Resilience and Disaster Trends in the Philippines: Opportunities for National and Local Capacity Building

Conclusion This paper assessed the extant research and practice of resilience and disaster preparedness in the Philippines, which serves as a good model on how to strengthen resilience and promote disaster risk reduction at the local level. Research and interventions are already identifying examples of best practice in disaster preparedness, response and recovery; however, important underlying drivers of disaster risk, such as a degrading environment and inequality, still remain over looked. With the frequency and intensity of disasters set to increase, communities are going to have to prepare more for worse events. This poses the question of how much longer we can react to disasters rather than mitigating them in the first place. The urgency with which we must address the research gaps across the disaster cycle, and in particular in preventing and mitigating disaster risk alongside preparedness, is mounting. Research findings must then be translated in policy decisions with committed implementation. A greater prioritisation of mitigation, prevention and preparedness is not only economically advantageous, but from a humanitarian point of view, reduces the human costs, and aligns with initiatives on sustainable development. Data Availability There is no raw data associated with this paper. Correspondence Tilly Alcayna: t.alcayna@gmail.com Vincenzo Bollettino: vbollett@hsph.harvard.edu
Source: PLOS Currents Disasters - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Source Type: research