CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This section will provide the related literatures and related studies that are
used in proving significant data for the advocacy.

Related Literature
Disaster Preparedness provides for the key strategic actions that give
importance to activities revolving around community awareness and understanding;
contingency planning; conduct of local drills and the development of a national disaster
response plan. Risk-related information coming from the prevention and mitigation
aspect is necessary in order for the preparedness activities to be responsive to the
needs of the people and situation on the ground. Also, the policies, budget and
institutional mechanisms established under the prevention and mitigation priority area
will be further enhanced through capacity building activities, development of
coordination mechanisms. Through these, coordination, complementation and
interoperability of work in DRRM operations and essential services will be
ensured. Behavioral change created by the preparedness aspect is eventually
measured by how well people responded to the disasters. At the frontlines of
preparedness are the local government units, local chief executives and communities.
Disaster Response gives importance toactivities during the actual disaster response
operations from needs assessment to search and rescue to relief operations to early
recovery activities are emphasized. The success and realization of this priority area rely
heavily on the completion of the activities under both the prevention and mitigation and
preparedness aspects, including among others the coordination and communication
mechanisms to be developed. On-the-ground partnerships and the vertical and
horizontal coordination work between and among key stakeholders will contribute to
successful disaster response operations and its smooth transition towards early and
long term recovery work. The Rehabilitation and Recoverypriority area cover areas like
employment and livelihoods, infrastructure and lifeline facilities, housing and
resettlement, among others. These are recovery efforts done when people are already
outside of the evacuation centers. There are compelling reasons why the Philippines
should adopt disaster risk reduction and management(DRRM) and climate change
adaptation (CCA). It is exposed to disasters and hazards due to its geography and
geology as well as the presence of internal disputes in some areas. Tropical cyclones
and its sequential effects of rain and windstorms, as well as floods are the most
prevalent types of hydro-meteorological hazards in the country. Between 1997 and
2007, eightyfour (84) tropical cyclones entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility
(PAR). These typhoons resulted to a total of 13,155 in human casualty and more than
51 million families have been affected. Economic losses due to typhoon damages in
agriculture, infrastructures and private properties are estimated to reach P158.242-
B. Some of the most devastating floods and landslides are triggered by these typhoons
that happened also within this period. The El Nino Southern Oscillation which is a
periodic disaster recorded high economic costs in just a single occurrence. In 2010, out
of the almost PhP 25-M worth of damages to properties caused by natural
disasters,tropical cyclones contributed to more than half. These affected more than 3
million people in that year alone. Environmental factors such as denuded forests
aggravate flood risks. The pace of deforestation since the 1930s accelerated in the
1950s and 1960s, before falling slightly in the 1980s. Even now, the effects of loose soil
and reduced forest cover from past forestry activities are felt in frequent landslides and
floods. Recent events show that the annual monsoon season in the country has
brought severe flooding in most areas. In 2011, most of the disasters that claimed the
lives of people and affected properties and livelihoods of the most vulnerable were
brought about by increased rainfall which caused massive flash flooding in areas which
dont normally experience such. Between January to September 2011, more than 50
incidents of flash flooding and flooding and more than 30 landslides occurred, mostly
caused by increased rainfall and illegal logging. Typhoon Sendong alone caused the
lives of more than 1,000 people and damaged properties amounting to billions of pesos.
In addition, the Philippines is situated along a highly seismic area lying along the Pacific
Ring of Fire and is highly-prone to earthquakes. According to the Philippine Institute of
Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVLOCS), the country experiences an average of five
(5) earthquakes a day (Department of Internal and Local Government of the Philippines,
2012).

Over the past 20 years disasters have affected 4.4 billion people, caused $2
trillion of damage and killed 1.3 million people. These losses have outstripped the total
value of official development assistance in the same period. Natural disasters
disproportionately affect people living in developing countries and the most vulnerable
communities within those countries. Over 95 per cent of people killed by natural
disasters are from developing countries (Extreme Weather and Natural Disasters,
2012).

