A STUDY from the University of the Philippines in Mindanao (UP-Min) shows there is a need to improve the communication management on disaster response across at-risk barangays in Davao City.
The paper, written by Prof. Karen Cayamanda, aims to gather the common experiences and practices of flood-risk communities to strengthen their resilience and disaster response, as well as to develop the communication protocols of disaster risk reduction management offices (DRRMO).
In an interview with SunStar Davao on August 11, Cayamanda said the “top to bottom” system is common in disaster response communication wherein the information and materials usually come from the national offices and are distributed directly down to the barangays.
“I’m looking at how we can help in the communication area in terms of looking at risk perception of these communities. I also looked at anu-ano na ang mga communication messages na nagawa natin for these communities at ano ang kanilang appreciation at assessment dito sa communication tools na ito (at the communication messages that we’ve made for these communities and see how they assess it and how relevant it is to them),” she said.
In her paper, Cayamanda identified 63 barangays prone to flooding but studied only the top five barangays at risk which are barangays Tigatto, 76-A Bucana, Matina Pangi, Matina Crossing, and Ma-a.
These barangays showed common experiences including difficulty absorbing the communication materials coming from DRRMOs because of the language barrier in English and the technical instructions in the materials that members of the community did not understand.
Cayamanda also said people in flood-risk areas have developed adaptive mechanisms to deal with the situation, such as flood-proofing their homes and using homemade tools like painted sticks as measuring devices to monitor flooding in their area even before warnings from barangay DRRMO came.
Through this, Cayamanda said the communities built their own resistance and response to fill in the communication gaps between the barangay DRRMO and the people.
However, the professor hopes the testament of the respondents will help develop a community-based framework in disaster response that is tailored fit to the experiences of the barangays and communities.
In fact, some barangay DRRMO are slowly adapting new communications protocols. For example, other barangays started to translate their communication materials from English to local languages like Cebuano to help the people understand better.
“In this way, communities can build or discover their own adaptive mechanisms, encourage an active response, and further strengthen the community. Their efforts can complement the traditional ‘top-down’ centralized disaster risk-reduction management (DRRM) approach,” Cayamanda said in a separate statement.
Barangay Maa, particularly, also adapted other ways to teach residents proper disaster response such as through hands-on demonstrations and practical skits.
Ultimately, Cayamanda said it's important to ask the community about their experiences to hopefully bridge the communication gap between the communities and the local government units when it comes to disaster response
“Isa sa mga gusto nila is tanungin din sila minsan kasi sabi nila meron silang ma-share na hindi technical, hindi galing sa scientists or politicians. Pero sila as members of the community, they can share their experiences na pwede ma-capture (What the communities want is for their experiences to be accounted. They said it may not be technical, or they may not be scientists or politicians, but as members of the community, their experiences are also important),” she said.
Cayamanda, an associate professor of the University of the Philippines Mindanao, presented her paper on risk communication management at the 3rd International Conference on Multidisciplinary Industry and Academic Research (ICMIAR) held online on July 29 on 30, 2022.
Cayamanda’s paper earned her a “Best Presenter” award at the conference plenary session and acquires renewed relevance in the wake of recent community-level disruptions in her study area and continuing local government efforts to improve their DRRM system.
The ICMIAR conference, with the theme “Sustaining community resilience through education and research,” was organized by the Institute of Industry and Academic Research Incorporated, a registered publisher and continuing professional development provider. It also had sessions focusing on business management and accounting, education management and development studies, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and the humanities and the social sciences.
Recently, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte told barangays to consolidate similar concerns, including security and disaster response, as the local government drafts its executive-legislative agenda in the next few months.
Traditionally, the local government places a large percentage of its annual budget for disaster response as a part of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund. ICM with UP-Mindanao PR