This interview and community walk was conducted on Barangay 234, Zone 22, Antonio Rivera St. Tondo, Manila.
On December 16, 2018 I interviewed one of the officials in our barangay. She was my aunt, but at the same time our First Kagawad. I asked her about different things such as hazards found in the community, our vulnerability to disasters, people at risks during disasters, our capacity to handle disasters or disaster management assessment, and the safest and most hazardous areas in the community.
Here is the audio recording of the interview:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d9J8tfQz9uDNO_45xk-wsgIYS5tp-8ln/view?usp=sharing
And here are the pictures taken during and after the interview, inside the barangay hall:
I was given a copy of our Barangay Disaster Reduction and Management Committee (BDRRMC) Form or List:
Here you can see the barangay hall that also act as a daycare center, that is free and open to children in Barangay 234. And the CCTV and the organizational chart of the barangay:
To be honest, there wasn’t any much issues confronting the community except for the hazard found in the ‘white plains’ or most commonly known as the squatters area, the most hazardous area in the community. All in all, the barangay is safe from calamities and has the capacity to endure and survive during disasters.
The safest places are at the Sentro ng Karunungan Library and the Missionaries of Charity found at the outer side of the community. These two places are the most viable areas to be the evacuation centers if a disaster or calamity may come.
The issues though, found in the squatters area are narrow spaces, polluted canals, and fragile houses. I think these issues are happening in the community because they can’t afford to buy lots and build nice houses with lots of spaces. Aside from that, they tend to pollute their area and throw their trashes everywhere.
The possible solutions that the local government can do to address these issues is to do clean-up every now and then to at least lessen the pollution in their area. They can use their waste plastics for income, while the biodegradable waste as soil fertilizers. The barangay can encourage them to join ARLA or the Antonio Rivera Livelihood Association done by the other areas in the community. They cut their plastics into small bits of pieces, accumulate them inside a bottle, and then sell it to junkshops or construction sites. Dishwashing liquids and fabric conditioners were also made in ARLA as a source of income. There were also livelihood programs provided to those who sell food products.
Whereas, their biodegradable waste can be used as fertilizers for their plants at home or at the barangay’s planting area.
The local government, too, can educate them on disasters and its risks. The barangay officials have already held multiple programs to help the community such as community clean-ups, DRRM rescue seminars, free immunizations, pwd’s and senior citizen’s possible sources of income, joyful activities for children and senior citizens, and barangay assemblies in which they give out food and hygiene products to the people inside the community.
DRRM Rescue Seminars
Free Immunization
Joyful Activities for Children and Senior Citizens
Barangay Assemblies
The realizations and insights that I have learned after the kwentuhan and the community walk is that a community will only flourish if both the people residing in it and its officials will work together. It will not work if the officials are the only ones working to better the community, same goes if only the non-officials will work for bettering it. They both should be willing to cooperate and help each other with the needed processes in making the community better. The officials should continue doing programs, whereas the people should take the advices and lessons learned in a program. These advices and lessons can be applied in their daily lives.
Just like in our country, the Philippines won’t improve with only the government officials working. It will only work if the officials are not corrupt but at the same time, the Filipinos will abide by the proper rules and regulations. In disasters, we aren’t that much prepared or atleast we thought so. Because there have been cases that the local government weren’t to give much help to the people. They tell people to evacuate but will not give them transportation, food products, and a place to stay. Moreover, there were also times that corrupt government officials stole the goods to be given to those people who had gone through calamities. The capacity and capability of our country is low in all types of disasters. We are susceptible for all types of disasters. Proofs are whenever we can’t handle floods, earthquakes, and typhoons happening in our country.
Based on the facts above, we need to address the issues of disasters in our country so that less people will die, and so that we can prevent massive deaths and losses from happening. We can address it by always making sure that our house is well-built and that we live on higher grounds, we have enough food supplies that can be used during disasters, we have materials that can be used during disasters such as med kits and maps, and we have a prepared plan on what to do, what to bring, and where to go when a disaster strikes. Aside from that we can prevent these disasters from happening by planting trees to prevent flooding and soil erosion, and by disposing our trashes in a proper way.
As a member of this community and this nation, the possible concrete solutions that I can do to address these vulnerabilities is to tell officials such as barangay officials or school officials on what to improve in the school or community. I can also tell and advice my family and friends on what to do to during disasters and ways to prevent them. The actions I should take to increase the capacities of my own community and country is to throw away my trashes in the proper bins, pick-up litters that I found then dispose of them properly, and plant trees or any other type of plant whenever I have the time. Furthermore, I’ll vote for officials that can really help the country and not just some officials who run for money and fame.
Nightingale 