Producing Empowered Students

As a whole, making this DRRM Blog is hard yet it is worth it. We citizens should be able to identify which places is hazardous or safe and the vulnerabilities and capacities of the community. As I have said earlier, we residents should be able to guarantee our safety ourselves and not to be too dependent to the government. As a student, all I can do is to disseminate the information I got from the barangay council to the residents of the barangay. Also, I can help the council in implementing their projects and activities and I can also be a member of the council to give my "truly" best in helping them and the residents also. Suggesting of the projects to be implemented and supporting them are  also effective in increasing and improving the capabilities of the community. As a student and a citizen of this country, I should promote nationalism and patriotism to most of the citizens, if not all, whether they are old or young. All of us have our own roles and we should act on it with the best efforts that we can give. We should not let disasters destroy our heart and thus we should be stronger and efficient than before. This NSTP course is amazing as any other courses. I am glad that I enrolled in NSTP. I can't wait to go to the partner communities next semester!!! And thank you to Mr. Adrian Romero for guiding us through the course, even if we don't meet frequently. He gave us activities that were hard at first (for me) but it is for the benefit of others and for mine also. This course is worth it and it should be continued. And this is Siegfried John P. Diamante, signing out...☺☻

COME ON VAMONOS!!!

COMMUNITY WALK (LET'S EXPLORE!!!)

After we interview that barangay council, we immediate went for a walk to explore the hazardous and and safest places in the community. We are accompanied by Barangay Kagawad Joey C. Panaglima in our community walk to guide and show us where are the hazardous and safest places in the community

Hazardous Places and Vulnerabilities of the Community

Mamalin River

The first place that we went to is the Mamalin River. The Mamalin River just flows beside Barangay Maslun. It is dangerous as it it can overflow when there is a typhoon or a storm. Also, this is one of the places where residents usually throw their garbages.

Squatters Area

The second place that we went is the informal settlers or squatters area. This place is situated about the Mamalin River. This place is hazardous because their houses are made with light materials the houses can be washed out if there is a typhoon and can be burned easily because of the flammable materials

Narrow Roads

There is a significant number of narrow roads in the community. These narrow roads can hinder fire trucks from entering where is a fire occurring. Also, some of the major roads were narrow that there is no sidewalk for people. There is a possibility for an individual to get bumped by a car or tricycle.

Electric Cable/Wires

These jumbled electric cables/wires are considered as hazardous because they can break if the winds were too strong and it can electrocute anyone because of these live wires. 

Safest Places and Capabilities of the Community

Plaza/Multi-Purpose Court

This court, other than being an events place and a sports court, can also be an evacuation center. The affected residents can take shelter in this court and it can house a vast number of people. Also, this place is situated near commercial establishments so people can acquire food without walking long distances.

Barangay Health Center

This health center can also serve as an evacuation center, according to Kagawad Joey Panaglima. The second floor serves as the evacuation center. It is also situated near the market so people can acquire supplies.

Best Practices

Segregation

This practices is what Barangay Maslun is proud of. The barangay, during the dry run, were the ones who participated the most. This order is not just for the barangay but for the whole Liliw.

Seminars and workshops

Barangay Maslun is very active and sometimes the council is including their residents in participating in seminars and workshops. They are conducting seminars for information dissemination of, for example, DRRM plan, barangay projects and activies. They are also giving workshops for those residents whose source of income is limited. They also conducted an urban gardening project recently.

Insights and Conclusion

Based on what I saw during the community walk, there are many hazardous places and vulnerabilities of the community but it is countered by the safest places and their capacities. The active council is the reason why I took interest in this barangay and the community walk. I also learned and knew a lot of things and still the barangay needs improvement. Not that I am saying that it is bad but they need to upgrade so that they can serve more than they did before. I like how they persuade people to actively participate in these seminars, projects and activities, unlike here in Metro Manila. The council is very hands-on with there projects and currently they are busy in preparing the barangay for the Christmas season. I think people should visit Liliw, LAguna because of its production of tsinelas and shoes that rival those in Marikina. They are also very hospitable and the festival here is so fun that I come here every year just to see the Paagaw and the events during Liliw Week. 

