Disaster Mitigation Landscapes in the Philippines: A Scoping Review of Policy Frameworks, Institutional Gaps, and Community Resilience (2015–2025)

Because of where it is in the world, the Philippines is quite prone to many natural disasters, which shows how important it is to have strong disaster mitigation plans. The purpose of this study was to find all the available research on disaster mitigation in the Philippines so that we could learn more about what we already know. It aims to tackle essential research inquiries concerning the principal issues and methodologies, along with the advantages, disadvantages, and results of current tactics. It also sought to pinpoint deficiencies in research. The study methodically searched significant databases, such as Scopus, Web of Science, Philippine E-Journals, and Google Scholar, using a set protocol and PRISMA-ScR criteria. It then combined 15 papers that were published in English between 2015 and 2025. The results showed important themes, such as Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) methods, community readiness, and an in-depth understanding of how geography affects susceptibility. New issues that came up were social entrepreneurship in disaster recovery, how disasters affect poverty, and how to keep cultural heritage alive. The analysis of the mitigation strategies revealed strengths in resilient policy frameworks and community-oriented initiatives. But it also showed problems, like local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) councils that don't have enough people, problems with monitoring, and a lack of operational testing for preparedness plans. Some important research gaps that have been found are the need for a better knowledge of community resilience, socio-ecological systems, and the things that make it hard to share information. The assessment also stressed how important it is to do thorough evaluations of how ready local governments are, look at institutional problems in more depth, and study how climate change affects vulnerability over time. This study stresses the need for ongoing, evidence-based work to make the Philippines stronger. It suggests that more money should be spent on building local capability, making policies work better and evaluating them, putting research first, and making big changes to how the government works.