Marikina City, Philippines, as viewed in the Marikina City Internet Map Viewer developed by the Pacific Disaster Center in 2004. The Marikina-Pasig River, West Valley Fault, critical facilities, barangay political boundaries, and flood zones are shown overlaid on a hill-shaded relief map.

With the recent devastating events in Southeast Asia, there is a growing worldwide emphasis on the importance of disaster mitigation planning. Over the past several years, PDC has provided assistance to communities and governments throughout the Asia Pacific region to help reduce the impacts from the many natural hazard threats they may face.

PDC completed its latest such project in 2004. In collaboration with Mayor Lourdes C. Fernando, city officials, and regional stakeholders, PDC conducted a risk and vulnerability assessment for Marikina City, Philippines titled, Multi-hazard Urban Risk Assessment for Marikina City, Philippines and Guidelines for Implementing Multi-hazard Risk Reduction Strategies.

"Through this important municipal-level project, we were able to demonstrate to decision makers the value of previous mitigation projects that reduced flood risk by more than 50 percent in the last decade," says PDC Senior Manager Jim Buika. "As a result of this understanding, Marikina City’s mayor has recently set forth a strategic goal of eliminating flood risks to city housing by 2015."

This project culminated in a multi-hazard (flooding and earthquake) urban risk assessment, an accompanying Marikina City Internet Map Viewer (and training program), and the creation of a city-adopted Marikina City Safety Program--which outlines strategies and actions for both short- and long-term disaster risk reduction.

Marikina City, which has gained international recognition for its strong advocacy for disaster risk reduction and good governance, has a population of 437,000 and is one of 17 cities in the Metro Manila area.

Project Background: A Two-Year Multi-Lateral Collaborative Planning Process

Culminating in the City’s formal adoption of the Marikina Safety Program, in 2003 and 2004 PDC and Kobe University’s Earthquake Disaster Mitigation Research Center (EDM) partnered with Marikina City to conduct eight city-sponsored, community-based planning workshops, as well as three training sessions. EDM had established the partnership earlier and helped the City create the Marikina Safety Program: Comprehensive Earthquake Risk Reduction Strategy and Action Plan, primarily during 2003. PDC transitioned the project from EDM between July 2003 and March 2004 to create and complete the Multi-hazard Urban Risk Assessment for Marikina City, Philippines by the end of 2004. EDM planners participated in each of the 2004 PDC-sponsored workshops. Both of these complimentary and overlapping planning processes have improved the comprehensive disaster management and sustainable development initiatives underway for the municipality.

A total of several hundred stakeholders representing approximately 50 local government agencies, businesses, and regional and national organizations participated in the overall planning process. Marikina City’s contribution to the project was also significant. The Marikina City Center of Excellence provided continual access to city personnel, resources, and data, and also provided training facilities, coordinated eight major meetings, and organized a City exhibition, fieldwork, and field trips. From PDC guidelines, city personnel provided data sets, collected additional data, and arranged for interviews with other officials. The National Defense College of the Philippines also provided training facilities for the project.

For More Information

PDC’s work with officials in Marikina City was recently highlighted at the January 2005 World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan. Senior Manager Jim Buika and Hazard Mitigation Specialist Sharon Mielbrecht presented two professional papers related to PDC’s risk and vulnerability work with Marikina City at the First International Conference on Urban Disaster Reduction. Click here for further details.

November 2004 Mayor’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee Meeting with PDC and Department Directors.

Pacific Disaster Center's Marikina City Project Team.