Senior High School

Disaster Readiness and Risk

Reduction
Quarter 3 - MELC 6, 7 & 8
 Lesson No. 1
VULNERABILITY
I. Learning Competency
Explain the meaning of vulnerability.

II. Background Information for Learners

Vulnerability can determine the ability of an person or a group to predict, cope with, resist and
recover from the effects of a natural or human-induced threat. As vulnerability increases, it means that
the population is at greater risk of suffering from a severe natural danger.
Vulnerability Defined
Vulnerability is a state of being at risk. According to Republic Act 10121 also known as
‘Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010’, vulnerability is defined as the
characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or resource that make it susceptible to the
damaging effects of a hazard. With all the identified hazard at home, there is a possibility that some
family members might be susceptible or prone to the accident due to the presence of hazard.
Vulnerability is also situation specific. This means that if a specific province is prone to
earthquake, it does not mean that all localities on that province is vulnerable to it. The vulnerability of
different towns or cities or even provinces differ in the way they prepare for the hazard and the amount
and type of resources they have in order prevent and manage it. To lessen vulnerability means to make
the community prepared and ready for the possible damaging effect of the hazard. This further means
that to make the community less vulnerable, it must be resilient. So, to develop resiliency at home, you
should first identify the hazards and be prepared all the time for the possible outcome and respond
immediately.
Moreover, it is also hazard specific. A community that is vulnerable to earthquake hazard does
not necessarily mean that it is also vulnerable to typhoons. Hazards have different traits that can
influence the disasters possible to happen.
III. Exercises / Activities

ACTIVITY 1:
Direction: Read the story below and answer the questions that follow.
Nick and Gary who were neighbors are both students of Looc National High School. Due to
the forecasted typhoon the night before, some waited for the announcement of classes suspension.
Unfortunately, there was no announcement. Nick decided to go to school bringing his books,
notebooks, and laboratory materials. On the other hand, Gary also decided to go to school bringing not
only his books, notebooks, and laboratory materials but also flashlight, whistle, and some supplies of
food and water. Due to bad weather, the school janitor blocked off the entrances and exits because the
grounds were flooded. So, Nick and Gary were stranded in a covered court near the school. Both were
trying to call their family, but the signal’s down.
1. Who do you think is more vulnerable? Nick or Gary? Why do you think so?
2. In the story presented about Nick and Gary, what were the actions taken by one student that
made him less vulnerable to flood? What were the reasons why the other student became
more vulnerable?
 ACTIVITY 2: UNDERSTANDING DISASTER RISK
Direction: Based on the story given in Activity 1, answer the following questions briefly.
1. If you are going to base your definition of vulnerability on the story given, how will you
define it?

2. Based on the story given previously about Nick and Gary, describe what could possibly
happen. What have you realized from their story?

3. Could it be possible that both students are exposed to the same hazard, but they can have
different level of vulnerability? Explain how.

4. Based from the story, is vulnerability situation specific or hazard specific? Explain.

5. Cite your realization/s about the importance of knowing one’s capability, strength, and
exposure to hazards.

IV. References for Learners

Bueza, Michael. “The Role of LGUs, Local Councils during Disaster”, December 6, 2014.
Accessed May 20, 2020. https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/44026-role-lgu-local-councils-disaster.
Campanero, Nida S., and Egargo, Veronica N. “Correlates of Vulnerability: A Quantified
Study of People’s Vulnerability on the Impact of Super Typhoon Yolanda in Guiuan, Eastern Samar,
Philippines.” Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research 3, no. 9 (2017), Accessed May 20, 2020.pp
416–432.
Commission on Audit (COA), nd. Disaster Management practices in the Philippines: An
assessment. Philippines: Commission on Audit. Accessed May 20, 2020.
GOVPH. “Executive Order No. 335, s. 1941: GOVPH.” April 1, 1941. Accessed May 20,
2020. http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1941/04/01/executive-order-no-335-s-1941/.
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (NDRRM). 2011. The National Disaster
Risk Reduction and Management Plan (NDRRMP). Philippines: NDRRMP, Department of Interior
and Local Government (DILG). Accessed May 20, 2020.
Republic Act No. 10121. Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.
Manila, Philippines: Congress of the Philippines. Accessed May 20, 2020.
http://www.mdrrmc.gov.ph/attachments/ article/45/Republic_Act_10121.pdf
 Lesson No. 2
VULNERABILITY IN DISASTER
I. Learning Competency
Determine the elements that are exposed to a particular hazard

