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Information on Disaster Risk Reduction of the Member Countries

Philippines (the)

General Information

Formal Name: Republic of the Philippines
The Republic of the Philippines is a sovereign archipelagic state located in Southeast Asia, comprising approximately 7,641 islands and covering a total territorial area of more than 300,000 square kilometers. The country is geographically organized into three principal island groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The Philippines has a tropical maritime climate characterized by high temperatures, humidity, and seasonal rainfall patterns. The annual climate cycle is commonly divided into three general periods: a cooler season from November to February, a hot and dry season from March to May, and a rainy season from June to October. The months of July to September are particularly associated with typhoon activity, reflecting the country's position within the Western Pacific typhoon belt.
The capital is Manila. The population is 112,727,776 persons (2024 Census of Population). The Filipino is basically of Malay stock with a sprinkling of Chinese, American, Spanish and Arab blood, and other ethnic minorities.

Overview of Disasters

The Philippines ranks among the most disaster-prone countries globally due to its high levels of exposure and vulnerability to natural hazards. Approximately 60 percent of the national land area is exposed to various hazards, while an estimated 74 percent of the population is vulnerable to multiple, overlapping risks. Climate-related hazards constitute the most frequently occurring disasters in the country. Each year, typhoons, storm surges, and intense rainfall events affect millions of people, particularly in urban areas, and significantly disrupt economic activities.
Moreover, the Philippines lies within the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active zone that subjects the archipelago to recurrent earthquakes and volcanic activity.
Furthermore, the Philippines' archipelagic configuration, extensive coastline, rugged mountainous interior, and the presence of numerous low-lying coastal zones substantially heighten its exposure to a broad spectrum of natural hazards. These hazards include tsunamis, sea-level rise, storm surges, landslides, riverine and flash flooding, as well as recurrent droughts.

Recent Major Disasters

Typhoon Kalmaegi (Tino) (November 2025)

While recovery efforts from the Cebu earthquake were still ongoing, Typhoon Tino (international name: Kalmaegi) rapidly intensified and made multiple landfalls across the Visayas and Palawan on 2 November 2025. The storm brought strong winds, heavy rainfall, flooding, and landslides. Large areas of Central Cebu, Mimaropa, the Negros Island Region, and parts of Caraga experienced severe flooding, further damaging homes, livelihoods, and infrastructure. This typhoon resulted in 253 deaths, 119 missing persons, and affected over 5 million people.

Cebu Earthquakes (September 2025)

On 30 September 2025, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Bogo City in northern Cebu. The disaster caused 79 fatalities and affected approximately 750,000 people. It also led to extensive damage to homes, buildings, critical infrastructure, and public utilities, resulting in prolonged service disruptions.

Typhoons K–L–M–O–P (October–November 2024)

Six tropical cyclones struck the country in rapid succession: Trami (locally named Kristine), Kong-rey (Leon), Yinxing (Marce), Toraji (Nika), Usagi (Ofel), and Man-yi (Pepito). These events caused widespread flooding, extensive infrastructure damage, and major disruptions to livelihoods across multiple regions. In total, the typhoons resulted in 175 deaths, 26 missing persons, and affected approximately 3,144,000 families. Around 237,000 houses were damaged.

Disaster Management System

Legal System

On 27 May 2010, the Republic Act 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PDRRM) Act was passed into law and paved the way for the need to “adopt a disaster risk reduction and management approach that is holistic, comprehensive, integrated, and proactive in lessening the socio-economic and environmental impacts of disasters including climate change, and promote the involvement and participation of all sectors and all stakeholders concerned, at all levels, especially the local community.”
The Act provides for the development of policies and plans and implementation of actions and measures pertaining to all aspects of disaster risk reduction and management, including good governance, risk assessment and early warning, knowledge building and awareness raising, reducing underlying risk factors, and preparedness for effective response and early recovery.
In compliance to RA 10121, the council adopted on June 2011, the National Disastesr Risk Reduction and Management Framework (NDRRMF), with the vision of attaining a “Safer, Adaptive and disaster-resilient Filipino Communities towards sustainable development”.
The NDRRM Framework indicates the paradigm shift towards a proactive and preventive approach to disaster management. The conceptual representation emphasizes that resources invested in disasters prevention, mitigation, preparedness and climate change adaptation will be more effective towards attaining the goal. The framework shows that mitigating the potential impacts of existing disaster and climate risks, preventing hazards and small emergencies from becoming disasters, and being prepared for disasters, will substantially reduce loss of life and damage to social, economic and environmental assets. It is also highlights the need for effective and coordinated humanitarian assistance and disaster response to save lives and protect the more vulnerable groups during and immediately after the disaster. Further, building back better after the disaster will lead to sustainable development after the recovery and reconstruction process.

Organization

Driven by the imperative to reduce the impacts of disaster risks, the Philippine government enacted the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 (Republic Act No. 10121), which fundamentally reformed the country's approach to disaster governance. The law established a comprehensive legal and institutional framework for disaster risk reduction and management, created the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), and clearly delineated the roles and responsibilities of national and local government agencies, civil society organizations, the private sector, and other key DRRM stakeholders. (NDRRMC, 2024)
A multi-stakeholder body composed of representatives from government agencies, non-government organizations, civil society, and the private sector was established under Republic Act No. 10121 and is administered by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) under the Department of National Defense.
This body is mandated to undertake policy formulation and provide overall coordination, integration, supervision, monitoring, and evaluation of disaster risk reduction and management efforts. In addition, it is responsible for ensuring the protection, safety, and welfare of the population before, during, and after disasters and other emergency situations.

Plan

To operationalize the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Framework (NDRRMF), the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) spearheaded the formulation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan (NDRRMP) 2011–2028, which was subsequently adopted by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). The NDRRMP serves as the strategic roadmap for translating the NDRRMF's vision into action, articulating a structured results framework composed of 14 objectives, 24 outcomes, 56 outputs, and 93 corresponding activities designed to guide national and local DRRM implementation. (NDRRMC, 2020)
The NDRRMP further delineated three implementation time horizons to guide the sequencing of its activities: a short-term phase covering 2011–2013, a medium-term phase spanning 2014–2016, and a long-term phase extending from 2017 to 2028. These timelines were intended to ensure a phased, coherent, and sustained approach to achieving the Plan's strategic objectives. (NDRRMC, 2020)