Citizen Disaster Reporting

Running Head: CITIZENS DISASTER REPORTING ON SOCIAL NETWORKING
SITES
Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites:

A proposal for a Citizen Journalism Site in the Province of Pampanga
A Thesis Presented to the

College of Arts, Sciences, and Education
Holy Angel University
In partial fulfillment of
the Requirements for the degree of
Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts
Baluyut, Lacel, O.
Celeste, Lovelaine, G.
de la Cruz, Manuel Sebastian, B.
Diwa, Ricar Joy Angela, D.
Gutierrez, Catherine, P.
Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Acknowledgment
The researchers wish to express their gratitude first and foremost to
our Lord who kept us safe and sane, provided us patience, and gave us
strength and knowledge to conduct this study.
Our gratitude extends:
To our family and friends who have been helpful and supportive during
this whole process of research.
To our adviser, Mr. Justin Emmanuel Dizon, who extensively
recommended suggestions to make our study better.
To our panelists, Ms. Anne Marie Lewis, Ms. Gloria Miranda, and Mr.
Nigel Ian Laxamana, for giving important points for us to tackle on during the
time of research. Without their insights, this thesis would not be possible.
To our thesis instructor, Ms. Leslie Manalo for the support and for all
the considerations you have given us.
To our respondents, who have shared with us their experiences and
opinion on Citizen Journalism. The experiences they shared showed us how
a citizen, without preference on age, gender, or status, can be of great help
to his community.
We dedicate this study to all the victims of past disasters in the

Philippines.

Table of Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Methodology
20
Results and Findings .
26
Conclusion
44
Recommendations
46
References
53
Appendices
APPENDIX A-B: Sample Letters
APPENDIX C-L: Transcript of Interviews
APPENDIX M: Interview Schedule
Abstract
Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites: A proposal for
a Citizen Journalism Site in the Province of Pampanga is a qualitative study
that aims to explore the role of citizen journalism particularly in disaster
reporting. An in-depth interview was conducted to online journalists; editors
and citizen journalists who experienced the Habagat in 2012 were asked for
their views on the phenomenon of Citizen Journalism.
Since citizen journalism has become the new medium in reporting
information, the researchers aim to know the essence of providing information
of citizens through social networking sites, and how citizen journalism can
help in preventing disasters and hazards.
Findings revealed that it is important to have a citizen journalism arm
especially in the local setting. It strengthens the reporting and circulating of
information especially in emergency purposes. Citizen journalists become the
source of information and at the same time partners of the media industry.
Social Media have undeniably changed how people communicate with

each other. It is clearly replacing the traditional form of media in information
dissemination and disaster response (Benson, 2009). Major news networks in
the Philippines today engage the public in the creation of news through
different platforms.
The characteristics of Social Media enable the Filipinos to
communicate effectively, removing the bias of the traditional media. The
researchers discovered that this bias arise from the hierarchical structure of
television and other traditional media.
News such as the London bombings, the killing of Osama Bin Laden,
the reportage of the Cyclone Nagris in Myanmar all came from social media,
uploaded by citizens that have witnessed the events on ground zero.
In the local setting, the news of the ruthless killing of 57 people,
including Media workers in the Maguindanao massacre was broken by a
citizen (Quinn and Kierans, 2010). When the typhoon Ondoy ravaged parts of
Metro Manila, traditional forms of media and government efforts were
paralyzed, as communication lines were broken. Concerned Filipino citizens
in and out of the country tapped the social media in order to improve disaster
relief and rescue efforts (Gutierrez, 2010).

In this study, the researchers explore in general citizens reporting in
social media and citizens reporting of disasters in social media in particular.
This study explore past disasters in the Philippines where citizen journalism
efforts became effective. In particular, the researchers focus on the Habagat
2012, which significantly affected the province of Pampanga to answer the
research questions:
RQ1) How important is the role of the Citizen in reporting news
affected by disasters?
RQ2) How does citizen reporting in Social Media affect traditional news
reporting?
RQ3) What are the possible consequences if a local government unit
does not have a citizen journalism arm?
This study employs a qualitative study in order to understand the
phenomenon that is citizen journalism. The researchers conducted interviews
with key personalities in disaster mitigation, news reporting and weather
experts in and out of the country.
The researchers conclude the study with a proposal plan for a
localized citizen journalism site that will be open up a new avenue for
information exchange among the people of Pampanga. Currently, there is no
active online citizen journalism arm in the province.
Definition of Citizen and Citizen Journalism

