This study examines the vulnerability, adaptation, and resilience of urban poor households living in the riverine communities of the three flood prone areas in Metro Manila, namely, (1) Pasig-Marikina River basin, (2) West Mangahan, and (3) the KAMANAVA area (Kalookan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela). Based on a survey of 300 urban poor households in 14 communities located in these flood basins, the study found that the environmental-ecological vulnerability of the low-lying flood prone areas interacts strongly with the social vulnerability of urban poor households, highlighting the effects of climate related changes (sea level rise, increased typhoons, intensity of monsoon rains, floods and tidal/storm surges) on this vulnerable population.

Most of the households have low-incomes, live in slum/squatter settlements and do not have adequate access to potable water, electricity, health, sewage and sanitation facilities. About two-thirds of them suffered losses (e.g., income, work, health/sickness, household appliances/things, housing damage) from typhoons, floods, and tidal/storm surges but only a small portion of them obtained help from formal institutions (e.g., local government units or LGUs, charitable agencies) and informal support networks (relatives/neighbors/friends). Of these, a third of these households appeared more vulnerable and consistently incurred higher losses (e.g., income and workdays) and intense inconveniences (e.g., water source buried by floods, toilets blocked and overflowed with wastes/large worms to their floors) compared to their neighbors.

Both urban poor households and their local governments have formulated adaptation strategies in response to the increasing effects of climate change. Few of the local governments built river barriers, improved their drainage systems, installed water diversion techniques (e.g., “bombastic”) and disaster warning systems and increased the capacity of their officials to assist during evacuations. Meanwhile, some urban poor households have adapted to a “water-based lifestyle” (e.g., raising the floors/increasing the number of floors of their homes, building makeshift bridges among households in swampy areas, building Styrofoam boats for transport, etc.). But on the whole, both the urban poor residents and the formal institutions (LGUs, national agencies) need resources and capability building to increase their capacity to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Earlier works measuring social vulnerability to flooding in cities focused mainly on biophysical, socio-demographic, or structural components of the hazard. Most of them are either: general, focusing on the city as a whole or specific, focusing on a particular district or community. These studies highlight the need to expand the concept of social vulnerability by examining the socio-economic and political dimensions of urban vulnerability at both city and community levels through quantitative methodologies. This paper argues that the socioeconomic and political components of urban vulnerability tend to interact with the biophysical dimensions of flooding and tend to magnify/intensify its effects on the city and its residents, especially the poor residing along river lines. Using principal component analysis (PCA), this study measured the social vulnerability index of 17 Metro Manila cities/municipality based on the 2010 census data and a sample of flood prone communities drawn from the three flood basins of the metropolis. Results show that the components of social vulnerability vary across the city, barangay, and household levels, highlighting the multidimensionality and heterogeneity of social vulnerability across different local contexts. The expanded analysis also revealed that social capital and access to basic services are significant components of social vulnerability and adaptive capacities at the household level.

Keywords: social vulnerability, principal component analysis, climate change adaptation, riverine communities, urban development

The Philippines is highly vulnerable to drought, resulting in severe impacts on crop productivity, water availability, and food security. This chapter explores water security in the country by examining the effects of drought on risk governance and its social impacts on the 1997–1998 and 2015–2016 El Niño episodes in Metro Manila, Iloilo City, and Cebu City. During these periods, widespread dryness occurred in both urban and rural areas, as rainfall was reduced by more than 50%. This decrease in rainfall affects most especially the urban poor as they experience acutely the dwindling supply of potable water, increasing costs of water, and compromised access to hygiene and sanitation services. Consequently, droughts have become a major concern for risk governance in major urban centers. Science-informed and contextually driven local climate adaptation plans (LCAP) seem to be the most appropriate response to mitigate and adapt to the effects of drought brought about by El Niño.

Keywords: Drought · El Niño · Water security · Water governance
Risk governance