Fostering a Culture of Disaster Preparedness with Alternative Temporary Shelters

Marie Stephanie N. Gilles1

1
Principal Architect/Planner, SNG Design Enterprise; Chairperson, UAP Emergency Architects;
PhD Candidate, UP School of Urban & Regional Planning

Abstract
The paper starts with the effects of climate change and global warming in the genesis of calamities,
both natural and man-made disasters. It establishes the vulnerability of the Philippines as an archipelago of
7,100 islands located at the Pacific Ring of Fire. A discussion on the local and international organizations
involved in disaster management follows, where technical professionals play a clear role, with reference to
the creation of the NDRRMC (National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council) upon promulgation
of Republic Act 10121. In the disaster resilience program of MOVE-UP (Moving Urban Poor Communities
Towards Resilience) Consortium, Alternative Temporary Shelters as designed and fabricated by the United
Architects of the Philippines - Emergency Acrchitects group are discussed with their salient design features,
method of evaluation, in terms of applicability to the partner communities. The process is called Context-
Rooted design, wherein a thorough analysis is made of the existing conditions of partner communities as to
levels of vulnerabilities towards disasters and calamities. Thereafter, analysis on a few ofww the disaster-
resilient architectural technologies in housing as well as sustainable design strategies for typhoon resilience
are discussed, both from the urban planning and architectural/ structural design approach, and appropriate
recommendations are made as regards strengthening the resiliency of these communities.

