This panel takes into account the multivocal experiences in disaster-related events in the context of the Philippines. It investigates how language is used in the experiences of disaster—what words and expressions are manifested in describing disaster-related events including social support and coping mechanisms of the experiencers, how the messages of urgency and uncertainty are transmitted and portrayed in various media particularly by government agencies and news organizations, how the localized disaster experiences of the people affect the way they manifest linguistic behavior on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, and how these disaster conversations are ascertained at a wider (i.e., regional and national) level.

Disaster events that are looked into include bagyo (typhoon), habagat (southwest monsoon), pagputok ng bulkan (volcanic eruption), and lindol (earthquake).

By seeking to provide a description of language use and to understand the nuances in disaster events, recommendations hoping to contribute to the discussion and crafting of national as well as local policies in disaster communication are given.

The presentation may be viewed on the UP Department of Linguistics YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/yptYdWJon0g