ABSTRACT: Climate change and flooding in Asian cities pose great challenges to the environmental and human security of the population and their governance systems. This paper examines the intersections of ecological-environmental and social vulnerability and the adaptive responses of urban poor communities and commercial-industrial establishments in Metro Manila to floods and other climate change-related effects such as storm surges and sea level rise (SLR). These climate-related hazards weaken the communities’ ecological-environmental systems, threaten the well-being and security of the people and strain the resources of city governments. By focusing on the intersections of these two major drivers of vulnerability, the study allow us a more nuanced understanding of the adaptive responses employed by different socio-economic groups or sectors, struggling to survive the disastrous effects of floods in the metropolis.
In Metro Manila, where large numbers of the poor inhabit danger zones of coasts and riverlines, the socio-economic development initiatives of the government and the private sector often collide with the pursuit of security and well-being of the people, especially those from the informal settlements.
Meanwhile, the social vulnerability of the poor to flood-related risks is heightened by the ecologicalenvironmental vulnerability of their communities (e.g., low-lying areas along rivers or coasts, wetlands, high levels of subsidence). Examining these intersections allow a disaggregation of the ecologicalenvironment vulnerabilities of a city or community according to specific places and spaces (or placebased vulnerabilities) that lead also to variable patterns (e.g., gender, income group or sector-specific ) of adaptive responses to flooding. Previous studies have not paid much attention to the interaction of these two major drivers of vulnerability that shape the variations in the flood responses of different communities, groups and sectors. Drawing a systematic sample of urban poor households and industrialcommercial establishments along the Pasig-Marikina River Basin, this study utilized household surveys, key informant interviews, focused group discussions (FGD) and secondary data sources, in analyzing the sources of their vulnerability and adaptive responses. Existing studies generally focus on the vulnerability and adaptation of urban-rural populations or marginal populations, and do not highlight the
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interaction of place-based vulnerabilities with sector-specific vulnerabilities that reconfigure flood impacts and responses among the urban poor communities and commercial-industrial establishments during and after floods. In particular, poor and female-headed households residing in highly degraded environments or places/spaces within and across urban poor communities suffered higher damages and losses compared to better-off households and establishments. The interaction of these drivers of vulnerability further heightens and compromises the environmental and human security needs of poor people, their communities and those in the private sector.
Key words: Climate change-related vulnerability/adaptation, place-based/sector-specific vulnerability and responses, environmental degradation, environmental/human security, governance
Introduction
Research Cluster on Environment, Society, and Sustainability
Ateneo de Manila University
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The World Risk Report 2013 ranked the Philippines as the third highest country at risk to critical environmental, geo-political, economic, societal and technological changes. Like other Asian coastal megacities, Metro Manila’s environmental risks include floods and coastal inundation brought about by sea level rise and the increasing intensity and irregularity of typhoons, storms urges and monsoon rains.
These hazards have heightened the environmental degradation of the metropolis as well as the environmental risks faced by the residents. Compounding the effects of these natural and humaninduced risks are governance-related factors like deficits in environmental and fiscal reforms, infrastructure and delivery of social services. In a sense, government initiatives towards enhancing the environmental, economic and social security of its cities, also pose contradictory challenges to the environmental security of informal settlements and the human security needs of its most vulnerable population, the urban poor.
Lorraine Eliott (2000) argues for analyzing environmental degradation as a key component in understanding initiatives towards human security. She elaborates that “the relationship between human security and traditional security is therefore embedded in complexity… provides an opportunity to recognize different kinds of threats, not to states but to peoples and communities, and to reassess the probability of insecurities” (2000:158).She suggests that “environmental concerns be integrated with traditional approaches and strategies” to address more effectively the human security agenda. She further asserts that “protection of the environment is crucial to human security”, a “decisive factor in economic vitality” and “economic security fundamental to individual and community health and wellbeing and, in some cases, to survival (ultimate security challenge).”Studies on climate change vulnerability and adaptation, therefore, provide a rich opportunity to define security threats to urban poor communities and their environments.
Meanwhile, Redclift (2009) citing Opchoot (1996), views “human security as referring to the degree to which human beings are protected from environmental degradation, resource scarcity and environmental hazards by their own social institutions and processes.” He further argued that in pursuing environmental and human security, we are addressing the main dimensions of sustainable development, namely, economic development, environmental protection and social inequality. Thus, he suggested “widening people’s entitlements, duties and obligations as citizens” is central to designing initiatives towards sustainable development. As governments pursue economic growth through increased resource extraction, environmental degradation and compromised land use regulations becomes central issue in addressing sustainable development goals.
Using the insights of Eliott (2000) and Redclift (2009), this essay explores the strategic links between environmental degradation and vulnerability to flood impacts among urban poor communities and their local governments in pursuing human security goals or the well-being of its people. This link between vulnerability and adaptation can be seen in the ability of groups and communities to cope with extreme environmental stresses and disturbances such as typhoons and floods (Adger 2004).
Furthermore, exposure and coping mechanisms to these risks, especially in the context of climate change, can vary greatly across different political-economic groups (Blaikie et al. 1994). But these conceptual links need to be empirically validated and refined when applied to different Asian contexts.
In Metro Manila, these variations in the flood responses and adaptation can be accounted by particular vulnerabilities of places/spaces because of environmental degradation (e.g., intense development in areas with high soil subsidence/siltation, swampy areas/wetlands heavily inhabited) and the communities’/households’ levels of social vulnerability as seen in figures 1-3 below. The vulnerability levels of families or households living in these environmentally vulnerable places, then becomes heightened because their capacity to recover from flood impacts is also compromised by their
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poverty/low incomes, fragile occupational or livelihood bases and the gender status of their household head.
