The Barangay Project

We started our preparations for our Barangay Project as soon as the first group meeting was scheduled by our class monitor. Initially, we planned a Barangay Project in the form of an awareness campaign in the women’s or youth’s correctional institutions. That was the content of the proposal we submitted to our professor. However, due to administrative difficulties, we opted to conduct the traditional Barangay Project which literally is to be held in a barangay.

The problem we encountered in our first plan is that the Republic Act No. 9262 (RA 9262) contemplates a spousal, dating or sexual relationship. That being the case, we found it difficult to situate our project in a correctional facility because there is less opportunity for them to exercise the rights afforded them under such law, considering their present situation. Moreover, the relationship contemplated is, to a certain extent, suspended while they are confined in such institutions.

Joyce Roldan, a member of our group, suggested Muntinlupa City as the venue for our Barangay Project. She lives there and also knows some contact persons who would be assisting us with the resource speaker/s and audience. Eventually, she was able to reserve the audio-visual room of the Muntinlupa City Hall for the purposes of our Barangay Project, free of charge. She was also able to invite participants from several barangays in Muntinlupa, namely: Sucat, Bicutan, Buli, Alabang, Bayanan, Putatan, Poblacion, Tunasan and Cupang. The barangay representatives from Bayanan and Putatan also manifested their desire to attend our Barangay Project.

As for our resource speaker, Mrs. Adel de Guzman, she is the Project Head of SAGIP (Saklolo at Gabay Ng Ina at Pamilya sa Muntinlupa) by the Zonta Club of Muntinlupa. We requested her to talk about the status and progress of RA 9262 in terms of its implementation. The advocacy of SAGIP is also connected with the OK Muntinlupa program of the city, which is also co-chaired by Mrs. Leah San Pedro, the wife of the mayor.

Having secured our venue and audience, we then proceeded to outline the parts in our Barangay Project. We came up with the numbers in our program and delegated the tasks among ourselves. Nikki Santizo was to be the emcee. Tracy Ong, Ciela Base and Liv Perez were to be the facilitators of the focus group discussion. Alex Topacio, Nikki Santizo and Mims Sabitsana would discuss RA 9262. Joyce Roldan would be the one to introduce the resource speaker. Lastly, Jake del Puerto would be the photographer and documenter of the whole activity. Fortunately, we were faithful to our respective roles, and even managed to go beyond them when the need arose.

We ordered snacks for our participants in order to show our gratitude for their cooperation. We also printed a tarpaulin banner which would be used as a backdrop during the seminar proper. Invites were distributed beforehand while the program and handouts were given on the day of the seminar itself. The OK Muntinlupa contacts also gave us additional brochures on RA 9262 for distribution.

On the day of the Barangay Project, we set up the audio-visual room. We designated and area for registration and the distribution of handouts. The chairs were arranged in such a way as to effectively position the audience to the presentation in front and allow them to group themselves for the focus group discussion (FGD). An audio-visual presentation created by Jake was played before the program started, in order to introduce and contextualize RA 9262. The FGD followed the Welcome and Opening Remarks. During the FGD, Tracy, Ciela and Liv briefed the participants on the flow of the activity. They also requested a representative of each group to discuss their inputs in front as soon as the exercise ended. As for the powerpoint presentation of RA 9262, Alex, Mims and Nikki took turns in discussing the law. The part of the resource speaker was placed after the presentation of RA 9262 in order to make the audience better appreciate and situate the law. Questions during and after the presentations were entertained. The resource speaker was thereafter awarded a certificate of appreciation for the assistance and information she extended to our Barangay Project and the audience. The Closing Remarks was delivered by Mr. Ben Damian, the coordinator of the OK Muntinlupa program and an engineer who graduated from UP Diliman. After the program, snacks were served and our group then returned home.