Population Displacement and Resettlement of Communities Affected by Natural Disaster

Professorial Chair Lecture

UPLB Alumni Association Professional Chair Lecture

Place

Department of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, UPLB, College, Laguna

Date

6-23-2009

Abstract

Due to the three incidents of natural disasters that occurred in 1991, 2004, and 2006, several families had lost their homes, properties, and livelihood in the provinces of Pampanga, Quezon, and Albay respectively in the Philippines. The eruption of a dormant volcano, Mount Pinatubo in 1991 brought about recurrent lahar flows every rainy season in the province of Pampanga. Almost half a million families have to be resettled. In 2004, a super typhoon named Winnie buried the town of Infanta in Quezon with 20 cubic meter of mud that eroded from the surrounding mountains. About 12,000 families from the surrounding municipalities in Mount Mayon that suffered from flashfloods as an aftermath of typhoon Reming which resulted in the lost of lives and damage in properties. These displaced populations from these three areas in the Philippines had been relocated in government and non-government sponsored resettlement sites. The resettlement of this displaced population was a long process and was observed to be by stages. The stages were as follows: emergency shelters (neighbors, control, etc.), temporary shelters (evacuation centers), temporary housing (bunkhouses and tents) and finally, a permanent housing (resettlement). The resettlement process of this displaced population had the same components as defined by Quarentelli (1995). The displaced population and in this case, the displaced families have been found to have restructured their lives in order to minimize stress from the traumatic experiences caused by the loss of homes, destruction of properties, disruption of livelihood and discontinuation of social processes. In order to survive, people were forced to adapt. The following factors have helped in the resettlement of the displacement population: experience with disaster, cooperation of the community members, the solidarity of families, post disaster resiliency of community members, the indispensable role of the non-government organization (NGOs), and membership in organizations. However, in spite of the adaptation strategies and measures that the disaster victims have employed, the resettled families who came mainly from the rural areas in the Philippines were found to be poorer than they were before the disaster.

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

College

College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)

Language

English

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