This paper highlights the need for a sociological and normative pluralist theoretical framework to understand the unintended consequences of the implementation of post-disaster recovery projects for disaster victims in the Philippines. It broadly traces the conceptual development on hazard research in the the sociology of disasters and clarifies the distinction between legal pluralism and normative pluralism in socio-legal studies. Finally, it explains the significance of adopting the normative pluralist framework in post-disaster research, given the unique socio-legal characteristics of the Philippines as typhoon-prone, pluralist in legal and social normative systems, rigid and complex in regulation and bureaucratic requirements, as well as high in red tape and corruption indices. It argues that developing countries with high legal and normative pluralism and complex social systems such as the Philippines are more likely to encounter significant deviations in implementing post-disaster relocation and housing projects. Thus, they need a more holistic and sociological framework such as the normative pluralist perspective.