November 10, 2023
With their trainings on disaster preparedness, the participants then reechoed the results of their trainings to the other members of their organizations and the plans were implemented.
In Sitio Lawis, Pasil, coordination with the barangay officials by the women’s organization to regularize the collection of household garbage was done to minimize the wanton dumping of garbage that would clog up the drainage in the houses and prevent flooding. There were also regular clean up drives of the members in the alleys of the sitio which are often wantonly strewn with small pieces of garbage like plastics and empty sachets. In Sitio Nangka Ville, due to lobbying of the Sitio Nangka Ville Women’s Association with their local government unit, the Quiot barangay council donated three fire extinguishers to the community which were placed in strategically located houses of three members of the association. They were also taught by the BDRRM firefighters how to use the equipment.
Furthermore, the association conducted meetings to discuss about paving their road with cement to avoid falls during rainy weather when it becomes muddy and it is steep. There are houses in the sitio which are located on the slopes and at the foot of a hillside in Barangay Quiot. Because of lobbying with the Cebu City Government, the office of Cebu City Councilor Francis Esparis, Chairman of the Committee on Social Services donated 30 sacks of cement and 20 sacks of gravel to the association. The association then initiated the paving of the road with the donated cement.
In Sitio Tierra Dulce, Tierra Dulce Homeowners’ Association members met on September 4, 2023 to discuss about lobbying with the Inayawan Barangay Council to lobby for repair of the road and drainage in the main road outside their sitio which pose health hazards to them. The road has many unpaved portions so that drivers have difficulties driving their trisikads ( bicyle with a mounted sidecar) which are the modes of transportation. The association asked that cementing of the road be done. Furthermore, poor drainage in the road causes floods and dirty waters to rise up during rains.
The lobbying was continued with the barangay council elected in the October 2023 barangay elections. They brought out the drainage problem which has remained unsolved since a portion of the underground pipes and channels that carry the flood waters away to the river is found in private property. In the meantime, the barangay continued to use a sewer vacuum truck that sucks up the liquids, sludge, and slurry from the streets after a rainfall to clear the streets of excessive water and prevent or alleviate flooding, and brings it to the nearby river that flows to the sea. Fortunately, there had been no heavy rains in the past months, with the Philippines being in the dry season.
In Sitio Wang Yu, meetings were conducted by the women’s association with Mambaling Barangay Captain Gines Abellana and the barangay councilors on solving the floods problem due to the very poor drainage. Clean up drives were conducted in September and succeeding months by the residents and barangay personnel to clean up the garbage that clog the drainage system and reduce floods during rains. The clean up drive is a joint activity of the association and the barangay after a successful lobbying of the women.
Furthermore, the association also talked with the principal of the Alaska Elementary School. Drivers of E-bikes ( bicyle with a mounted sidecar that is powered by a motor charged with electricity) were told by the elementary school officials not to park their e-bikes outside the school to allow easy access to the students and prevent accidents. However, there is no other parking space for the e-bikes in the vicinity of the sitio.
Fire drills were planned by the disaster committees who approached their respective barangay captains and BDRRM to organize the drills in collaboration with the Bureau of Fire Protection. However, the drills cannot be held because the barangay officials and employees were preoccupied with the election campaign for the October 2023 elections. The barangays were also preoccupied with the turnover of new barangay councils in the last quarter of 2023. Thus, in spite of efforts of the disaster committees for their barangays to organize the fire drills, they could not be held. They will be scheduled in the coming months.
In all the four communities, with the information dissemination drive and massive education drive on common fire hazards and fire safety precautions, the residents are now more conscious to prevent hazards that give risks for causing fires such as not overloading electrical circuits, not using oil lamps and candles during times of brown-out, not using unsafe Butane gas as cooking fuel and cellphone phone chargers and electric fans connected to and powered by improvised electrical wires. Instead, resident should practice safe storage of flammable materials, use better electrical wiring, and safer cooking materials.
