Kwentuhan sa Brgy. 342 Zone 34
During my visit to the Barangay, I decided to visit the Barangay 342 which is one of the closest areas around the University of Santo tomas. The barangay's area consist of major streets like Laong Laan, A. H. Lacson, and A. Mendoza. The barangay hall is located at Gelinos St., which is almost at the middle of their area.
BDRRM Kwentuhan
I conducted the BDRRM kwentuhan with Kagawad Frances Eva, who claimed to be an alumnus of UST from the College of Science. We have talked about different hazards that happened and currently happening in their barangay. One of the problems is flooding, wherein the residents are experiencing ankle-deep of flood every now and then, but she reported that they are taking actions about it. So far, they can still manage flood crisis in their area. She also mentioned that they have monthly declogging of drainage systems to fight against flood problems. Another problem that the barangay face is fire, wherein the most common situation is it will start in a location with a small fire, and later on will get big and spread to the whole area. The strategic plan according to her, is to spread the fire extinguishers in different areas of the barangay. However, she mentioned that the most prone areas are the shanties of the informal settlers near the A. Mendoza street.
Now we discussed about different types of hazards and vulnerabilities of their barangay, we also talked about different action plans on how they manage and to minimize the worst case scenarios of their problem in the area. She mentioned that barangay kagawads and officials are attending regular seminars about rescue seminars during fire/flood, and luckily, their barangay is supported with 5% allocation of budget coming from the local government. They are also provided with enough equipment to be ready to any situations that may harm the residents.
Community Walk
After I heard different DRRM stories of their barangay, I asked if she could tour me around the barangay and explain different strategic locations of their area.
One of the most hazardous place is along the Laong Laan street, wherein there are many cases and reports of the residents that the street is full of thieves and culprits. Most of the tanods reported that the most common crime is "Riding in tandem."
The safest place of their barangay is the land located at the side of their barangay hall, wherein it can be used as an evacuation site in case of earthquakes like "the big one". She said that, the lot is currently messy, but soon they will clean it so that it can be used as a legit evacuation site.
The best practices of their barangay is there are proper segregation and disposals of different garbages in their barangay. The seperate plastic bottles from other garbages, and later on will recycle the collected plastics.
Reflection/Realizations
As discussed numerous issues above, they are happening in a certain community because of insufficient urban planning. Wherein, most of the practices of the barangay are just temporary solutions and not permanent solutions. They just adapt on what resources they have. And to address the issues by the local government, I think the best way would be conducting proper urban planning and improving infrastructures. Provide urban planning because it will serve as our guide on how to counter any possible hazards that may harm the community and to minimize the vulnerability of the area. Provide infrastructure planning because as stated above, flood and fire are very risky to them, but if the area is structured very well, they will most likely to avoid exaggerated flood and spreading of fire.
To relate on what have we discussed with Kagawad Frances to a nationwide level, we can conclude that there are also many barangays that are similar to them, or maybe even worse than them, that are properly equipped but cannot manage the hazards of their area. Even though they have the budget and equipment, it is not enough to counter any hazards in the community. For example, they declog drainage regularly but still there is flood in their community.
Based on the informations above, the government really needs to address the disasters of our country because we live in a teritorry wherein we are very vulnerable to various hazards and disasters. They need to address it to prevent casualties and economic loss. If these problems will again be prolonged, the Filipino citizens will suffer from different calamities and diseases will occur.
Since the Philippines belongs to the Third-world countries, it would be very difficult for the government to handle alone because of insufficient budgets and equipment. The government should seek help from advanced countries to strengthen our preparations for incoming disasters and hazards.
BDRRM Kwentuhan
I conducted the BDRRM kwentuhan with Kagawad Frances Eva, who claimed to be an alumnus of UST from the College of Science. We have talked about different hazards that happened and currently happening in their barangay. One of the problems is flooding, wherein the residents are experiencing ankle-deep of flood every now and then, but she reported that they are taking actions about it. So far, they can still manage flood crisis in their area. She also mentioned that they have monthly declogging of drainage systems to fight against flood problems. Another problem that the barangay face is fire, wherein the most common situation is it will start in a location with a small fire, and later on will get big and spread to the whole area. The strategic plan according to her, is to spread the fire extinguishers in different areas of the barangay. However, she mentioned that the most prone areas are the shanties of the informal settlers near the A. Mendoza street.
Now we discussed about different types of hazards and vulnerabilities of their barangay, we also talked about different action plans on how they manage and to minimize the worst case scenarios of their problem in the area. She mentioned that barangay kagawads and officials are attending regular seminars about rescue seminars during fire/flood, and luckily, their barangay is supported with 5% allocation of budget coming from the local government. They are also provided with enough equipment to be ready to any situations that may harm the residents.
Community Walk
After I heard different DRRM stories of their barangay, I asked if she could tour me around the barangay and explain different strategic locations of their area.
One of the most hazardous place is along the Laong Laan street, wherein there are many cases and reports of the residents that the street is full of thieves and culprits. Most of the tanods reported that the most common crime is "Riding in tandem."
The safest place of their barangay is the land located at the side of their barangay hall, wherein it can be used as an evacuation site in case of earthquakes like "the big one". She said that, the lot is currently messy, but soon they will clean it so that it can be used as a legit evacuation site.
The best practices of their barangay is there are proper segregation and disposals of different garbages in their barangay. The seperate plastic bottles from other garbages, and later on will recycle the collected plastics.
Reflection/Realizations
As discussed numerous issues above, they are happening in a certain community because of insufficient urban planning. Wherein, most of the practices of the barangay are just temporary solutions and not permanent solutions. They just adapt on what resources they have. And to address the issues by the local government, I think the best way would be conducting proper urban planning and improving infrastructures. Provide urban planning because it will serve as our guide on how to counter any possible hazards that may harm the community and to minimize the vulnerability of the area. Provide infrastructure planning because as stated above, flood and fire are very risky to them, but if the area is structured very well, they will most likely to avoid exaggerated flood and spreading of fire.
To relate on what have we discussed with Kagawad Frances to a nationwide level, we can conclude that there are also many barangays that are similar to them, or maybe even worse than them, that are properly equipped but cannot manage the hazards of their area. Even though they have the budget and equipment, it is not enough to counter any hazards in the community. For example, they declog drainage regularly but still there is flood in their community.
Based on the informations above, the government really needs to address the disasters of our country because we live in a teritorry wherein we are very vulnerable to various hazards and disasters. They need to address it to prevent casualties and economic loss. If these problems will again be prolonged, the Filipino citizens will suffer from different calamities and diseases will occur.
Since the Philippines belongs to the Third-world countries, it would be very difficult for the government to handle alone because of insufficient budgets and equipment. The government should seek help from advanced countries to strengthen our preparations for incoming disasters and hazards.
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