Keywords: disaster-resilience, alternative temporary shelters

than one third are forced to live in slums and over

1. Introduction 26.3% are below the poverty line.2 In Metro
1.1 Background and Context Manila alone, around four million are living in
The Philippines is one of the fastest urbanizing slums.
countries in the world. The 2015 Census places the The vulnerabilities of the urban poor and
urban population of the Philippines at 49% or informal settlers have been underscored by
almost half of the total population of the country. previous disaster experiences in urban areas such
Of the total population of 100,980,342, more than as Typhoon Ondoy (2009; international name:
49 Million people are urban dwellers from 9,995 Ketsana) with Php 11 billion worth of damages,
out of 42,036 barangays classified as urban.1 Habagat 2012 and 2013 enhanced by Typhoons
However, rapid urbanization increases the Haikui and Trami with a total of Php 3.7 billion
Philippines’ vulnerability to disasters. This worth of damages3, and Typhoon Yolanda (2013;
vulnerability is further exacerbated by the fact that international name: Haiyan) with damages on
many of its cities, especially in Metro Manila, agriculture alone worth Php 6.9 billion.4
contain substantial areas of informal settlement, or With the intensification of hazards brought
slums. Informal settlers lack access to basic about by climate change and ecosystem
services such as water, sanitation, and electrical degradation, and with the impending rupture of the
services, and are often excluded from urban West Valley Fault, the lives of millions of urban
development. This exclusion pushes them deeper poor population in Metro Manila are under
into poverty thereby aggravating their disaster risk. constant threat. Hence, practical solutions to
A 2014 data set from the UN Millennium
Development Goals reveal that from the total
urban population in the Philippines, 38% or more 1
2015 Philippine census
2
https://mdgs.un.org/
3
http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/39948-by-the-
Contact Author: Stephanie N. Gilles, Principal Architect,
numbers-ondoy-habagat-2012-2013
SNG Design Enterprise, Unit 618 Pacific Century Tower, 4
http://www.rappler.com/nation/43316-timeline-super-
Tel: (02)2941671/ E-mail: [email protected] typhoon-yolanda
1
reduce urban disaster risk and strengthen urban population that will require temporary shelters and
resilience are paramount. population that can be accommodated by existing
One of the key challenges in addressing urban evacuation spaces.
disaster risk in Metro Manila is the lack of safe and Emergency architecture entails immediate
adequate space and shelter in the event of a major response to disasters, addressing crisis situations
hazard. Urban poor shelters are often located in which may entail loss of lives, properties and
high risk areas prone to flooding, earthquake, and lifelines. It may range from rapid post-disaster
fire, and are associated with substandard housing damage and needs assessment to temporary and
materials and structures. In addition, existing transitional shelter towards rehabilitation and
systems on disaster preparedness, response, and recovery of the affected communities.
evacuation center management are insufficient. These ATS are the product of many hours of
Families are exposed to a plethora of other risks brainstorming, conceptualization, careful study and
such as health, security, protection, and gender- deliberation, coming up with context-rooted
based violence. These issues, including schemes specific to the circumstances and
safeguarding their properties and livelihood, are conditions of each community, whether they be
the leading reasons why at-risk households refuse exposed to risks or prone to dangers such as
to evacuate preemptively, placing them and their flooding, earthquake, landslide or liquefaction, to
rescuers in grave danger during disasters. name a few. The ATS units are as diverse as the
Contingency plans, or lack thereof, are possibilities that fall within the design parameters
inadequate in addressing the issue of adequate safe of affordability, scalability, range of application,
temporary shelters for the hazard-affected robustness or durability and speed of construction.
population. Most barangays only have contingency The objective of this whole project is to let the
plans for floods or typhoons, and none for other partner LGUs select which models are appropriate
hazards such as earthquakes. Schools and multi- for their respective communities given their
purpose buildings that are not adequately equipped limitations, and have them produced in volume so
to house evacuees often become the default they are made accessible and affordable given the
evacuation sites during hazard events, and no economies of scale. This way, the help extended to
alternative solutions are available. Contingency the surviving families is multiplied, giving each of
plans also fail to consider worst-case scenarios and them a roof over their heads, a bed to sleep on, a
their implication on the magnified demand for safe floor to walk over, and a house to shelter them
temporary shelters. Contingency plans therefore from the harshness of the storm.
fall short in anticipating urgent needs that can The findings of this study will be used
impact on the survival and well-being of affected primarily to inform the designing and development
populations during and immediately after hazard of alternative temporary shelter solutions for urban
events. communities that are high risk to floods, typhoons,
This study looks into the current shelter and earthquake. The study can be integrated in the
conditions of urban poor communities in several Climate and Disaster Risk Assessments (CDRA)
barangays in three (3) LGUs (Local Government of City and Barangay LGUs as part of their
Units) of Quezon City, Malabon and Valenzuela, Contingency Plans, Risk Reduction Plans, and
Metro Manila, and their experiences on urban Development Plans, as part of the legal mandate of
disasters. It establishes the worst-case scenario that Republic Act 10121 (the creation of the Disaster
will possibly occur per hazard type based on the Risk Reduction Management Council).
combination of historical data and scientific In addition, the assessment tools and processes
projections. The scenario includes the general developed through the study can be replicated by
extent of potential shelter damages that will be Local Government Units to come up with a city-
incurred and the number of potentially displaced level needs assessment and planning. The findings
population based on location, shelter types and can likewise be used as for lobbying for ATS and
house safety check. Using the data, the total space engage the private sector and other stakeholders to
needed is then identified considering SPHERE address these urban risks. The study can likewise
standards and cultural norms. Existing shelter be considered and applied to various situations by
capacities were inventoried and compared against other urban areas in the Philippines and other
the space needed, in order to determine the gaps on disaster-prone countries to contribute to their urban
evacuation and temporary shelter needs. On the resilience strategies.
whole, the study shows a huge gap between the
2
1.2 The MOVE UP Project shelter and resilient livelihoods in select cities and
Moving Urban Poor Communities Towards communities in Metro Manila, namely Malabon,
Resilience or the MOVE UP Project is funded by Valenzuela and Quezon City. For the last leg of the
the European Humanitarian Aid and Civil program, the design and building of the ATS, the
Protection (ECHO). MOVE UP aims to contribute expertise of the United Architects of the
to institutionalizing urban resilience and disaster Philippines – Emergency Architects was sought,
preparedness mechanisms for urban poor in Metro whereby several models were put up, in response
Manila. The project is piloting and demonstrating to the needs of the communities.
models and systems for alternative temporary