Utilizing primary (household and commercial-industrial surveys, key informant interviews and focus group discussions) 1 and secondary sources (population census, land use plans), this paper examined the flood-related impacts and experiences of urban poor communities and commercialbusiness establishments in two cities of Metro Manila, namely Marikina and Pasig. It also explored the flood responses of their local governments. Data collected between October September-November 2011 focused on the flood impacts of Typhoons Ondoy (international name, Ketsana ) on September 28,
2009and Typhoon Pedring (international name, Nesat ) on September 27, 2011.This data base was supplemented by a 2008 survey of urban poor households in three flood basins of the metropolis, namely, 1) KAMANAVA (Kaloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela), 2) Pasig-Marikina, and 3)
West Manggahan.
Examining the flood vulnerability and adaptation of urban poor communities and their local governments, the study argues that climate change-related effects put cities at risk to flooding and inundation, in the process, posing great challenges to the communities’ ecological-environmental systems and the well-being and security of its residents. In riverlines and bay areas, where large numbers of the poor reside, land and infrastructural development initiatives of the government and the private sector often collide with the pursuit of security and well-being among its populace. This gives rise to particular place-based vulnerabilities and sector-specific patterns of response and adaptation to flooding and environmental degradation. This paper illustrates this by examining flood-related damages and losses of residents and commercial-business establishments in low-lying riverine communities and their local governments’ responses. The study concludes that the interaction of place-based and sectorspecific vulnerabilities, especially among the urban poor in informal settlements, heightens and compromises both environmental and human security needs of people and their communities.
The next two sections describe the political-economic and environmental context of the study and the flood impacts and responses to typhoons Ondoy and Pedring among the riverine communities along the Pasig-Marikina river system as well as that of their local governments. It explores the link between environmental degradation and the security and well-being of urban poor households and commercial-industrial establishments in these flood-prone areas. While local governments strive to provide relief and rehabilitation needs for its citizens, the demands for environmental security and economic growth often collide with the urban poor communities’ struggle for economic and social security. Finally, the flood adaptive responses of the vulnerable communities, commercial-industrial establishments and local governments provide valuable potentials for mainstreaming them into land use planning, governance, and to medium/long-term development.
Background and Context
Typhoons, floods earthquakes and landslides and other climate-related hazards and risks have always been part of the Philippines’ annual cycle of events and disasters. But this past decade, the number and scale of natural and human-induced disasters have increased; its effects intensified by the lack of preparedness among the affected communities, government, civil society and private sectors
1 The study is based on 2 surveys of systematically drawn sample households: 1) 200 hundred households and 100 commercialindustrial establishments from flooded riverine communities in the cities of Marikina and Pasig in 2012 and 2) 300 hundred households drawn from sample urban poor communities in the three flood basins in2009.
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alike, preventing them to respond pro-actively through effective disaster risk reduction and management policies and programs.
While the country gets an average of 20 typhoons annually, Metro Manila averages 10 strong typhoons that bring heavy rainfall and flooding to the metropolis. The World Bank estimated that the
Philippines loses P15 billion (US $367 million) annually to disasters caused by typhoons and floods, representing about 0.7 percent of the gross national product (GNP). In October 2009, Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng caused a total of P3.8 billion (US$92.9 million)in damages and P24.8 billion(US$606 million) in immediate losses to agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sector. Immediate reconstruction costs were estimated to be about US$4.42 billion or almost 3 percent of the national GDP for the next three years (Joint Assessment of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, World Bank, 2009). In 2011, losses from typhoons Pedring and Qiel were estimated to amount to P15 billion (US$ 367 million). In December
2011, typhoon Sendong (international name, Washi) brought heavy rainfall and flash floods to Northern
Mindanao and Eastern Visayas in southern Philippines killing over a thousand people, higher than those lost/killed during the Ondoy and Pepeng typhoons. In August 2012, Habagat (southwest monsoon rains) floods resulted in 95 deaths but affected 3.4 million people, destroyed 8,428 homes (with 6,706 partly damaged) with damages/losses amounting to at least P604.63 million (US$14.31 million). Until then,
Sendong, was regarded as the worst climate-related disaster in the last decade to have hit the country with initial damages estimated at P1.03 billion (US$30 million).Although damages were not as high as those of Ondoy and Pepeng, the loss of lives, physical injury and displacement was much higher (1,572 deaths, 1,079 missing, 1, 792 injured, and 102, 899 families displaced).Then in December 2012, typhoon
Pablo (international name, Bopha) hit northeastern and southern Mindanao, killing over a thousand people and damages estimated at about P34 billion (about US$835 million). The National Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Council reported 711,682 families (about 6,243,998 persons) in 34 provinces were affected while an estimated 11,000 were evacuated and 170,000 homes damaged.
Damages from floods and storms in the Philippines have increased 18 times since the 1970s (Velasquez
2011) while their occurrence have gone beyond the regular typhoon season from June to November but throughout the year (see Appendix Table 1 below).
Environmental and Socio-economic Vulnerability: Socio-Demographic Characteristics and
Development in Metro Manila
Like other megacities in the South, Metro Manila’s growth and expansion remain largely uncontrolled.
This has greatly contributed to the increased vulnerability of the residents, especially those from the urban poor communities, to climate-related effects like typhoons and floods. More importantly, this has compromised the potential for adaptation and resilience on the part of residents, local governments and the private sector.
Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) has a land area of 636 square kilometers in semi-alluvial plain formed by the sediment flows from the Meycauayan and Malabon-Tullahan river basins in the North, the Pasig-Marikina river basin in the East (Bankoff 2003), and the West of
Manggahan river basin. These river systems used to be active transport gateways to the central district of
Manila until heavy siltation and land-based transport rendered this system ineffective (Porio, 2011).The
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coastal margin of NCR consists of a partly reclaimed area in Manila Bay, the central plateau, and the
Marikina Valley. The metropolis is open to Manila Bay on the west and connects to a large lake, Laguna de Bay, on the southeast. Thus, “the metropolitan area is a vast drainage basin that experiences frequent inundations from overflowing rivers and storm waters that render the existing system of esteros
(modified natural channels) and canals constructed during the Spanish and American colonial periods inadequate” (Liongson 2000 cited in Bankoff 2003). Manila and the surrounding cities are prone to flooding alongside Marikina Valley and along the coast of Laguna de Bay. The effects of climate change on these river systems are highlighted by sea level rise (SLR) and increases in monsoon rains, typhoons, and floods (see Figure 1 below).
Traversing the north-south direction of the metropolis are several fault lines: 1) Marikina
Valley Fault, 2) Philippine Fault, 3) Lubang Fault, 4) Manila Trench, and the 5) Casiguran Fault. This environmental context interacts in complex ways with the patterns of human activities in the metropolis, giving rise to patterns of survival strategies among the residents and institutional and regulatory responses of the local government units and the national government agencies in-charged of disaster risk reduction and management policies and programs (Porio 2011).
Figure 1. Metro Manila Three Flood Basins and Sample Communities
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With Metro Manila as the center of political, economic, and socio-cultural activities of the nation, its vulnerability to climate changes becomes heightened. Its strategic location by Manila Bay and the mouth of the Pasig River accounts for the growth of the capital city and the expansion of the city to its suburbs in the last 30 years. With large in-migration and rapid population growth, this led to perurban expansion to surrounding municipalities, and more significantly to danger areas for habitation
(e.g., swampy areas, along esteros or water canals, rivers and/or earthquake fault lines). Services and infrastructural development could hardly keep pace with the needs of the burgeoning population. While large public and private investments try to operate within existing regulatory frameworks, the ability of government agencies to impose building and infrastructure standards is quite weak. Meanwhile, the
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growth and expansion of informal settlements have gone largely unregulated. Thus, many buildings and infrastructure are built on danger zone (e.g., near the seashore or flood zone, unstable ground and prone to landslides, etc.) without permits (Porio 2011).
Rapid urbanization, population growth and the weak infrastructural and economic bases of the metropolis have heightened its vulnerability to the effects of climate change. As seen in figure 2 below,
Metro Manila’s population expanded from 5.93 million in 1980 to 7.95 million in 1990, 9.93 million in
2000 and is projected to reach 19.43 million in 2020. In 2007, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that Metro Manila has 12 million residents but the average daytime population is about 16-18 million (see Figure 1 below). In 2000, the population density in the metropolis was 15, 617 persons per square kilometer but is projected to increase to 29,146 in 2020. These forces have dramatically increased the demand for goods and services as well as the waste generation in the metropolis. Since this trend shows no signs of abating, the impacts of climate change on the vulnerable populations of the metropolis will definitely be heightened in the coming years (Porio 2011).
The environmental security of the national capital is further compromised by its land use patterns, infrastructural development, building codes/practices and development policies and programs.
Regulatory policies and practices, often lacking in coherence, have resulted in a built environment that poses high risks to residents, buildings infrastructure and settlements.
Figure 2. Rapid Expansion and Growth of Population in Metro Manila and Peri-Urban Areas,
1980-2007.
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Source: Corpuz (2010).
Heightening the vulnerability of the metropolis is the large portion of its population that does not have security of tenure in their housing, jobs and livelihood sources. The 2008 Philippine Asset
Reform Report Card estimated that only 61 percent of households in Metro Manila have sufficient access to basic services. Most informal settlements do not have adequate access to the water and sewerage nor electrical services. Of the national housing backlog of 4 million households (about 24 million people), about 500,000 households (about 3 million people) is accounted by Metro Manila alone.
The Philippine Human Development Report of 2010 estimated the Philippines to have a poverty incidence of 32 percent. In April 2013, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) announced that poverty incidence has not really improved over the years 2000-2012, despite the much touted 7.5 percent growth rate in 2012. With high poverty incidence and population density and the shortage of proper services, Metro Manila has become very vulnerable to the effects of storms, typhoons and floods in recent years (Patankar et al 2013).
Further intensifying the vulnerability of the national capital is its geographic location (see topographical/flood maps of the Pasig-Marikina River Basin in Appendix Figures 1-2).The cities of
Marikina and Pasig, located in the heart of the flood basin and down below the Marikina watershed, is nestled by the Sierra Madre Mountain Range and the Montalban hills and the nearby La Mesa Dam.
During the Ondoy floods, these cities became the depository basin of the heavy rains (180mm) that fell in six hours, equivalent to the national capital’s 1 month rainfall. Floods in some places reached 20-30 ft. depth in contrast to about 3-5 ft. during regular flooding in these cities. The flood map below
(Appendix Figure 3) shows, when it rains for 10 minutes or so, most of the city streets get flooded.
Another potential hazard that could complicate the city’s environmental security is the West Valley fault
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that runs through these cities making them vulnerable to earthquakes and subsequent liquefaction
(Patankar et al 2013).
The topography and geological characteristics of Metro Manila and its inherent vulnerability to strong winds and floods were revealed during the height of the typhoon Pedring. The storm surges and strong winds pounded the Manila Bay seawalls weakened its foundation causing a section of the breakwater to collapse. Waters flooded past the seawall and onto the main thoroughfare of Roxas
Boulevard, the United States Embassy, Sofitel Hotel and other landmarks by the bay. The flood waters even reached the Baseco Compound, a 14 hectare property owned by Manila Port Authority but informally settled by 6,000 urban poor families. According to the head of the weather bureau, PAG-ASA, the following factors led to the collapse of the Manila Bay Seawall: 1) continuous heavy monsoon rains for four days, 2) strong storm surges along with the high tide, 3) soft soil/subsidence and 4) strong rough winds. In response, climate authorities have suggested implementing safer engineering solutions and stronger compliance of regulatory frameworks (e.g., enforcing stricter building and zoning codes, evacuation of people once the storms and surges hit the bay). To date, these have yet to be implemented.