Marshall McLuhan predicted a global village where citizens, through a
universal medium can overcome geographic barriers (1964). We are entering
a so-called digital age where real time communication is easier and more
reliable (Banda, 2008).
A digital citizen refers to a person utilizing information technology (IT)
in order to engage in society, politics, and government participation. K.
Mossberger, et al. define digital citizens as "those who use the Internet
regularly and effectively." In qualifying as a digital citizen, a person generally
must have extensive skills, knowledge, and access of using the Internet
through computers, mobile phones, and web-ready devices to interact with
private and public organizations.
With the adoption of this new media, citizens were able to make their
own choices when it comes to gathering and disseminating information. The
lack of useful information coming from traditional media sources paved way
for the start of Citizen Journalism (Clark, 2009).
Citizen journalism allowed a large number of citizens to contribute and
share in more journalistic procedure, comprising news commentary, yet it
failed to interpret the contribution by some representative cross-section of the
over-all citizenry. (Bruns, 2009)
Citizen journalism is a label popularly known as a form of media that
involves reader participation. (Terdiman, 2004). It also feeds the public
hunger for what was called intensely local, people-centered news.

Citizen journalism is a form of journalism which is fast evolving wherein
ordinary citizens have initiatives to report news or express their views and
insights about the events happening in the community. It is considered as
news of the people, by the people and for the people. Citizen journalists are
considered to be free lancing citizen reporter and independent at the same
time. They are not forced to have journalistic processes or methodologies and
most of the time they function even without editorial oversight. Citizen
journalists usually do the gathering, processing, researching, analyzing and
publishing of news and information. These people utilize different
technologies possible with the use of Internet (Ross & Cornier, 2010).
Citizen Journalism is built through personal nature of writing.
Community members are not trained to write following the standards of media
objectivity. Articles can be written in first person or third person point of view.
(Bentley et al., 2005)
Jessica Clark in Public Media 2.0 (2009) outlined the practices in
Citizen Journalism:
Ubiquitous video
Professional and amateur video alike are migrating online to sites.
Nonprofessional online video is becoming part of broadcast news and
newspaper reporting; live streaming and podcasting are routine aspects of
public events.
Pervasive gaming
Gamingplaying computer, web, portable, or console games, often
connecting with other players via the Internethas become as ubiquitous as
watching TV for young people.
Social networks as public forums
Durable social-networking platforms such as Facebook allow
multifaceted media relationships with one person, a few or many people.
Accessible metrics
Ranking and data-gathering sites make it easier for media makers to
compile and compare their audiences and for outsiders to more easily judge
and note success.
Locative media
GPS enabled mobile devices such as cellular phones allow access and
upload geographically relevant content, and a new set of hyperlocal media
projects are feeding this trend.
Powerful databases
Databases also now serve as powerful back-ends for managing and
serving up digital content, making it available across a range of browsers and
devices.
10
Distributed distribution
News feeds, search engines, and widgets are allowing content to
escape the traditional boundaries of the channel or site. Users are coming to
expect access to anywhere, anytime searchable media.
Hackable platforms
Open source tools and applications are becoming increasingly
customizable. Media makers can tailor platforms, sharing tips across a broad
community of developers, and users can pick and choose how they will
interact with content.
Cloud content
Applications, media and personal content are migrating away from
computers and mobile devices and onto hosted servers into the cloud of
online content. On the one hand this offers simplicity, easy sharing, and
protected backups; on the other, it threatens control and privacy.
Citizen Journalism Practices in Foreign Countries
In 1999, young Korean Journalist, Oh Yeon-Ho launched a media
revolution based on these words: Every citizen is a journalist. It all started
due to frustration for one-way journalism and unable to make an impact on
Korean media through traditional means. The result was OhMyNews that was
launched in 2000. Its an Internet-based publication wherein 727 citizen
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reporters offered to supply commentary from their own perspective and direct
news as well. Four years later, OhMyNews had more than 32,000 citizen
reporters and gain worldwide respect. (Bentley et al., 2007)
In January 2008, Kenya was experienced ethnic violence cause by
irregularities of the election. During the violence, there are television stations
decided to footballs and air soap operas. On the other hand, spreading and
inciting of violence were aired in some vernacular stations. Actual reflection of
events left a gap in some print media in the said country. This gap was
occupied by false information, fanning the flames of violence. Kenyas top
blogger, David Kobia, Ory Okolloh, Juliana Rotich and Erik Hersman
established a citizen-journalistic platform that would allow the sharing of
public information with the use of available communication means. (Banda,
2008)
Cyclone Nargis disaster which happened in Myanmar in 2008, is one
of the worlds most repressive regimes, which killed 140,000 people.
Disasters in the said country were unreported and hidden from the outside
world. But citizen journalists utilized the tools in disseminating information and
telling stories from inside repressive regime (Downman, 2008).
Citizen Journalism Practices in the Philippines
In southern Philippines, the Maguindanao Massacre in November 2009
was considered as the worst election-related violence in the country. 60
people were killed including 30 journalists. It was also the deadliest single
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attack on journalists anywhere in the world. A patroller of ABS-CBNs Bayan
mo, I-patrol mo, gave prior information (Quinn and Kierans, 2010).
Disaster Risk profile of the Philippines
Disaster is defined as a sudden calamitous event bringing great

