Flood has been the usual antagonist of all their dreams in Brgy. Calapawan, Roxas City.
Residents of the said barangay mostly claimed that they could not plant anything directly into the soil because every rainy season, their place is submerged in flood.
A resident, Ma. Theresa Malasa, 35, said one reason of flood in their barangay is the silted creek due to solid waste that is stuck along the creek despite of the clean-up operation conducted regularly by their barangay council.
Theresa, a Pantawid Pamilya beneficiary, said three typhoons have destroyed their house made of mixed materials apart from floods they are usually experiencing.
Sad to hear that Theresa’s six children are usually suffering from diseases taken from polluted water.
“I am always praying for a safe home and community for my children but typhoons has always wrecked it,” she said.
Theresa said she did not expect that their problem will be given attention by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through the Kalahi-CIDSS project.
She said that since their barangay has been a recipient of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or Conditional Cash Transfer, of which her family is also a beneficiary, so many projects have been implemented already in their barangay such as dredging of creek and road improvement which contributed to their daily living.
With the new development in their village, Theresa said her family together with other residents are now actively participating in the regular clean-up operation of the barangay officials to help maintain the project as part of its active community involvement.
Theresa said with the projects, she knows that when the rainy season comes, their barangay would be flood-free already./ dswd6/Montesa Caoyonan