Disaster risk reduction is at the core of the mission of the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO. WMO, through its scientific and technical programs, its network of
Global Meteorological Centers and Regional Specialized Meteorological and Climate
Centers, provide scientific and technical services. This includes observing, detecting,
monitoring, predicting and early warning of a wide range of weather, climate- and
water-related hazards. Through a coordinated approach, and working with its partners,
WMO addresses the information needs and requirements of the disaster risk
management community in an effective and timely fashion. Every year, disasters related
to meteorological, hydrological and climate hazards cause significant loss of life, and set
back economic and social development by years, if not decades. Between 1980 and
2007, nearly 7500 natural disasters worldwide took the lives of over 2 million people and
produced economic losses estimated at over 1.2 trillion US dollars. Of this, 90 per cent
of the natural disasters, 71 per cent of casualties and 78 per cent of economic losses
were caused by weather-, climate- water-related hazards such as droughts, floods,
windstorms, tropical cyclones, storm surges, extreme temperatures, landslides and wild
fires, or by health epidemics and insect infestations directly linked to meteorological and
hydrological conditions. Over the past five decades, economic losses related to hydro-
meteorological hazards have increased, but the human toll has fallen dramatically. This
is thanks to scientific advances in forecasting, combined with proactive disaster risk
reduction policies and tools, including contingency planning and early warning systems
in a number of high risk countries (World Meteorological Organization, 2011).

Recent disasters in Haiti and Pakistan in 2010 showed the need to use
knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all
levels as articulated in the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. The role of
education for disaster risk reduction strategies can thus be presented according to three
types of activities: 1) Save lives and prevent injuries should a hazardous event occur, 2)
Prevent interruptions to the provision of education, or ensure its swift resumption in the
event of an interruption, and 3) Develop a resilient population that is able to reduce the
economic, social and cultural impacts should a hazardous event occur. Education for
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) takes into account the relationships between society,
environment, economy, and culture and their impacts. It also promotes critical thinking
and problem-solving as well as social and emotional life skills that are essential to the
empowerment of groups threatened or affected by disasters.ESD, through its
interdisciplinary and holistic approach to learning, helps create resilient societies. It
encourages a long-term perspective in decision-making processes, critical thinking, and
holistic and innovative approaches to problem-solving. ESD, therefore, contributes to
DRR while DRR increases the relevance and the quality of education in disaster-prone
areas.UNESCO gives specialized policy advice and technical assistance to affected
governments, UN agencies and non-profit organizations in reactivating education
system in post-disaster situations. It also plays a catalytic role, including advocacy,
networking and participation in inter-agency activities, to ensure that educational needs
are met in post-disaster settings. It is actively involved in post-disaster program such as
the Myanmar Education Recovery Program (MERP) in the Asia-Pacific region.UNESCO
has been playing a valuable role within the UN International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (ISDR) Thematic Platform on Knowledge and Education. With its ISDR
partner agencies, UNESCO promotes the integration of Disaster Risk Reduction in
national educational plans, school curricula and national strategies, as well as
supporting natural disaster preparedness. UNESCO has promoted Education for
Disaster Risk Reduction at a number of international events, including the workshop on
ESD and disaster risk reduction: building disaster-resilient societies, organized during
the 2009 Bonn World Conference on ESD (UNESCO, 2011).

Much can be done to minimize the impacts of natural disasters. The Australian
Government recognizes that in order to be sustainable, key sectors of development
such as health, education, water and sanitation, and food securitymust ensure that
their activities and infrastructure are disaster-resilient. Australia, along with most of our
developing country partners, is a signatory to the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005
2015 Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters, the international
blueprint for disaster risk reduction. It highlights that disaster risk reduction, along with
climate change adaptation, is an essential aspect of sustainable development
(Australian Aid, 2011).

In the period 2000-2009 as many as 85 per cent of the people reported affected by
disasters belonged to the Asia-Pacific Region, where Australia provides most of its
international development assistance (International Federation of the Red Crescent,
World Disaster Report, 2010).

