trishamangahas

[trishamangahas]

BDRRM Kwentuhan pt. 2

Our country has faced numerous calamities in the past years such as earthquakes, fires, and typhoon/heavy rain flooding. Even though these happened, our country has been able to stand up again even if it’s a small step. I believe that the improvement of DRRM in our country starts from the local government units (LGUs), specifically barangays. If the barangay can improve the response to the calamities, it’s a step towards the betterment of evading the huge effect of disasters in the country. Through the community walk, I was able to see that it’s not impossible to improve the state of our community, rather we just need to have the drive to become responsible for our actions that may affect the nature of our community. It is a must that every Filipino knows that disasters happen not just because of natural causes, but it can also root to our actions towards nature. We can address this issue through campaigns and social media posts where most people are more inclined to be aware of the issue. Continuous improvements of the projects of LGUs is a solution to reduce the chances of the communities being devastated by the calamities that we will face.

[trishamangahas]

BDRRM Kwentuhan

It is important to know how our community responds to the disasters that may come in the way and how it will affect our lives. To know how my community copes with the disasters, I visited my barangay in my permanent residence and interviewed an official to share how they counter these disasters. Although each barangay has its official in-charge of the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Management (BDRRM), my barangay has informed each of their officials on their plans for BDRRM. I was able to interview the secretary of our barangay, Ms. Joy Alelou, and she graciously gave me her time and effort to provide the information I needed.

My barangay’s main problem when it comes to disaster is the flooding of the streets whenever it rains heavily. Although the barangay has faced fire and two earthquakes this year, the frequent heavy rains are the issue that the barangay always faces. The barangay frequently experiences floods because of the adjacent communities that are in a higher place as compared to our community which resides in a lower place. Also, our barangay is surrounded by the Meycauayan Creek, and it easily rises when it rains. There is a place in the barangay that is greatly affected by the rising of the creek which is P. Lunaria Street, and the reason for it is that it lies next to a part of the creek. To address this problem, the barangay set up a system on the creek that signals the residents when the creek is about to overflow. In case the residents need to evacuate, four evacuation centers are ready to take them in which are: the Pandayan Barangay Hall, Pandayan Elementary School, Glandiola St. Multipurpose Hall, and Pandayan Cockpit Arena. These evacuation centers are equipped with the equipment needed for emergencies and bathrooms.

The barangay addresses this issue by informing the residents of the community on what to do in case of emergencies through campaigns, notices, facebook posts, hotlines, and roving. Each household is given a pamphlet that contains reminders and information when there is a calamity. A general indicator called the flood markings are painted on the posts around the community to inform everyone when there is a need to evacuate their houses during heavy rains or typhoon. The barangay also has a material recovery facility to reduce the number of garbage that each household produces.