Researchers from the UP Resilience Institute – Research and Creative Work Division and the South Korea-based Ewha Womans University Graduate School for International Studies are preparing the final report for their research on climate-induced internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Philippines.
The project, entitled “A Study on Assessing the Vulnerability of Climate-induced Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Developing a Project Model for Strengthening Resilience, Philippines” is funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and implemented in collaboration with the Philippine Agriculture and Resources Research Foundation, Inc. (PARRFI). This IDP Project concluded its data gathering, cleansing, and validation recently.
This study aims to analyze the vulnerabilities of the IDPs and devise ways to enhance climate resilience. The outcome of this analysis will contribute to developing an action framework to address community-based vulnerabilities and strengthen climate resilience in the IDP communities.
The study focused on two research sites: the Badjao community in Batangas City, displaced due to climate-related and other complex reasons, and the relocated Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) survivors in Tacloban City.
Initial findings show that the Badjao community resettled in Batangas from the 1970s to the 2000s. In Tacloban, residents of North Hill Arbours primarily settled from 2016 to 2017, while Dreamville residents relocated between 2019 and 2021.
Experts in the respective areas were involved as project consultants. For Batangas, Professor Maria Victoria Espaldon of the School of Environmental Science and Management, University of the Philippines Los Banos, and for Tacloban, Associate Professor Ladylyn Lim-Mangada of the University of the Philippines Tacloban College Department of Social Sciences.
Survey questionnaires were implemented to assess the vulnerabilities perceived and experienced by IDPs, and how various factors such as social capital contribute to their resilience. Focus group discussions examined the coping strategies for preventing or reducing climate-induced vulnerabilities of both the IDPs and their host communities, or the original residents of the areas to which they relocated.
In-depth interviews with the IDPs also aimed to learn more about their experiences in the disaster, displacement, and resettlement periods, as well as their perception of disasters concerning climate change. Finally, key informant interviews explored the experiences of the stakeholders involved in planning, building, and resettlement of the IDPs in their new communities.
The main field research was conducted in July 2024, followed by data cleansing and processing for the surveys, transcriptions for the focus group discussions and interviews, and validation from August until recently.