Vulnerability to natural hazards is measured like hazard frequencies that reflect the predisposition of a system to extreme events at a certain instant of time. The measurement of vulnerability is found useful in the conception of disaster preparedness and positioning regions or countries for aid support.

In recent years, there has been a growing literature on measuring vulnerability at the level of subnational regions, provinces, cities, districts, and even communities. The rationale for this assessment is to bring attention to local vulnerabilities and highlight the various domains of vulnerability including income vulnerability, vulnerability of environment, and governance and human resource fragilities. These are translated into local scales that can be readily understood by those exposed to the natural hazards themselves.

This Policy Note presents the results of provincial vulnerability assessment in the Philippines and discusses the concepts and issues that define local vulnerability.