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The Blaan communities in the hinterlands of Sarangani are continually exposed to different forms andtypes of environmental hazards. These hazards are brought about by disasters such as droughts, landslide, soilerosion, flooding and infestation of rats and swarm of locusts on agricultural crops. This paper seeks to providea thick and rich description of the indigenous knowledge of the Blaans on disaster management and environmentalconservation. It discusses and analyzes various environmental hazards identified and experiencedby the Blaans in the mountain ecosystems of Sarangani. Another aim of this study is to analyze thefunction of the social network of the tribe and their coping mechanisms in confronting the effects of naturaldisasters. This study utilizes first-hand information that are gathered through intensive ethnographic field observations in the hinterlands of Sarangani. Participatory Rapid Field Appraisal strategies were used to engage the members of the community as primary participants of the study. Moreover, key informant interviewsamong senior members of Blaan tribes and focus group discussions are used to supplement information generated through participatory research approaches. This study concludes that the Blaans in the mountainous parts of Sarangani have immense collective wisdom on disaster management and environmental conservation,which they have learned from their forefathers. Nonetheless, this vast knowledge system of the Blaans is gradually eroding due to dwindling interest of the younger generations and disappearance of the natural landscape that serves as the social laboratory for the Blaans to learn about the kanfulong de tribu. Read full article here.

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International and local civil society organisations have usually been identified amongst the key actors for the conceptual and practical development of liberal and post-liberal peace approaches. The concept of hybrid peacebuilding, for example, has highlighted the need to empower local civil society groups. Critics of the ‘local turn’ in peacebuilding, however, argue against the conceptual idealisation of hybridity. Using examples from Mindanao, this chapter contends that the debates on liberal-local hybridity can most meaningfully gain from asking questions not only about the processes of internationalisation and localisation, but also about the ways in which hybrid mechanisms are able to produce more or less stable outcomes. By turning into the agency of civil society actors, it suggests that the concept of hybridity, which is often represented using dichotomised categories (e.g. ‘liberal-international’ and ‘illiberal-local’), tends to oversimplify the conceptual intricacies and dynamic processes between top-down and bottom-up approaches. The analysis in the chapter aims to contribute to the discussions on hybridity by illustrating the manner civil society actors are able to negotiate their complexities within the frictional binaries of liberal ideas, institutions and resources vis-à-vis local practices, power relations and norms.