Environmental and social characteristics/risks. Most of the vulnerable communities are settled in low-lying areas of the coastal lines, river lines and tributaries. Located near swampy/wetlands or silted river beds, these areas have been classified by the city as danger zones and unfit for habitation. In city logbooks, these households are considered illegal slum/squatter settlements, with no security of tenure and no adequate access to water, electricity, sewage and drainage systems. Constantly exposed to the effects of flooding and lacking adequate access to health and sanitation facilities, residents often complain of diarrhea, colds and malnutrition. Compounding these are community security-related issues like drug abuse, domestic violence, theft and other petty crimes.
More importantly, land along riverlines and shorelines are also heavily populated and developed for commercial-industrial purposes. In the previous decades, these areas were relatively undeveloped because these were considered danger zones. But starting with the 1990s when the local governments were required to provide housing and relocation for their urban poor constituents, these unserviced and low quality lands became sites for relocation. This is especially true for Baseco in Manila,
Lupang Arenda in West Manggahan, Tanza in Navotas and Nangka and Tumana in Marikina City (see figures 3-4 below).
Figure 3. Marikina River and Land Use Patterns Along the Riverline
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Climate change, environmental and social risks. The social and physical location of these floodprone communities make them highly vulnerable to storm surges and floods from typhoons and heavy monsoon rains from June to November, the traditional wet season for Metro Manila. The Pasig-Marikina flood basin is prone to flash floods from the Sierra Madre mountains while the KAMANAVA flood basin is particularly susceptible throughout the year to the effects of sea level rise (SLR) and tidal storms. During the last few years, the residents have reported changes in the climate patterns marked by increases in sea levels during tidal/storm surges reflected in the water marks left in their house posts.
Often these pose risks to their household appliances, garments, and their livelihood activities.
Economic opportunities, risk and social vulnerability. The 2011 survey reinforced the findings of the 2008 survey that while respondents recognized the risks of floods to their homes and communities, economic problems like unemployment and lack of incomes were their over-riding concern. Other important concerns were security-related risks like thefts/hold-up, fire and drug abuse in their neighborhoods. These security-related issues are closely linked to the physical congestion and economic insecurities of their communities and families. Given these socio-economic risks, their vulnerability to the climate-related effects increasingly becomes heightened (Porio 2011). Ironically, these household level risks and vulnerabilities also increase with the expansion of residential,
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commercial, and industrial development in their localities. This is clearly illustrated in the rapid expansion of residential, commercial and industrial projects around the West Manggahan River Basin.
While the urban poor communities do not have the necessary infrastructure support like proper drainage, sewerage, and road systems, these have not prevented the continuing population and commercial expansion in the area. Thus, flooding in the area has greatly increased, especially near the Napindan
Channel and Laguna de Bay. Classified as wetlands, these are not really suitable for habitation nor for commercial-industrial use. But these have not deterred building and land development activities because of the increasing demand from the nearby cities of Taguig and Makati. Land developers just fill up the marshy areas and raise the building height of ground floors to the detriment of those who do not have resources to do so. This same pattern can also be observed in the Pasig-Markina river system where roads are being constructed along river sides; government buildings and services (day care, sports center, local barangay offices) continue to be expanded, alongside livelihood spaces (watercress/taro gardens) of informal settlers.
Local officials assert that one major cause of flooding is the continuous building of temporary structures in already congested, informal settlements alongside formal residential subdivisions and commercial establishments located in/near danger zones. But this has not lead them to regulate these activities by controlling approval of building permits. Meanwhile respondents reported that land filling activities of middle/upper-class real estate development have increased the flooding and environmental damage as traditional waterways have disappeared with these activities. Upgrading and raising the height of road system have also worsened the flooding and living conditions of the informal settlers in these areas. Informal housing built against dike walls, along creeks, rivers, tributaries, and swampy areas abound in this part of the metropolis. Slum lords, taking advantage of the expanding rental markets and the lack of regulation by local officials, further the risks faced by those residing in nearby factories of Pasig, Marikina, Taguig, and the fish port in Navotas City. Heightening the risk exposure of these households are inadequate services like water, electricity, health and substandard roads, drainage, and sewage systems (Porio 2011).
Figure 4. Flood Risk Map of Barangay Tanza, Navotas City: Water Bodies, Informal Settlements and
Relocation Area
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Part II
Socio-economic characteristics, Flood Impacts and Adaptation Responses 2
Both the 2008 pre-Ondoy and 2011 post-Ondoy surveys (see Table_ below) showed comparable household characteristics in terms of age, civil status, education and income levels, except that some communities in the KAMANAVA and Manggahan flood basins had much lower household incomes.
These communities had higher number of respondents who were old, widowed/separated, no income and dependent on the relatives’ food support and more significantly, they also lived in environmentally degraded communities. Their settlements remain very vulnerable because of dilapidated housing
2 Based on the 2008 household survey conducted in the three flood basins and the 2011 household and commercial-industrial survey conducted in one basin, the Marikina-Pasig flood basin that was worst hit by the Ondoy floods.
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structures on waterlines clogged with trash alongside faulty drainage systems in already water-logged environments.
