Stationary Resilience, Detached Communities: Assessing the Gap Between Local Government Recovery Operations and Household Flood Adaptation

Abstract

This study addressed the systemic disconnect between localized institutional operations and the active behavioral responses of local households within community-level disaster governance. Utilizing a quantitative, descriptive research design, the study investigated the alignment between the formal mandates executed by administrators and the actual grassroots cooperation, structural adaptation, and policy integration practiced by residents in Aduas Sur, Cabanatuan City. Data were gathered through structured surveys and institutional assessments, and analyzed using weighted means and correlation tests. The findings exposed a profound structural divide: while the barangay bureaucracy achieved functional, highly compliant baselines in pre-disaster planning and short-term crisis response, the general citizenry remained dangerously passive and detached, failing to participate in post-disaster assessments or safety clearances. Statistical analysis revealed no significant relationship between formal recovery actions and resident cooperation, confirming that institutional compliance does not automatically produce grassroots engagement. This alienation was further compounded by a critical breakdown in social inclusivity, where indigenous peoples were systematically omitted from sectoral consultations despite active outreach to other vulnerable groups. The study concludes that the village operates in two isolated realities: a legally compliant bureaucracy running official protocols, and a detached, stationary community that anchors itself by physically reinforcing their homes against rising floodwaters rather than relocating to a safer place. To heal this systemic divide, the study recommends replacing rigid, top-down bureaucratic walls with direct, localized public partnerships, specifically by institutionalizing text-based micro-reporting networks for immediate post-disaster data collection, shifting long-term flood planning to participatory, purok-level workshops, and mandating a permanent representative seat for indigenous peoples to secure true, climate-resilient inclusivity before the next climate hazard impacts the village.