[This is a requirement for univ. :D]

Ma. Gia Paula C. Gatpandan
C-AB-11

DRRM BLOG

I have learned that disasters are more or less brought upon us by humans. Risks are unavoidable. What we can do is to lessen the chances of us encountering dangerous risks by being careful. We have to know our capacities which are our positive points and advantages, and our vulnerabilities or our weaknesses in order to plan out the best solutions when disasters arise. The bamboo, as we all know, is very strong although it may not look like it. When hard wind blows, the bamboo bends but it stands up again like nothing happened. People should be like the bamboo. When disaster strikes we fall, but we should be able to rise up after. The "bahay -tao – bagyo” was a fun game. My members where the ones who did not really leave the group (alright I didn't leave as well, I kept to my partner as the house) as the game went, and I initially thought that it was cheating and we would get scolded but we ended up not getting scolded and actually sort of praised. It was because that actually having a plan was better when it came to risky situations. It was as if we were prepared because we had a plan beforehand. First aid; I have always thought that it was very important but not simple. I was right. It only looked simple but in reality it was not because you have to really know what you are doing when applying first aid to other people or else you might cause even more damage than there already was.

The Philippine disaster situation is not really good. But I can see that a lot of people are really trying to improve; they are practicing even more and training people of all ages to be ready when needed.

Basically we need to address the issue of disasters in our country because it is very important. We don't really want any more casualties every time a typhoon hits the country. Although having casualties I guess is unavoidable, we can still at least lessen it.

We conducted the PCVA workshop by evaluating the capacities and vulnerabilities of UST [hazard mapping]. We discussed about the flood prone areas around the university and where people could stay during disaster in case they get stranded in UST. If there would be an earthquake the students, faculty and other employees of the school should evacuate the buildings and proceed to open areas far from possible debris. Fire situations in UST could be resolved with ease since there are nearby fire stations that could take care of the problem immediately. Common disasters from the different members’ own communities would be flooding. We have to have an idea on our community’s capacities and vulnerabilities so that we will be able to act accordingly in case we are met with said disasters namely, flooding, fire, earthquakes, among others. If we have knowledge about these kinds of things we would be able to know what to do and to avoid.

I was given the opportunity to interview our barangay captain himself, Cap Lito Sahagun about our barangay’s DRRM plans. When there are earthquakes, barangay tanods are obligated to gather at the barangay hall to standby and assess the damages after. Fire usually takes place after earthquakes, as cap said. He personally has five fire extinguishers, and they’re also on stand-by with the fire departments and volunteers [they are in cooperation with the Manila Volunteers]. If they find that they need to evacuate people because of the damages, the evacuation place of our barangay would be the whole of Halcon St. where the barangay hall is located.

Another common disaster we have to be ready for are typhoons. In our barangay, according to cap, we have flood prone areas namely the streets of: Maria Clara, Simoun, Calamba- Baco, Calamba, Halcon, and Calamba- Calavite. They are aiming to have the pipes in these area fixed, since the last time the pipes were replaced near those areas, only Manila was the beneficiary and Quezon City wasn’t part of that improvement.

Cap and his officials do not have concrete programs effective for this year but they are preparing and planning programs to be effective for 2016. For the youth they have plans for recreation (every weekend). They are thinking of holding “liga”s or basketball tournaments, have ping pong tables and chess amongst others. They also plan on having weekly consultations with the street youth on what kind of programs to hold. They’re thinking of having talks and speakers on different topics (e.g. drug use). For the elderly, they have this wellness programs (zumba) every Saturday morning. Cap encourages them to have their zumba sessions by the Manila Bay so that they can also enjoy the sea breeze. For the people with disabilities, they don’t have a concrete plan yet, but they are asking the PWDs on what they need for them to be comfortable. They also still hold feeding programs for the poor.

As a Filipino, I think that I have to really assess the weaknesses of the community first. I have to really know what is happening first and then think of doable ways on how to overcome these weaknesses. When I deemed that the solutions I have formulated are feasible, I would ask my dad to talk to Cap (Cap and my aunt are former classmates so my dad and cap know each other) and suggest the solutions I have thought of. If given the chance, I would be the one to do the suggesting to Cap instead of my dad. I would do the same for the capacities, only then I wouldn’t think of ways to overcome them but to strengthen them in order to benefit the community.

Anytime is the best time for me since we don’t really know when disasters would happen. We can’t really predict when an earthquake will occur, or how high flooding would be. People that should be involved would be everyone. The more people to take notice of the situation, the faster it would be solved. 

-Photos-

DRRM (cr. groupmates)

BRGY. CAPTAIN LITO SAHAGUN