1.3 Alternative Temporary Shelter Strategy solutions for temporary housing to address the
Alternative temporary shelters (ATS) are a problems and challenges that each community
range of substitute solutions to immediately experiences in post-disaster situations. The reality
address urgent needs for shelter of affected of providing shelter, temporary as it may be,
populations in the initial stages of disaster. ATS strives to mitigate or alleviate whatever suffering
aims to help the survival needs of the disaster- that each family is experiencing, while offering
affected population, provide for their security, and privacy and comfort for each family under those
personal safety, protection from the climate, and harsh conditions.
resistance to ill health and disease. It also aims to During major hazard events, the affected
contribute to upholding human dignity and populations normally evacuate to public school
sustaining family and community life. To achieve buildings and public covered courts. The space
this, the guiding principles of this project are the afforded by these public structures are inadequate,
right-based approach, context-rooted design and school facilities are damaged, schooling of
the SPHERE standards. children disrupted, and security and personal
This project of the Alternative Temporary safety protection is inadequate. These issues
Shelters (ATS) is a collaborative endeavor in discourage at-risk households from going into
collaboration with the MOVE-UP consortium timely pre-emptive evacuation, placing them in
(with ACCORD, CARE, Plan International, Action grave danger as well as those mobilized to rescue
Against Hunger) funded by the European them. The Project’s ATS modeling seeks to
Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil provide alternatives to these prevailing
Protection (ECHO). where the UAP Emergency arrangements for temporary shelter during
Architects have sought to come up with creative emergencies.

To achieve the objective of the ATS component, the following key activities are being done:
● Identification of Alternative Temporary Shelter Needs
● Designing of ATS Models and Systems
● Pilot-testing and system evaluations
● Integration to local plans and budget and lessons sharing

3
 and cities and identify the gaps with focus
on the provision of temporary emergency
2)

Fig.1. ATS Strategy and Implementation Process

1.4 Identification of Alternative Temporary Shelter shelter services involving inventory of

Needs safe spaces and existing evacuation
The first and critical step towards centers;
improvement of ATS conditions of communities is 2) To identify populations that will sustain
the assessment of current shelter conditions. The significant damage to their houses or
assessment will inform the most appropriate design whose location would put them in harm’s
and systems based on what are present in the way and therefore would require safe
communities. The Action aims to accomplish this temporary shelter assistance;
through the employment of participatory 3) To determine potential temporary shelter
approaches, which is parallel to the rights based needs based on worst-case scenarios for
approach that is guiding the project. This will be earthquake, flood and typhoon; and
complemented by scientific method, which will aid 4) To provide information inputs to the
in identification of shelter needs in these development of alternative temporary
communities. shelter solutions for adoption by local
government units and communities.
The needs assessment was done through
adopting appropriate methodologies for assessing
2. Methodology
temporary shelter needs of urban poor
2.1 Areas of Study
communities for scenarios involving earthquake,
The geographical scope of the assessment
floods and typhoons – an essential first step in
covers the 12 partner communities under the
developing alternative solutions. Necessarily, the
MOVE UP Project, as mapped out in the images
methodologies would combine scientific and
below.
participatory approaches, and will be cost-efficient
to enable communities and local governments to
sustain, replicate and scale up the practice.
1.5 Objective of the Assessment
The purpose of this study is to contribute to
the resilience building of urban communities and
cities in the Philippines by identifying needs,
capacities, and gaps in disaster preparedness that
will inform the development of alternative
temporary shelter solutions for communities.
Specifically, the assessment aims to
1) To determine current practice in Fig. 2. Malabon City communities: Catmon, Hulong Duhat,
evacuation planning of targeted barangays Panghulo, and Potrero

