No way home

March 12, 2022

Three days after the typhoon Odette, an aspiring mayor who is a native of our barangay took the honor of clearing the road. With his farm located at the far end of our barangay, he really needed to take an action or else his chickens would die of starvation. A day after the road was cleared, the incumbent mayor visited our barangay to distribute goods for the people.

In another story, due to incessant rain, part of the road on our way home was damaged.

After supertyphoon Odette, there was just a cliff, the road was still intact and heavy vehicles can still pass by the area. Now, it would be impossible for cars and heavy vehicles to pass by the area because the road might finally collapse.

Long time ago, this river is just manageable. It was not that wide but because of someone's greed, this is what happened to the barangay. Because she holds a power in the government, she took control and allowed her own construction firm to get supplies of sand and peebles in this barangay with close coordination with the barangay captain which is equally greedy as her. Both of them have personally benefited to the barangays resources.

Backhoe, excavator and dumptrucks of this construction firm also caused destruction on the roads making it hard and impossible for some vehicles to pass especially during rainy days.

Now that the road looks like this, the mayor remains indifferent. This photo is all around social media and yet she acts blind and deaf as ever. They blamed it to the typhoon. They said that it was caused by a natural phenomenon but we know that it was partly because they kept on digging the sand and peebles of the river. It made the river cover a wide space making its way to the foundation of the road. Thus, explains the damaged road.

The incumbent mayor is still seeking to be re-elected like nothing happened. People keep on urging the residents in our barangay to vote wisely and wake up from the long nightmare because if they continue to reign in our municipality, there would be no hope.

On the other side of our barangay, resiliency and resourcefulness is practiced because again we are left with no choice.

Originally, there was a steel bridge here. Connecting two areas that are under one barangay. Due to typhoon Odette, the steel bridge was washed out. Now, the residents on the other side of our barangay would have to ride on a zipling for them to go home especially when there flood.

There are still three more barangays on other side.

Goods are also stranded especially when it is raining and there is flood.

The goods would also have to ride on a zipline.

Meanwhile, when there would be no flood, the steel bridge is useful for people. Though it was displaced, the people can still pass by if there would be no flood.

While resiliency and resourcefulness are two amazing and laudible traits, it is important not to romanticize it. People have come to overpraised it and neglect doing responsible actions to address the problem or the issue at hand.

Sometimes, a part of me is thankful to the things that has happened in our barangay. Those things I mentioned above could be thr plot twist or the turning point for the residents to stop turning a blind eye on the irresponsibility of the people currently sitting on their offices. I hope that there would be awakening and all will think of the betterment of our barangay, our place.

Thank you so much! Until then.