damage, loss, or destruction (Merriam-Webster, 2013). The Philippines lie on
the western rim of the pacific and lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire that
makes it vulnerable to different types of disasters. Flash floods, typhoons,
storms, earthquakes, droughts, volcanic eruptions, and various hazards.
In 2012, the Philippines topped the list of countries with the most
number of people killed by natural disasters in the worlds disaster data. It
placed second in terms of people affected by natural disasters (CDRC,2012).
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An overview of Natural Disasters from the study of World Bank and the
now defunct National Disaster Coordinating Council (2008) summarizes the
disasters that the Philippines might experience:
Volcano Eruption: Twenty-two volcanoes are classified active by the
PHILVOLCS. Mount Pinatubo eruption is considered as the most recent
major eruption that happened in the country. According to historical data,
Central and Southern Luzon are likely to expect a significant eruption once
every three years.
Earthquakes: The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
(PHIVOLCS) has recorded 12 destructive earthquakes in the last 40 years.
This does not include the recent Bohol Earthquake that left thousands of
families displaced.
Flooding: Floods are triggered by typhoons, tropical depression and
continuing heavy rains. Man-made causes such as dam failures, blockage of
waterways by garbage and improper design of street drainage significantly
increases the chance of flooding.
Tropical cyclones: The geographic location of the Philippines makes it
vulnerable to tropical cyclones. The western Pacific Rim is where most of the
tropical cyclones build up. An average of twenty typhoons hit the country
during the rainy season.
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Disaster Reporting and Social Media in the Philippines
Reporting of disasters in the Philippines is usually done through
television (Quinn & Kierans 2010). Due to the nature of disasters, lack of
information can aggravate the harm caused to the affected community. It can
increase the residents level of anxiety or lead them to make dangerous
choices in the belief that they are doing the right thing. It is important for the
affected community to know where they can get support before, during and
after a disaster (Ginetti et al., 2011). In a related study of Gutierrez (2010),
she explored how digital citizens used social media to fill the lack of
information that was coming from major news networks.
In times and places where media fails to reach a community to inform
them about an impending disaster, the tolling of church bells forewarned
people. In some areas, a town crier or bandillo, designated by barangay
officials, informed residents. Remote areas were not informed, as these
means of information dissemination is not available (Espinas, 2013).
Government efforts to harness Social Media to forewarn people about
disasters started in 2012 with the launch of National Operational Assessment
of Hazards or Project NOAH. It is an interactive website run by the
Department of Sciences and Technology and PAGASA. It reports regular
updates on typhoons, isolated thunderstorms, flood alerts and acts as a
database for hazard maps. (DOST, 2013). During the past tropical cyclones,
complains were made about the difficulty in accessing the PAGASA website.
Berse and La Via (2013) acknowledge this in their study on the aftermath of
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Typhoon Yolanda. The suggested that more localized assessments are
needed to cover capacities and vulnerabilities at the community level in order
to complement government efforts such as NOAH.
Social Media was tapped as an information resource during the height
of the Typhoon Ondoy in Manila. Networks to the Rescue (Gutierrez, 2010)
shows how a civic society was formed out of the need for another source of
information to enhance the rescue and relief operations. Twitter was used to
collate the data and inform affected communities as power lines were cut off.
Filipinos who were overseas or otherwise unable to physically participate in
relief efforts organized benefit events and disseminated announcements
about organizations that accepted donations. This form of crowd sourcing
complemented the efforts of the government to reach the people who were
inaccessible to them.
The same study argues that two traditional dimensions of the
Philippine culture, which are bayanihan and pakikipagkapwa, have an
important role in the use of social networking sites during times of calamities.
Blogger Aristotle Cruz during the height of the 2012 Habagat,
mentioned in his blog, a Diary of an absentee employee (2012), an Internet
connection is more important than having an electric or water supply. No
Internet connection means a very limited source of real-time updates.
He also mentions on the article that news on TV does not help promote
critical analysis and dwells on the trivial matters. Some TV stations are
16

