Cultural Risk Communication Framework: The Case of a Riverine Community in Infanta, Quezon, Philippines

Natural hazards pose insurmountable challenges to sustainable human development because they shake the structure of social systems and the built environment. Contemporary studies in the “hard” sciences, commonly known as the scientific-technical or technocratic perspectives, have dominated the disaster risk literature, which posit that risk is quantifiable and objective. Contrary to existing literature, risk is not a neutral concept. Disasters are socially and culturally constructed and perceived by different people differently. This paper highlights the value of integrating different social actors’ socio-cultural constructions in disaster risk communication. To explore the characteristics of the riverine community, the communication channels and strategies for disaster risk communication, and the community’s constructions of risk, this study employed purposeful sampling from 38 research participants using focus group discussions and key informant interviews to gather data. While information from media and early warning signals are important sources of disaster information, the community heavily relies on local forecasting as a metric for disaster risk. For a community that depends heavily on agriculture for livelihood, being aware of and acknowledging risk is the first step to preventing disasters. In sum, disaster risk communication must consider the underlying sociocultural factors influencing the community’s construction of risk.