Can the vulnerable be resilient? Co-existence of vulnerability and disaster resilience: Informal settlements in the Philippines

doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2014.08.007

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

Volume 10, Part A, December 2014, Pages 178-189

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2014.08.007 Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between vulnerability and resilience in the context of informal settlements, using a case study of two barangays in a rural province in the Philippines. Central to the discussion in this paper is whether and how vulnerability and resilience can exist simultaneously.

The authors first identify community vulnerability, which is explored through geographical, economic, and physical vulnerability. Another element involves land-related vulnerability characterised by unsustainable land use, poor urban planning, non-existence of building codes and weak land administration. Approximately sixty per cent of all properties in the case study areas are held in informal land tenures. Many of these informal settlers have established houses on land with a high hazard risk – for example, adjacent to rivers, on disused railway reserves and along road corridors. The result is they face the threat of eviction, and may have difficulty returning to their land after disasters.

Qualitative analysis of households in the case study areas revealed that the strength of social relationships helps to reduce the vulnerability of the communities. A paradoxical relationship between vulnerability and resilience is evident. Strong community perceptions of their level of resilience to the impacts of disasters are supported by the social domains of the community. They have inbuilt resilience resulting from the perception of disasters as part of life, strong social bonds and government awareness of the validity of the informal settlements.

Introduction

Resilience and vulnerability are two related concepts that have gained currency in various types of disaster-related discourses ([20], [26], [29]). A key question that appears over and over again is about the relationship between these two concepts. While the relationship is generally perceived as antonymous, one being the opposite of the other, field-based investigations in the study from which this paper is derived indicate a more complex relationship and the possibility of co-existence. This paper explores this relationship between vulnerability and resilience through a study conducted in informal settlements in the Philippines, and particularly examines if vulnerability and resilience can exist simultaneously, that is, whether people who are vulnerable can also be resilient. Such settlements ostensibly exhibit signs of vulnerability associated with poverty and high exposure to natural hazards, but at the same time have strong social cohesion and internal networks – aspects contributing to resilience – that can potentially counterbalance the vulnerability. How such a relationship manifested itself on the ground was examined in detail by the study.

Employing a case-study strategy, two rural neighbourhoods, or barangays¹, were selected as case studies. Poverty, as measured by the Philippines Annual Per Capita Poverty Threshold of less than PhP 18,678 (≈US$ 429) [37], was widespread in the barangays comprising a large proportion of informal settlers, thus they were ostensibly vulnerable, and were therefore suitable sites to investigate the extent and nature of vulnerability and indications of co-existing resilience. Those two barangays were selected based on the following criteria: their exposure to the impacts of different hazards such as typhoons (signals 3 and 4), Mayon volcano eruptions (lava flow, ash fall, lahar flow), floods, landslides and earthquakes [32]; and the community׳s basic characteristics that demonstrate its resilience.

The study was framed by the set of questions below, answers to which were sought using a multi-method approach consisting of interviews of, and focus group discussions with, community members and staff of local organisations, and on-site observations, followed by an analysis of the qualitative data collected during fieldwork:

–
Are the communities vulnerable? If so, why? What contributes to their vulnerability?
–
Are the communities resilient? How do they perceive resilience? What contributes to building their resilience to disasters?
–
If the communities are vulnerable, are they also resilient? If so, why? What is the relationship between vulnerability and resilience?

Section snippets

Overview of the concepts of vulnerability and resilience

Before moving on to the empirical findings of the study, it is necessary to briefly review the literature on vulnerability and resilience. One of the first authors who attempted to link the concept of resilience and vulnerability, as suggested by Cardona [9], is Timmerman [45] in his monograph Vulnerability, Resilience and the Collapse of Society, in which he provided the following definitions:

Vulnerability as the degree to which a system, or part of a system, may react adversely to the

Empirical Investigation

A multi-method and case study approach was used in the study. The range of qualitative data collection methods included interviews of community members, decision-makers and staff of local agencies, on-site observations, meetings/workshops and focus group discussions, collection of written documents, photographs and historical information. The key source of data was semi-structured interviews to elicit local narratives including individuals׳ and groups׳ accounts of personal and community

What contributes to community and household vulnerability?

Four major aspects relating to geography, economy, housing and land tenure contribute to the vulnerability of the communities in the case study barangays. Exposure to hazards due to geography of place [2], [7], [57], [58] and resource limitations [42] are the key factors that lead to these four aspects of vulnerability. The findings from the field investigations are discussed below according to these aspects.

Conclusion

This paper has demonstrated that although communities are faced with vulnerability relating to geographical exposure, economic limitations, inadequate housing and insecure land tenure, they still perceive themselves to be resilient to the disasters that frequently impact the areas. The narratives from community members demonstrate resilience – “strength in the presence of stress”, to paraphrase [25], [43]. The findings of this study point to social resilience being paramount in building a

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Jed Villanueva from the Municipal Disaster Management Office, Camalig Municipality for facilitating the in depth-interviews and FGD during the data collection process. Estela Gumabon from NAMRIA (The National Mapping and Resource Information Authority) is acknowledged for her assistance with maps. We are grateful to the residents of the two barangays who contributed their time and experiences to the study. This research is funded by AusAid through Australian

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Can the vulnerable be resilient? Co-existence of vulnerability and disaster resilience: Informal settlements in the Philippines

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Overview of the concepts of vulnerability and resilience

Empirical Investigation

What contributes to community and household vulnerability?

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Glob Environ Change

Glob Environ Change

Eng Struct

Glob. Environ. Change

Geoforum

Glob Environ Change

Int J Disaster Risk Reduct.

Glob Environ Change Part B: Environ Hazards

Soc Sci Med

Glob Environ Change

Social and ecological resilience: are they related?

Prog Hum Geogr

At risk: natural hazards, people׳s vulnerability and disasters

Healthy communities, healthy youth

Assessing social resilience

New approaches to assessing vulnerability and resilience

Aust J Emerg Manag

Vulnerability analysis and disasters

The notion of disaster risk: conceptual framework for integrated management

Social vulnerability to environmental hazards

Soc Sci Q

Disaster resilience indicators for benchmarking baseline conditions

J Homeland Secur Emerg Manag

Social cohesion, social capital and the neighbourhood

Urban Stud

A typology of resilience: rethinking institutions for sustainable development

Ind Environ Crisis Q

Regions of risk: a geographical introduction to disasters

Defining and measuring social cohesion

Introduction to the special issue on resilience

Subst Use Misuse

What makes the Filipino special?