| The impact of disasters cannot be prevented but can be mitigated by enhancing the coping capacity and mechanisms of the community. Community’s coping mechanisms comes into the center of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) discussions based on the reality of increasing danger as the households/community faces the effect of any disaster at first. The study is an attempt to examine the effectiveness of various coping mechanisms (adopted by local governments as well as by coping strategies adopted by individual households) in the study area to reduce negative impacts of disasters thus creating safer, sustainable, and resilient community. The general objective of this research is to study how the coping mechanisms for DRR can be enhanced at the Barangay level. The study was conducted in Barangay Pembo, Makati City, the Philippines. The researcher has attempted to answer the general objective by assessing the exposure and vulnerability faced by the community in Barangay Pembo to disasters, studying the institutional structure at the Barangay to address DRR concerns, assessing the entry point for strengthening community based DRR approach and identifying the coping mechanisms employed by the Barangay. The research is guided by the analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data collected through household survey, key informant interviews, official documents, and other secondary sources of information. Questionnaire survey has been conducted with 96 households in Barangay Pembo. The total sample (n=96) was further divided into two groups (n=48) for each flood prone areas and earthquake prone areas. Questions related to social and economic conditions, physical attributes, knowledge on disasters, past and present experiences of disasters were asked. Correspondingly, a theme based key informant interview was conducted with the few selected people directly involved in disaster management. |