Typhoon Yolanda: How Resilience Masks the Voices of the Vulnerable

Typhoon Yolanda (internationally known as Typhoon Haiyan) tore through the Philippines in November of 2013. This paper aims to demonstrate how in the face of disasters such as Typhoon Yolanda, the label of “resilience” is harmful to the vulnerable populations of the Philippines and masks the voices and ideas of the communities within it. Due to the frequency of typhoons in the Philippines, the Filipino people have been labeled as resilient in the face of natural disaster. The word resounded through coverage of the disaster, present in reports and speeches from not only the government of the Philippines, but also international governments, and non-governmental organizations. Specifically looking into the cases of a fishing village in Concepcion, Iloilo, the Mamanwa Indigenous Peoples in (supply locale), and Guiuan and other Waray-speaking women near the point of the typhoon’s landfall, this paper will demonstrate how the label of “resilience” minimizes and masks their stories and struggles during times of disaster and will present alternate concepts which the communities that faced the typhoon use in its place