Disasters often follow natural hazards. A disaster's severity depends on how

much impact a hazard has on society and the environment. The scale of the impact in
turn depends on the choices we make for our lives and for our environment. These
choices relate to how we grow our food, where and how we build our homes, what kind
of government we have, how our financial system works and even what we teach in
schools. Each decision and action makes us more vulnerable to disasters - or more
resilient to them. Disaster risk reduction is the concept and practice of reducing disaster
risks through systematic efforts to analyse and reduce the causal factors of disasters.
Reducing exposure to hazards, lessening vulnerability of people and property, wise
management of land and the environment, and improving preparedness for adverse
events are all examples of disaster risk reduction. Disaster risk reduction includes
disciplines like disaster management, disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness, but
DRR is also part of sustainable development. In order for development activities to be
sustainable they must also reduce disaster risk. On the other hand, unsound
development policies will increase disaster risk - and disaster losses. Thus, DRR
involves every part of society, every part of government, and every part of the
professional and private sector (National Meteorological and Hydrological Services,
2010).

Related Studies

Foreign Studies
A problem with conceiving of disaster in this way is that it becomes too easy
to imagine disaster events as isolated moments or periods lying outside the influence of
development planning. It is argued here that disasters are, on the contrary, an outcome
of processes of risk accumulation deeply embedded in contemporary and historical
development decisions. Disaster risk results from a combination of hazards (potentially
damaging events or processes) and peoples vulnerability to those hazards. Both
hazards and vulnerability are to varying extents products of development processes. A
further common perception is that disasters are usually large-scale events involving a
single hazard, such as a flood or an earthquake. As far as scale is concerned, there is
at present no agreed threshold at which point a collection of discrete losses or
disruptions can reach disaster status. Political spin can either exaggerate or play down
the scale of a disaster, with an eye respectively on donor aid or on private sector
investment flows. The sole publicly accessible global database on disasters and their
impacts, EM-DAT, uses an absolute definition which is statistically convenient but
inevitably arbitrary.Scale needs to be seen in relation to the population and economic
size of animpacted country for meaningful international comparisons to be made. A
disaster with major sub-national impacts may appear relatively unimportant at national
or international level. Scale is particularly important for small island developing states
(Prevention Web, 2012).

The Dominican Republic occupies two-thirds of the Island of Hispaniola in the

Major Antilles below the Tropic of Cancer in the Caribbean Region. Covering an area of
48,670 square kilometers and including the islands of Saona, Beata, Catalina and other
smaller islands, the Island is shared with the Republic of Haiti with a 383 kilometers
porous border to the west. A tropical country, it has eight extensive rugged mountain
ranges that span the country, separated by relatively fertile valleys, sierras and
limestone regions. With an average precipitation of around 1,500 mm, the country has
large bodies of subterranean water, fourteen principal river basins, over 400 rivers
systems and streams that feed the countrys reservoirs, power hydroelectric plants and
feed extensive irrigation systems. The Dominican Republic is subject to a number of
different hazards including hydro meteorological events such as tropical storms,
depressions and hurricanes, floods, landslides and droughts, as well as seismic events
including earthquakes and tsunamis, and finally diseases including dengue, malaria and
most recently an outbreak of cholera crossing the Haitian border into Dominican territory
in late 2010. EM-DAT registers 47 natural events during 1980-2011, of which 21 were
caused by storms, followed by 18 floods, five epidemics and one earthquake. Jointly
these events have caused the death of 1,486 and affected 2.7 million people, whilst
causing close to US$ 2.61 billion in economic damages. Statistics from the 2009 Global
Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction indicate that, in terms of severe
exposure, 6.3 per cent of the population is located in high-risk earthquake hazard zones
subject to significant loss, followed by 5.9 per cent in hurricane zones and 5.4 per cent
in drought zones. Additional estimates indicate that up to 80 per cent of the population
may be at risk of suffering both directly and indirectly from one or more disasters.
Notably, the Dominican Republic has the highest number of deaths per million
inhabitants and highest mortality risk to disaster in the Caribbean after Haiti, placing it
high on regional rankings for total disaster losses (International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies, 2011).

