Be Prepared!: A Look into Barangay Don Bosco’s BDRRM, An Assessment of Philippines’ Preparedness and Insights about Bayanihan
Although Parañaque is rarely ravaged severely by the usual disasters that pay our country a visit due to its convenient location, it does not make an excuse out of this to neglect its disaster preparedness. Prevention and early warning are the key factors regarding risk reduction and management in our barangay. From my interview with Mr. Danilo Manlapid, head of the Peace and Order department of Barangay Don Bosco, I found out that they constantly work on improving the preparedness of the barangay: from placing drainages or culverts in easily flooded areas, to maintaining them, to discussing and updating the contingency plan whenever need arises; they work hard to ensure that the people are well-informed, the facilities are ready and the community prepared.
This constant process of assessment and improvement stems from their recognition of the fact that the state of the barangay, and parts of the city of Parañaque, could change over time. For example, houses could be built on lots, population could increase and drainages could be clogged with trash over time, no mater the maintenance, etc. This process is the barangay’s means of adapting to the factors that could affect the flow of the barangay’s contingency plan (such as as routes, evacuation centers and the like).
Overall, the officials of Barangay Parañaque are prepared for disasters. But of course, like all cities, it has its fair share of crime.
A Share of Crime
Parañaque city is considered by many to be a pretty safe and quiet place. However, it faces one dire issue.
Last December 12, a few men were nabbed for drug pushing during a buy-bust operation near SM Bicutan (Dominguez-Cargullo, 2018), this area is in our barangay’s jurisdiction. This was only the most recent case of drug peddling in our barangay and it was far from the first, not only here but in the city. In fact, the drug issue has always been a looming spectre over our beloved city for years now. The barangay offices have always strived to work together in order to ensure that this activity is halted but their efforts seem to fall short. This is by no means an invalidation of their effort, but a testament to the utmost secrecy and shrewdness practiced by drug peddlers who manage to sneak their way into our city.
Perhaps one solution the local offices could resort to would be an allotment of funds towards the general improvement of their methods of inspection at malls or public places, security rounds and the employment of sniffer dogs. I realize the great amount needed towards this improvement but it should be noted that a barangay should strive for the satisfaction, convenience and utmost safety of its citizens. The end of this great demand would be the greater good.
On Disasters and Preparedness
It is ideal that all cities or communities in general, could have access to the proper facilities in times of dire need. However, there is a sad truth behind all this talk of general disaster preparedness: not all will be able to access these facilities that are provided by the local governments or the government in general. This is brought about by the geography of our country.
Our beloved country is an archipelago, meaning it is consisted of a great number of islands making us more separated than we think we are from each other. Furthermore, on each island is potentially more than one province which is usually hard to reach from the city. In the case of a disaster, this is a major hurdle for rescuers and aid in general. Ideally, communities should be reachable by these people wherever, whenever. But since the geography limits this, it is of utmost necessity that all communities should sit down and discuss their plans in the case that a disaster would hit them because during a disaster, it would no one no good if people started thinking only for themselves.
Final Insights
A woman looks distraught after the events of the storm, (Olan, 2014)
All this talk of disaster preparedness leads one to realize plenty of things. First, it is important to make the individual effort of preparing for disasters contagious. As I’ve stated before, it would do no one no good if people started thinking only of themselves in times of disasters whether impending or on the time itself. Safety of the self is indeed of the highest priority but it should be noted that there is no rule stating that it (safety) should only be kept for the self, especially in times of great danger.
What exactly am I getting at here?
My point is it would not hurt anyone to push this effort forward on the community table. It would not hurt anyone to discuss contingency plans, share ideas, prepare for disasters as a collective. After all, disasters hit everybody. No one is excluded. A community should not wait for a tragedy to bring it together because by then it would be too late. Which is why on the matter of safety, social differences must be dropped and fraternity must be established; in the spirit of fellowship, all lives matter.
Secondly, many will be saved and the same could also be said about those who will not be saved. It is the goal of rescue operations and aid providers that mortality is kept minimal during such times. However, these will always vary and depend on how fast the victims are reached in which case we already know will also vary depending on the distance and magnitude of the damage to be encountered on the road.
This, again, turns our attention towards community preparedness. I cannot stress further on the importance of striving towards a collective goal of safety and preparedness.
Lastly, the social barriers we have set forth are foregone by something much more important: the value of life, and this does not stand only during great disasters, but at all times, everyday, as we live and breathe.
Our country is teeming with diversity; be it culture, language, religion, tradition and the like, it is one of our strongest points but it is also a possible factor towards our division as a nation (aside from geography). The diversity we hold as a part of our cultural pride also sets barriers before us for understanding certain cultures, building an air of indifference towards them. These social barriers are possible hindrances for us to see those whose culture differs from us as our equals. But they should not. Instead, it should encourage us to reach out and discover them, commune with them, fraternize with them, unite with them. This is a sign that we recognize the human life that springs in them.
Why should this be of any concern to us?
Because that life, that heart that beats in their chest, that mind that streams with consciousness, those are things that you, yourself, have.
Foregoing this talk of disaster, unity as a nation, as I humbly define it, is a consensually and fraternally shared idea that all lives in the country are subject to the respect and rights that they are all equally due.
In the Filipino language, there is one word that encompasses all that I have said. That word is bayanihan. Personally, I am glad that this word has not died and has in fact continued to strive. With this in mind, the responsibility to strive towards safety during times of disasters should stand as a testament to that sense of unity and this responsibility falls not just on the shoulders of LGU officials but on all our shoulders. After all, this country is ours and ours alone. No one else holds its fate in the balance but we, the people. We are all bound by this fraternal responsibility down to the last man of each generation now and the next and those to come.
Perhaps, the most concrete thing I can do to make bayanihan work in our nation is this: to inform people of the safety situation of our barangay, to commune with them and to abolish from my mind all thought of indifference toward them. Now that that has been said, what can you do to further propagate this effort to your fellows?
This is a call, a call to keep uniting not only in the face of danger but as the people of one country. This is a call directed to all of us. We are all fellowmen, each and every one. The fate of our country rests on us and no one else. If this unity we share is kept alive everyday, then who is to say that it will not show so much more during times of dire need? That is why, apart from a reflection on the state of my barangay’s bdrrm, this is a call. Let us harbor bayanihan in our hearts and in our lives, let it flow into our everyday deeds and efforts. Let these always help our spirit of bayanihan continue to flare for this beloved nation of ours for in it, the Filipino endures, strives, stands and smiles.
Sources:
https://www.fgeninsurance.com/new-blog/2017/9/15/is-the-philippines-financially-prepared-for-disasters
https://radyo.inquirer.net/153432/5-arestado-sa-magkahiwalay-na-buy-bust-sa-paranaque-at-qc
https://www.numbeo.com/crime/in/Paranaque-City-Philippines
https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/disasters/70240-ondoy-records