Barangay Hall Visit/inter

BARANGAY HALL VISIT/INTERVIEW

            I chose the barangay in our province because I like the place there and one of my relatives there is the barangay kagawad and my mother knows almost everyone in that barangay. I did not choose the barangay here in Makati because I cannot feel the activities, programs, projects of the barangay and the barangay itself. The barangay that I chose to feature in this blog is the Barangay Maslun in Liliw, Laguna.

                Barangay Profile

·         Population: 2,863

·         Area: 0.18 sq km.

·         Neighborhood: 689

·         Establishments: Barangay Hall

·         Business establishments:

• 2 Mini-Mart
• 4 Bakery
• Feed Supply (Ladeco Feed Supply and Premium Feed Supply)
• Monleon Enterprises
• Computer Shop (PHOTO SHOP, PRINTING & LAMINATAION
•  Agricultural Supply (AGRI Agricultural Supply and Danny Monoscal Agricultural Supply)
• Printing Press
• Cellphone Accessories and Repair Shop
• Natasha Store
• Funeral Homes (Tanarte Funeral Homes and Monteiro Funeral Homes
• Tsinelas Factory

·         Institutions:

• "DSWD” Day Care Center
•  Sanctuario de San Antonio Children Learning Center

Before we discuss the summary of the DRRM plan of the barangay, I will first discuss what the meaning of DRRM plan is. The Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan (BDRRM Plan) is a document that is composed of the possible disasters that can happen in the barangay and the programs and projects that will eliminate or reduce the effects inflicted by the disasters. The BDRRM Plan is a mandatory project for barangays in accordance with the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010 or Republic Act 10121. The City Hall of Liliw together with the barangays held exercise drills on March 14-16, 2012 and they also held workshops regarding DRRM. During the exercise drills, there are three main hazards that can affect the barangay, namely Fire, Typhoon, and Flood. Due to the identification of these three main hazards, the barangay are able to compose their own risk reduction plan. This plan also covers the observation and evaluation of the barangay to create projects that can overcome the vulnerabilities of the barangay. As a whole, it is implied that the capacity of Barangay Maslun is adequate to reduce the possible damage that a calamity can inflict.

The disaster response of the barangay is very high because they are have protocols, adequate human resources and rescue tools and equipment. The residents of the barangay are also very responsive when it comes to disaster response. They also giving exercise drills, posting warning tarpaulins, and trash segregation to prevent the hazards. When it comes to preparedness, their priorities is to acquire rescue tools and equipment and funds, provide evacuation shelters for the affected residents, make protocols, and organizing an Emergency Response Team. If a calamity takes place, their priorities include giving relief goods and providing services for the improvement of the victims’ lives. Help from the government and the residents themselves is what they needed to recover.

DRRM Seminar

The DRRM Seminar is the second meeting that we had during our NSTP. We held this seminar on September 25, 2016 at the Tan Yan Kee Building. As the name of the seminar suggest, we talked about the Disaster Risk Reduction Management. We discussed all things that are related to DRRM. We also defined the meaning of the terms disaster, hazard, risk, vulnerability, and capacity. Each group made a table regarding the hazardous and safe places, vulnerabilities and capacities of the members’ residences.

            In my opinion, a hazard is the calamity itself and the vulnerability is the weakness of a community or an individual. When these hazards and vulnerabilities meet or “work together”, it causes disaster. Disaster takes place when a community or an individual, who has vulnerabilities, are affected by calamities – such as typhoons, fires, earthquakes, landslides and the like – and some properties and lives were lost also. Risk is the probability of losing something or someone during a disaster while risk reduction, on the other hand, is the way of eliminating or preventing that probability. Capacities are the strengths or capabilities of a community or an individual. We also discussed how disaster, risk, and risk reduction are computed.

