MODULE 5

LESSON 1
WORKSHEET NO.9

1.Describe the Geographic Profile of the Philippines.

The Philippines comprises an archipelago of some 7,107 islands located off Southeast Asia, between the
South China Sea on the west and the Philippine Sea on the east. The total area is about 300,000 sq. km
including about 298,000 sq.km of land and about 2,000 sq.km of water. The Philippines has no land
boundaries. The Philippines, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam hold conflicting claims to portion of
the south China sea and Spratly Islands, which are called the Kalayaan Islands in the Philippines.
Estimates the total length of the coastline range from 17,500 kilometers to 36,289 kilometers. The
Philippine claims a territorial sea of up to 100 nautical miles from the nearest coastlines, an area that
includes the entire Sulu Sea and the northern part of the Celebes Sea. The Philippines consists of
volcanic islands, including active volcanoes, with mostly mountainous interiors surrounded by flat
lowlands and alluvial plains of varying widths along the coast. The longest river is the Cagayan (RIO
GRANDE DE CAGAYAN) on Luzon, about 350 kilometers in length. Other principal rivers on Luzon include
the Abra, Bicol, Chico, and Pampanga.

2.Identify the Philippines Disasters

The Philippines is considered one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. The U.S. Geological
Survey lists 168 significant earthquakes in the Philippines since 1959, equivalent to an event every 2.5
year. Out of 220 volcanoes in the archipelago, 22 are classified as active. The most active volcanoes in
the Philippines are bulusan, Mayon, Canlaon and Taal. The climate of the Philippines which is tropical is
strongly affected by monsoon winds. They blow from the southwest from approximately May to
October and from the northeast from November to February. Typhoons, tropical depression and
continuing heavy rains are usually triggered by floods. They are also triggered by man-made causes such
as dam failures, blockages of water ways by garbage and improper design of street drainage.

3.Explain Philippines Disaster Reduction and Management Act (RA 10121).

The act shifted the policy environment and the way the country deals with disasters from mere response
to preparedness. RA 10121 provides a comprehensive, all hazard, multi-sectorial, inter-agency, and
community-based approach to disaster risk management through the formulation of the National
Disaster Risk Management Framework.

4. Discuss the role of the youth in Disaster Preparedness.

The roles of the youth in Disaster Preparedness were sharing the message, according to Ronan et.al
(2008), youth can help share the message of disaster preparedness. Acting as change makers: youth can
act as change makers by sharing information they learned in youth preparedness programs and helping
parents and communities to prepare for disaster, for example by developing a disaster plan or disaster
preparation kit. Bringing creativity: youth can bring creative and resourceful ideas to disaster
preparedness effort.