Feature: The Baculin Seawall

by Lolly Fe Cepe and Leah Quintana

Butuan City (27 July) —

It was a cold night. Zenaida and the rest of the family members were in deep slumber when big waves rushing back and forth under their shanty awaken her. The wind blew so fast. She hurriedly woke up the members of her family and let them prepare their things for the worsening weather condition. A few months later, the sea level increased rapidly. Some houses were carried by the strong waves to the sea while others remained standing but heavily damaged. Zenaida was anxious, yet she remained calm. Carrying some of their belongings, she and her family, together with their neighbors rushed away from their houses. He little light from the moon served as the torch to flock of people and guided their path to find a temporary refuge. In this situation, the hills and the trees are the only shields that protect the people of Baculin, Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur.

“We climbed the hills and hid in the woods because it was the safest place to stay. However, one must be brave enough to be with the wild animals, especially at nighttime, Zenaida lamented. With fishing as their main livelihood, the people were compelled to stay in Baculin, a coastal barangay of Hinatuan. Through the years, they learned to live with their environment. They have organized themselves and did not stop finding ways to lessen the danger posed by strong winds and big waves. Zenaida and the rest of the residents never ceased to hope for the day when what they have longed for will become a reality. The coming of Poder y Prosperidad de la Comunidad, a project funded by the Spanish government through the Agencia Española Cooperacion Internacional, which covers the whole municipality of Hinatuan, gave hope to the people of Baculin.

Thus, the residents warmly welcome and actively participated with the project. With the conduct of a Participatory Situational Analysis (PSA) facilitated by a PODER Community Facilitator, the perennial situation of a coastal barangay like Baculin oftenly whipped by strong winds, big waves, typhoons, etc., that destroy their houses emerge as the number one problem. The people, through a barangay assembly agreed that they need to construct a seawall to address the problem. Hopeful and determined, Zenaida Llamas, barangay Sub-Project Committee Chairperson with some volunteers and their Barangay captain Gaudioso J. Olayan took the forty- kilometer, two-hour scary, back-breaking bumpy road travel to vie for the funding in the Municipal Inter-Barangay Forum. In the MIBF, each of the 24 barangays presented the project concept and the forum prioritized the project concepts through voting. Barangay Baculin was the last in the priority list. Out of the hp 7.2 million municipal allocation, only Php 11,000.00 of the total project grant was left for the barangay, which others would consider too small for the project that needs Php 731,000.00.

The case of Baculin caught the attention of Mayor Alicia Momongan. Without hesitation, she granted the lacking Php 720,000.00 for the construction of the seawall project. “Eleven thousand is something. We are not only talking of money in this project. This is all about achieving something and realizing dreams of our people, and PODER helped us do it. Now is the time that we have to give our share too, by augmenting the funds of PODER to attain the dreams of our people,” the lady mayor said. Achieving change and development involves good governance and well-determined community. With the support from the municipal local government and with the capability building activities provided by PODER, Baculin residents strived hard to change the harsh situation. Day and night, they alternately worked to finish the sub-project. Men volunteered to haul time stones while women patiently piled it at a site. During weekends, children helped their fathers carry the sack of stones. Other children prepared snacks for the tired workers. Some volunteers were assigned in procuring the materials. The others dedicated themselves in monitoring the construction of the sub-project.

“It was never been easy. We had to do the construction work during low tide and stopped when high tide came. In spite of this, we never stopped working. I would always remind my co-residents that “if we sow something, we will reap something. Today, we are reaping the fruits of our labor”, a teary-eyed Zenaida expressed during the inauguration. With the existence of the 246 meters seawall, running and finding a place for safety from the raging waves would only be a memory for Zenaida and the rest of the community folk. The seawall protects them from the unpredictable weather condition. “From now on, we would be able to sleep well even if the wind blows heavily,” Zenaida claimed. (DSWD-13/PIA-13)