Table 1.Summary of 2008 and 2011 Surveys Socio-Economic Characteristics of
Respondents/Households
Characteristics
R’s Median Age
R’s Gender
2008 Survey
42 years old
86% female
43 years old
73% female
2011 Survey 2
R’s Civil Status Legally Married: 61%
Live-In/Cohabitation: 20%
Widowed/Separated/Single:
18%
8.5 years
-
10 years R’s Mean Years of
Schooling
Mean HH Size
Monthly HH
Income
Mean No. of
Children
6
Median: P 8,000.00
Mean: P10,000
4
Eco. Dependency 2:5
5.5
Mean: P 41,776.14
Median: P 16,000.00
3
1:3
Household Head
Occupation Profile
Retired/Unemployed: 30%
Professionals/Skilled: 34%
Trading/Marketing/OFW: 35%
Housing Materials Bamboo and Tarp: 3.7%
Retired/Unemployed: 18%
Professionals/Skilled: 52%
Trading/Business: 25%; Others: 5%
Second Hand Scrap/Scrap Materials:
Wood and GI sheets: 61.3%
Cement/tiles, Wood, and GI:
29%
Wood and GI Sheets: 63%
35%
1 Pre-Ondoy Marikina, Pasig, KAMANAVA, and Taguig
Cement/tiles, Wood and GI Sheets: 8%
2 Post-Ondoy survey in the hardest hit cities of Marikina and Pasig
The housing materials of the respondents from Marikina-Pasig flood basin seem to reflect their socio-economic stratification. Those using second hand/scrap materials; Wood and GI sheets; and cement/tiles seem to reflect the low-income, lower-upper middle and upper class status of their households, respectively. Those in the Marikina-Pasig flood basin had incomes double the poverty income threshold for Metro Manila (P9,000/month for a family of five). The characteristics are consistent with the assessment of the Asian Development Bank that more than 30 percent of Metro
Manila’s population lives in informal settlements, suffer from insecure land tenure, lack adequate health and educational facilities, and unable to access capital, credit or social safety nets. Their social vulnerability are highlighted by their makeshift housing, unsafe water, poor sanitation, crime, fire and sudden flooding (ADB 2009).
Housing adaptation among the poor did not seem to progress much after the Ondoy floods in
Pasig City because more than half of them still had single detached homes, with one floor and made of weak materials. But Marikina City residents seem to have adapted more to another possibility of extreme flooding because half of their homes had two floors or more compared to less than half before the Ondoy floods. In general, most of them do not regularly maintain their homes and only do the
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needed occasional repairs. Thus, the culture of safety and preparedness is not very developed among the residents, despite their having experienced a major “delubyo” 3 (the local term they used for the extreme
Ondoy floods which they likened to Noah’s biblical floods). A bit of an exception is the one-third of
Marikina City respondents who reconstructed their homes with strong materials and intentionally raised their floors and/or added a second or third floor. In part, this is because these households have the capacity to make these improvements. Respondents from the lower-income households expressed that they have wanted to adjust their houses as well but they did not have resources to do so. Their priority was to bring food to the table for their families.
That there were more multiple storey housing in Marikina City could also be the effect of post-
Ondoy rehabilitation drive by the government. After Ondoy’s devastation, the Marikina Local
Government unit (LGU) strongly urged residents to leave the ground floor open so waters could freely flow through their homes and use the upper floor(s) for habitation. In fact, this has been encoded into the new city building code but understandably resistance to this provision has been registered by urban poor communities and commercial-industrial sectors along the Marikina River.
In general, respondents encountered these flood-related impacts: 1) shortage of transport, fuel, food and water supplies, 2) disruption of electricity, water distribution, and communication services, 3) piled garbage and mud clogging the drainage system, 4) sickness, 5) rise in price of commodities, 6) damage to their homes, and 7) children unable to go to school while their parents could not report for work. Schools were closed for almost a month after the Ondoy floods because either these were used as evacuation centers or were heavily damaged. Most factories in the flooded areas also closed and/or relocated to other places outside the metropolis, resulting in enormous loss of work/income for the residents. But the highest disruption of schooling, services and livelihood activities occurred among the informal settlements in degraded environments along the Marikina-Pasig River.
Flood Impacts: Damages to Home/Property, Losses and Absences from School and Work
Majority of the respondents suffered highly from the 2009 Ondoy floods compared to their minimal losses incurred during the 2011 Pedring floods, rainfall was not heavy in the latter. During
Ondoy, flood waters reached an average of 20 ft., destroying homes, factories and appliances. Because
Marikina is located in the “bottom” of the Marikina-Pasig flood basin, three-fourths of their dwelling structures were fully or partially damaged while only one-third of Pasig residents suffered the same fate.
Majority of the repairs and reconstruction were concentrated on adding and repairing/repainting the floors, walls, and roofing of their homes while a small number constructed a new home, fixed their plumbing, drainage system and toilets. The length of time needed to repair or reconstruct their houses was dependent on the extent of the damage and the availability of resources.
The disparity is due to the fact that Marikina City residents experienced more extreme flooding because of their location at the bottom of the flood basin while those from Pasig City is further down the river system. Moreover, there were more residential subdivisions belonging to upper/middle-income
3 Delubyo, local term used for the extreme flooding akin to Noah’s biblical floods.
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households hit by the floods in Marikina City while in Pasig City the floods devastated mostly low and middle-income households. This reinforce our argument that environmental location and level of degradation of settlements intensifies flood vulnerability.
The relationship between ecological-environmental degradation and flood impacts can be seen in the subsample analysis below. Even among the poorest of the poor or those households with incomes below the poverty line, there is an association between the level of ecological-environmental degradation of their dwelling places and the number of days their homes were flooded and damaged and the adequacy of services to these places. More importantly, the more environmentally and economically depressed were the dwelling places of the very poor, more number of households were represented by women. It is not clear here whether the higher levels of damage and impoverishment of these women-represented households (i.e., they were the ones who consented to being interviewed) settled in these places because these were accessible and affordable to them and overtime their constant suffering from flood losses have lead to their families spiraling down in terms of economic losses and environmental degradation.
