The Escopa 3 – Volunteer Barangay Emergency Response Team (VBERT) is living proof that Barangay Escopa 3 is a place full of people with a heart of service for others. Since its establishment in 2015, the volunteer organization has been actively working with the barangay administration in building a comprehensive disaster management system for the safety of their community.

“Our community had experienced strong earthquakes in the past because the locale is 500-600m near the West Valley Fault. We are also prone to fires—these disasters we have experienced in the past are what led to us convening to form the organization in 2015.” With the help of local government units, other organizations in the barangay and NGOs for disaster in communities, such as CREST, the organization had successfully continued to deliver their service and other efforts to prepare their community for disasters.

Mr. Awe Datu believes in the importance of exercising all means to unite all members of their community against destructive disasters and leaving no one behind. As president of the Escopa 3 – VBERT, he is confident in his community’s willingness to cooperate and unite with one another, especially for a good cause. His confidence resonates through the Escopa 3 – VBERT’s various efforts to engage their ka
barangays in community-based disaster management strategies. From the first ―Disaster Awareness Training‖ they attended in 2015, they have been continuously participating in informative seminars to train and improve their knowledge on disaster preparedness as a group, then being able to train their neighbors and impart their knowledge in preparing for disasters.

“The most recent activities we attended were the Advocacy & Networking and Resource Generation & Project Management training. From these programs and activities by CREST, our knowledge about preparedness increased further. We were able to find ways to share this knowledge about preparedness to other residents in our barangay. We bring to them the knowledge and preparedness strategies imparted to us by CREST so they can also be aware of the possible 7.2 magnitude earthquake.”

Along with their active participation in informative seminars and training, they have formed an Education and Training committee assigned to create modules about disaster preparedness that they can use to teach their ka-barangays. They also conduct earthquake drills, fire drills, and risk-mitigating activities in preparation for the disasters that can occur in their barangay.

“CREST’s efforts to help our team was of great assistance to us in meeting our goals and objectives – we have learned a lot from their seminars and projects. When we started teaching these learnings to our other officers, members, and to the community, they were able to see how important the organization is, and how vital these information and activities are. Their interest in these kinds of activities increased. In fact, those who were inactive before became more active, and many more members of the community volunteered to be part of the team,” Mr. Datu stated. According to him, it was through the seminars they attended under CREST that they learned various planning strategies that helped them advocate their disaster preparedness efforts to their community.

“Our perspectives and mindset regarding disaster preparedness were changed with the help of CREST. We were able to realize the true purpose of our organization, and that is to be of quality service to our barangay.”