AUTHOR/S: Lourdes R. Simpol, Nelson H. Enano, Leah H. Vidal
DATE COMPLETED:
KEYWORDS: Constraint logic programming, Logic programming, Group formation problem, Collaborative activities
ABSTRACT
Super Typhoon Pablo (international name: Bopha) has brought about widespread human, material, economic and environmental losses in the provinces of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley (Davao Region – Region XI) and provinces of Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur (Caraga Region – Region XIII) (Figure 1). As the regions transition from Relief and Reponse to Recovery and Reconstruction, the challenges is to build back better, safer, and resilient post-Pablo communities, economies, and environments.
Before the onslaught of Super Typhoon Pablo, Eastern Mindanao had already been vulnerable in different ways.
- Food insecurity in Eastern Mindanao (Figure 1) is between the range: medium to high level (FAO and WFP 2013).
- Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley have acute (wasting) and chronic (stunting) malnutrition rate that are at or above the national average (DOST 2011).
- Davao Oriental and Agusan del Sur are two of the poorest provinces in the Philippines (NSCB 2009).
- The affected regions have a staggering number of children engaged in hazardous labor with 114,000 children in Region XI and 90,000 in Region XIII (PNSO and ILO 2011).
Eastern Mindanao-dubbed the “timber and mining corridor of the Philippines” – is environmentally vulnerable as well. Logging and mining operations constitute the largest threats to the region’s biodiversity (CIP 2013). Most of Eastern Mindanao’s remaining rainforest is currently under logging concessions, leading to loss of forest cover and consequent soil erosion and sedimentation of rivers (CIP 2013).
The adverse impacts of Typhoon Pablo (or any hazard for that matter) can be managed, reduced, and sometimes prevented by taking appropriate actions to decrease people’s exposure to hazards, reduce susceptibility to hazard impacts and, conversely, understand and increase peoples’ capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist, and recover from these impacts (Turnbull et al. 2013). Thus, the challenge in the recovery and reconstruction process in Eastern Mindanao is to enable communities, local government units (LGUs), and the regional ecosystem to become more resilient to future natural hazards, such as typhoons and drought, that are expected to increase in frequency and strength due to climate change (Box 1). The recovery and reconstruction processes provide an opportunity to strengthen the capacity of communities and government to cope with the impacts of disaster while reducing their vulnerability to future hazards and shocks (Turnbull et al. 2013).
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