaped people’s evacuation decisions during typhoon Haiyan in three affected areas in the Philippines.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to look into the socio-cultural contexts that shaped people’s evacuation decisions during typhoon Haiyan in three affected areas in the Philippines.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a multi-sited ethnography that utilized interviews, focus group discussion and participatory risk mapping among selected women and men in areas affected by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
Findings
Coastal communities encounter threats from storm surges as brought about by typhoons. During such periods, disaster evacuation programs are implemented. In some instances, evacuation programs are met with resistance from community members. Such resistance has been attributed to the people’s hard headedness and ignorance of the potential impacts of living in hazard prone areas. This paper argues that it is not solely for these reasons that people refused to evacuate. Results showed that hesitance may also be due to other considerations and priorities vital to people. It is also because people had faith in the knowledge and strategies that they were able to develop by engaging with hazards through time. Furthermore, previous experiences with disaster evacuation programs cast doubt on their value in saving their lives. Life in the evacuation areas can be as dangerous if not more compared with living in their coastal homes. Some of the informants believed that they were being moved from hazard zones to death zones. This paper ends with recommendations for the development of evacuation programs that build people’s resilience while taking into consideration the local moral world in identified hazard zones in the Philippines.
Research limitations/implications
The study focused on three areas affected by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, namely, Tacloban City, Guiuan, Eastern Samar, and San Francisco, Cebu.
Originality/value
Most research on disaster mitigation looked into the engineering and technology aspects. This paper looks into the socio-cultural contexts of disaster evacuation.