            When we made the PCVA table, I actually do not know the precise details regarding the hazardous and safest places, the vulnerabilities and the capacities of the community where I lived in. It is because I did not experience or see directly the earthquakes, floods and fires that happened in the community. All of my answers are just my assumptions but they are based on the experience of my past high school friends who were living at the same barangay as I am. Also, I saw some of the places that were prone to floods and sickness because of the clogged canals and the trash that were disposed incorrectly. For the earthquake, I am very sure of my answer because our house is just meters away from the West Valley Fault. Fires were also possible because of the cable lines and the houses were close to each other. There is also a possibility of landslides because some parts of the barangay were higher than the rest. The barangay is also situated at the side of the Pasig River, which indicates that floods and landslides are possible. I answered the capacities based on the projects that I heard from other residents and the tarpaulins that were posted in different streets.

            To learn more about the discussions we first tackled, we later played a game named Bahay-Bagyo-Tao. Each team is composed of three members. Two members on the side will act as the Bahay while the other one will act as the Tao. There will be always an it. The it will decide the “fate” of the players. If the it says Bahay, the Bahay will move to another Tao in a different team. The Tao will just stay on his/her place. If the it says Tao, the Tao will be the only one to move from one Bahay to another. If the it says Bagyo, all will be “destroyed” and the members should change roles. Whenever there is a transfer of Bahay or Tao, the it will try to go to a Bahay. If one player did not have the chance to enter a Bahay, he/she will be the it. As long as I can remember, I became the it for once. I was really nervous because of the consequence that will be given but still I am determined to not be the it again. Other than having fun, I still learned something from this game. Some of the members were just sticking with one another. It is implied here that a community is trying to recover from the damage the calamity had inflicted. Although it is good on one side, it is also bad on the other side because that community is not helping other communities who were also the victims of the same disaster. Also our professor, Sir Adrian Romero, joined the game. I like how Sir Romero taught us because he is always there for us to be guided whenever we make mistakes. He is also hands-on on the activities that he gave to us. He first demonstrate before giving us the time to try it.

         

  At the latter part of the seminar, we were taught about first aid and basic life support. Even though I tackled these topics back in my CAT class, I still listened because there are some things that were not discussed by my CAT teacher. In the seminar, we practiced on how to initiate and apply CPR on a presumed victim. We were also given a situation where one of us is a basketball player who had so many accidents by just laying up the ball. My role back there was the basketball player or the victim. I was strapped on a spine board and tied with bandages on places where I was injured and the bandages were literally from head to toe. My group mates were able to lift me up even though I am a male and my group mates were all females. I admired them for their efforts and their will to help others who were injured.

            As a whole, I could say that our country is prone to disasters and it is evident from the news and the history. First of all, the country is placed beside the Pacific Ring of Fire, which indicates that we are prone to disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Second, we are situated beside the Pacific Ocean and typhoons are regularly formed there, which implies that we are prone to typhoons, tropical cyclones, LPAs and storms. Third, we are a Third World country, which means that our economy and budget is scarce and we are not able to recover fast whenever a disaster takes place.

            Because we are prone to calamities, our country has our own NDRRMC, which stands for National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council. They are responsible for ensuring the protection and welfare of the people whenever a disaster comes. They are the ones who mainly addresses the issues regarding the disasters. But we cannot be totally dependent to them because they cannot address all our concerns and they also have to address problems in other places. We should be able to help ourselves during disasters because we are the ones who were really inflicted by the disaster and we are the ones who can address these problems faster. With the help of the barangay and the LGUs, giving seminars and rescue tools are the things that we should not miss. We are also the ones who are mainly responsible for our safety. We should not be too dependent on the government because government response can be slow due to miscommunication and the disability to access a given area. Good thing, the University and the NSTP itself is giving these seminars to students in case a disaster happens.