E-mail: editor@ijimt.org
Abstract—Because of extreme disaster events, urban poor communities like in the Philippines continue to become at risk. The Philippines has its share of many hazards such as typhoons or cyclones, flooding, surge storms, earthquake, landslides and fire. United Nations had strongly campaigned to put disaster risk management in local development planning and expand it to at-risk communities to reduce risk and alleviate poverty. In most developing countries, a community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) consists of disaster and vulnerability training exercises and program. This paper presents an attempt to systematize CBDRM. It is the belief of this study that technology enables emancipation among vulnerable communities and serves as the language of communication that brings resiliency and coping capacities to a progressive level. The paper also presents a university-community engagement research project designed to build an urban poor community’s disaster risk planning capacity and self-management. The research project took more than a year of data gathering, careful examination, analysis and design, software development, and user testing. This was pursued through a strong relationship and commitment to support Buklod Tao, an on-government organization, and its community, Barangay Banaba. This project has created an integrated set of solutions and strategies consisting of technology supported methods on--community profiling, vulnerability and flood hazard assessment with the use of a mapping tool, flood reporting, training and assessment of community members. The project also highlights a participatory and socially motivated early warning and monitoring methods through mobile technologies. The project has also fashioned the solution that engages the community to perform local management and gain ownership of the system and strategies. In the long run, with the use of the integrated system the community will be able to create a clear picture of its imminent hazard, calculate its risks and mobilize their members better. The paper also outlines the value of a university-community engagement that brings about sustainable approaches that are mutually advantage, respectful and sensitive to the needs of the community.
Index Terms—Buklod tao, CBDRMS, De La Salle University,pineda, disaster risk reduction.
Maria Victoria G. Pineda is with the Center for ICT4D and the Information Technology Department, College of Computer Studies, De LaSalle University, Manila, Philippines. (e-mail: mavic.pineda@delasalle.ph)
Cite: Maria Victoria G. Pineda, "Exploring the Potentials of a Community-Based Disaster Risk Management System (CBDRMS), the Philippine Experience," International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 708-712, 2012.