How I Met Your Barangay

How We Met Brgy. Sto. Niño 

INTRODUCTION

              Kids this is the story of we met Barangay Sto. Nino. You see for the whole month of November our agency, which is the Authorized Reality Monitoring of Operations of the Republic (ARMOR), focused on monitoring the fundamental application of social sciences in our republic. For our latest mission, our headmaster called me (I am known as Agent Sydney Buyers) and my partner, agent Sterling Juliet to work on a project regarding social work. Last November 15, 2017, we were sent in Barangay Sto. Nino to investigate regarding the application of the principles social work in their barangay. We immediately locate the Barangay Hall through the help of our interactive maps. However, we made sure that our identity will not be revealed by the barangay officials so we followed the due process in order for us to have an access to the barangay hall. We submitted a letter of request to conduct an interview with the barangay captain. Fortunately, our request was granted and we were able to conduct an interview with the barangay captain, Mr. Zaldy Josef. We were able to gather the necessary information for the success of our mission. We found out the functioning social department of the barangay, past and on-going projects and the future programs for the barangay. Now sit back, relax as my partner and I share our whole experience in accomplishing our mission in Barangay Sto. Nino. 

BACKGROUND

Brgy. Sto. Niño is located at the heart of Marikina City. It covers the territory from the north of Brgy. Malanday, from the east of Apongao, Cupang, and Mayamot, from the south of Brgy. Sta. Elena, and from the west of the Marikina River. 

Famous landmarks found here are the following (from top to bottom): Cityhood Park, an open public park that features a fountain as its centerpiece and framed by a Spanish inspired frontage; Marikina Market Mall, considered to be Metro Manila's cleanest and well-maintained market; and Marikina Sports Center, one of the foremost sports complex established in the Philippines.

As of 2015 census of population brought by the Philippine Statistics Authority, there are 30,759 people who are residing in Brgy. Sto. Niño. Over the course of time based on personal observation, this barangay does not worry that much regarding settlements that are illegal. One can view that it is such a developing and a progressive smaller unit of the society. It may also be considered as one of the most industrialized and most commercialized among the other barangay in the city because there is the existence of business transactions and opportunities around.

SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENT

According to Barangay Captain Zaldy Josef, in the vicinity of Barangay Sto. Nino, there is no exact and concrete social department. This is because the Barangay council itself already encompasses several functions and one of it is the application of social work. In accordance with this, the barangay captain, being the presiding officer of the barangay council, will be the one to manifest the various platforms as planned by the whole barangay council regarding social work. A concrete example of the application of social work is through the act of Kap. Zaldy helping his constituents who are in need, whether it is medical, spiritual, emotional or even financial needs, Kap. Zaldy is always on the go to help the citizens. Also, to help Kap. Zaldy in handling the whole barangay, there are several departments that have specific functions. The following departments are namely: the department of barangay tanods, which is assigned in the peace and order; maintenance department which is composed of street sweepers assigned in maintaining the cleanliness of the barangay and lastly the health center department which is assigned in upholding the health of the citizens. Likewise, a group of community leaders is also present in the barangay council. As community leaders, they are in charge of doing a house to house monitoring in line with a specific program of the barangay or the whole city itself. Just like in the recent activity of pro-vaccine for senior citizens, a program planned by the city mayor, the community leaders are the ones who did a house to house monitoring in order to know the senior citizens in the barangay who will be the recipients of the pro-vaccine program.

Unfortunately, there are no assigned social workers in the barangay hall. If there are instances that a social worker is truly needed then the barangay captain must appeal for a request in the municipal hall for a social worker to be sent in their barangay. However, the sad reality is that there are indeed a few registered social workers who are willing to render their service. In the municipal hall of Marikina City itself, only a few registered social workers are present. Some individuals in the municipal branch who are not truly a licensed and registered social worker are just purely rendering their service as social care and not as a professional social work.

