Urban population in the Philippines has increased by over 50 million in the last 50 years, with the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) saying that this would further increase to over 65 percent in two decades. Citing data from the *Manual of Operations for the Establishment of the RBIM Database System* and the World Bank in 2017, Popcom said this translates to 102 million Filipinos living in cities by 2050.  The same data revealed that min destination for long-distance movers in Region 4A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) with 27.7 percent absortion rate, followed by Metro Manila with 19.7 percent and Central Luzon with 13 percent.  The problem with migration to urban areas, according to Popcom, is that it results in strained housing, infrastructure and basic services in major cities—with 2.2 million Filipinos already living as informal settlers in cities in 2012.  The survey also revealed that change in residence most commonly involved movement from one region to another  followed by movement from one city or municipality to another within the same province. Climate-driven migration The 2020 Sub-Committee On Internal Migration Virtual Meeting And Validation Workshop disclosed there were “lower out-migration rates to municipalities with higher levels of rainfall. It added that there were higher migration rates to municipalities with higher number of consecutive dry days. “Environmental factors indirectly affect migration to or from a locality by directly affecting economic and social factors and vice-versa and that climate-sensitive infectious diseases caused by environmental factors like floods and storm surges would affect human population health,” Popcom said in a statement. “The agency also found out that climate events and processes would affect food adequacy, nutritional status and agricultural investments,” it added. Knoweldge is power In order to assist the local government units (LGUs) in addressing external movements of people, the German government has turned over digital knowledge portals to Popcom that would serve as tools for local policy-makers to analyze internal and external movements of people, especially in the light of climate change. Popcom Deputy Executive Director Lolito Tacardon said the online resources on Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change (HMCCC)were from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the German Agency for International Development or GIZ. “These can support LGUs in effective planning and policy-making in their respective areas, with particular focus on climate change-influenced migrations,” said Tacordon.  The resources, accessible via the Popcom website ([https://popcom.gov.ph](https://popcom.gov.ph/)), include:  1.     The [

Digitalized Registry of Barangay Inhabitants and Migrants (RBIM)

](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1zlC58jDoWzMIstiWIPCpIRx-G1WF88hw?fbclid=IwAR32Mg-3bdZCKKONgRnR743eyYo13UbW9CqrWcl41Hz3SSq1r_V-QUwdmHU)—a demographic database of residents and migrants of implementing LGUs for analysis, which will be vital for development planning and programming; 2.     The[

POPCOM Knowledge Portal

](https://popcom.gov.ph/knowledge-management/knowledge-products/)—an open-access platform to the agency’s knowledge products on POPDEV, including HMCCC research studies. Popcom Executive Director Lisa Grace S. Bersales explained that migration is one of the more difficult population statistics to discern, apart from births and deaths, which are available through registries. “it would be interesting for LGUs to scrutinize and find out if the prevailing climate in their areas of responsibility can influence in the crafting of pertinent policies that would aid migrating locals, especially those which require special aid in the long term,” said Bersales.  For his part, GIZ Phils. Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Cluster Coordinator Dr. Bjoern Surborg confirmed that the HMCCC resources will provide clarity on the drivers and decision-making processes of individuals and families and households for migrating. Tacardon said the HMCCC databases “will undergo further improvement for different population processes, including human mobility, which is the most difficult population metric to ascertain.