Behind Koronadal’s beautiful landscape is a Narrative
Behind the beautiful landscape of flowers, plants, and works of art, there are wonderful stories of camaraderie and solidarity from every community striving to be named “Cleanest and Best Landscape Purok/Sitio”.
After winning the barangay level competition, Purok Malipayon of Barangay San Isidro is now aspiring for the citywide title of ‘Cleanest and Best Landscape Purok’ under the Barangay Empowerment Program (BEP). Barangay Kagawad Mark Aguirre, the purok’s assigned district kagawad, tells the story of their sacrifices and efforts to win the prize. According to Aguirre, community mobilization is one of the most challenging tasks in terms of getting people to move and do the dirty work, even to the point of volunteering their resources.
About three years ago, the community began to plant a variety of low-maintenance, heat-resistant plants. Every afternoon after work, volunteers gathered to work on planting and landscaping. Along with cleaning the roadsides in front of their homes, residents of the Purok participated in cleaning and greening activity every Saturday. Further, they built a small boat for visitors and converted a large irrigation system into a tourist attraction. Purok Malipayon works just as hard as the other Puroks in the 27 Barangays, and those are the results of the coaching the city government provided.
The changes and improvements in the physical landscape of the barangays after they underwent landscaping coaching led by the “Balag at Tukod” group are noteworthy. The said group is also included in the team of evaluators in Core Area 1 of the Barangay Empowerment Program, which evaluates the Community Gardens of 27 barangays in the city.
According to Architect Jopert Subaldo, who assessed the physical, the barangays were taught landscaping elements centered on the use of plants, natural and non-plastic materials.
The elements of variety and contrast, as well as other landscaping strategies such as ceiling and walling techniques, are also taught. Subaldo recommends vertical landscaping in areas where improving is not possible, which is already done by other urban barangays.
Meanwhile, Subaldo stated that this is his third year of evaluation, and he can clearly see the transformation, particularly among the puroks; he also observed that those who started late in planting are gradually striving, while those who started first are continually maintaining their plants which is beneficial in their part.
According to Environmental Management Specialist 1 Marrieta Dasilao, who is also one of the evaluators, barangay officials play an important role in encouraging citizens to participate in activities aimed at beautifying and maintaining the barangay’s cleanliness. Dasilao, on the other hand, stated that many of the barangays have failed to create a barangay ordinance on solid waste management and clean and green that will eventually play a vital role in community empowerment.
Mayor Eliordo U. Ogena emphasized the importance of having a beautifully landscaped barangay in one of his messages at Barangay Caloocan. According to the Local Chief Executive, it is one way to entice investors to invest in Koronadal, along with a well-lit barangay. He even named the best performing barangays in previous years and challenged non-performing barangays to work hard this year to excel as well.
The ‘Cleanest and Best Landscape Purok’ award is just one of many grants given to barangays and puroks who excel in this year’s Barangay Empowerment Program (BEP) evaluation.
Despite the numerous challenges encountered in the barangays/puroks, which are sometimes due to a lack of resources and cooperation, the results of the evaluation conducted by Core Area 1 evaluators show that many have excelled at converting their communities into beautiful landcaped puroks that are worth visiting.
The exquisite roadsides and flourishing community gardens that we now enjoy are the result of many hands who volunteered to work and contribute to the transformation of their own communities. The beautiful story of camaraderie, ingenuity and unity had begun, and it will continue until this administration continues its major effort to empower the barangay, which remains a major challenge.
Indeed, beautification is an important aspect of community development, and it can be a simple way to bring people together, or it can be the opposite, depending on who takes the lead.