Abstract
Coastal communities across the Philippine archipelago face escalating vulnerabilities to extreme hydrometeorological events driven by anthropogenic climate change. While physical infrastructure and institutional disaster management frameworks frequently dominate disaster risk reduction discourses, informal relational networks serve as vital survival and recovery conduits. This comparative study examines the empirical role of social capital—delineated into bonding, bridging, and linking dimensions—in fostering disaster resilience and accelerating long-term socio-economic recovery in coastal communities. Utilizing a mixed-methods comparative design across two coastal municipalities in Eastern Samar and Southern Leyte affected by recent category-5 equivalent typhoons, we analyzed household survey data (N = 460) alongside 28 key informant interviews and eight focus group discussions. Quantitative structural equation modeling revealed that while bonding social capital significantly reduced immediate post-disaster household food insecurity and mental health strain (β = 0.42, p < 0.001), bridging and linking capital were the primary determinants of long-term livelihood restoration and durable shelter reconstruction (β = 0.38, p < 0.01; β = 0.31, p < 0.01, respectively). Qualitative findings underscored the cultural mechanism of bayanihan (communal unity) as a foundational adaptive strategy, although clientelistic local governance structures often constrained the efficacy of linking social capital. The study concludes that integrating indigenous social networks into formal Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plans (LDRRMPs) enhances post-disaster recovery trajectories and mitigates social vulnerability in climate-exposed coastal regions of the Asia-Pacific.
