SOCIAL CAPITAL AND FACEBOOK USE OF TACLOBAN CITY AFTER SUPER TYPHOON HAIYAN Arla E. Fontamillas A thesis submitted to Victoria University of Wellington in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Development Studies Victoria University of Wellington March 2015 ABSTRACT This case study examined the extent to which social media can help build and strengthen the social capital of communities in the face of natural disasters. It investigated Tacloban City, an area hit hardest by Super Typhoon Haiyan on 08 November 2013. Haiyan is considered as the most powerful tropical cyclone in recorded human history. With the vast international attention it received, it also highlighted the growing role of Facebook in facilitating and influencing disaster aid and response, particularly in a developing country such as the Philippines. Social capital describes how networks and resources within the community are made available to people through their connections with others. This concept is gaining popularity because of the increasing role of social media during disasters. While its effects on the behaviour of people in disasters are generally perceived to be useful, few studies have actually examined how social media changes the way people mobilise themselves in a disaster-stricken and politically tensed society. Separate interviews and focus group discussions among selected residents of two coastal communities (Barangays 89 and 48-B), selected members of two local NGOs (Community & Family Services International and Operation Blessing - Visayas), and three members of the city government (vice-mayor, urban and environmental consultant, and city councillor) revealed that Facebook extended the geography of the social capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan. It allowed the survivors to inform their families and relatives, who are residing in different countries, of their condition and consequently receive physical help, like money and goods, from them. However, as a mediated form of communication, Facebook was limited in addressing the socio-political realities of Tacloban City, which was marked by widespread mistrust and uncertainty. Paradoxically, Facebook has amplified the structural inequalities already present in Tacloban City before it was hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan. While it enhanced strong ties, it has failed to forge weaker ties. As a result, it has instead widened the gap between those who have more power over the access to resources and those who have less. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My greatest gratitude goes to the Lord, whose promises had been my source of strength and hope throughout my entire postgraduate journey. It is from this faith that I still believe, despite the skepticism surrounding our societies today, that we can still trust in the goodness of one another. To Professor John Overton, your consistent enthusiasm and attentiveness were invaluable for an intellectual wanderer like me to finish this thesis. Thank you for being a good supervisor. To the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which supported my entire stay and postgraduate study in Wellington under the NZ ASEAN Scholarship Awards Program, thank you for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve my country. To the staff of Victoria International and Victoria University of Wellington – School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, thank you for your helpful assistance all throughout. To Bianca Benavidez and Tony Yung, thank you for taking the time to proofread my work. That means two people who have actually read my entire thesis! To the lovely people I met from the Development Studies program, some of whom have become really good friends, thank you for being awesome companions in exploring the profundity and foolishness of our chosen field. Let us stay crazy. And see you across the seas! To fellow Filipino NZ ASEAN scholars, thank you for creating a safe and familial space where we can share our aspirations and frustrations over our beloved Philippines. To the Philippine Embassy in New Zealand, my beautiful kababayans, and friends from different ethnicities who helped made Wellington home, maraming salamat! To my family and friends in the Philippines who, in one way or another, encouraged me by reading, sharing, and liking my posts on Facebook and even posting or sending me a message over the said social media site (haha), thank you. It’s amusing how this technology acted as a lifeline when a gazillion cups of milk tea were not enough to remind me of the warmth that is home. Lastly, to the people of Tacloban City for allowing me to talk with you about your experiences during the Super Typhoon Haiyan. Thank you for still choosing to trust and believe in the best of things despite the tragedy that was Yolanda. And yes, we will rise again. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Super Typhoon Haiyan Hits Tacloban City 1 1.2 Research Question 3 1.3 Overview of the Thesis 6 2 Disasters, Social Capital, and Social Media 8 2.1 Building Disaster-Resilient Communities 8 2.2 Social Capital: The Value of Networks 15 2.3 Social capital in Building Disaster-Resilient Communities 22 2.4 The Rise of Social Media as an Important Technology during Disasters 27 2.5 The Role of Social Media in Enhancing Social Capital during Disasters 30 2.6 Research Gap: Facebook use in the Philippines during Disasters 34 3 Tacloban City 36 3.1 From a fishing village to a highly urbanized city 36 3.2 The land of the powerful Romualdez clan 38 3.3 A population dispersed geographically and socio-politically 41 3.4 A population accustomed to typhoons 49 4 Investigating Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan 51 4.1 An approach towards understanding a typhoon-stricken Tacloban City 51 4.2 A personal perspective towards probing a political Tacloban City 54 4.3 Case Study: Examining the Facebook use and social capital of a typhoon-stricken Tacloban City 57 5 Social Capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan 72 5.1 Bonding Social Capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan 73 5.2 Bridging Social Capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan 77 5.3 Linking Social Capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan 80 5.4 Social Capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan: An Overview 85 6 Facebook Use and Social Capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan 88 6.1 Facebook relationships of selected residents of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan: “Personal is online, online is personal” 89 6.2 Facebook conversations and presence of selected residents of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan: “We’re safe and we need help” 93 6.3 Facebook identity and reputation of selected residents of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan: “Propaganda, accountability, and privilege in a political social media” 99 6.4 Facebook Use and Social Capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan: An Overview 105 iii 7 Filipino Social Psychology, Social Capital, the Facebook Use of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan 108 7.1 Kapwa or the “Shared Self”: The Foundation of Networks in Philippine Society 108 7.2 Pakiramdam or the “Shared Inner Perception”: The Foundation of Norms in Philippine Society 111 7.3 Utang na Loob: Positive and Negative Principles of Reciprocity in Philippine Society 113 7.4 Sambahayan to Sambayanan: Social Capital in a Family-Oriented Philippine State 115 7.5 Online Padrino System: Facebook Use in a Politicised and Disaster-Stricken Tacloban City 118 8 The Role of Social Media and Social Capital in Tacloban City’s Post-Haiyan Development 122 APPENDICES Appendix One – Interview and Focus Group Schedule 128 Appendix Two – Participant Information Sheet 129 Appendix Three – Participant Consent Form 130 REFERENCES 131 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Social Capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan 85 Figure 2. The influence of Facebook use in the Social Capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan 105 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Social Capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan indicating the presence of relational and geographical proximity of networks 86 Table 2. Social Capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan indicating the presence of relational and geographical proximity of networks with the inclusion of Facebook use 106 vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION “Truly, the Filipino rises to his finest self during trying times, the more trying the times, the finer the rising. Or it is in times of disaster that the Filipino ceases to be a disaster, thinking of others first before self.” – Conrado de Quiros, Filipino columnist 1.1 Super Typhoon Haiyan Hits Tacloban City On the morning of 08 November 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan, considered as the most powerful tropical cyclone in recorded human history to date (Sedghi, 2013), made its landfall in the Philippines. Its sustained winds of up to 315 kilometres per hour (Mullen, 2013) were mostly felt in the central islands of the archipelago, particularly Tacloban City. The gusts of wind were so strong that it created a wall of water as high as seven metres, much like a tsunami or a tornado carrying water (Flores, 2013). This storm surge, as identified by weather experts, was a phenomenon that this coastal city had never experienced before. As the waters speedily rose, bringing with them forceful waves, the shocked residents could only hope that whatever they were clinging onto or standing at would be strong enough to keep them alive. They were only warned of heavy rains and extremely strong winds enough to damage their houses. Yet as the storm waters waned, it was very clear that this super typhoon was more than that. With electricity and communication lines completely cut off, the city was isolated from the rest of the nation and the world.