Human Act or Act of Nature: The lived experiences of Landslide Victims

Abstract

The study focused on the Lived experiences of the Landslide Victims of the City of Naga. The landslide took place last September 2018 where it took lives and property of the city’s residents. The study used the phenomenological approach through purposive sampling method in selecting the informants with data saturation as basis to determine the number of informants. Furthermore, the informants of the study are the ten survivor victims of the landslide in the City of Naga, Cebu, Philippines. Likewise, triangulation of data was employed which utilized the secondary source of data from the significant others of the informants. Moreover, after data was collected, it was transcribed and thematic analysis and coding were used to analyze the data gathered with the assistance of the NVIVO software.  The themes that have emerged in the study are the following: Losing a home and family, Valuing life, Trauma, Moving on, Determination, Spirituality, Financial problems and Negligence. It is established in this study that disastrous events occur in a very unexpected time in people’s lives but with sufficient and sustainable support particularly from the government, this can ease the suffering and make the coping process easier and faster for the victims. Moreover, tragic events can be used as strength and motivation to reach goals in life.