A barangay can’t stand without its allies.
Barangay Matungao can be considered as one of the busiest barangay in the municipality of Bulakan. Given the fact that it handles more than 12, 000 population. Aside from catering to the people, it's even harder to manage and control the community problems that come within.
In every speech of barangay captain Methelyn Nahil, she never forgets to thank her fellow barangay workers that help sustain barangay Matungao. Working and leading one of the biggest barangay in Bulakan is a tough job but as what she would always say,
“Naway pagsuporta at ang hinihiling na palawigin pa po natin, ang pag-unawa at pasasaan din, magagawa [rin] ito.”
Indeed, working towards community development is not a one-man show.
I was given an opportunity to have an exchange of conversation with barangay personnel last April 1, 2022— regarding different problems that exist in our barangay. I was also able to know some of the barangay councilors’ sentiment about this. They were almost complete that day because they will be having a barangay assembly with Capt. Nahil.
It was a great experience that I was given time despite their busy schedule. A conversation with these officials made me believe that we really cannot know everything unless we make an effort to see what lies beyond and if we will really choose to be involved.
Results and Discussion
Table 1: Survey Result
The table 1 above shows the summary of information I've gathered when I conducted the survey with three of our barangay’s officials. Listed above are the community problems they chose to identify.
When I handed in the questionnaire, and while they were reading these problems, they agreed with me. These problems really exist on a community level, “If I can only check all these”, one says jokingly.
Graph 1: Result of Q1
It is clear that based on the graph above (Graph 1) representing the respondent’s answer to question number 1, they almost chose the same set of problems. Stray dogs and animals, Waste disposal, trash, littering on empty slots and streets and Drug/ alcohol-related problems appeared to have the same number of votes.
Graph 2: Result of Q2
Graph 2 shows that based on the respondents, the most concerning problem in barangay Matungao is about Waste disposal, trash, littering on empty slots and streets. Two out of the three respondents agreed that it is one of the longest problems that until now haven’t been solved.
Graph 3: Result of Q3a
Graph 3 above shows that all of the barangay officials I talked to are aware of the existence of this problem. Thus, barangay Matungao has different programs that aims to address this.
Graph 4: Result of Q3b
Listed on the Graph 4 above are the two projects that they have listed. These are projects that barangay Matungao is currently working on. These projects are entitled as “PLASTIC MO, BIGAS KO” and “ASO MO, TALI MO! PUPU NIYA, PULOT MO! KAGAT SYA, SAGOT MO!”.
ASO MO, TALI MO!
PUPU IYA, PULOT MO!
KAGAT SYA, SAGOT MO!
Aside from the people, there are a lot of dogs abandoned by their owners, or maybe animals that have never been owned roaming around the streets of Matungao. Some are really wild as there were a lot of reported cases of incidents involving them. There are assigned people who rescue them in order to lower the risk of such cases. On this program, the barangay continuously reminds every household to not leave their pets unattended. There are also schedules of municipal-wide vaccination with the help of Panlalawigang Tanggapan ng Beterinaryo.
PLASTIC MO, BIGAS KO
This project aims to reduce household plastic waste. When 3kg of plastic bottles are given to the barangay, it will be exchanged with 1kg of rice. The barangay sets every Saturday of the week to be the collection of plastic bottles day.
Graph 5: Result of Q5
Graph 5 shows that two out of the three respondents decided to rate 3- Average as the overall response of the whole barangay involving the citizens and its local officials in the community problems. “We still have a long way to go”, they believe.
The problem with Waste disposal, trash, littering on empty slots and streets is already a nationwide problem. It’s not surprising that even small communities in the Philippines struggle with it. You may click the button below to know more about how the Philippines grapples with unsustainable plastic production and consumption, a report from the World Bank.
Today, what matters the most is how the people respond to it. Different barangays have their own projects and programs regarding this problem. But I don’t think a barangay project would be successful if not promoted properly or if it won’t get support from its constituents.
As a resident of barangay Matungao, I am aware that our community really lacks waste management. There are empty lots turned into garbage dumps. From my perspective, it happens because there is really a problem with garbage collection and lack of disposal facilities. As the population grows, household waste also grows. It becomes more and more uncontrollable. A one day schedule for garbage collection in our barangay is not enough. As a result, people resort to burning garbage or just simply living it in an improper area.
Both the local and the national government were unable to implement solid waste management. The little steps just like developing projects that would help reduce waste and would raise awareness is already a great move. We're all hoping that it will last longer.
In reality, we all know that both the citizens and officials play a key role in propelling barangay empowerment and in project implementation and development. Change should be everybody's business.
Comments