4
 population and poverty, were obtained from the
Philippine Statistics Authority. Review of related
literature on risks and hazards such as MMEIRS
were conducted. Risk Atlas, and barangay and city
plans were also consulted.
A team composed of community
representatives, relevant barangay and city local
government unit (LGU) officials, and
representatives of national agencies such as the
PHIVOLCS and PAGASA, volunteers from the
academe and project staff formed the assessment
teams. Relevant departments in the city LGU
include the engineering department, building
office, housing and resettlement office, urban poor
affairs office, and DRRM office. Local private
sector representatives and civil society
organizations will also be invited to participate.
For the analysis of ATS gaps, other
methodologies were used in conjunction to the
FGD and KII, such as inventory of available space
in existing evacuation centers. The total space
needed for the potentially displaced population
was compared with the available space in existing
evacuation centers to compute the gaps in
alternative temporary shelters.
Fig. 3. Quezon City communities: Bagong Silangan,
Batasan Hills, Roxas, and Tatalon
2.2 Focus Group Discussion and Key Informant
Interviews
Focus Group Discussions were conducted from
October 2016 to November 2016. A total of 24
FGDs were conducted in the 12 targeted
communities. Separate FGDs between barangay
leaders and community members were done to
encourage better sharing of experiences amongst
the participants. Community members selected to
participate in the FGDs are living in high-risk,
urban poor communities who experienced flooding
or evacuation in the past. Local barangay officials
who were selected for the FGDs are key personnel
who are involved in disaster risk reduction, and
have prior experience handling small to large-scale
emergency situations. Focus group interview
questionnaires were developed to determine
specificities in the two separate groups. Open-
Fig. 4. Valenzuela City communities: Arkong Bato, General ended interview protocol was used to ensure that
T de Leon, Punturin, and Ugong participants were able to freely express their
insights and experiences. The FGDs looked into
To gather primary data, the assessment the worst disaster experiences including data on
employed key informant interviews and focus affected population, urban poor areas, actual flood
group discussions with urban poor community height experienced, and estimate number of
members and barangay leaders, and household affected families. In addition, existing evacuation
survey. These methodologies validate and planning process and systems, evacuation center
supplement information from official sources and conditions, factors affecting evacuation, and
other secondary data. Other thematic data such as duration of displacement were also discussed.
5
 In analysing the data, results comparison was interconnectedness of issues and conditions of
made between the focus groups of barangay communities. The study then summarises the
leaders and communities, amongst different general disaster experience of the different
communities, emergency sectors, and disaster communities as well as their recommendation for
preparedness capacities. The findings were then similar disaster events.
organised into categories to determine the

