Leslie Jamie Cobar

Indonesia’s Mount Merapi is one of the world’s most active, dangerous volcanoes. Its 2010 eruption – the largest following the 20th century – and succeeding 2011 lahar events killed 389 persons and injured and displaced many more. One way to mitigate a disaster’s impact is the provision of reliable information to the public through a well-established early warning system (EWS). A well-managed information flow network is the key to delivering early warning information, however, there is a lack of understanding on the information transfer down to the citizens. In addition, implementing the 2007 disaster management law may have affected Merapi’s EWS. This study reinvestigates Merapi’s EWS information flow through the construction of an information flow network. A single information flow network was difficult to construct due to the inconsistency of structures per district. Different networks had to be constructed for volcanic eruptions and lahars in each district. Inconsistencies were ...

Infographics is one of the recently utilized information, education and communication material in disasters. As there have been an increasing number of sudden volcanic eruptions and their hazardous impacts on people, this research aims to explore infographics as an awareness tool for mitigation of sudden volcanic eruptions. Comparison of pre-and post-test show the significant improvement of scores of test-takers after reading the infographics on the science of sudden eruptions, statistics of events, risks and mitigation practices.

Deaths and injuries due to sudden eruption of volcanoes have increased in recent times. While efforts to understand the mechanisms behind sudden eruptions is underway, it is important to understand the perceptions and response of people on this hazard. This paper seeks to understand the residents, horse guides, and tourists' perceptions on the hazards of sudden volcanic disasters in Taal volcano, their response and willingness to engage in mitigation initiatives. Results reveal that volcanic rocks of all sizes are the least known hazard among respondents as well as differences in responses on various sudden volcanic disasters. There is also a willingness to use and invest in mitigation actions within reasonable means.

Despite the hazards, the population within active volcanic areas has been increasing. Urbanization in these areas result to changes in land cover and increase of communities at risk. Thus, an accurate understanding of land cover in volcanic areas is necessary. Satellite remote sensing and geographic information systems have been used for land cover mapping for resources and land use planning. However, there are not so much studies concentrating on volcanic areas, especially in the developing countries. High quality reference data also contribute to better classification. This study seeks to map the land cover of Taal volcanic area in Batangas province, Philippines. It is one of the Twelve Decade Volcanoes of the world having a reputation for being dangerous and worthy of study, and where the tourism industry has been progressing. LANDSAT 8 Operational Land Imager/Thermal Infrared Sensor 2016 satellite image and ground truth photos were utilized for the analysis. The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme system was used to categorize the land cover types. The Maximum Likelihood Classification algorithm was facilitated for the classification and accuracies were also calculated. The percentage of land cover classes will be presented, focusing on the urban or built up areas and its proximity to the hazard zones of the volcano.

Indonesia’s Mount Merapi is one of the world’s most
active, dangerous volcanoes. Its 2010 eruption – the
largest following the 20 th century – and succeeding
2011 lahar events killed 389 persons and injured and
displaced many more. One way to mitigate a disas-
ter’s impact is the provision of reliable information
to the public through a well-established early warning
system (EWS). A well-managed information flow net-
work is the key to delivering early warning informa-
tion, however, there is a lack of understanding on the
information transfer down to the citizens. In addition,
implementing the 2007 disaster management law may
have affected Merapi’s EWS. This study reinvestigates
Merapi’s EWS information flow through the construc-
tion of an information flow network. A single infor-
mation flow network was difficult to construct due to
the inconsistency of structures per district. Different
networks had to be constructed for volcanic eruptions
and lahars in each district. Inconsistencies were also
found in the roles of the agencies that determine when
evacuation orders would be issued. The system also
had data transfer gaps and vulnerabilities such as re-
dundancies, mistransfers and bottlenecks. Its use of
forecasting information as a basis for decision-making
must be reviewed for lahar information flow networks.
Improving Merapi’s EWS must involve handling these
issues.

The Philippine Constitution emphasizes the importance of accountability in the government. Article XI simply and bluntly begins: " Public office is a public trust, " before it adds that officials and employees should serve the people with " responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency. " In the government budget cycle, accountability is laid down by the need for government agencies and departments submit to submit quarterly and monthly income statements; statements of allotment, obligations and balances along with other financial reports and documents for audit-a formal process whereby the authenticity, accuracy and reliability of financial accounts or transactions are checked and approved. There are several kinds of audit: One is Financial Auditing wherein financial transactions and accounts are checked to ensure the submitting government agency has complied with the rules and regulations, specifically the pre-agreed and government accounting system. Another type is Performance Auditing whereby one is looking at the systems of the agency to assess it has delivered on its institutional purpose and mandate by linking the budgets with results or results-based budgets. An