26 EDUCATION ABOUT ASIA Volume12,Number2 Fall2007 may be debated. However, we also suggest that they represent a dis- tinctive pattern of activity and behavior among Filipinos, and there- foreraisequestionsaboutthewaysinwhichWesternobservershave usuallyinterpretedthoseculturalforms. Historical Adaptation The historical record in the Philippines provides evidence of cultural adaptation to the constancy of environmental threat. Architecture, in particular, offers a unique means of examining the human-environ- mentinterchange.Thedesignofhomesandotherbuildingsshowshow indigenoussocietytooknoticeofseismicandmeteorologicalhazards. Thesimple nipa palmandbamboohutoffersagoodexample:itwas easilyrebuiltwhendamagedandwaslesslikelytoinjurepeopledur- ing storms or earthquakes. Another example is the traditional house style in the Batanes (the island at the very northern extremity of the Philippines)thatthoughconstructedfromstonehadlowceilingsasa precautionagainstthefrequencyoftyphoons. The Spanish, who began to colonize the Philippines in the late sixteenthcentury,alsoadaptedtotheenvironment.Initially,theybuilt structuresofwoodbutbecausewoodwassoeasilydestroyedbyfire, they decided to construct houses of masonry. They found, however, thattheseweremorevulnerabletodamagefromearthquakes.Manila, builtonthewealthofthetradebonanzaacrossthePacificduringthe early seventeenth century, was constructed in the same style as His- paniccitieseverywhere,withconsiderableuseofstoneandtile.Asa result, on November 30, 1645, much of the city was destroyed by a devastating earthquake estimated at 7.9 magnitude on the modified Mercalliintensityscale.Spaniardswerenotunawareofsuchseismic movements, but as Joseph Fayol, a royal chaplain in the city and an eye-witness to the events that took place explained, they simply did not have “any pressing fear of earthquakes —which, although they usuallyoccurhereeveryyear,havenot[before]causeddestruction.” 1 Unfortunately,thisearthquakewasofanentirelydifferentorder. Themainshocktotallydestroyed150ofthe“finestbuildings”and,to- getherwiththeaftershocks,causedsomuchdamagetotheremaining housesthatmostwereconsideredtoodangeroustoreoccupyandwere subsequentlydemolished. Subsequent colonial architecture sacrificed much grace of line forload-bearingandmoreappropriateform.Theextensiveuseofmas- LIVING WITH RISK; COPING WITH DISASTERS Hazard as a Frequent Life Experience in the Philippines By Gregory Bankoff A quiescent Mt. Mayon T he interrelationship of human beings and the natural world, and the influence of the physical environment on a community’s social and cultural development, is graphically demonstrated in societies that face the persistent threat (and reality) of disasters. A prime example is the Philip- pines with over seven thousand islands that are located in an extremely hazard-prone area. The Philippines as a whole experi- ences more earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis than any other country on earth. Although western social sciences typ- ically depict “disasters” as abnormal occurrences, communities and individuals in the Philippines have come to accept hazard and disaster as a frequent life experience. Indeed, in a number of respects, Philippine cultures can be regarded as the products of community adaptation to these phenomena. As the following discussion suggests, a range of processes permit the possibility of disaster to be incorporated into daily life and allow for what might be called the “normalization of threat.” Cultures of Disaster; Cultures of Coping Theevidencethatthisnormalizationofthreatmayhavebeenasignif- icantfactorinfluencingthedevelopmentofPhilippineculturescanbe foundinthehistoricalrecord,inthedesignandconstructionofbuild- ings, in the agricultural system, in the constant relocation of settle- ments,andinthefrequencyofmigration.Filipinosocietyhasevolved certain“copingmechanisms”tocometotermswiththeconstancyof hazard and to mitigate the worst effects of disasters. Often, too, the way in which people deal with the emotional and psychological re- quirementsoflivingwithuncertaintymayinfluencewhatareseenas “Filipino”beliefsandcharactertraits.Theextenttowhichtheseprac- ticescanbecontrastedwith“universal”andwestern-scientificthought