Cruz, Abigail Sue S.

CWTS 2
Navotas Site Visit Reaction Paper

We almost did it - ang maligo sa dagat ng basura. It was pretty much like what
the popular campaign jingle is singing about. About a month ago, we went near the
Port Area in Navotas and tried to interview some of the community leaders, gather
information about the condition they are in and formulate some solutions out of it.

My partner, Jena Futol and I were tasked to interview one of the community
leaders, Manong Oliver (not sure of the name though). We asked him about the
place, a brief history, what is the status of the site with regards to economic, social
awareness, and financial of the place and what they do in response to it. While Jena
was interviewing Mang Oliver, I was busy taking pictures of the place, particularly the
house the interview was being held, when the matriarch of the house approached me
and told me some stories about the place.

The main livelihood of the people living there is fishing, and the area was once
part of the sea. The husband of the old lady was the first residents of the area. She
said that the area wasn’t really land, but after some time, the soft sea side land
hardened because of garbage and soil. Later on, the area was reinforced with larger
amount of ‘tambak’ soil because the population of the place boomed. The land that
their house stands on was awarded to them just a decade or so ago.

As I was taking pictures, I saw lots of fishing nets being hanged to dry. The old
lady said that her husband used to be a fisherman, but now, none in her family is
catching fish for a living. From the looks of her house, compared to their neighbors,
they belong to the middle class bracket of their society they are in. Her house is
complete with the basics, electric supply, water supply, toilet, internet connection, and
appliances like personal computer, TV, sound system, refrigerator, even an air
conditioner on the second floor and from the contents of their store cabinet, they really
are well off compared to their neighbors. When I asked her about this, she said that
both of her children are able to finish school and now working in Saudi Arabia and
she is taking care of her grandchildren. The first thing that came to my mind upon
knowing that is why she still want to stay in that place when obviously her children
can afford a house in a much better place. All she said was that she wanted to spend
the rest of her days where her husband had.

As for Jena’s interview, we learned that they have residents associations

formed. There were many associations for such a small place, there were organizations
that are income-based, work-based, location-based and religion-based. This was so
because they have lots of groups that initiate movements and other worthwhile
causes, mostly organizations that aim for financial assistance to its members. He said
that the main problems of the community are electric supply and clean and proper
toilet. There are rampant illegal connections of electricity; causing occasional short
circuit among the neighborhood and forcing the legal customers pay much higher
electric bill. As for the clean and proper toilet, they don’t have proper sewage disposal
 Cruz, Abigail Sue S.
CWTS 2
Navotas Site Visit Reaction Paper

as well as garbage management. The area cannot accommodate septic tanks, thus all
the wastes of the community is dumped to the sea.

After the interview, Mang Oliver took us to their communal toilet. It was a small
structure constructed on stilts above the sea. There were six cubicles, three on each
side, and in each cubicle is a platform with a hole big enough for human feces to pass
through. Near the communal toilet is a seating area and beneath it is tons of garbage,
where the children play, oblivious to the dirt and danger.

As we were waiting for other groups to finish, Manong Oliver told us that his
community needs lots of help. I think he was hoping that we can get this activity done
fast so they can get aids sooner, because it is a campaign season after all. He thinks
that politics in the area is so sick, the politicians focusing much on temporary
solutions rather than attacking the problem and doing a long term solution for it, and
doing projects that are not really needed, but because it provides good publicity. He is
also thinking that the biggest liability of the place is the people themselves. Some of
the residents have the mentality of ‘pala-asa’. They focus much on waiting and/or
initiating acts that rely very much on the government, some even think that the
government owes them.

After the site visit, I felt extremely grateful to God for all the blessings He had
and still giving me, even for the smallest ones. I feel thankful for living in a good,
peaceful, and clean community, being able to study in the best school, for my parents
because they provide me with what I need, and most of all, the opportunity to see and
learn about this kind of community and help them even in tiny bit ways and realize
that no matter how wrong life turns out, it is better to be helping others, especially if
you are capable of doing so.