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juliatanlcrs2-blog · 6 years ago

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Disaster Readiness & Reduction

In this post, I will be talking about my experience with interacting with my local barangay to discuss about the disaster preparedness and plan of my community.

Due to time and resource constraints, I was not able to do the community walk nor meet the barangay officials of Addition Hills. But then, I made it a point to be able to at least speak to them personally over the phone as to form a connection with them.

They replied back via email and I will be summarizing their answers in shorter paragraphs as to keep this blog post brief and concise.

One of the entrance of Barangay Addition Hills

According to the Barangay officials, some calamities and hazard that hit us are usually floods. The worse typhoon experienced would be typhoon Ondoy and the 2012 southwest monsoon. There were many casualties involved and structures damaged due to the strong winds and high floods. The dangers that could affect the locals of the community would be the infrastructures as there are many high rise buildings surrounding the area, and we are located atop hills. Floods don’t usually happen in our area, however if the rain is persistent, it does worsen as more time pass. Though floods are the most common, fire also happens from time to time most especially in the Mandaluyong side of Barangay Addition Hills. The worse fire that affected the Barangay would be the 2015 and 2019 fire that caused a lot of deaths as well as burned down houses.

Example of high rise construction in residential area

The areas that are most affected by the floods would be the people living near the creeks which are Maytunas and Ermitanyo creeks. These areas are often affected because the water could easily rise and cause immediate floods. In addition, there may be an instance that “madala ang tao” due to the fast rushing stream of water. As said previously, the most affected if calamities happen would be the families living near the creeks. Not only that but individuals who require special assistance would also have a difficult time evacuating due tot he situation when calamities happen. When calamities happen, breadwinners of family aren’t able to work and supply the needs of the family and this becomes a concern. Of course, the local government tries their best to supply adequate resources for affected individuals but sometimes it is difficult to reach out to farther areas. Infrastructures are also affected, especially residences that are made of weaker materials. Not only that but education of students are also affected. The safest areas of the Barangay would be the covered courts, schools, and Barangay hall as they serve to be evacuation areas. As answered before, the most dangerous areas are near the creeks. As for the case of fire, it is usually in the slum areas that it happens as short circuits of wires and electric plugs are main causes. The hurdle that prevents the progress of disaster reduction would be the discipline and participation of the people. The local government often puts effort in earthquake and fire drills. In addition, they try to post warning and cautions signs around the area but it seems that some individuals don’t listen. These signs are usually do and dont’s when handling electrical materials as well as proper disposal of waste.

The plans of the Barangay to reduce disaster have already been mentioned earlier. When it comes to helping the individuals who need special assistance, the Barangay tries to prioritize them most especially in evacuation sites. They allocate an area where they have space to move around. The Barangay is trying to improve communication especially when calamities happen. They also try to improve the disaster plan as much as they could even through small things such as emergency pathways or methods of rescue. Volunteers of these disasters are also trained daily in case something happens. Barangay Addition Hills has a team for Disaster Reduction and Preparedness— they head everything under that area. And the overall head would be either San Juan city or Mandaluyong city.

The situation of my community in the context of hazards and disasters is that it is pretty safe as the local Government really puts an effort in implementing their plans and instill it in its citizens. The issues confronting the Barangay would be the people who refuse to participate and listen to the Government. It is difficult to change that attitude or mindset since there is only so much that the Government could do. Perhaps what the local Government could do is to simply apply is to do house visiting to inform the settlers in the residential areas. Though I was not able to do the “kwentuhan” with my local government, I was still pleased to know that there is a team responsible and assigned for the community’s disaster preparedness and plan. Also, they are very welcoming for any questions one may have and I think this is really good because being open for questions mean the Barangay is willing to accommodate the individuals. Based on the facts above, we need to address the issue of disasters in our country because this is lives we are talking about. As much as possible, we want to prevent the deaths of individuals because they have loved ones who care for them and a life to live. If they die due to the fact the citizens of the country didn’t try or give effort, it would be selfish in our part. We could address it by raising the concern to the Government for them to act on their part. As for us citizens, we have to participate and accept changes that may happen.

As a member of this community and country, a concrete action I could do is to segregate my trash properly. This is because poor irrigation system is one of the main causes of flood and the irrigation is poor because of trash that clogs it. The environment helps prevent further disasters made by calamities. Second, I could always inform myself and my family of the recent changes in the disaster preparedness plan of our local government. Third, I could always participate in the drills held by my school and local government as this will prepare me and maybe I’ll be able to influence my neighbors, friends, and classmates to do the same.

source: google images

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