By Marilee Trombini, AREA COORDINATOR, ACT-NABAS
Like many other areas in Nothern Panay, Barangay Unidos in Nabas, Aklan took the brunt of Super Typhoon Yolanda’s wrath. Houses were ripped apart, crops were destroyed, and livestock was lost. There were human casualties, too.
When it came, however, for them to choose a Kalahi-CIDSS funded toward the rehabilitation of their village, the barangay folk didn’t hesitate to choose the repair of their gabion-type flood control structure which was also heavily damaged by the ST Yolanda.
Barangay Unidos is a coastal village just about 14 kilometers away from the Nabas town proper. It’s a beautiful place with a magnificent view of the Northern Peninsula Forest Park to the left or, to the right, an expansive Sibuyan Sea with waves lapping onto a breath taking long beach.
A majority of the 565 households (518 male headed &47 female headed) of barangay Unidos are farmers cultivating their rice in the fields and vegetables in their backyard during the day. They also become fishermen exploring the sea at night.
It is common to see carabaos freely grazing on the green grass either resting after a hard work or just munching grasses as they usually do every day. Tending to livestocks, tilling the soil, selling agricultural products in the market and making “banig” out of bariw plants are all part of everyday life in the barangay. Life is good and there is income to be made from selling goods in nearby Boracay Island, a popular tourist destination. But the beauty of the land remains untouched and most of the people continue to accommodating and hardworking.
Kalahi-CIDSS in the Municipality
Shortly after Yolanda and way before Kalahi-CIDSS came to town, the people of barangay Unidos, specifically from Purok Singko with 91 households, have already been urging for the rehabilitation of the flood control dike. They presented this to the Barangay for funding but barangay officials had other development plans for that year.
Thus, when Kalahi-CIDSS arrived, they immediately raised the proposal anew. During the Barangay Assembly, one of the residents stressed they would rather propose the said problem for Kalahi-CIDSS funding should they be given a chance to identify their unmet needs, decide on the solution and implement the solution themselves. They would rather not wait for other government agencies where their involvement and participation were never acknowledged.
Their proposal was approved with a grant allocation amounting to P 2,065,826.38. The barangay also committed to deliver an LCC of P 4,000.00. The preparation of social documents went well with the active participation of the members of the BSPMC structure and the barangay council of Unidos.
But along the way, challenges and struggles came testing the perseverance of the committee and their commitment to finish the said subproject as scheduled.
One problem that arose was the scarcity of head-sized boulders at the location site. Aggravating the problem is the unanticipated cost of hauling when they decided to get the stones from the upper portion of the river or at the neighboring barangay.
The barangay council decided to offer a one-day “dagyaw”. The money that will be saved from the free labor and will be used instead as payment for the hauling cost.
Parent leader and BSPMC Chair, Ma, Lourdes Gregorio said she requested4Ps co-beneficiaries to help in the hauling without payment as it was them who benefited the most from the project anyway. “Pwede ko marequest ang tanan nga miyembro it 4Ps sa hayang barangay nga mabulig hakot it mga boulders para lang gid matapos ang proyekto sagilayon nga kami man ang makabenepisyo!”
SonnyMochada, another 4Ps beneficiary who resides nearby the site of the flood control, also helped in the hauling not only during“dagyaw” time but almost every day. Her house will surely be protected from storm surge once the gabion-structure is completed, she reasoned.
Still there was a need for more boulders. The task remained laborious and backbreaking.Workers had to individually carry the head-sized boulders from the source in the upland area, trudging through the river bank down the site spending mostly their 8 hours doing the hauling alone. BSPMC Chair, Ma. Lourdes Gregorio realized that with the pace the laborers are going, time will come when there will be no more budget for labor.
This eventually happened before the completion of the subproject to everyone’s dismay. The Foreman, Mr. Nelson Dela Rosa, came up with an idea of using a makeshift container made of sack and bamboo to carry at least more boulders for one trip. This did not improve the pace, however.
While all these were going on, the foreman’s carabao was usually grazing nearby, a solid witness to the labors and follies of men.
Eventually, after much scratching of heads, they realized the carabao was not only a farm animal – it was a beast of burden!
The harnessed the carabao to a bamboo sled (kanga) and, suddenly, all their hauling woes were over.
One volunteer, Kagawad Bantang commented, “Ubrahon namon ang tanan pati na ang paggamit sang kalabaw paghakot para lang gid matapos ang proyekto nga gin umpisahan para sa ikamayad it amon nga barangay.” (We will do everything — even the use of carabao for hauling, for the completion of the project for we benefit the most from it anyway).
The carabao has saved the day! (Kalahi-CIDSS/DSWD)