Jimenez, Jacinth Matias, Megan Pagkatipunan, Noreen Tamano, Azim

The Role of Social Media in Emergency Response in the Philippines The Philippines is a nation often hit by natural calamities such as typhoons, earthquakes, landslides, etc. In the past year only, the Philippines experienced multiple natural catastrophes. The researchers observed that social media had an important role in rescue operations during these calamities. Because of this, they found it necessary to study if the social media is capable of replacing, or at least supplementing, the more traditional ways of contacting rescuers. In addition to this, they found it advantageous to study how the social media affected the efficiency of rescue operations. This study also aims to find out which mode of contact they prefer, the social media or the more orthodox ways. Survey is the preferred method, to be supported by statistics, interviews and consultations from disaster management experts. The researchers chose to limit their respondents to those of the UP student body.