Thesis (BA Communication Arts) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, June 2015

The Philippine? geographical and geological locations make it vulnerable to various forms of natural hazards called geohazards. In order to help lessen and mitigate the negative effects of these geohazards, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) created a project the Geohazard Mapping and Assessment Program or GMAP. GMAP identified areas susceptible to specific types of geohazards across the country. In General Santos City, the City Disaster and Risk Reduction Management (CDRRMO) of the Local Government Unit was tasked to implement efforts and initiatives in lessening the impact of geohazards. Hence, as part of their IEC Campaign, CDRRMO initiated four(4) major strategies to prepare its people for the possible effects of the most prevalent geohazard in the City ? flooding. However, these IEC strategies were not designed to address the salient information needs of the communities. Thus, the researcher created and IEC campaign plan that focused on raising awareness of he community regarding the risks of flooding in the city. The campaign was dubbed MAGHANDA SA PAGBAHA. The umbrella framework used in creating the communication plan was the Research- Objectives-Programming-Evaluation (ROPE) Process. The research component included information obtained through SWOT analysis on CDRRMO; survey was conducted on the residents of the case study area, Brangay Baluan; and document reviews on cases of flood in the city and the case study area itself. The design of the campaign itself incorporated the five (5) stages of the innovation-decision process of Everett Rogers? Diffusion of Innovation Theory. Proposed evaluation methods were also provided by the researcher to ensure that the results of the effectiveness of the campaign would be properly evaluated and assessed.