Engaging Isolated Communities in Disaster Preparation and Communication in the Philippines

This book provides an account of how local government units in the Philippines engage marginalized and geographically isolated communities in taking part in pre-disaster communication efforts. The book focuses on communities classified by the government as Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) on the culturally rich island of Mindanao, Philippines. The focus is centered on GIDA communities because they are assumed to receive less information and help in relation to their circumstances. This book accounts for the disaster preparedness communicative conditions of people living in GIDAS and identifies synergies and tensions in the engagement process. As such, specific branches of enquiry focus on how information-seeking and sharing experiences of GIDA communities inform the current practice of community engagement. In taking this research approach, this book deliberately gives voice to these marginalized and often silenced communities. In general, the study examines otherpossibilities (or variables) in the pre-disaster risk communication process that truly engage geographically isolated and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities in disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM). Considering the existing methodologies used to engage local communities in DRRM, this book looks at ways in which bottom-up and top-down approaches could be melded together for a transformational level of engagement in these communities. The novelty of addressing issues concerning geographically isolated communities in a developing country is a research track worthy of being investigated by academics. The book is of interest to students and in development communication and disaster risk communication as well as community engagement practitioners specializing in DRRM. The framework proposed in this book for engaging isolated communities is helpful to practitioners in designing, planning, and implementing pre-disaster communication and community engagement programs.

Auteur

Dennis John F. Sumaylo is a faculty member of the BA Communication and Media Arts program under the Department of Humanities, University of the Philippines Mindanao. He finished his PhD in Communication Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. His research interest is in disaster risk communication with focus on engaging communities living in spatial isolation experiencing socio-economic inequalities. He believes that resiliency in facing natural calamities should not be limited to those who have access to information. By examining experiences of isolated communities, he hopes to design multimodal learning tools that can be used for pre-disaster communication efforts and building community resiliency. His interest extends into photography and auditory art. His last participatory multi-sensorial exhibition explored the use of images, sound, and other cues to recreate the emotions experienced in the streets of Davao City, Philippines. He hoped that these cues will trigger people's sense of storytelling, even their street behaviour, in an enclosed art exhibition setting.