DISASTER RISK REDUCTION MANAGEMENT: BRGY. BANAY-BANAY, LIPA CITY, BATANGAS
Risks are everywhere we are. It will always be present for it is in our planet’s nature. We can’t predict this type of danger so we must prevent it through Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRMM).
As a student of a university, we are required to observe our barangay and evaluate it through guide questions relating to DRRM. With this, I am now more aware of my surrounding’s risks. I believe that being aware from this is important so I dedicate this blog to all the residents of the Brgy. Banay Banay. I am Marcy Claire S. Villegas, a student from the University of Santo Tomas. This a requirement for myclass, NSTP CWS 1 with a section C-IICS-3. And this is the information I gathered from the conducted interview and community walk in the Barangay Banay Banay.
My grandfather is the Barangay Chairman of our place, but unfortunate he was not the one I interviewed. Luckily, my mother is connected to this kind of government in our barangay, a barangay assistant of the chairman, which led me to interview my very own mother, Analyn S. Villegas.
We did not only talked about it, but we also observed the surroundings through the community walk.
After the interview, kwentuhan and the community walk, I realized that these risks are really around us waiting to be triggered and soon become a disaster. My fellow residents of the barangay these are what I learned and hopefully help us to be aware of our own place.
Hazard Identification
According to Analyn S. Villegas, Barangay Banay banay was once a rural-like village. This can be a reason why it is vulnerable to disaster and high on risks. Some calamities and hazards that hit our barangay are typhoons, earthquakes, floods and accidents related to electricity. These calamities and hazards affects the residents’ everyday lives and life style, especially their health. We are lucky that we have devices to detect some of these calamities, such as television and radios to alert us regarding the disasters present since typhoons visit our country twice or thrice a year and the earthquake are being active in the city of Batangas nowadays.
Vulnerability, Elements and People at Risk Assessment
With a calamity present, the effects are also present. The vulnerable part of the barangay are the parts where the squaters are located. They can be found at some ends of the barangay. This is because according to barangay assistant their very own structure of their houses does not have a strong foundation. It is also usually made up of plywood and unwell made cement making them weak and vulnerable. The barangay is also known for its livelyhood of piggery and poultry. Besides the health and lives of the residents, the businesses are affected too. Not only that but the surrounding is also affected.
Some areas of the barangay are not really safe especially during calamities are happening. Many parts of the barangay have cracked floors, side walks or the road itself. This can be a hazard from earthquake since Batangas are one of the central earthquakes last year.
Another is that many places of the barangay has tangled or unaligned electric wires. Some accidents happened because of this hazard. There is this one incident where a worker got electrocuted and died because a line of wire is so close to the infrastructure that his metal material accidentally tapped it and affected him and lose his life because of it.
Some places of the barangay used to have poor drainage systems that now are fixed. But as we do our community walk we noticed that not all drainage systems were fixed. As you can see at thee photo in the top, the leafy and unclean part of the floor is used to a drainage system for the compound. This uncleanliness causes clogged drainage systems, which causes flooding.
The barangay assistant also said the most protected place to be while calamities are happening is our home/house itself. With the strong foundation and infrastructure together by an alert mind, we can prevent accidents from disasters.
These types of problems does not help to the development of the community for the lifestyle, livestock of the businesses, the infrastructures and the health of the residents itself are affected by it.
Capacity and Disaster Management Assessment
Regarding in preventing the calamity and its disaster, some programs are made by the barangay. Again, the fixing of the drainage system was conducted but not all of them. Also, the barangay is practicing proper waste segregation, which is surprising for a Filipino community to implement it strictly for we Filipinos are lazy. I was shocked when my mom said segregate my trash for now on because the implementation of waste segregation in our community was strict and monitored.
Part of their BDDRM Plan is having a social media platform that will scatter information to all. With this, their would an equal right of getting the right information in what’s happening in the barangay, the risks and the calamity that all will be prepared of.
REFLECTION:
Now for the reflection part of a young residential girl and a student of a university, I think that those issues mentioned are being experienced by the barangay is because of the lack of attention that not only the barangay officials but the resident themselves give. With this, it will not be noticed and fixed. I think monitoring the whole barangay from the grounds to the electric wires will help the problem to be fixed. Having a ocular visit of the whole barangay once a month can truly be a help for small or big problems.
With our country that is near to calamities, such as typhoons because we are near the ocean and the fault lines, we must be all ready. Not only the residents of the Barangay Banay Banay but all of us.
With all of this experience, I realized that it is not easy to maintain the safety we all need but with cooperation through giving attention even the smallest mistakes or imperfections we can make our surroundings safer.