The archipelago of the Philippines is well endowed in nonferrous mineral resources such as copper, gold, lead, silver, nickel, and zinc. In recent years, the government of the Philippines, acting under the influence of the dominant and seemingly ubiquitous neoliberal development paradigm, has liberalized its mining laws to encourage the extraction of minerals by foreign corporations in order to accelerate the development of the economy. The Philippines is also a nation highly prone to a variety of natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, typhoons, and El Nino-induced droughts.

Nonferrous metals mining is an activity with a substantial potential for environmental degradation, and these various natural hazards have a high potential to adversely interact with mining's potential for environmental degradation. Earthquakes can destabilize tailings storage facilities, typhoons can flood tailings ponds, and mine-pit dewatering can enhance the competition for groundwater resources during droughts. This study show how natural hazards can amplify the environmental harm prevalent in mining and pose a substantial threat to the livelihoods of archipelago's poor, who are dependent upon subsistence agriculture and subsistence aquaculture.

Since his election in 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has directed a brutal anti-drug campaign rife with extrajudicial killings. Interpreting the war on drugs through the conceptual frameworks of penal populism, noble cause corruption, revanchism, and state terrorism, William N. Holden argues that the war on drugs, which has failed to achieve its purpose, follows trends of authoritarian populism and overlooks a more pressing social issue-the vulnerability of the Philippines to climate change.

This title explores how natural hazards in the Philippines can amplify the environmental harm prevalent in mining and pose a substantial threat to the livelihoods of archipelago's poor, who depend upon subsistence agriculture and subsistence aquaculture.