Returning to Candahug

Returning to Candahug

Candahug residents determining the map is incomplete.

When we arrived at the barangay hall on Tuesday morning, we couldn’t find the map of Candahug that we wanted to use for today’s session. No problem, we can improvise! Taping together a few pieces of paper and using a smaller map for guidance, we sketched out a large map of Candahug, though it wasn't to scale. Kapitana and several other residents stood around the map as we talked to them about what we were hoping to accomplish this morning. That is, to create a more complete map of Candahug by filling in information that isn’t recorded on the OpenStreets version. 

After several minutes studying the map, Angie told us that Kapitana and the residents believe that the map was wrong; several streets were completely missing. So one of the residents grabbed a marker and started drawing a new map. This one focused just on the residential area not represented in the OpenStreets map, not the full extent of the Candahug boundary. This new map drawn by one of the residents showed the zones of the barangay, each named for a flower. It highlighted the important features of the barangay: the rice fields, the fishing boat launch, the mangrove/nipa palm wetlands, the chapel, the basketball court, and the areas that experience regular flooding. Having them create this detailed map gave us the opportunity to understand what is important to them about their neighborhood. Though we did a fair amount of research before making the trip to Leyte, the drafts of the guide we created are rooted in our own cultural biases. Knowing what attributes of their neighborhood the residents of Candahug value will be important to refining the site assessment guide and to make it most culturally relevant.

A resident draws a new map of Candahug in detail.

The new map of Candahug, finished!!

The Candahug sea wall, damaged during Yolanda, will
be rebuilt in the same place. 

Walking the streets of Candahug

Kapitana walked us through the streets of Candahug, newly created map in-hand, and pointed out landmarks while referencing them on the map. This was a useful exercise for us as we continue to refine the guide. We asked Kapitana what she would change about the community if she could immediately implement them. She said she would love to move the houses that are currently near the frequently flooded areas. But when Angie asked where those houses would go, Kapitana’s response was “That’s the problem.” The barangay is small and the available building space is limited. The residential area of the barangay is bounded on all sides: by the sea, two roads, and a rice field. As we neared the coast, Kapitana told us that she remembers when the beach stretched out to the sea. She commented that over the years she has observed the sea encroach on the shore. Given the fact that the maps we have outlining hazards are insufficient in detail, and the land use information we have is limited and likely outdated, Trevor and I are re-thinking this guide. How does a barangay make decisions when its resources are so limited? Is such a guide useful at the barangay scale?

What remains of the Candahug Police Station

A Visit to GIZ

After lunch, Trevor, Angie, Lito, and I went to the GIZ (German Enterprise for International Cooperation) office in Tacloban to meet with staff members Olaf, Dori and Jay-ar. We explained the project, the goals and where we are in the process to date. GIZ is one of several organizations doing important work in Leyte. Their recent projects focus on disaster risk reduction, integrated ecosystem management planning, and community-based mapping. Contracted by the Philippine government, GIZ works to support, improve, and strengthen the government processes. One of their projects is developing multi-hazard maps that combine the geohazards of the region with the probability of occurrence in a specified time period. Only one type of building was reviewed in these risk maps, those made of concrete columns and standing a maximum of two stories tall. The result of their latest mapping is a hazard risk assessment that provides values of annual percent chance and annual average value of structural damage. Their hope is that this metric will provide leaders clear information on which areas pose the greatest risk for normal buildings. 

Collecting and maintaining detailed and localized data is a theme that has emerged in many conversations. GIZ has been working to capacitate planning staff at a municipal level in the use of GIS (Geographic Information Systems). This would mean having a designated staff person(s) in each municipality that can serve the GIS needs of the municipality. They have been successful in setting up functioning GIS units in a handful of municipalities and they believe this is a prudent step in disaster risk management at a municipal level and integrating that into comprehensive land use planning.

During our formal presentations last week at school, one of the critics commented on the educational opportunity that is embedded in this project. Our meeting with GIZ was productive and validated this sentiment. They indicated that any amount of education this project provides to residents on the hazard risks of the region will be valuable.  

After the meeting Dennis and Angie drove us north through Tacloban over the San Juanico Bridge, the longest bridge in the country that connects Leyte and Samar. The scenery was impressive—as we drove over the bridge rising across the San Juanico Strait, the sun licked the rugged hilltops, and the water lapped the mangrove trees by the shore. Dennis made a delicious dinner for us when we returned to his house. We spent the later hours of the evening on his porch talking, listening mostly, to stories about Yolanda and growing up in Tacloban until our eyelids were heavy and we put ourselves to bed.

San Juanico Bridge, photo credit: Morten Nærbøe, Wiki Commons