The project has taught people that strengthening buildings can be achieved affordably using local resources. It has raised levels of community awareness and people's willingness to protect their own homes. Families have begun to use their own savings to invest in structural strengthening, and even to borrow money to do so. Borrowing money and investing it in this way is a clear indicator that people believe prevention to be a good investment.

Disaster Preparedness Campaign for Botolan Town's Vulnerability to Hazard of Mt. Pinatubo Crater Lake

Oxfam GB Philippines Office, in partnership with the Pampanga Disaster Response Network (PDRN) implemented a disaster preparedness campaign in Central Luzon region, in response to the threat of potential flooding caused by rising water levels inside Mt. PinatuboÕs crater lake to the coastal municipality of Botolan in Zambales province. The campaign sought to mobilize a network of non-governmental and people's organizations to coordinate with government authorities, and to help communities in Botolan draw up a disaster preparedness plan.

Oxfam GB commissioned geologists Rosalito Alonso and Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo in May 2001, shortly after the start of the southwest monsoon rains to conduct a geological assessment of the crater lake at Mount Pinatubo. The assessment foresaw the possible breaching of the Maraunot notch, the lowest section of the rim of the caldera crater, created by the volcano's cataclysmic eruption in 1991. Once breached, according to the geology research team, the crater could release as much as 60 million cubic meters of water. This would bulk up with mud, ash and volcanic debris called lahar. Depending on the slope, the rate of release and prevailing weather conditions, up to 300 million cubic meters of lahar could be generated. This would be considerably more deadly than a flood because it would travel at greater speed and with very much greater impact.

About 46,000 people living in the town of Botolan and their main livelihood - some 32,000 hectares of rice, sweet potato and mango farms - were at risk. There were also more people living on the upper slopes of the volcano who had returned to their communities in the ten years since the mountain erupted, believing the area now to be safe.

Map of the northwest sector of Pinatubo Volcano with superimposed radar image showing caldera, major river and the threatened municipality of Botolan, Zambales.

The disaster preparedness campaign alerted communities in Botolan to the continuing rise of lake water in Mt Pinatubo, as well as to the weak condition of the Maraunot notch. The communities were informed of the research findings - particularly the increase in the lake water level in a month from 8.3 meters below the notch in May to only 6.3 meters in June 2001 - and their implications for Botolan, which is on the flood path between Pinatubo and the South China Sea.

Oxfam supported the organization of a network of NGOs in Central Luzon to engage with and coordinate with the Zambales provincial and local disaster coordinating councils in drafting a counter-disaster plan for Botolan. The plan was intended as a measure to build the capacity of people in Botolan to prepare for flooding and possible lahar flow threatening the town. Installation of appropriate warning systems, identification of vulnerable villages and development of evacuation plans were components of this disaster preparedness plan.

The campaign aimed to mobilize different stakeholders in the province, in particular the church and business sectors, other NGOs, and people's organizations. It is an effort to build up an organized mechanism and structure from the village to the provincial level to prepare and update contingency plans, and to implement them in the event of actual emergency.

The campaign also involved coordination with appropriate local and national government bodies for validation of the technical study. Oxfam had earlier sent results of the crater lake study to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and to the National Disaster Coordinating Council. Through this campaign, Oxfam aimed to enjoin government agencies to conduct further and regular updating of hazard and vulnerability assessments in the Pinatubo area.

Oxfam GB formally closed the preparedness campaign in December. An informal learning forum scheduled on 12 December 2001 aims to share the lessons gained from the experience.