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A Prepared Community is a Safe Community

Angel Nicole de Castro    I       C-AB3

I was never the type of person to go out and explore because I was so used to staying at home, however with my interest in pageantry- I was able to win the title in our Barangay Pageant back in 2017. Since then, I was given the opportunities to put myself out there and explore the different sides of where I live from parades to volunteering in medical missions. Fast forward to 2019, my unit 4 project truly set me back to the day I was so intrigued by the location of our Barangay.

I am so honored to have the chance to interview the Barangay Captain of our Barangay Kalumpang named Hon. Segundo S. Cruz, and there we shared an intellectual discussion regarding the situation and preparedness of the community incase any calamity hits us. One of the first questions that I asked was the common problems of the community in terms of calamities and he mentioned about flood and heavy rainfall which are the common types that affect us. Our Barangay is literally just beside the Marikina River, which is why he mentioned that one of their ways into alarming the people was through their sirens. He said that the Barangay has a light post outside which also serves as a measurement to when the alarms must ring. Once the water reaches at Level 15, the First Siren will be played, and the Third Siren will indicate that we must evacuate immediately. Then, the Fire and Rescue are always ready with motorboats and right equipment to help.

“Ang baha naman may babalikan sila eh, pero pag sa sunog wala silang babalikan” Those were the words of Hon. Cruz, when I asked about another tragic situation in our Barangay. He then mentioned the Fire which occurred thrice in 2018 and another earlier this year. In times like this, both when Flood or Fire is present, they evacuate the families who were affected in either the Kalumpang Elementary School, which is the main public school in our community, or the Barangay where they give them enough food and aftercare. The people who are usually affected by intense flood are those in the low areas near the river and would take a while to reach the farthest places of the community. One thing that made me interested was how they treat the “Big One” seriously. To other people, this massive earthquake that is supposed to hit anytime in the country is just nothing but to Marikina- they are doing their best to prepare and inform their people about this. Knowing that this earthquake will have a great impact in the city, they have conducted multiple seminars and trainings in order to reach their goal. Representatives from the City Hall, the Fire and Rescue and 161, would come to the Barangay and create seminars in order to prepare the staff of the Barangay in case anything happens. He said that the City Mayor has an assigned Camp Manager whom the local barangays follow.

Upon having my community walk, I saw how close they really are from the river but despite that, they have designated places for their patrol cars, firetrucks, motorboats, and even have their own solid and waste management and the entire barangay had CCTV cameras which they are constantly checking. I felt safe and I also loved how the people were welcoming and attentive to my requests for pictures and details. I am not sure if he did not understand my question on the obstacles that the barangay is facing that prevents them from giving their full potential of help, or that things are just going naturally smooth because he was not able to answer it well. However, basing my assumption from my community walk- I can definitely say that Barangay Kalumpang is prepared enough.

Still, looking at other barangays especially from far-flung areas, I am hoping that they too will receive the same efforts as we are coming from a big city. There are still places here in the Philippines where they do not have enough support may it be materials, financial aid, or seminars that could helped them in a long run. As for my Barangay, I am hoping that the local government of Marikina would continue to their endeavor in making their people knowledgeable and ready when it comes to calamities. If there is a need to improve, then improve it.

In the Philippines, I am more concerned to the growing Deforestation. Science has already proven that trees can help ease the flood, but we are still on our way to cutting more trees in exchange for commercial buildings and subdivisions. All I know is that the Capitalist World can never survive a great tragedy that involves the Nature by the time it decides to fight back. We had Ondoy, Yolanda, etc. that proved to us how much they can affect us and that we should not just be complacent of what is in front of us. 

After the interview and community walk, I realized how preparedness and support from the government can truly help a community achieve its truest potential. When you take care of your people, they improve and learn on their own.

As a student of Political Science, I believe that the way wherein we can address issues regarding the calamities or environment situation in our country/community is through proper legal forum. The best way is to create a group or an organization within the barangay where they are tasked to research and study every situation in terms of natural calamities that affects their people. This is because we need to take in mind the gravity of every natural disaster and how it can greatly affect an individual’s life. By creating an organization, we are now in the correct platform to air out our suggestions and insights on things. As an individual, I must play as a role model in my community even just by doing the basic actions like throwing properly in the appropriate bin or advocating on environmental movements such as Zero Waste. I would like to end this with a quote from Wendell Berry, “The Earth is what we all have in common.” So, let us all be alert, be aware, and change for the good.