Disasters as Contingent Events: Volcanic Eruptions, State Advisories, and Public Participation in the Twentieth-Century Philippines

• Main Author: Aguilar, Filomeno V, Jr
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2016
• Subjects: volcanoes; warning systems; Aeta; Pinatubo; historiography; Asian History; History
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/history-faculty-pubs/6; https://archium.ateneo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=history-faculty-pubs
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

By revisiting the eruptions of Taal in 1911, Hibok-Hibok in 1951, and Pinatubo in 1991, this article interrogates Greg Bankoff’s argument that “cultures of disaster” in the Philippines produce “coping mechanisms” manifested in public apathy and the state’s failure at mitigation. It argues for histor...