II. Background Information for Learners

Level of vulnerability of an area or community can be assessed base on different factors. These
factors can affect one another or can lead to other factors.
Factors affecting vulnerability of one’s community:
1. Population density near a hazard event.
• Population differs from population density.
• Population refers to the number of individuals inhabiting in a particular space at the
same time. If people are well distributed, there is lesser effect of disaster.
• Population density refers to the number of individuals living in an area in relation to the
size of an area. If population density is high, it means that the number of individuals is
high but the space is very small. In that case, if fire broke in that area, there is little space
for the population to escape quickly and easily. So, crowded communities have higher
vulnerability to hazards.
• The primary consideration is not the population size but the population density.
2. Capacity and efficiency to reduce Disaster Risk.
• Community that is less vulnerable has the capacity to reduce disaster risk because;
1. It can provide accessibility and availability of services and facilities during and
after disaster.
2. It has the ability to anticipate, adapt, and respond to possible disaster.
• Is it appropriate to say that The Philippines is less vulnerable to typhoon? Nowadays,
our country has advanced technology to predict super typhoon and several
municipalities already provided evacuation centers to provide temporary housing for
victims when disaster occur.

III. Exercises / Activities

ACTIVITY 3:
Direction: Identify what factor affects the vulnerability to disaster with the following situations given.
Write P if it is due to population density and write C if it is due to sector’s capacity and efficiency to
reduce disaster risk. Write your answer on you DRRR notebook.
1. Tondo community during the total lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic wherein the
families are forced to stay inside their houses that are too small for the number of family
members.
2. Use of drones to disinfect the community in Pasig City to prevent the spread of the
COVIDD-19 virus.
3. Insufficient number of rubber boats during super typhoon Yolanda in Malabon City
wherein large number of residents were stranded on the top of their roof.
4. Too many casualties during super typhoon Milenyo in Los Baños due to excessive kaingin
practices and illegal settlers in Mt. Makiling.
 5. The Philippines and Japan are both prone to earthquakes but the latter one is less
vulnerable.

ACTIVITY 4
Direction: Compare and Contrast the images below and answer the questions that follow.
Part I

Image 1 Image 2
1. List down 3 differences between the 2 images presented.
2. Which image shows higher vulnerability of transmissible infectious diseases?
3. Give explanation why the identified differences makes it vulnerable and not vulnerable to
infectious diseases.
Part II

1. Which image shows higher level of vulnerability during typhoon?

2. List 3 possible reasons why the chosen image in item 1 question has a higher level of
vulnerability on the given scenario.
3. Which image portrays better capabilities to response during times of disaster? Explain why.

IV. Answer Key

 Lesson No. 3
VULNERABILITIES OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS EXPOSED TO HAZARDS

I. Learning Competency
Recognize vulnerabilities of different elements exposed to a specific hazard

II. Background Information for Learners

Vulnerabilities of different elements are determined 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
III. Exercises / Activities

ACTIVITY 5:
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.

ACTIVITY 6:
Direction: Concept map is a visual representation that shows relationships between concepts. Arrange
the following words or phrase into a concept map. Under the diagram, explain how did you come up
with your output and cite your basis. (see the sample concept map below):
 GUIDE WORDS:
ecosystem exposed response and recovery tangible
elements hazard risk
environmental physical socio-economic

IV. References for Learners

Bueza, Michael. “The Role of LGUs, Local Councils during Disasters.”, December 6, 2014.
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/44026-role-lgu-local-councils-disaster.
Campanero, Nida S, and Veronica N Egargo. “Correlates of Vulnerability: A Quantified Study
of People’s Vulnerability on the Impact of Super Typhoon Yolanda in Guiuan, Eastern Samar,
Philippines.” Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research 3, no. 9 (2017): 416–32.
“Executive Order No. 335, s. 1941: GOVPH.” Official Gazette of the Republic of the
Philippines, April 1, 1941. http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph /1941/04/01/executive-order-no-335-s-
1941/.
Republic Act No. 10121. Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.
Manila, Philippines: Congress of the Philippines. (accessed May 20, 2020).
http://www.mdrrmc.gov.ph/attachments/article/45/ Republic_Act_10121.
Kellie Hayden, “Teaching Ideas for Brochure-Making With a Rubric”, June 26, 2010.
https://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/75435-rubric-for-brochure-project/