Citizen and Community Journalism: Community Issues and Problems among Citizens in Brgy. Maguinao, San Rafael, Bulacan

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Baltazar, Ron Christian 

Landayan, Jersey Chloe Lae

Torres, Althea

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Citizen and Community Journalism 

Community Issues and Problems among Citizens in Brgy. Maguinao, San Rafael, Bulacan

Respondent’s Profile

NAME		AGE	SEX	OCCUPATION
1	Cecil Mambay	24	F	Sari-sari store owner
2	Joan Landayan	38	F	Call center agent
3	Epifania Landayan	72	F	Sari-sari store owner
4	Annie	49	F	Sari-sari store owner
5	Aga	70	F	Sari-sari store owner
6	A	22	M	Student
7	B	21	M	Student
8	C	22	M	Student
9	Marite Landayan	36	F	Office clerk
10	G. Gatus	40	M	Record keeper
11	D	60	M	Tricycle driver
12	E	60	M	Lottery collector
13	F	50	F	Rice retailer

Table 1. Respondent’s profile 

Findings 

Figure 1. Number of votes in each problem in pie graph 

After conducting a survey among citizens of  Brgy. Maguinao regarding community issues and problems last January 31, the results showed that the main problems in the community are the traffic, financial problems, improper waste disposal, high number of stray dogs at night, faulty and insufficient installation CCTV cameras and streetlights, and disassembling physical projects. 

Among 13 respondents, nine of them mentioned improper waste segregation and disposal, while eight respondents mentioned the high number of stray dogs, especially at night, posing a threat to the safety of passersby. 

Meanwhile, five brought up the increasing cost of living, especially for their basic commodities, resulting in financial problems; and deficiently installed CCTV cameras and streetlights on some streets, disassembling physical projects by previous local administrations, and the worsening traffic due to urbanization has been stated once. One respondent answered that she encountered no problem in the community. 

 Seven of the 13 respondents mentioned both the problem of improper waste disposal and the high number of stray dogs in the street at night during each of their interviews.

Problems faced by the community	Description	Possible causes	Actions by the local government
High number of stray dogs in the street	Owners release their dogs every night, posing a threat to the safety of passersby. The dogs litter and urinate in the community area, leading to unsanitary conditions. Additionally, there have been several reported cases of dog bites in the area.	Irresponsible owners	Administering free anti-rabies vaccines every summer and enforcing Barangay ordinances on properly leashing pet dogs for public safety and responsible pet ownership
Improper waste segregation and disposal	Even with regular waste collection, the situation remains improper and trash is still unsegregated. Litters are scattered throughout— which has been a long-time problem already.	People lack knowledge about proper waste segregation, and there is a lack of discipline among the residents. Additionally, dogs roam freely, causing litter issues especially at night.	Clean-up drive and weekly garbage collection
Traffic	The continuous worsening of traffic for five years is persistent.	Urbanization
Financial problem	Cost of living is getting higher, especially for their basic commodities.	Inflation
Deficiently  installed CCTV cameras and streetlights on some streets	Lack of security cameras and streetlights in the area poses a threat for the people’s safety.
Disassembling physical projects established by previous local administration	The current administration is disassembling projects initiated by past local administrations, even if these projects were beneficial and well-conceived.

Table 2. In-depth discussion of the result 

Photos: dogs roaming the streets of Purok 2, Brgy. Maguinao 

Conclusion  

Video: Clip from an interview of a tricycle driver in  Brgy. Maguinao

The problem of improper waste disposal and the high number of stray dogs in the street at night together has been mentioned the most by the respondents. Both of the problems influence each other as improper waste segregation causes the stray dogs to poke onto the trash scattering the garbage while stray dogs roaming at night contribute to waste such as their litter and the scavenged garbage. Despite the local government’s policies and programs, these problems still occur due to lack of discipline among its citizens.