cyreeleegaza-blog

[cyreeleegaza-blog]

Disaster risk reduction is the approach wherein the goal is to reduce the damage or vulnerability of the system caused by natural hazards like earthquakes and floods by uplifting the capacity of the community to overcome the risk in these disasters. Given the task in our NSTP course to check on our own respective barangays, I went to ours in Brgy. San Roque Dau II, Lubao, Pampanga, to check and see the hazards, dangers and the risks that could affect our community there.

Since I am already familiar with the way of living there, the roads, sidewalks and such, I can say I know where my community lacks. Although before that, I would like to point out that our community, as also mentioned by our dear kagawad, Ryan Marinay, has been very much resilient when it comes to typhoons. Our barangay was never flooded even when raining hard, as they say where it is located is a high place. What we are worried about though are earthquakes. Just recently, April 2019, our town had been damaged greatly by an earthquake that even our town church was affected. We are very near to the fault line, which could be really alarming, but hey, we're in the Philippines, and I think that should just be normal. I think what we just need is the proper orientation in the community about what to do when they is an earthquake, what are the necessities and such. Proper demonstration could also be given as well as drills wherein people in the community would really participate well.

Another thing in our community that is a problem are the uncovered sewages. People could trip (if unnoticed or unfamiliar with the place) that's why it's also an alarming problem in the community.

What our barangay officers could do is to report this to the local office so they could be provided the proper budget for the project to finally close these sewages that are causing people to be alarmed by the smell, or by the fear they'll fall.

When it comes to the community's capacity to these disaster risk is that, the barangay have provided the community their evacuation places. The elementary school is one of the considered to be the most safe there, as it's also huge enough to cover the people in the area. They also have the barangay court wherein they could also hold seminars for the community, if ever needed. The barangay also has a copy of the town of Lubao's Disaster Risk Reduction map wherein locations are marked based on a specific disaster.

Overall, the concern of our community were that. I could say that our barangay takes on firsthand when it comes to community problems, although of course there are still flaws. Those, though, through our "kwentuhan" were already address. I hope the next time I come home these issues will be resolved already!

P.S. A big thanks to my tito, kagawad Ryan Marinay and the baragay secretary, Ms. Maureen Samson for letting me interview them at such inconvenient times ✊.