by Jay P. Abawag | December 16, 2019
The Ateneo de Naga University, through the Coastal Cities at Risk 2 Project (CCAR2), conducted the Mainstreaming of Resiliency in the Barangay Development Plans in Naga City last October 21-24, 2019. The 4-day event was held at the Amphitheatre of Museo ni Jesse Robredo, Naga City and was attended by the barangay officials of all the barangays of Naga City. The 27 barangays were divided into four (4) clusters where each cluster was assigned a respective date.
The first day was attended by the upper barangays, then followed by the riverside barangays, urban barangays and barangays at the southern part of the City. The activity started with the presentation of the results of the mapping of the hazards, exposed elements and the vulnerability of Naga City through the Coastal Cities At Risk (CCAR2) Project, followed by a brief discussion of the National Resilience Council (NRC) Four (4) Pillars, Planning, and Budgeting workshops. The first day of the series of activities was graced by Mr. Renne Gumba, co-chair of the Naga City Resiliency Council (NCRC) and head of the Public Safety Office.
The presentation of results of CCARPh was done by Ms. Joanaviva C. Plopenio, Officer-In-Charge of the Institute for Environmental Conservation and Research (INECAR) of Ateneo de Naga University. She discussed the basic and relevant maps generated by the project for Naga City such as but not limited to Geologic and Climate-Induced Hazard Maps, Population Exposure Maps, and Socio-Economic Vulnerability Maps of Naga City. It was followed by Dr. Digna Alba, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS) of Ateneo de Naga University, who explained the contribution of CCARPh Project in building resiliency through the 4-Pillars introduced by the NRC.
The workshop proper was facilitated by Mr. Jay P. Abawag, Research Assistant of INECAR. He started the workshop by surfacing the issues, problems, and challenges the participants have observed from the previous presentations and experienced in their locality for each pillar. He asked the participants to prioritize those issues that need to be addressed in the next three years for every pillar. Through a given template, he further asked the underlying causes of the existence of such issues and problems. Afterward, he asked the participants to provide corresponding Programs, Projects, Activities, or Policies (PPA-P) in response to the identified causes. The Identified PPA-Ps will then serve as the basis of the participants in crafting their 3-year Barangay Development Plans covering the years 2020-2022. Through an introduced template, the participants were able to come up with their own drafted plans for the next three years directly responding to the issues and challenges they previously identified. The first year in the plan was used by the participants in allocating the budget for their PPAs. Dr. Marlyn Tejada of the Ateneo Social Science Research Center (ASSRC) and Ms. Plopenio also assisted in some portions of the workshop.
The workshop also employed different methodologies in drawing out ideas from the participants like the modified Six Thinking Hats, the Three (3) Whys, and the usual brainstorming, clustering, and the use of meta cards to ensure greater participation. Every after session, barangay participants were able to present their outputs in the plenary through their representatives.
The activity was synthesized by Dr. Alba who provided the whole perspective of the activity regarding building the resiliency of Naga City from the Barangay level using research outputs. The activity was also assisted by personnel from INECAR, Center for Community Development (CCD), ASSRC and HUMSS.