2.3 Household survey During the FGDs, perspectives of the

The combination of stratified and random participants in the individual and community level
sampling methods was employed for the were raised. Topics range from disaster and
representation of the surveyed households. At risk evacuation experiences, evacuation plan and
and flood-affected households in urban poor strategy, disaster preparedness, evacuation center
settlements were determined first through the experiences, status of evacuation centers, and
FGD, from which the sample population and direct recommendations based on their firsthand
number of respondents was computed. The survey knowledge and experiences.
was designed to complement available information
from official sources, such as disaggregated 3. Key Findings
information on housing from NSO. To validate the 3.1 Profile of potentially displaced urban poor
assumptions drawn from MMEIRS, the Action communities
will run the PHIVOLCS “Self-Check for Barangay Profile
Earthquake Safety of Concrete Hollow Block Barangay Catmon has a total land area of 97.77
Houses in the Philippines” as part of the Action hectares which is 6.22% of Malabon City’s total
survey. Assessment teams are composed of the land area. It is composed of 11 puroks and is home
Technical Working Group members of the MOVE to 39,466 individuals as of 2015. Catmon is
UP Project on ATS, including the MDRRMO, bounded by barangays Maysilo, Tugatog,
Engineering, LBO, and HRO, BDRRMC Tinajeros and Tonsuya, and by Tullahan River and
members, and community leaders and volunteers. its subsidiary. he household survey was conducted
2.3 Scope and Limitations in Sitio Gulayan because it is the largest sitio in
This paper focuses on a case study done in terms of land area and population.
Barangay Catmon which covered FGDs with 22
participants from the community members and 19 Profile of the potentially displaced population
participants from the barangay officials, BDRRMC The high-risk urban poor population in
members, other local leaders. Based from the Barangay Catmon has an average of three up to a
conducted FGDs, the estimated number of flood- maximum of eight families per house structure
affected urban poor families is 13,085. The 462 with an average number of six individuals per
actual respondents of the household survey was house. Based on the survey, 72% of the families
computed using Slovin’s formula.5 has minors living with them having three as the
While the self-assessment tool is designed only least number of minors and 18 as the most. For
for houses made with concrete hollow blocks, older population, 24% of the families has two to
houses made of concrete and a mix of concrete and four members aged 60 years old and above. At
wood make up 60% of all residential houses in least 11% of families reported having an average
Malabon, 76% in Quezon City, and 78% in number of two members with disabilities.
Valenzuela City. The application of the self- During emergencies, children, senior citizens,
assessment tool on a more significant portion of and persons with disabilities are exposed to a range
the total population strengthens the findings from of risks such as physical harm, psychosocial
the table exercise on estimating the damage distress, and separation from their families. The
potential. Moreover, the activity serves a high number of families with vulnerabilities
secondary purpose of creating greater awareness indicate the need for child-friendly and accessible
on earthquake preparedness among high-risk spaces and facilities during evacuation.
groups and local authorities. Furthermore, early warning lead time should be
maximized by these households to evacuate in a
timely manner.
5
2016 Philippine Statistical Association
6
3.2 Disaster Experience depending on whether safe construction practices
Major Disasters are applied, are particularly susceptible to damages
Catmon is a highly-urbanized barangay which from strong winds brought by typhoon. For
covers 6.22% of Malabon City’s land area. It is floods, houses located near waterways and river
surrounded by seven other barangays and is systems are vulnerable to flooding.
located in the low-lying areas of the Tullahan
River Basin.6 Its location, compounded by high Household safety result
poverty incidence, places the community in very The type of housing dominant in Barangay
high risk to disasters and negative effects of Catmon was built by unlicensed engineers or
climate change. architects (64%) with unclear/unknown dates of
Based on the discussions and survey, the major actual construction (64%). Also, majority (52%)
disasters experienced by the community include stated that their house has been damaged by past
fire and flood which happened in 1992 and 2009 earthquakes or disasters. According to the survey
respectively. Typhoon Ondoy dumped a month’s participants, their house has a regular shape (77%),
worth of rain on September 26, 2009 and this expanded with supervision (69%), with hollow
resulted to heavy flooding in Metro Manila, blocks at least 6 in thick (69%), and with steel bars
including Barangay Catmon. In 2012 and 2013, of 10 mm thick with equal spacing (56%).
southwest monsoon enhanced by Typhoons Haikui Additionally, there are no unsupported walls more
and Trami also brought heavy rains that inundated than 3 meters wide in most of the houses (61%),
parts of Malabon City. In 2012, floodwaters the gable wall is made of light materials or
reached up to 15 feet. On the other hand, the latest supported hollow blocks (50%), the foundation is
fire incident that they experienced was on reinforced concrete (51%), and the soil condition
February 8, 2017 with an estimate of 1,000 under the house is hard/stony (61%). It is therefore
families affected.7 Only 1% of the assessed deduced that 85% of the surveyed houses are in
population have not experienced flooding. The rest good condition but based solely on self-perception.
have prior experience to flooding, majority of There is an alarming difference between the
whom have experienced 7-9 feet of floods survey respondents’ perceived safety of their
reaching up to the second floor of buildings. homes versus the actual safety measured through
the PHIVOLCS’ How safe is my house tool. While
3.3 Shelter capacities majority of the respondents viewed their homes as
