Reflections on the Orts Road Community Fun Day

By Violet Sheppard, Our 2019 MESA UROP Summer Intern

The mapping workshop at the fun day gathered a great response from the community; everyone was very enthusiastic about getting involved.

For our contribution to the day we set up our mapping stalls and a table tennis table, along with balloons and stalls. There were four other stalls, a stall about recycling, the police, RIS Reading and the local counsellors. The counsellors displayed the designs for the Orts road playground, so the community members could vote on which design they preferred. Meanwhile, the imaginationplayground and bouncy castle were set up along with an ice cream van. The MESA group from the Philippines came along to the day and were a great help in encouraging people to join in.

The first people to take part were a mother and her son who proved to be very sociable through the mother’s response to the question, ‘Where do you stop and speak to friends?’, which she responded with ‘everywhere’. It was great to get feedback from such a sociable individual from the area. Her son stated how they love spending ‘their free time’ at their local church, which unfortunately has poor maintenance after events which is what he wanted to be improved.

We spoke to a woman with a baby who was very interested in being involved in the mapping despite being rushed off her feet. Her involvement showed how everyone has different lifestyles, as she responded to the question about hobbies and free time with I don’t have hobbies or free time because I have a baby.

A woman joined in and spent quite a long time deliberating on the questions as she lives in the area around orts road but works and her child goes to school in a different area, so she was less familiar with the site. She had strong opinions on the fact that she would love a new swimming pool in the area as the existing pools have limited opening times and no longer have public diving board. Although, she is ‘proud’ of the River Kennet as her and her son throw bread to the ducks. They also spend time at a polish church which is on the outskirts of the site.

Most people chose their local community centres and churches as placed they are proud of and feel happiest. Overall, we got very positive responses to all the questions even what you would like to improve people had to really think about it; nothing sprung to mind, and some people even said nothing. Most people just ended up stating that they would like to improve Orts Road with one of the proposed play parks. The day was a success and we gathered lots of information and spoke to many people. We also managed to get quite a few people signed up for further discussions about the area and people to make further comments on the index cards.

Orts Road Community Fun Day

On the 22nd of June MESA joined a community celebration at Orts Road. As part of the activities we set up open air mapping activities and table tennis. A wide range of people took part to discuss what they valued most about the area. There was ice cream and children’s’ activities and Reading Council staged a public vote on options for the proposed play area.

The Value of Civic Participation and Institutional Partnerships

by Noel Cruz

^{PHOTO: From Left: Ar. Leah Dela Rosa (Newton UST Team Lead),
Ar. Rodolfo Ventura (Dean of UST College of Architecture) and Mayor Dan Fernandez (Mayor of Santa Rosa City)}

From my personal experiences of working for the MESA project and talking with local residents from the City of Santa Rosa, I have witnessed firsthand how local participation is of great importance in addressing the real and urgent needs and aspirations of a society.

^{PHOTO: Some of the community representatives}

The concept of civic participation is said to be closely linked with the concept of democracy. Although the concept of democracy is not new, in the Philippine context, it is only in recent decades that “bottom-up” approaches to development, which incorporate local opinion in decision-making, have become popular. After six months of working with some of the local residents of the City of Santa Rosa, we came to reap the first fruits of our collaboration with them during the first Local Advisory Council meeting on January 7, 2019. It was attended by 14 local representatives from the different barangays of Santa Rosa, as well local professional counterparts, the local planning office and the Newton research teams of the University of Santo Tomas and the University of Reading. Highlights of the meeting were the presentations of milestones achieved during the research and the personal sharing of all the local representatives. It is heart-warming to hear some of them say how the Newton research has become a venue for them to become more knowledgeable of their society, making them feel empowered and more engaged. During their sharing, it is interesting to note how the various barangays with different ecological profiles share the same needs and aspirations. Two of the most common are the need for an ‘ecopark’(green space for recreation and relaxation) and a proper waste water management system that could hopefully reduce flooding. The meeting ended with the sharing of positive and hopeful insights from both the UST and UoR research delegations.

^{PHOTO: Group photo of LAC participants including 14 community representatives,
city planning representatives and the UST and UoR research teams}

Overall, my experiences so far from this research has given me a deeper understanding of my responsibilities as a professional in assisting communities. It is humbling to learn of how third party institutions such as universities can help in bridging gaps between the government and the local communities in identifying and solving local issues as well as developing new strategies and policies that will promote a more livable and sustainable society.

Barangay Aplaya, Santa Rosa City, Laguna

by Sylvia D. Clemente

I always ponder on the many contradictions of this small barangay located along the lake shore of Laguna Lake. The first time we visited it’s impossible not to see it as one of the poorer barangays in Santa Rosa as you are greeted by the very narrow streets and alleys, old bridges that cut across a number of silted esteros, dilapidated wooden houses, street hawkers peddling food, and children playing on the streets.  It’s a lively community with its public space full of life as people go about their day-to-day activities and the ubiquitous tricycles darting in and out of the main street.

The main street is the heart of the community and is where you get a glimpse of its character.  Churches of all denominations from Iglesia ni Cristo, Aglipayan Church, to Born Again, line up along this busy street.  The people are very religious, friendly to outsiders, are generally content and do not demand much from the government.  They live and co-exist peacefully regardless of religious denominations.  In a nation that is predominantly Roman Catholic (around 70% because of Spanish colonization), this small barangay appears to be an anomaly.

They are resourceful, hardworking, resilient, and self-reliant, no doubt. You can see sari-sari stores(convenience stores), talipapa(small wet markets selling fish, vegetables, and carinderia/home-cook food),  water stations (selling purified drinking water for lack of potable water with majority still using artesian wells), and ambulatory vendors with their makeshift pushcarts sellingkakanin/street food.  Some of the residents work abroad as domestic helpers to support their family back home; the young with limited schooling work in the factories in the light industrial park of Santa Rosa.  Others work in offices,  while some have their small businesses (formal and informal).  There are fewer and fewer fishermen now, so I am told, as Laguna Lake becomes less sustainable for fishing because of its environmental problems (siltation, illegal fishpens, pollution from industries, etc.).  I have personally witnessed the environmental degradation when I went around the Laguna Lake with a fisherman.

For now, the local government approved a PPP (public-private partnership) eco-tourism project to be built along the lakeshore which will reclaim and transform it into a mixed-use/recreational park.  The newly elected barangay president of the Bantay Lawa, a volunteer group of fishermen that police the Laguna Lake against illegal activities, is in favour of it as it will provide them with open/recreational space.  They reminisce about their childhood days when the lakeshore with its parola  used to be a place where people would stroll and rest at the end of the day.  It was a time when the lake was still clear and pristine with an abundance of fish and marine life.