Local Studies
The evidence gathered during the course of this research clearly points to
positive outcomes for children as a result of the integration of DRR into education. While
it was not always possible to document the specific outcomes, for example, in the two
country case studies where disasters had not struck since the time of implementation, it
was very clear that significant change has occurred at both the national and the local
levels, which is leading to increased education and greater preparedness and resiliency
among communities. Specific outcomes documented included greater preparedness
among children, the ability to identify and address risk outside of disasters, continuity of
education, and a greater sense of security and confidence. Further outcomes at the
community level include safer school buildings and greater awareness of risk
management. Clearly, outcomes are important, but there is also a growing trend to
redesign evaluations to focus not only on inputs-outputs-outcomes, but also on the
changes in decision-making processes that have facilitated the outcomes; in other
words, how results are being achieved. This study found that there were quite a lot of
lessons to be learned about how outcomes for children were being achieved
(Villanueva, 2011).

A review of DRR-related educational documentation and of the 30 case studies

featured in this report reveals a range of approaches to the inclusion of disaster risk
reduction in school curricula. The most frequently found approach is that of infusion or
permeation whereby DRR themes and topics appear within the curriculum of specific
school subjects. This usually happens following a curriculum review whereby the
curriculum is scrutinized for its DRR relevance and potential. The nature of the scrutiny
ranges from the literal (i.e., a discussion of earthquakes in the Geography curriculum
provides an opportunity for DRR) to the holistic (i.e., identifying opportunities for DRR
not necessarily grounded in manifest disaster-related topics in a syllabus but in the
intrinsic potential of the subject itself, e.g., seeing the opportunities for reinforcing a
culture of safety through, say, drama, mathematics or music). A literal reading of
curriculum tends to result in limited infusion, i.e., DRR is integrated into a narrow band
of subjects, typically the physical sciences (Geography and Science) in which study of
natural hazards has a longstanding place. A holistic reading of curriculum potential
opens up the possibility of DRR integration within and across all or most subjects.
Limited infusion is more likely to expose DRR to the cultural assumptions of the
restricted range of subjects in which it appears. With Geography and Natural Science
the most regularly chosen carrier subjects, the culture of the classroom is likely to orient
learning outcomes towards the acquisition of knowledge and limited skills (i.e., skills
traditionally associated with those subjects). This in turn may well preclude the
realization of the practical and community-linked disaster mitigation and resilience goals
and dispositions of DRR. Values and attitudes associated with DRR are also less likely
to receive a thorough airing within a subject culture of objectivity. Limited infusion
more often than not relies on the presence of pre-existing disaster-related topics in the
curriculum, thus lending an arbitrary rather than a holistic or goals-derived orientation to
DRR curriculum development strategies (Gupta, 2011).

Hypothesis

Definition of Terms
This section provides the terms used in the study with their corresponding
meanings.

Disaster- is a sudden event, such as an accident or natural catastrophe that causes

great damage or loss of life (New Oxford Dictionary of English, 2013).

Disaster Risk Reduction- is the concept and practice of reducing disaster risks
through systematic efforts to analyze and reduce the causal factors of disasters.
Reducing exposure to hazards, lessening vulnerability of people and property, wise
management of land and the environment, and improving preparedness for adverse
events are all examples of disaster risk reduction(National Meteorological and
Hydrological Services, 2010).

Disaster Preparedness- It provides for the key strategic actions that give
importance to activities revolving around community awareness and understanding;
contingency planning; conduct of local drills and the development of a national disaster
response plan(Department of Internal and Local Government of the Philippines, 2012).
Earthquake- is any movement or shaking of the ground which lasts anywhere from a
few seconds to a couple of minutes. Earthquakes are among the most terrifying natural
disasters. This is because earthquakes are unpredictable; they can strike anytime
without any warning (New Oxford Dictionary of English, 2013).

Flashflood- is flash flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas: washes,

rivers, dry lakes and basins. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe
thunderstorm, hurricane, tropical storm, or melt water from ice snow flowing over ice
sheets or snowfields (New Oxford Dictionary of English,2013).