December 19, 2018 – As part of my NSTP course for the first semester in my first year at the University of Santo Tomas, I came over to the barangay hall of Greater Lagro in order to interview with Lessandro F. Muyuela, known to his peers as Kuya Andong, the officer in charge of the safety and disaster preparedness of the community.
Over the course of our interview, what I could gleam from it for the most part is simply how safe Barangay Greater Lagro is. When it comes to storms/typhoons, the worst scenario/biggest problem that has been experienced in the community have only been fallen trees. Compared to other barangays, it seems our barangay has an advantage in terms of location, as for the most part we’ve never even experienced much flooding, in part due to the roads, well-maintained streets, proper drainage, and the fact that garbage segregation is enforced all around the barangay. And even when the floods occur, they are not that high, and they recede quickly as well.
The barangay has been and continues preparing for The Big One, the earthquake that will affect most of Metro Manila, through their first responders and earthquake drills. For fires, they have the firefighters on the ready, and have their own nearby outpost. To add, while our first responders do have their shifts, regardless of any time an accident occurs, the first responders are always on-call regardless of what time. It also helps that all the first responders live in the barangay.
That being said, the number of first responders is sorely lacking. In a barangay with a population of 34, 538, there are only 20 first responders. This ties to a huge problem the country has as a whole: the lack of resources and funding available to train volunteers into first responders. There are volunteers, but there simply isn’t enough resources to actually help train these individuals in first aid, use of fire extinguisher and other safety measures. What the local barangay can be able to do is hire trained individuals to educate and train these volunteers. While they aren’t certified, per se, when disaster strikes, at the very least there are more people who know what to do.
The pictures above display the ambulance that the barangay hall has, which is fully equipped with medical equipment, materials, a spineboard, and a stretcher. The barangay has only one ambulance assigned to them.
When it comes to hazardous spaces, the barangay has almost none. There’s no area that can be categorized as such. There’s no industrial buildings or manufacturing areas around the barangay.
Vulnerable areas around the barangay include the schools like Lagro High School, and in certain disasters, La Mesa Dam can also be considered as one. Safe areas would include once again the schools (during floods) and open spaces like the streets and the parks in the barangay.
Brgy. Greater Lagro has many recreational places that they promote. From their Tennis Club, to their Basketball Club, to the Library and Community Center, and the Daycare Center and the Senior Citizens Center. There’s also a Medical Center just behind the Barangay Hall.
As a whole, I realized just how lucky me and my family are living in a barangay like Greater Lagro. For the entirety of the years I’ve lived here, there has been almost, if not zero, no casualties that have occurred. I know that not many communities have as much advantage and even a little bit of luck that Brgy. Greater Lagro has. Some are more disaster-prone than others.
While we have been lucky to not have experienced a disaster that left us reeling, most communities have not. There is a serious issue of lack of preparation and resources when it comes to facing the disasters this country has. While there may not be much that can be done with resources, what we can do to prepare is to continue teaching communities on first aid and disaster preparedness. We have to make the best of what we have.
Credits: Brgy. Lagro First Responders, Benjamin Ignacio – Deputy Exec. Officer, Lessandro F. Muyuela – Desk Officer
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