Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Metro Manila, Philippines : Case Study of the 2020 Typhoons: Quinta, Rolly and Ulysses

Sammanfattning: The Philippines is considered one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate disasters due to a combination of its geospatial, political, economic, and social attributes. The nation gets hit with an average of 20 annual tropical cyclones, also known as typhoons, and through the process of climate change, these events are only growing in both frequency and magnitude. In the coastal capital city of Metro Manila, climate change coupled with rapid and unplanned urbanization has led to increased vulnerabilities of populations, infrastructures, and increased inequalities.  This thesis aims to assess the current disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) frameworks present within the nation and National Capital Region (NCR), through a case study approach of the 2020 typhoons: Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses. It presents findings through four thematic pillars of disaster prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response and early- recovery, and recovery and rehabilitation. It uses the perspectives of three key informants from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), as well as additional diversified perspectives.  Findings suggest that DRRM has evolved since the implementation of the Republic Act No 10121 (RA 10121), or the Philippine Disaster Reduction and Management Act of 2010, however, can still be improved to tackle root causes of vulnerabilities. I use Roberts and Pelling’s (2020) transformation as liberation model as a theoretical framework to generate recommendations to policymakers that can help address vulnerabilities to typhoons. These recommendations include increasing participation and inclusivity within policy and decision making, creating a formal mechanism to measure vulnerabilities and inform future DRRM policies, and finally to reframe climate change and disaster risks as a socio-ecological issue rather than just an environmental one.