The unprecedented devastation left by Typhoon Yolanda last November 2013 and the state in which the local government units (LGUs) found themselves in its aftermath offer opportunities to examine hardest hit LGUs of disaster-struck areas, describe and understand their response and improvisation in times of disasters, and to analyze their actual utilization of local calamity funds or the Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Funds. This OVCRD (SOS)-funded project aims to provide baseline data on how select municipalities, namely, Palo in Leyte and Balangiga in Eastern Samar, have utilized their LDRRMFs to address the socio-economic impact of the super typhoon. The LDRRMF is a critical source of funding for LGUs in ensuring disaster risk management. Given the catastrophic scale of the typhoon, the LDRRMF’s actual use by the affected provinces of Leyte and Eastern Samar cannot be overemphasized. This research seeks to find answers to the following questions: When state institutions and actors are as severely affected as the constituency that they are supposed to serve, what mechanisms of power and order operate in their stead? How are these improvised configurations of local authority formed? How have municipalities of Palo and Balangiga utilized their LDRRMF allocations especially in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda? By examining weak spots in the laws and policies that structure the access and disbursement of the LDRRMF and analyzing actual fund utilization in these case study sites, this study provides insights for the upcoming “sunset review” of the use and effectivity of the LDRRMFs.
Journal Article
Ha Pagtindog han Bungto: Improvising Local Governance and the Use of LDRRMFs in Yolanda-Ravaged Leyte and Eastern Samar
Kasarinlan: Philippine Journal of Third World Studies
Perlita M. Frago-Marasigan