Contemporary Philippine
Arts from the Regions
VULNERABILITIES OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS EXPOSED
TO HAZARDS
Direction: Classify the following words/phrase according
to the given category below. Write your answer on a
separate sheet of paper.
If you are going to assign labels or headings for each category, what could it be?
Category 1 ______________________________________
Category 2 ______________________________________
Category 3 ______________________________________
Direction: Read the situation below. The complete the task that follows.
You have got a rice store in your home. According to the news, Typhoon Ondoy will bring heavy
rain to almost every part of Southern Luzon, including your location. At first, the rain seemed
normal, but it's just not going to stop. There are fewer customers right now. With this rain, there
may not be any more customers soon. It might flood in a bit, but if you close the store, you 're
not going to be able to feed your three children. So, you've decided not to close the store.
There's news from your neighbors that your residence is already overflowing, and in a few
minutes your store and the rest of the community will be flooded. Your family has been
instructed by barangay officials to evacuate the public elementary school in the vicinity of School.
Your family has been instructed by the Barangay officials to evacuate to a public elementary
school located in your municipality.
Vulnerabilities of different elements are due to its
exposure to particular and specific hazard.
Physical vulnerability includes population density levels, place of a settlement, the site design,
and materials used for infrastructure and housing. When hazardous events occur, normally
physical elements are severely damaged. For example, UP Visayas buildings were totally
destroyed during the super typhoon Yolanda in 2008 leaving the structure totally damaged.
Another example is the decreased in population density like what happened in Baguio during the
1990 earthquake in North Luzon when a lot of people were injured and died.
Vulnerabilities of different elements are due to its
exposure to particular and specific hazard.
Social vulnerability happens due to inability of people, organization, and societies to prevent
severe effects from hazards because of the expected behavior in social interactions, institutions,
and system of cultural values. For example, during typhoon the line of communications were cut
off when cell sites shutdown or disruption of transport system due to inability of small vehicles to
pass through the flooded areas or unpassable roads and bridges. With some difficulties in the
delivery of services such as relief goods and medicines, a lot of problems occurred like shortage
of food and spread of infectious diseases. Therefore, when social elements were exposed to
hazard, these may lead to disruption of normal processes and activities in the community.
Vulnerabilities of different elements are due to its
exposure to particular and specific hazard.
Level of economic vulnerability is based on the economic status of individuals, communities, and
nations. The poorer the country, the more vulnerable to disasters because they lack the funds or
budgets to build sturdy structures and put other engineering measures in place which protect
them from being affected by disasters. So, we can say that Philippines is more vulnerable to an
event such as earthquake compared to Japan. Though both countries are exposed to earthquake
hazard because both are located in the Pacific ring of fire, but due to differences in economic
status, Japan is more resilient because of its ability to afford changes in architectural and
engineering designs of building and infrastructures to make them less vulnerable to earthquake.
Another example is the Covid-19 pandemic wherein the most affected are those who belong to
low income and informal workers.
Social and economic vulnerability can be combined also known as socioeconomic vulnerability.
Vulnerabilities of different elements are due to its
exposure to particular and specific hazard.
Environmental vulnerability is caused by natural resources depletion and destruction. Organisms
like humans, animals, and plants are all dependent on the environment for survival. Human
activities like deforestation, burning of fossil fuels, and kaingin affect the natural abilities of the
environment to protect itself from any natural hazard due to absence of trees which may cause
landslide and flashfloods. Sometimes the effects are irreversible.
Quantifying vulnerability is used in estimating how much mitigation and preparedness measures
will be applied. Computation is based on the previous hazard events and severity of their effects.
Vulnerability can be expressed as: 0 = lowest degree of vulnerability and 1 as the highest degree.
Vulnerability of people is the ratio of casualties or injured to the total population. Vulnerability of
buildings is expressed as a repair cost or degree of damage.
Vulnerabilities of different elements are due to its
exposure to particular and specific hazard.
Environmental vulnerability is caused by natural resources depletion and destruction. Organisms
like humans, animals, and plants are all dependent on the environment for survival. Human
activities like deforestation, burning of fossil fuels, and kaingin affect the natural abilities of the
environment to protect itself from any natural hazard due to absence of trees which may cause
landslide and flashfloods. Sometimes the effects are irreversible.
Quantifying vulnerability is used in estimating how much mitigation and preparedness measures
will be applied. Computation is based on the previous hazard events and severity of their effects.
Vulnerability can be expressed as: 0 = lowest degree of vulnerability and 1 as the highest degree.
Vulnerability of people is the ratio of casualties or injured to the total population. Vulnerability of
buildings is expressed as a repair cost or degree of damage.
Vulnerabilities of different elements are due to its
exposure to particular and specific hazard.
The Philippines has high vulnerability due to the following reasons:
• It lies in the Pacific typhoon belt and we are visited by an average of 20 typhoons every year.
• Rugged nature of the landscape makes it vulnerable to landslide, mudflows, and other disasters.
• It is an archipelagic country with many small islands where some areas are at below sea level.
• It has the longest shoreline in the world at 32,400 km making it vulnerable to storm surges.
• It is still a primary agricultural and fishing economy.
• With poor institutional and social capacity to manage, respond, and recover from natural hazard
events.
• With high level of poverty
• Aside from typhoon, it is also at risk to volcanic eruptions, quakes, and floods.
Direction: Classify the following phrases and sentences whether it
is PHYSICAL, SOCIOECONOMICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL
VULNERABILITY.
1. shutdown of telecommunication tower
2. houses built near fault lines
3. denudation of forests
4. rest houses near Boracay shoreline
5. Twenty-story building constructed on soil mainly made up of clay.
6. bridges with cracks and crevices
7. overfertilization of agricultural soil
8. Lost of job due to COVID-19 pandemic.
9. possible retrenchment of ABS CBN employees due to its shutdown
10. Destruction of coral reefs that serves as barriers against storm surge.
2. If you are in the same situation, what will be your immediate decision? Stay in the place that you
consider as your way of living or prioritize the safety of your family?
___________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. Why is it so important to determine the elements exposed to hazards in your community?
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