Construction materials of the house and number of safe, scoring on the tool identified their homes as
floors unsafe.
There are significant differences between the
estimates from the National Statistics Office and Inventory of evacuation centers
from the survey. According to NSO’s estimates for There are six designated evacuation centers for
the type of walling material, at least 65.8% of Catmon. The list includes Catmon Integrated
shelters were already constructed with concrete/ School, Catmon Covered Court, Barangay
brick/ stone, while 19.4% were a combination of Multipurpose Hall, Catmon Multipurpose Hall,
concrete and wood, 13.3% were made of wood, and Solid Bisig, Sitio 6 Barangay Hall. On the
and some 0.68% utilised salvaged materials for other hand, there are also five declared safe open
their housing units. Data from the study reveal that space where community members can evacuate.
for Barangay Catmon, 49% are made of concrete, This includes the Malabon People's Park, Gabriel
17% are combination of wood and concrete, 26% Compound, Gabriel Compound, Lea Compound,
are made of wood, and 7% are made of scrap and Sochi Compound.
materials. The vulnerability of the community was
identified in relation to the location of the houses. 3.4 Damage and Displacement Estimation, and
The shelter types determine the extent of damage it ATS Gaps
will sustain should natural hazards occur. Walling Taking into consideration the worst case
and roofing made of light materials and the scenario and the shelter capacities in the previous
combination of concrete and light materials, subsections, the following are the potential
damages, displacement, and ATS gaps considering
6
the destructive nature of each hazard:
2013 Socio-economic Profile of Malabon City
7
http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/02/08/an-estimated-1000-
families-affected-in-malabon-fire/
7
Flood The total number of families living in these
Based on the data gathered from their previous shelter types is 7,061 with 35,303 individuals. This
disaster experience, 99% of the population has would require a total area of 42,363 sqm (bare
experienced flooding. Using the projection on minimum) to 123,559 sqm (SPHERE) Again, the
increased precipitation in the coming decades, it is inventoried evacuation center with a total area of
assumed that the total population will be affected 3,370 sqm would only be able to accommodate 8%
by floods and will require evacuation and of the total potentially displaced population in the
temporary shelters. While 40% of the houses are 2 event that a typhoon with Haiyan-like strength cuts
to 3 floors, it is still assumed that all households across Malabon City.
will need to evacuate because of the projected
severe flooding in the worst case scenario. Earthquake
Furthermore, the possibility of isolation is avoided. For the Earthquake scenario, houses identified
The table below shows the flood-affected areas in or scored as unsafe according to the house safety
Catmon and the number of potentially displaced check and those made of light materials are likely
families and individuals. Table e below shows the to sustain severe damage from the possible
flood experience of the barangay. occurrence of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake
Guided by the rights-based principle and (scenario 08) to be triggered by the movement of
SPHERE standards recommending 3.5 sq.m. per West Valley Fault. For Barangay Catmon, there
individual for temporary shelters, the total ideal are a total of 10,792 houses (82% of total number
space requirement for Barangay Catmon in the of houses) that fall under these categories. This is a
event of floods is a total of 228,813 sqm. This far cry from the MMIERS estimation that only
means that the existing space based on the 38% of houses will sustain partial to heavy
inventory (3,370 sqm) can only accommodate damages.
1.5% of the total potentially displaced population. Further, at least 50% of the houses that will be
It can be noted that this does not take into account partially and fully damaged by the earthquake will
possible community members with relatives no longer be repairable and liveable, based on the
outside the region which can accommodate them MMIERS study. This will consequently render
during the disaster event. 53,961 individuals needing temporary shelters
Owing to the fact that SPHERE is a global immediately after the disaster event, with more
standard and may also vary depending on the than 27,000 or half of this population will be left
context and culture, this study will also consider with no shelter to go back to.
the bare minimum for the tightly-knit Filipino Based on the estimation, a total of 64,753 sqm
culture which is 1.2 sqm per individual. This to 188,862 sqm is the required space to
means the bare minimum required space is 78,450 accommodate the families that are practically left
sqm for the 65,375 potentially displaced homeless by the earthquake. The existing
population. Using this standard, the existing evacuation spaces only constitutes 1-5% of the
evacuation centers could only cover 4% of the total need for temporary shelters after the hazard
displaced. event.
This finding shows that there is a glaring gap
between the need for temporary shelter space 4. Proposed ATS Solutions
during evacuation and the existing and available The UAP Emergency Architects, a team whose
space. Only 1-4% can be catered by the existing expertise is to provide disaster-resilient design
evacuation centers should the worst case scenario solutions for post-disaster situations in
occur. communities immediately in need of temporary
shelter or undergoing rehabilitation and recovery,
Typhoon came up with 14 different models of ATS to
For the Super typhoon scenario with winds of respond to the varying needs of the local
more than 220 kph, shelter types that are half- government units that are part of the MOVE-UP
concrete and half wooden houses, and made of Program. Below are two (2) samples of the ATS
light materials are predicted to sustain damages models: movable bunk beds for covered courts
from strong windload, and thus will necessitate (indoor use), and another for outdoor use, called
pre-emptive evacuation and temporary shelter the street model, that could be deployed in areas
provision for the families affected. with relatively wide open areas.