Table 2. Ecological-Environmental Characteristics, Flood-Related Damage and Gender Among
Households with Income Below Poverty Line (P10,000 and below/about US$1.5 dollar/day) During and After the Ondoy Floods in 2009
Eco-Environmental Characteristics of Dwelling Place
No. Days
Flooded
Housing
Fully
Damaged
Access to Water & Other
Services (electricity, waste collection, footpaths)
Gender of
HH
Respondent
Relatively higher elevation from the river/relatively dry
Medium elevation,
Slightly degraded and wet
Highly degraded/Depressed, muddy, heavily silted wetlands or swampy areas
1 (13%) 13 %
10.5
(39%)
25 (47%)
39%
47%
Slightly inadequate
Mildly inadequate
Highly inadequate
13 %
37%
49%
N=55 households (HH)
As shown in the table below, flood impacts vary by sector (commercial-industrial or households) and by the city or communities’ environmental location in the river system. Because Marikina is located in the headwaters of the river system compared to the downstream location of Pasig City, the former suffered more heavily, especially in interruption of basic services and amount spent on repairs. While, those from the commercial-industrial sector had heavier losses, they were able to repair their building damages because they had insurance coverage while the poor households had hardly any. More importantly, about 20 percent of the commercial-industrial establishments just relocated their businesses to less flood-prone areas, a strategy that the urban poor households could not afford. Thus, the intersections of the sectoral and environmental locations of people and economic activities account for variability and intensity of flood impacts.
Table 3. Summary of Flood Losses, Responses/Adaptations by Sector and Environmental Location
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Commercial-Industrial
Establishments
Ave. Damage to buildings:
Median (P140,000); Mean (P1.3 million)
Ave. Income Loss: Median
(P50,000); Mean (P192,142)
Ave. spent on repairs: Median
(P50,000); Mean (P319, 434)
Relocated after floods: 20 %
Regularly maintain buildings: 51
%
Materials : concrete, brick, metal concrete with steel, blocks, bricks, wood and metal
N=100
Urban Poor Households
(Marikina City-Upstream)
Ave. income loss:P21,000
Ave. spent on repairs:
P141,000
No electricity: 30 days
Ave. no. of workdays lost:
30 days
Housing Adaptation: Added floors
Materials : Scrap, wood, hollow blocks, GI sheets
N= 100
Urban Poor Households
(Pasig City--Downstream)
Ave. income loss: P15,000
Ave. spent on repairs:
P20,000
No electricity: 14 days
Ave. no. of workdays lost: 10 days
Housing adaptation: strengthened foundation
Materials: Scrap, wood, hollow blocks, GI sheets
N=100
Children’s schooling also suffered with about 70 percent of the households unable to send their children to school in 2009. In terms of income loss, the respondents averaged losing P21,000 per household (average take home pay of public school teacher then was P10,000) with some reaching
P500,000 income loss due to Ondoy floods in 2009 compared to P20,000 during the Pedring floods in
2011.
The costs of basic services before, during, and post-Ondoy floods between male-headed and female-headed households indicate that the latter has higher vulnerability to flood impacts as indicated by their higher costs incurred (see Tables 3-6 below). The number of absences from school and/or workdays lost rose a 100 percent for men – headed while for women-headed households, it was slightly higher. But their average income losses rose to 300 hundred percent for male-headed households but a bit lesser (200 percent) for women-headed households. This is perhaps due to the longer closure of factory-based work for males while home-based work for females opened earlier than the former. But the worst is the increase in their expenditure for medicines, sanitation, and health care which rose a thousand percent during the Ondoy floods, especially for women-headed households. Comparing male and female-headed households show that women bear a heavier burden in times of disasters in terms of taking care of the sick and cleaning their homes (Porio 2013).
Table 4. Summary of Costs/Losses of Urban Poor Households (HH) by Gender Due to Floods from Tropical
Storm Ondoy
Pre-Ondoy
Menheaded
Womenheaded
Ondoy Period
Menheaded
Womenheaded
Post-Ondoy
Menheaded
Womenheaded
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No. of school absences
No. of work days lost from sickness
No. of work days lost
Ave. income loss
HH
6
5
HH
8
7
HH
14
9
HH
17
10
HH
6
5
HH
7
8
6 8 20 22 6 9
P1,715 P3,250 P7,250 P6,450 P2,750 P3,400
Ave. expenses on medicines P300 P400
Ave. losses (appliances, etc.)
Ave. monthly income P6,250 P5,000 -
P3,200 P3,000 P500 P450
P25,000 P20,000
- P6,500 P4,200
Source: Porio (2013)
Table 5. Percent Increase/Decrease of Costs/Losses Between Men- and Women-headed Households Due to
Floods from Tropical Storm Ondoy
Pre-Ondoy Ondoy Period Post-Ondoy
No. of school absences
Work days lost from sickness
No. of work days lost
Ave. income loss
Menheaded
HH
Ave. expenses on medicines
Ave. monthly income
Source: Porio (2013)
Ave. losses (appliances, etc.) -
Womenheaded
HH
33%
40%
33%
90%
Menheaded
HH
33%
-
-20% -
-
11%
-
6%
-
20%
-
Womenheaded
HH
21%
11%
10%
Menheaded
HH
-
Womenheaded
HH
17%
60%
50%
24%
-10%
-
-35%
Adaptation Strategies to Floods/Monsoons: Family/Household Level 4
Most of the adaptations made by families and households were either physical-structural adjustments or changes in lifestyles and habits. Of the first category, quite a substantial number (about one-third) added and/or raised the floor and strengthened the foundation of their homes. They also moved the storage of goods, valuables, and irreplaceable items to a higher level so these won’t get wet or damaged
(60 percent). They also prepared ready packed clothes/toiletries and emergency supplies like flashlights, headlamps and secured emergency evacuation place with relatives/friends. Meanwhile, they also became more diligent in cleaning surrounding canals/drainage channels for garbage/debris (35 percent). They now closely monitor the weather through radio/TV and keep close watch of the early warning system installed by their local governments that alerts them to the rising water levels in the river and direct them to prepare and evacuate. A small minority (5 percent) said they just pray to God to protect them.
