The Case of Valenzuela City, Metro Manila
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INSIDE STORIES on climate compatible development March 2015 Key messages Building resilience to climate ● Partnerships and networking play key roles in building resilience by change locally: The case of helping to sustain programmes and facilitate learning exchanges Valenzuela City, Metro Manila among stakeholders, thus providing room for improvement Valenzuela City is one of the 16 cities that make up ‘Metro Manila’, or the and innovation. National Capital Region. Of the 144 cities in the Philippines, Valenzuela City is the 13th most populous, with approximately 570,000 inhabitants.1 ● Climate- and ecosystem-smart Located 14 km north of Manila, it is a highly urbanised and affluent disaster risk reduction approaches industrial and residential suburb situated in a low-lying area and bordered are feasible at the city level, but by three interconnecting rivers: the Tullahan, the Polo and the Meycauayan. integrating them into development The confluence of these rivers makes Valenzuela vulnerable to flooding plans requires time and resources, during high tides and also to flash floods, which occur regularly during as well as solid commitment the rainy season. During periods of heavy rainfall and high tides, stagnant from local chief executives and water from floods can sometimes stay in the area for up to 4 weeks due to community members. insufficient drainage, improper solid waste disposal and simply too much ● Existing institutional mechanisms water. People are often stranded inside their homes with limited food and such as national laws and local water supply, and are exposed to water-borne diseases such as dengue and ordinances can help push the leptospirosis, as well as coughs and colds. Businesses and entrepeneurs, resilience agenda forward. such as street vendors, furniture makers, small-scale autorepair shops ● Integrating climate science and fish-food processors must watch as the means of their livelihoods and information along different are submerged under water. Office workers can also suffer from a lack of timescales in different disaster income if they are unable to go to work due to flooding. risk reduction approaches is an effective entry point to urban Higher flood waters began to manifest have resulted in lower production and resilience. in Valenzuela City in the early fewer varieties of vegetables and palay 1980s.2 Areas that had not normally (rice); and less fishing in the area of the ● However, local governments Front cover photo: Romeo Ranoco/Reuters/Corbis | Editing, design and layout: Green Ink (www.greenink.co.uk) experienced flooding events became Northern Luzon, affecting both people’s should not look at the concepts regularly inundated. Land use has been diet and economy, not only in Valenzuela of climate change adaptation, greatly influenced by the changing but also nearby cities and provinces of ecosystem management and rainfall patterns. Early on, farmland was Bulacan. For instance, people in these restoration, and disaster risk converted into fishponds, as stagnant areas used to produce high quality reduction in isolation but consider flood water continued to form pools shrimp, prawns, crabs and fish varieties them systematically and plan after each rainy season, especially in like talakitok, ayungin and sapsap. They holistic interventions. areas near the rivers. However, by the would enjoy eating crabs and shrimps, 1990s the ponds failed to yield enough which were freely available, but, due to Authors: fish and were replaced with residential the land use changes, these foods are Maple Patrocina Lea C. Mateo, Philippine subdivisions.3 These land-use changes now prohibitively expensive. Red Cross – Valenzuela City Chapter; Donna Mitzi Lagdameo, Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre Because of these impacts, Valenzuela 4. transform themselves to address Raising awareness and a sense City was chosen in 2011 as one of five the underlying factors and the root of ownership of the problem project areas under the Philippines causes of risk. Through synchronised activities – which component of the Partners for included integrated risk assessments, Resilience (PfR) programme. PfR is a These building blocks are implemented training sessions and planning collaboration of five Netherlands-based at the household, community and processes – stakeholders learned the organisations (CARE Netherlands, landscape levels, and are underpinned various factors that put them at risk Cordaid, the Netherlands Red Cross, by eight key principles: from climate change-related impacts the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate 1. working on different timescales and disasters. Participants included Centre and Wetlands International), 2. recognising geographical scales the Local Government Unit (LGU) and along with 30 civil society partners in 3. strengthening institutional resilience active groups such as 4Ps (Pantawid the global South. By integrating climate 4. integrating disciplines Pampamilyang Pilipino Program), change adaptation and ecosystem 5. promoting community self-manage- Batang Rex (teenagers), Win Youth management and restoration into ment Club (teenagers), Win Mothers disaster risk reduction, the programme 6. stimulating learning Club, religious groups (Catholic and aims to build resilient communities. 7. focusing on livelihoods Born Again) and pedicab drivers’ First aid training, basic life support, 8. forming partnerships. associations. To identify local priorities disaster preparedness, participatory and appropriate disaster risk reduction video training, contingency planning The Valenzuela City chapter of the actions, the project used a modified workshops, community flood drills, Philippine Red Cross, with support Vulnerability Capacity Assessment facilitation of stakeholder meetings from the Netherlands Red Cross, has (VCA), which included seasonal and formulation of solid waste been implementing a PfR project in calendars, historical timelines, climate management plans are some of the five barangays: Balangkas, Coloong, forecasts and information on the activities empowering the communities Malanday, Tagalag and Wawang Pulo. ecosystem and watershed of which the to address increasing and changing LGU is a part. This helped community risks. The programme recognises Implementing the PfR members to understand the changes that poverty, risk and vulnerability programme in Valenzuela City they have been experiencing over the are inextricably linked with decision- years. The VCA also revealed that one making processes and with resource In building community resilience, the of the community’s main livelihood and power distribution within a society. PfR programme, through its integrated projects – the production of water PfR assists communities together resilience-building approach, focused hyacinth – has in fact contributed to with their barangay4 (neighbourhood) on the city’s growing concerns over the increased flooding in their area officials to work harmoniously in times flooding and livelihoods. Specifically, because it clogs drainage channels. of catastrophe and to be active partners the programmed aimed to: with government in implementing ● increase the level of understanding Integrating climate variability disaster risk reduction. and ownership among people of and environmental concerns into flood-associated problems local policies and programmes In PfR, working on community ● integrate plans and programmes Because of the increased level resilience is effectively based on into institutional mechanisms to of awareness, the LGU started four building blocks that encourage address these problems developing actions to address these communities to: ● adopt environmental approaches in problems. They not only learned 1. anticipate risks urban areas, and of the many adaptive actions their 2. respond when disaster strikes ● empower people through partner- communities have taken over the years 3. adapt to changing risk patterns ships and volunteerism. in order to reduce their level of risk, 2 but also realised how interconnected Developing contingency and The LGU has also incorporated the problems are – and that solving early warning action plans along scientific forecasts into the development them requires an integrated approach. different timescales of worst-case scenarios in contingency It became clear that the flooding was For years, the LGU has had many planning and community drills. Three caused by a number of factors including disaster risk reduction initiatives, but quarters of the population was engaged unsustainable livelihood practices, these have mostly focused on very in climate-informed contingency poor land use planning and increased short timescales and on disaster planning workshops, which helped rainfall that has become more intense preparedness and the ability to community members identify who and less predictable. respond, rescue and provide relief will do what, where, when and how, goods. Through PfR, the barangay based on PAGASA forecasts. By The VCA results formed the basis LGU and active stakeholders have July 2014, the project had completed for the enhancement and revision of learned that flooding- and livelihood- several community drills among more their local disaster risk reduction and related problems can be viewed within than 6,000 community members in management plan, a mandated plan for a continuum of risks occurring along the Balangkas, Coloong, Malanday all LGUs in the Philippines. This revised different timescales. By using the and Tagalaga barangays. These version was a dramatic improvement