VOLUME 14 NUMBER 2 (July to December 2021)

SciEnggJ. 2021 14 (2) 212-216
available online: September 21, 2021

*Corresponding author
Email Address: bmvallejo1@up.edu.ph
Date received: August 3, 2021
Date revised: September 3, 2021
Date accepted: September 6, 2021

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COMMENTARY

Emerging independent government science advice in the Philippines in a time of crisis

Benjamin M. Vallejo, Jr.*^1,2,3 and Rodrigo Angelo C. Ong^2,3

¹Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology,
      College of Science, University of the Philippines Diliman
²Science and Society Program, College of Science,
      University of the Philippines Diliman
³International Network for Government Science Advice-Asia,
      Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The meteorological and climate events of the last 15 years in the Philippines have been framed as crises needing science-informed advice. The disasters brought upon Typhoon Ketsana (Philippine name "Ondoy") in 2009 in the National Capital Region by Supertyphoon Haiyan (Philippine name “Yolanda) in 2013 in the central Philippines brought to public attention the need to come up with efficient science modes of government science advice for disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) policies. In the wake of these disasters, there was a need to understand the meaning of “resilience” within the Hyogo Framework (Dialante et al 2012). While science-based approaches to DRRM have provided the theoretical base for disaster resilience, translating these to praxis and policy has proved challenging.