Building resilience to climate change locally: The case of Valenzuela City, Metro Manila

The document examines how Valenzuela City, a low-lying industrial suburb of Metro Manila, has utilised the Partners for Resilience (PfR) framework to address chronic flooding and livelihood loss. It highlights the transition from short-term disaster response to a holistic approach that incorporates climate science, environmental restoration, and community-led early warning systems. Key successes include the integration of climate-informed contingency planning and the 'GREENING' project for urban land use. However, the study notes that institutional resilience is challenged by local political cycles and leadership changes.

• Valenzuela City is highly vulnerable to flooding due to its low-lying geography and the confluence of the Tullahan, Polo, and Meycauayan rivers, leading to stagnant water that can persist for up to 4 weeks.
• Changing rainfall patterns since the 1980s drove land-use shifts from farmland to fishponds and eventually to residential subdivisions, which reduced the local production of vegetables, rice, and high-quality seafood.
• The Partners for Resilience (PfR) programme employs a four-block approach to community resilience: anticipating risks, responding to disasters, adapting to changing risk patterns, and transforming root causes of risk.
• The city has integrated scientific weather forecasts from PAGASA into its contingency planning and community drills, moving beyond short-term relief to a continuum of risk management.
• The LGU introduced the 'GREENING' project, which mandates that new applications for building permits, businesses, and residential areas allocate 20% of their area to trees and landscape improvement.
• A community-based early warning system using 'batingting' (improvised bells made from LPG cylinders) has been implemented to signal three levels of vigilance and evacuation.
• The project leveraged the Red Cross 143 (RC143) volunteer programme, which assigns 44 members per barangay to serve as local responders and agents for raising awareness of disaster risks.
• Implementation of the PfR project faced delays due to the timing of local elections for mayor and barangay officials, requiring repeated orientation sessions for new leadership.

APA

Patrocina, M., Mateo, L. C., & Lagdameo, D. M. (2015). Building resilience to climate change locally: The case of Valenzuela City, Metro Manila. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Valenzuela-Inside-Story.pdf

Chicago

Patrocina, Maple, Lea C. Mateo, and Donna Mitzi Lagdameo. Building resilience to climate change locally: The case of Valenzuela City, Metro Manila. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2015. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Valenzuela-Inside-Story.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Patrocina |first1=Maple |last2=Mateo |first2=Lea C. |last3=Lagdameo |first3=Donna Mitzi |title=Building resilience to climate change locally: The case of Valenzuela City, Metro Manila |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=March 2015 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Valenzuela-Inside-Story.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{patrocina2015building, author = {Patrocina, Maple and Mateo, Lea C. and Lagdameo, Donna Mitzi}, title = {{Building resilience to climate change locally: The case of Valenzuela City, Metro Manila}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Valenzuela-Inside-Story.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }