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Abstract

Disasters are common in the Philippines, the effects of which are more adverse in the metropolis, characterized by population crowding and presence of geophysical hazards. Malabon City in Metro Manila is characterized by such risk factors to disasters. The target population of this study were women as they frequently remain at home while their husbands are out for work. The methodologies were both qualitative and quantitative through the use of key expert and subject interviews, and a survey questionnaire respectively. The objectives of the study were to look into the structure of Philippine disaster management, to investigate the role of institutions in the vulnerability of women to local disasters, and to identify the various experiences of disasters among women. The data showed that gender sensitivity was not included in reaching out to victims of disasters and that resilience is associated with reverting back to pre-disaster conditions without any mechanisms for preventing disasters. From the data, it can be surmised too that institutional intervention was not sufficient to mitigate the adverse effects of disasters due to its weak contribution to gendered social protection, the existence of politically induced discrimination, and the inadequacy of the services of the government. The vulnerability of households and communities to disaster occurrence is dependent on the interplay between natural and socio-economic conditions. In this interplay, the institutional role is vital in responding to mitigating natural disasters and to improve socio-economic conditions both before and after disasters.

Author Biography

Daniella Dominique Reyes: Political Science Graduate, University of the Philippines Manila.

Jinky Leilanie Lu, who holds a Master Degree of Occupational Health and PhD in Sociology, is a Research Professor of the National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila. She has authored two books, Gender, Information Technology, and Health, which won the National Academy of Science and Technology book award in 2010, and reprinted by the University of Hawaii Press, 2007, and Basics of Occupational Health and Safety: Guidebook for Practitioners and Industries. She has produced 38 journal articles, and 28 of which are Science Citation Indexed. She also contributed a chapter in the Handbook of Anthropometry Physical Measures of Human Form in Health and Disease, published by Springer in 2012; and has published several gender and women study articles. Prof. Lu is a staunch advocate, both as an engaged academic and scientist, in promoting well-being and gender equity at work through occupational epidemiology, especially among vulnerable populations. She is currently the head of the Gender Program of the NIH in the University of the Philippines Gender and Development Program.

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