Date

12-2018

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Development Communication

College

College of Development Communication (CDC)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Elijah Jesse M. Pine

Abstract

The residents of Mayon volcano‘s Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) have been labeled as danger zone locals since the establishment of authorities who constituted a volcanic hazard map indicating the six-kilometer boundary from Mayon‘s crater. Over the years, the government of Albay acted based on the messages written on the four official hazard maps created by PHIVOLCS during instances of volcanic unrest. Despite the mandates of the province to use the maps, there exist conflicts in the conceptions of Mayon‘s space and risks between the experts and the residents of the danger zone.

This qualitative study aims to analyze the power relations in the constitution of knowledge on Mayon‘s space and risks through the volcanic hazard maps between the experts and the locals of the PDZ. Guided by Foucault‘s (1989) theory on power/knowledge and Frolov's bipartite view of cartography as a communicative process, I focused on looking at both the constitution of knowledge in the hazard maps as a mechanization of power over the danger zone residents and the forms of local resistance to the production and utilization of these maps. Specifically, I aimed to: 1) indicate power relations in the communicative constitution of Mayon volcanic hazard maps from the viewpoint of local residents; 2) explain local resistance to the existing process of producing volcanic hazard maps; and 3) explain local resistance to the prescribed process of utilizing volcanic hazard maps. Using a series of unstructured key informant interviews and pakikipagkwentuhan/ pagpapakwento to collect the data from five leaders of four communities inside the PDZ in Camalig, Albay, I sought to examine the case of power/knowledge in the context of hazard map constitution as viewed by the locals of the PDZ. In three months, I collected the data which I analyzed using initial and focused coding and memoing methods.

Guided by Foucault‘s framework in analyzing power, the results showed that the residents recognize the presence of power dynamics in the constitution of the hazard map through 1) hierarchical and competency-based differences between the locals and the scientific experts, 2) the zero-casualty goal of Albay as an objective for establishing hazard maps, 3) establishment of hazard maps as surveillance 4) act of forming scientific authorities and institutions, and 5) formation of and emphasis on the zero-casualty goal to rationalize such objectives. Using this dynamic as context, two dimensions of resistance to the hazard maps were observed. Resistance to the production of hazard maps manifested through local beliefs articulating that 1) proximity to Mayon gives locals better view of its risks; 2) the duration of stay at the slopes of volcano is an advantage in observing its risks; 3) Mayon is unpredictable; 4) Mayon is not a perfect cone; and 5) the exaggeration of risk messages affect their perception of hazard maps. On the other hand, resistance to map utilization was expressed through the locals' 1) reliance on personal experiences than scientific theories; 2) denial of use of prescribed hazard maps because of their ̳inappropriateness‘; 3) use of their own indigenous methods of predicting eruption; and 4) creation of their own community hazard maps.

This study concludes that power exists in the communicative constitution of space and risks on Mayon volcanic hazard maps as viewed by the residents of PDZ and as indicated by their resistance to the maps. As a recommendation, this research contends that negotiation of meanings between locals and scientific experts is vital to the development of hazard maps in the context of disaster preparedness, and as such, should be a concern of development communication.

Location

UPLB College of Development Communication (CDC)

Notes

CDC Best Thesis, 2019

Document Type

Thesis

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