8
 The following are the design criteria used to These guidelines served as principle for
evaluate each of the ATS models and their determining the most appropriate models to be
applicability to each of the partner communities: used per barangay, depending on their
robustness, affordability, scalability, range of vulnerability to disasters and calamities.
application, speed of construction.

Fig. 5. Movable Bunk Beds ATS Model – designed by the Urcias

Fig. 6. Street Model for ATS – designed by the Urcias

9
5. Conclusions ATS) and HOW to lay them out so as to maximize
To sustain and further the gains in finding ATS space and minimize cost while delivering the best
solutions that will be accomplished by the Action, level of service possible is crucial.
lobbying will be done for the adoption of the ATS 8. Crafting an appropriate local
processes by the barangay and city local contingency plan with matching detailed and
governments and integration in their policies, responsive community- based operation plan will
budgets, and plans such as the contingency plan be necessary to ensure that ATS deployment will
support and enhance disaster response efforts.
strategy in other barangays not covered by the
project to complete the over-all assessment of ATS
Towards the end of the Action, a sharing and
needs. The local governments, both barangay and learning event will be organized wherein the ATS
city must also continue exploring ATS solutions designs, good practices, lessons and
by following through on the results and recommendations drawn from implementation will
recommendations from the pilot-testing and be showcased and shared with national and local
evaluations. government units, local and international non-
government organizations, academe, and peoples’
6. Recommendations organizations concerned with shelter and urban
1. External and internal capacities of resilience.
communities and cities could be tapped to fill in
the huge gap on disaster preparedness and This study is a multi-disciplinary initiative
temporary shelters. Private establishments, vacant towards establishing peace and prosperity,
lots of schools and compounds could be dynamism among communities in their efforts
considered as potential locations for temporary towards achieving disaster resilience.
shelters. Home Owners Associations can be
engaged to be part of Early Warning teams and
Evacuation Center Management teams.
2. Considering the limited area for open References
and available spaces where temporary shelters can
be set up, vertical space could also be maximized, 1.) 2015 Philippine census
2) https://mdgs.un.org/
e.g. mid-rise structures, container van pile-up, 2-
3) http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/39948-by-the-
storey temporary houses, etc.
numbers-ondoy-habagat-2012-2013
3. Considering the profile of the
4) http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/39948-by-the-
potentially displaced population with a high numbers-ondoy-habagat-2012-2013
number of children, women-headed households, 5) http://www.rappler.com/nation/43316-timeline-
and persons with disability, evacuation centers and super-typhoon-yolanda
alternative temporary shelter solutions should 6) 2016 Philippine Statistical Association
consider at least the following factors: 7) 2013 Socio-economic Profile of Malabon City
accessibility, deployability, and privacy. 8) http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/02/08/an-estimated-
4. Evacuation center management should 1000-families-affected-in-malabon-fire/
be improved in parallel with the development of 9) http://www.rappler.com/move-
ATS models. Public awareness activities should be ph/issues/disasters/knowledge-base/93746-maps-
done to disseminate policies and systems on ATS. west-valley-fault-earthquake-scenarios
5. It is best to conduct a city-level
assessment following the design of this assessment
to maximize the capacities of city LGUs during
emergencies.
6. Assessment efforts must sufficiently
detail condition of existing facilities and compare
this with current and future evacuation needs in
order to glean a better picture of ATS requirements
7. Understanding HOW MANY and
WHAT option will be deployed WHEN (under
which hazard scenario) WHERE (to locate these
10