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DRRM Interview: Barangay 471

Last Thursday, I visitied the barangay 471, located at Navarra St., Dapitan, Sampaloc, Manila. It is the nearest barangay from the dormitory I am currently staying at. I am originally from Malabon, but unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury to go home to my hometown. 

I got the chance to interview one of their Barangay Kagawad, Ms. Belle Rabe. I asked her questions mainly relating to the current state of their barangay. It was nice to ask questions first hand about the  Disaster Risk Reduction and Management of Barangay 471 because I myself spend most of my college in my dormitory in Rosarito street, the street beside Navarra.

The interview was very quick. She answered my questions straight to the point. Perhaps, she is busy too. Nonetheless, I learned many things from the interview conducted. 

She was able to identify the hazards their barangay face from time to time: Typhoon, Flood, Fire, and Earthquake. For the upcoming typhoons, they prepare for it beforehand because they monitor the news from the television, radio, and on the internet. However, they cannot do the same in cases of fire and earthquakes since these phenomena can never be predicted. She noted that typhoons are more frequent during the month of October, November, and December. 

Even though the barangay experience heavy rain and storms, it does not cause much of a problem because the ground itself is high enough for the flood to not happen. The drainage around the place are also working perfectly. The only thing that can be a problem is if a fire starts in a high infrastructure. It can be very challenging to put out the fire immediately. But on the brighter side, these instances barely happen. 

Even though these threats rarely occur, the barangay still ensures that they are ready for it because a lot of people will be affected, especially the students, and the vulnerable people who does not have a home and just live in the streets. The livelihood of the stores and food places around the place will also be affected not only because they will experience the hassle of the flood, or they become the victim of fire, but also because when the typhoon occurs or even just heavy rains, the university will suspend. This affects them in a way that they will lose costumers for the day. 

For the instances that the people will be needing to evacuate, Ms. Belle noted that the University of Santo Tomas will be the evacuation center. 

In terms of danger where in holdapers or thieves come in to the scene, she said that the daytime is just as risky as the night time, and I couldn’t agree more. Nowadays, these people who do bad things just to earn money, they do not even pick a time in a day, or even choose their victims. Anyone can be their target, and that is why the barangay provides a selected barangay tanod to watch over every street. I am a witness of them and I am very glad that the barangay provides that type of security. 

The barangay’s disaster management is their Hazard Safety Plan. Unfortunately, Ms. Belle doesn’t have the soft copy of that because the barangay secretary is the person appointed to keep it. This includes the earthquake drills, maintenance of drainage, and their calamity fund provided by the city hall. The calamity fund provides canned goods, rice, and other basic necessities. This is distributed to the community in days of extreme calamity where many are affected. The barangay also has a separate committee for DRRM.

COMMUNITY WALK

Me and my friend walked around the streets of barangay 471 including the university, and we took photos of the safest spaces, best practices, and hazardous places around the community. Here are some (in order). 

1. Safest spaces 

2. Best Practices - The kuyas who are working are using safety hard hats.

3. Hazardous places - Fortunately, during our walk, we didn’t see anything hazardous. This picture is just for example. 

However, we are aware that Antonio St. is where the people smoke their cigarettes. I personally chose not to go there and take a photo of it because I am not allowed to inhale the smoke due to health reasons.

This interview with Ms. Belle made me conclude that the barangay rarely experience problems inside the community. I think the community is very healthy except the part where there are homeless people in the streets. This is one of the problems I see first hand and I wholeheartedly want to contribute in finding a solution to address this problem. I realized that this problem is not new to our country anymore. I cannot imagine the amount of homeless people in other parts of the country, knowing that this little community also has beggars despite having such DRRM Plans. I personally believe that the local government can do so much to eradicate this problem. The barangays should coordinate with the local government and to the Mayor, and work hand in hand to help the homeless people find their own safe space. I realize that even though the barangay seemed so organize and efficient to the people, there are still the minority that cannot acquire the benefit the barangay caters because they are neglected. I wish the barangay can improve in the aspect of making the whole community safe and not just the residents. After all, everyone in their vicinity is part of the community, and it is the barangay’s responsibility to ensure their safety and security.