The Province of Laguna has been identified as one of the most vulnerable to climate change. Despite the various efforts of the local government unit, the province still suffers massive damages brought about by typhoons, flooding and landslides. This signals the need for a better strategy to manage climate change related hazards. As a first step, it is necessary to characterize the vulnerability of households in the province. This study contributed towards this end a descriptive analysis of household exposure to impacts of climate related hazards and estimating a household’s vulnerability index using the Vulnerability as Expected Poverty (VEP) approach. The mean VEP for a per capita monthly poverty threshold of US$1.25 is 37%, 41% for US$1.5 and 46% for US$2.0. Among the different sectors, those dependent on aquaculture/fishery had the highest incidence of vulnerability followed by those dependent on employment in the manufacturing sector. In terms of geographical location, households in the coastal areas were found to have the highest incidence, followed by those in the lowland and lastly those in the midland to highland areas.

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This study sought to understand the determinants of autonomous adaptation of households in coastal communities in three countries (Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam) as regards climate change. The study’s main innovation is its focus on households facing a confluence of related hazards, a context that is unique to coastal communities. The study tackled the interrelated hazards of coastal erosion, flooding, and saltwater intrusion, and used a multivariate probit model to analyze the determinants. Regression results show that households adapt or respond autonomously to a combination of hazards. In fact, the econometric model of joint decision cannot be rejected by the data. Geographical differences were observed in adaptation patterns, implying that households react rationally to the degree of threats from the hazards. Like in some literature, the study found evidence that planned adaptation may crowd out private or autonomous adaptation. Likewise, trust increases the likelihood of self-insurance and self-protection, especially against extreme events that are either recurring or permanent. Finally, the households’ adaptive capacity depends partly on the type of hazard and has a gender dimension. In recurrent extreme events, the abundance of male labor increases the likelihood of adaptation. In permanent and creeping hazards such as saltwater intrusion, the abundance of female labor increases the likelihood of adaptation.