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© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Participatory forestry needs to revisit the notion of what "participation" means rather than uncritically follow the technobureaucratic guidelines of baseline assessment and monitoring. In this study, we are concerned about materialism and idealism in the policy and practice of participatory mangrove rehabilitation in the Philippines. The analysis is based on the review of mangrove policies and a case study of a successful project, the Katunggan Ecopark. Empowerment does not necessarily follow a bottom-up strategy, but is given as an impetus by the traditional authority after capitalizing on the rhetoric of participation and limiting the decision-making power of the members of the community during the incipient stages of the project. This has put the local communities to work despite having anxieties over the project's positive promises. Social cohesion, a volunteer network, and the community's sense of ownership of the success of the project that was not previously felt before, can be gained through evidence from the material success of rehabilitation. With the transformation of the denuded area to a mangrove forest, power was decentralized from the local government authority to the people's organization. Recognizing the difference between the materialist and idealist perspectives and learning to negotiate between the two can significantly inform pragmatic approaches to environmental policy and governance. More studies that reflect on the inconsistencies and biases of the materialist-idealist divide in both policy and practice should be done to further our understanding of a dynamic, flexible, and transformative participatory process.

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. The role of local government units (LGUs) in disaster resilience is crucial for a hazard-prone country such as the Philippines. Although the country has its own institutional framework on disaster risk reduction, a number of issues limit LGUs' potential to perform its role. This study focused on building institutional resilience of LGUs towards building climate risk resilience in Aurora, Philippines by engaging key actors in the formulation of Local Climate Change Action Plans (LCCAP). The study adopted the shared learning process from the Climate Resilience Framework (CRF) to strengthen partnership and implement capacity building activities, aimed at developing the Climate and Disaster Risk Assessment (CDRA) and LCCAP beyond compliance. An institutional capacity assessment was administered through a survey involving 87 members of the Technical Working Group (TWG) from eight municipalities and provincial government. Institutional capacity was measured using 70 indicators representing access rights and entitlements, information flows, decision-making processes, application of new knowledge, capacity to anticipate risk, capacity to respond, as well as capacity to recover and change. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Both Spearman Correlation and Cramer's V determined the interrelationship between socio-demographic variables and institutional characteristics. Results revealed that the LGUs performed better in risk response and management. A strong correlation between expertise and position vis-à-vis all resilient institution metrics was also observed, while gender is moderately correlated with all parameters except access rights and entitlements. Three key areas, not adequately articulated in current literature, need to be improved to enhance institutional resilience towards climate and disaster risks, namely: staffing and human resource; access to financial support from other sources; and development of knowledge management systems.