Overall, my partner and I discovered that despite not having a concrete social work department in the Barangay Sto. Nino, the barangay council itself, headed by the barangay captain, is already responsible for the application of social work in their area. Also, just like in the saying “no man is an island” truly the barangay captain cannot self-handle all the responsibilities in governing its barangay that is why several departments are present to help him. However, as social work is certainly not an in-demand profession, there is a great need for registered social workers who are willing to offer their services to the barangay.

PAST & ON-GOING PROJECTS

Brgy. Sto. Niño continues to provide programs and activities that can benefit its people and can help the community itself in the long run. Through the power vested upon the barangay officials, they serve as catalysts for positive changes because they are the one who keep an eye on the plans of the higher unit of management, the city government and who negotiate with possible sponsors and benefactors. They are the people who encourage and advocate others to participate on their projects.

The programs of the social work department of Brgy. Sto. Niño cover a wide range of sectors within the community. It includes peace and order, health, education and employment. One present project is the proposed three-storey building of barangay health center. It targets to deliver better health services through new facilities for its people specifically for those who cannot access costly medications and laboratories. Furthermore, the barangay officials including the barangay tanods will not get tired of being the mediator between catfights of magkakapit-bahay. They ensure that everyone will be free against physical and verbal abuses of others. Also, regarding the hygiene and sanitation, they hire enough street sweepers to guarantee the cleanliness of the barangay.

According to Kap. Zaldy, there was a call center job training held for the past few months on their barangay. This program was funded by the city government to produce possible competent and skilled workers in the coming years. By having this, it also aims to reduce the rate of unemployment in the Marikina City. He must say that this project was a successful one because there are already four trainees who have their job in call center. He knows that not everyone who participated in this training will not be truly and completely qualified for a job in the mentioned work field. However, he believes that the skills and competencies that these people got may be beneficial to other fields. For an instance, acquiring good communication skills may be helpful in entering the entrepreneurial world and in building own businesses.

            During the interview, Kap. Zaldy also states that there is another on-going project on their barangay brought by L’Oreal, a famous cosmetic company known for its face and hair products. Its objective is to provide basic cosmetology workshops for all interested people regardless of gender. With this, he hopes that it may be a venue for new livelihood and for new source of income for these people especially for those who are the unprivileged ones.

FUTURE PLANS 

As a loyal, responsible barangay captain, Kap. Zaldy is true to his promise of helping Barangay Sto.Nino be a more efficient barangay to his constituents. Kap. Zaldy is still focused on forming several programs in maintaining and improving the peace and order, health and livelihood aspect of Barangay Sto. Nino.Indeed, Kap. Zaldy never gets tired of helping his kabarangays despite having a complicated job and big responsibility in maintaining the welfare of his constituents. It is in the process of seeing his kabarangays improve and grow as an individual that motivates him even more to help the people. Moreover, as of now, the barangay council is coordinating with the different departments to conceptualize unique activities for the citizens. They are still planning to continue the call center training program and the L'Oreal training program for the citizens as both programs had a successful outcome. All in all, Kap. Zaldy is doing his best all the time to conceptualize programs for his citizens and he aims only for the best for his constituents.

CONCLUSION

Although Brgy. Sto. Niño may be viewed as a prevailing community, its people still face difficulties and endeavors in life brought by themselves, by their neighbors and by the society as well. Slum areas may not be that visible in this barangay but there is no guarantee that it is free from poverty, disorder, underemployment, unemployment, low quality of education and poor health services. In solving these problems and in preventing these to happen, there is no department in Brgy. Sto. Niño that devotes and focuses on Social Work. However, the barangay officials especially the barangay chairman, Kap. Zaldy Cruz Josef, are making the necessary efforts to fulfill and to satisfy this vital aspect of their community. Today, there are limited people who wish to study this college program and to graduate with this degree. With this, the actions of these people somehow reflect and indicate the principles and competencies of social workers even though they do not have the credential. They are doing their job in advocating, enabling and supporting their kabarangay to make positive changes in their lives. In that way, inspired by Miss Earth 2017, Karen Ibasco, the micro efforts will have a macro effect to help alleviate the sufferings present in the society.  

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