4 Many of these percentages do not add up to 100 percent as these are multiple responses.
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Flood preparation and insurance was largely absent among the Ondoy flood victims. An overwhelming 83 percent had no form of insurance whatsoever while a small minority (17 percent) had purchased life, property and medical insurance as the latter were employed in the formal sector and/or came from upper-income groups. But only 9 percent of the 17 percent were able to make insurance claims. Most of them could not file claims because damages due to the Ondoy floods belong to the category of “fortuitous events” or “acts of God” and not covered by their insurance.
During and after the floods, the following measures were taken by the barangay/city government to reduce the impact of flooding in their communities: 1) evacuation of residents from informal settlements along the rivers, creeks and other danger areas, 2) clearing and rebuilding of roads and bridges, 3) rebuilding of the water supply network, 4) clearing and rebuilding of water channel and drainage networks (including rip-rapping of river/creek walls and elevating water dikes), 5)pumping flood waters out of the area, 6) relocation/resettlement of affected residents, 7) acquisition of equipment/supplies necessary during calamities (e.g., rubber boats, fire trucks), 8) defogging of mosquito infested areas, especially those with high incidence of dengue cases, and 9) capability building programs (training/seminars, information campaigns/dissemination) for community groups.
In short, the immediate, medium and long-term responses/interventions of the city/local government can be summarized into: 1) evacuation, 2) restoration of basic services and 3) rebuilding of infrastructural support. Majority of the respondents (65 percent) feel satisfied with the interventions provided by the national/local government agencies. A small number (35 percent) wished the government could provide better services such as water, sewage and sanitation but most of all sustainable livelihood and land/housing for those displaced by the floods. Thus, when asked who is responsible for preventing and responding to hazards and calamities, an overwhelming majority (70 percent) pointed to the barangay/city LGU as the one responsible while others identified the family (17 percent), civil society (8 percent) and the private sector (5 percent) as being responsible.
Glaringly absent in the above interventions/responses of the city governments is a regular systematic training and capability program for the staff of the agencies responsible for disaster risk reduction and, more importantly, for the vulnerable, flood-prone communities and residents. When asked whether they knew of the existence of their own barangay and/or city disaster risk reduction and management council
(DRRMC), only 25 percent were aware but only 7 percent knew of their location in the barangay and/or city hall. Thus, only 5 percent and 2 percent were aware of the emergency numbers and website of the
DRRMC, respectively; only 2 percent had contacted their emergency numbers to ask for information about typhoons/floods or assistance. Surprisingly, majority of them (86 percent) have heard of climate change and have accepted it as part of environmental change. In fact, when asked how they understand the phenomenon, majority were able to enumerate the following indications: ozone depletion, sea level rise, air pollution, heavy rains/floods, droughts, water shortage, melting of glaciers and rapid/intense weather changes. But they were not agreed on the causes of climate change as they gave varying responses like: environmental pollution (50 percent), increasing population (36 percent), and God’s wrath/mankind’s sins (14 percent). But on the whole, they acknowledge that the major causal forces of
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climate change are: people’s lifestyles (68 percent) as mainly responsible, followed by inaction or negative actions of government (20 percent), industries (10 percent), and God (2) percent).
When asked what the government should do to prevent or mitigate the effects of climate change, the respondents suggested the following: 1) stricter norms for pollution reduction, 2) decrease vehicles and enhance public transport, 3) effective implementation of regulations/laws, 4) eradicate factories and other polluting industries, and 5) rehabilitate environment like planting trees. When the community residents were asked what they can do as individuals to help their government tackle the effects of climate change, 50 percent said they could follow environment waste management policies (reduce, reuse, recycle), observe government laws and ordinance (25 percent) and the remainder (25 percent) said people should plant trees and conserve energy. When asked how the city or barangay’s disaster risk reduction and management council (DRRMC)can serve them more efficiently on very few (less than 10 percent) could suggest that DRRMC monitor flooding more effectively. This is quite logical because as indicated earlier only a quarter (25 percent) were aware of the DRRMC’s existence.
Communicating flood risk to the people seem to be institutionalized only in Marikina City through their established early warning system, indicated by the people’s recognition of the siren signals (e.g., first siren is preparation for evacuation, with water level at 14 meters) according to the water level in the
Marikina bridge (e.g., third siren is evacuation, water is reaching the critical level of 16 meters).
Meanwhile, Pasig City has also installed an early warning system communicated through the city’s disaster risk reduction management council (chaired by the mayor) and to the barangay/community
DRRM counterpart bodies (chaired by the barangay captain). But communicating flood risk to the people and making them move accordingly constitute the most challenging task for LGUs as most residents do not want to leave their homes because of theft/loss of belongings. They’d rather climb up to the ceilings/roofs of their houses than move. To the emergency rescuers, this seem like an irrational behavior but in the urban poor’s calculation, he might lose a lot more if he allows himself to be rescued and be moved to safer grounds like an evacuation center.
The above pattern of responses among the poor show that no matter how developed is the government’s early warning system to ensure their safety, people will not move if their home security is not assured.
