Survey 1: Survey of Community Issues/Problems Among Citizens

 

 

 

 Citizen and Community Journalism

 

 

SURVEY NO. 1:

Survey of Community Issues/Problems Among Citizens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Names:

Agustin, Louisse Althea V.

Cabanza, Jelmer C.

Espino, Christine Patrice Anne F.

Background of the Chosen Community:

                              Within the distinguished municipality of Santa Maria, Bulacan, lies a barangay greatly known for having uncountable informal settlers—Barangay Poblacion. It is observable that this is greatly evident along and under the San Gabriel SMB (Santa Maria Bulacan) Bypass Bridge. Poorly built houses made out of light materials are everywhere under the bridge, seemingly ignoring the fact that that place is not an ideal location for a residence area. Judging by the condition of the given location, it cannot be denied that this is home for the marginalized sector of the greater community or the poorest of the poor. It was then assumed that this is where most problems left undiscussed are situated, making it suitable for community surveys such as this.

 

COMMUNITY SURVEY

Location: Barangay Poblacion, Sta. Maria, Bulacan

NAME	ADDRESS	SEX	AGE	OCCUPATION	YEARS OF RESIDENCY	PROBLEMS OBSERVED
Edwin Yustavio Villenio	Poblacion, Sta. Maria Bulacan	M	43	Municipal Aid 1	11 years	·       Long lines in the hospital ·       Heavy traffic ·       No other public hospital around the vicinity
Josephine San Pedro	Poblacion, Sta. Maria Bulacan	F	67	Housewife	6 years	·       Limited hospital services
Alias “Baby"	Poblacion, Sta. Maria Bulacan	F	50	Stall Owner	1 year	·       Pollution ·       Littering of garbage near their stalls ·       Illegal parking of vehicles
Ira	Poblacion, Sta. Maria Bulacan	F	47	Housewife	10 years	·       Lack of hospital employees resulting to terrible healthcare service ·       Low water supply ·       Delayed approval for own waterline application ·       Nagsisiga
Carlota Aguinaldo	Poblacion, Sta. Maria Bulacan	F	60	Housewife	48 years	·       Garbage pollution ·       Bad service of hospital staff ·       Sta. Maria Bulacan's General Hospital staffs do not voluntarily give referrals to transfer patients unless asked
Julio	Poblacion, Sta. Maria Bulacan	M	32	Helper	15 years	·       Heavy flooding in the area ·       Hunger ·       No government support ·       No water supply
Carmenita Villano	Poblacion, Sta. Maria Bulacan	F	66	Sari-sari store owner	40 years	·       Flooding in the area ·       Hospital staffs are unapproachable ·       Bad medical service ·       Hospital staffs are selective in prioritizing patients unless they have personal relationship with them
Michelle	Poblacion, Sta. Maria Bulacan	F	32	Housewife	2 years	·       Unemployment ·       Garbage pollution
Espi	Poblacion, Sta. Maria Bulacan	F	42	Sari-sari store owner	42 years	·       There is no any other emergency hospital except Rogaciano Mercado General Hospital ·       Medical staffs of the hospital have prejudice against marginalized sector ·       When you seem to not afford to pay medical bills, hospital staffs of R. Mercado are more likely to ignore you ·       Nurses are not friendly and approachable ·       Houses are flooded when it rains heavily
Alias “Nene”	Poblacion, Sta. Maria	F	35	Eatery owner	35 years	·       Flooding in the area ·       Garbage pollution

Table 1.

Note: Some respondents refused to give out their full names, as well as exact address, for what was said “safety purposes”. Practicing journalists involved duly respected such requests, explains the use of aliases and not specified home addresses.

 

Conclusion:

                              The community has a lot of issues to list, but what struck the greatest with the most frequent mentions is all about the healthcare service condition citizens of this specific community are going through. 6 out of 10 respondents expressed their frustration of what was said “terrible” and seemingly inaccessible proper healthcare, especially for them being part of the marginalized sector of the community or the poorest of the poor. There is only one public hospital within reach to them—that also happens to be the only public or general hospital that municipalities nearby rely on, such as Pandi, causing conflicts in many aspects. This general hospital was said to be always overpopulated, understaffed, and lacking of necessary medical equipment, forcing people in need to queue despite threats in their health or spend beyond what they can afford in private medical institutions in order to sustain their needs. This specific circumstance was further found to usually cause helpless casualties among citizens of the community.

                              This survey, therefore, found that the greatest issue the subject community has is being deprived of quality healthcare that generally affects the productivity of the specified society in a number of ways.