Introduction

At this time, the world is more exposed to the dangers and hazards of both climate-
related and human-caused disasters, which represent a threat to lives and sustainable
development initiatives. This scenario requires immediate attention in order to design
catastrophe preparedness and mitigation initiatives to limit population exposure and
susceptibility in international and local settings. Disasters are unavoidable, but their scope and
magnitude are often exaggerated as a result of unsustainable development that fails to
consider the potential hazards in a given region. If the public has the knowledge of locally
encountered dangers and takes effective prevention or mitigating actions, the consequences of
such can be lessened.
According to research from the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (2002), Asia has
experienced around 38% of the world's significant natural catastrophes. Natural catastrophes
claim the lives of 57 percent of those murdered and 88 percent of those impacted throughout
Asia. Southeast Asia is subject to a wide range of risks and has lived with the consequences for
centuries. The Philippines ranked third globally in terms of recorded natural disaster incidents
and first in the Peer Reviewed Journal 34 number of disaster-related mortalities in 2011,
according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters' Annual Disaster
Statistical Review for 2012. The Philippines' archipelagic nature and geographical location make
it particularly vulnerable to natural and man-made calamities and hazards. Even well-built
schools and other educational buildings suffered major damage as a result of the super typhoon
Yolanda (Haiyan) which devastated the islands of Leyte, Samar, and other Visayan islands, with
their roofs blown away and windows shattered (Esteban, Valenzuela, Yun, Mikami, Shibayama,
Matsumaru, & Nakamura, 2015).
According to Shaw, Kobayashi, and Kobayashi (2004), education and awareness
inoculates individuals with a "culture of disaster preparedness" and enables them to make the
best options in the event of a crisis. Muttarak and Pothisiri (2014) discovered that formal
learning can improve a person's disaster preparedness and hence lessen vulnerability to natural
catastrophes.
According to the HFA, all countries must employ knowledge, innovation, and education
to foster a positive safety culture and resilience at all levels (Tuladhar et al., 2015). As one of
the countries that agreed to adopt HFA, the Philippines enacted Republic Act 10121, generally
known as the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act or DRRM Act, to demonstrate
its responsibility to promote and adopting DRR policies. One of the DRRM Act's functionalities is
that it emphasizes an integrated, synchronised, multi-sectoral, inter-agency, and community-
based approach to disaster risk reduction (Sao, 2010). As a result, the importance of local
communities in disaster risk reduction cannot be overstated because they are the most
acquainted with their situation. Furthermore, when a tragedy strikes, it is the people in the
community that bear the brunt of the consequences (Victoria, 2003). As a result, in order to
reduce disasters significantly, individuals must be adequately informed and motivated about
the steps they may take to reduce susceptibility and negative consequences.
As a result, the study was carried out in order to measure local people's disaster-related
understanding, disaster prevention and preparedness, catastrophe adaptability, disaster
understanding, and disaster risk perception.