Flood Responses and Adaptive Strategies of Commercial-Industrial Establishments
Most business and commercial establishments in this study faced high exposure and vulnerability to flooding and other climate-related risks. Majority of them only had one storey buildings which were mostly submerged at the height of Ondoy floods; thus, they incurred high damages to their buildings/equipment as well their repair and replacement. But their insurance allowed them to cover for these losses and recover faster. This also allowed majority of them to rehabilitate and/or move their business operations to places outside of the Pasig-Marikina Flood Basin, where environmental security was higher. But these options are not available to the urban poor dwellers in these environmentally vulnerable places. For example, Pure Foods, a huge food processing company located by the Marikina
River transferred their manufacturing to Laguna, a province nearby the national capital region while others moved to higher ground. This was a strategy adapted by large commercial and industrial
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establishments in the city like the conglomerate, Fortune Tobacco. For those who remained or did not relocate, they just strengthened their buildings or build upper floors where they conduct their business.
Meanwhile in Pasig, most of the factories were compelled by the City Environment Office (CENRO) to follow safety standards. Majority of them who refused to follow the safety standards imposed by the city so they moved to other cities and municipalities in Metro Manila or nearby provinces who were not so strict in imposing environmental laws. This poses problems when considered at the macro level, because local government units (LGUs), in order to attract business often relax the compliance standards that they impose on business/commercial establishments.
The above responses illustrate the private sector’s higher capacity to recover because of their access to economic resources and political strength to avoid the regulatory arm of the government or take advantage of its fiscal weakness.
Institutional and Regulatory Responses: Physical, Political-Economic and Cultural
In general, respondents in the study blamed the following activities for the extreme floods: illegal logging, mining, quarrying in the upstream Marikina watershed and the consequent siltation, clogging, of the river systems and minor water channels. The increasing pollution and overfishing of
Laguna Lake overfishing (manifested in the overpopulation of fish cages, most of them cemented, thus obstructing water flow) also compromised the draining capacity of the lake of the volume of dumped water from the uplands like the Marikina watershed, the Wawa Dam, and the La Mesa Dam.
The geo-physical factors, environmental degradation, commercial and industrial activities that, in part, caused the floods and related disasters have also been intensified by the uncontrolled real estate development in the uplands of Marikina (e.g., Antipolo, Montalban, Binangonan, Taytay, etc.). This is further compromised by the settling of large populations of informal settlements in danger zones, i.e., along river lines, hills, slopes, and ravines prone to landslides. Most of the settlements here have weak or temporary housing, low infrastructural support, and low access to basic services.
Learning from the disastrous floods in 2009 and 2011, several policies like the 2010 National
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act and the 2011 National Framework Strategy on Climate
Change have been enacted. One of the principal outcomes of the law has been the crafting of local risk reduction and management plans at the barangay (community), city, and provincial levels seem to provide a very promising scenario. Because plans are designed locally and elevated to the city level, its design strategies are deemed more contextually-driven, appropriate, responsive and effective for local needs. But all these expected outcomes remain at the policy level and need a large outlay of resources and political will to achieve it.
Concluding Comments
In highly degraded urban environments, responding to the environmental and human security needs of residents during and after floods become very challenging for local-national governments because of the necessary relief and post-rehabilitation demands. Because Metro Manila’s coasts and
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riverlines are congested with urban poor communities while heavily used by commercial-business establishments, their risks to floods and disasters are heightened. Vulnerability and adaptation to floods by marginal populations and commercial-industrial establishments were highly correlated with the ecological-environmental vulnerability of their places/spaces of abode and the groups’ level of social vulnerability. This is seen in the levels of flood damages or losses and patterns of adaptive responses among the marginal populations, commercial-industrial establishments and that of local governments.
While both marginal and better-off households and commercial-industrial establishments along the riverlines and coastlines suffered greatly from flood-related damages and losses, the latter were able to recover faster because of their higher access to political-economic resources like avoiding compliance of the new building codes enacted after the floods or relocating to other cities with lax environmental standards.
Previous works (e.g., Adger 2003, Berkes, F. et al. 2001, Birkmann 2009) have argued, in general, that social vulnerability can vary according to their environment and socio-economic and political locations of human groups. In my previous analysis (Porio 2011), I have argued that the ecological-environmental vulnerability of urban poor communities (e.g., located in wetlands, swampy, muddy, or congested places without adequate services) interacts with their social vulnerability characteristics (e.g., low incomes, gender, migrant status) and heightens the effects of climate changerelated impacts on the poor (Porio 2011). In this paper, I advanced further this argument by showing that the interaction of place-based vulnerabilities and sector-specific vulnerabilities can be seen in the variability of flood losses/damages among and within urban poor communities/residents and commercial-industrial establishments, even though they are located along the same river lines. Thus, those who were living in very poor and degraded areas of the urban poor community also suffered the greatest damage but with the least capacity to rehabilitate their homes and livelihood bases. This can also be seen in post-rehabilitation responses. Urban poor residents exhorted by their local governments to relocate to less flood-prone areas, just returned to the same inundated/eroded areas and rebuilt their damaged homes while those who have more means added floors to their homes. Meanwhile, owners of commercial-industrial establishments, most of whom have insurance on their properties just decided to relocate to less flood prone areas and those who remained strengthened their buildings and built additional floors to avoid flood waters.
The environmental and human security challenges faced by marginal communities and urban governance actors and institutions demands a radical recasting of land use, building and investment policies, among others. Previous studies did not adequately recognize the significance of the intersections of environmental and human security issues by identifying place-based and sector-specific flood vulnerabilities and adaptive responses. Knowing how pre-existing vulnerability (e.g., impoverished conditions and tenurial insecurity) of particular socio-economic and political groups is heightened by the environmental vulnerabilities of their place can lead to more effective and efficient climate adaptation. Under climate change conditions, these approaches assume paramount importance if cities and local governments have to pursue sustainable development goals for both their marginal and better-off populations.
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