obsessed with how much in donations they have raked in without asking,
when will we get to that point when donations will no longer be necessary
(Cruz, 2012).
Another web forecasting service in the Philippines that is becoming
popular for web users is the Ks weather and more, run by Karen Berthelsen
Cardenas. It started out when she decided to migrate her posts about the
effects of the Typhoon Ondoy from her personal account to a public account.
She recounts that she felt that the people needed an alternative sources of
weather since the most accessible medium at the time was the Internet.
Through crowd sourcing, she gets real-time updates about the weather
that the mainstream media fails to report otherwise.
Cardenas points out the Me society when comes to taking care of the
environment. The people who live with nature and depend on it for their
livelihood are concerned about the weather. The middle-class city dweller is
only concerned about how the bad weather might be an inconvenience to
them. The page does not mean to replace the mainstream media or official
agencies. Cardenas makes sure to verify her sources before posting and lets
her readers know if the report is not fully verified. Members follow the rule that
if they post something, they should post the source, or mention that it is their
own guess or opinion (Quimpo, 2012).
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Uses and Gratifications Theory
Elihu Katz predicted the change in mass media landscape more than
fifty years ago. His Uses and Gratifications Theory (1959) argued that the
question was not What do media do to people? rather, What do people do
to media? This posed an important question that was monumental in
communications research. Uses and Gratifications Theory assumes that even
the most potent media has no influence on the individual that has no use for it.
Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian Media Theorist further acknowledged
this in his study, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964) when
he coined the phrase, the medium is the message. A medium affects the
society not only by the content but also by the characteristics of the medium
itself.
A study on blogging conducted by Huang et al.,(2007) outlined five
motivations for posting: information-seeking, commenting, socialization, life
documenting, and self-expression.
Diffusion of Innovation
Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated
through certain channels over a period of time among the members of a
social system. An innovation is an idea, practice, or object that is perceived to
be new by an individual or other unit of adoption (1995, Rogers).
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The proponent, Everett M. Rogers mentions that innovation occurs in
four stages: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and
confirmation.
Knowledge of the innovation comes to the individual and he gets
interested and actively looks for information about it in the Persuasion stage.
Rogers perceive the Decision stage as the most difficult to acquire
empirical evidence because of its individualistic nature. It is on this stage that
the individual decides whether to adopt or reject the innovation.
The individual utilizes the innovation and seeks more information about
it in the Implementation stage.
On the final stage of Confirmation, the individual finalizes the decision
to continually use the innovation.
This theory predicts that new medium such as the Internet and the
mp3 format will displace traditional media if audiences recognize that they are
advantageous.
Combining these two theories, the phenomenon of Citizen Journalism
is viewed as an innovation, a new medium where web users social needs of
information seeking, commenting, socialization, life documenting, and selfexpression are fulfilled.
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Methodology
This study employed a qualitative and Glassers (1965) constant
comparative data analysis. The researchers one piece of data (e.g. one
statement or one interview) to other data that was either similar or
contradictory. The data collected were then classified to themes and
subthemes. Initial themes were discarded and new themes emerged as the
analysis progressed.
Because of the risk of disasters that can happen in Pampanga and the
lack of active citizen journalism arm in the province, this study seeks to
answer the following questions:
RQ1) How important is the role of the Citizen in reporting news
affected by disasters?
RQ2) How does citizen reporting in Social Media affect traditional news
reporting?
RQ3) What are the possible consequences if a local government unit
The researchers draw on Elihu Katz (1959) Uses and Gratifications
Theory and
Everett Rogers (1962) Diffusion of Innovations Theory to have an
exploratory analysis on the phenomenon of Citizen Journalism.
Description of Sample
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Purposive sampling was used to determine the respondents. The
respondents must meet one or more criteria for inclusion in the sampling.
Criteria used in the purposive sampling of this study were the following:
Experienced the disasters brought by the 2012 Habagat in
Pampanga
Published local news as a Citizen Journalist
Managed and edited news stories on Citizen Journalism
websites
Maintained a blog
Traditional Media (TV, Radio, Print) Journalist who covered the
2012 Habagat in Pampanga
New Media Journalist who covered the 2012 Habagat in
Pampanga
Expert in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management programs
in Pampanga
New Media Weather Forecasters
Snowball sampling was also used to tap hard to reach contacts. In this
method, respondents with whom contact has already been made use their
social networks to refer the researcher to other people who could potentially
participate in or contribute to the study (2000, Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S.)
21

Overall, 15 respondents participated in this study. All of the
respondents did not object to having their names disclosed.
Robert Speta is an Broadcast Meteoreologist currently based in Japan.

He is an expert in weather forecasting in the western pacific belt. He founded
the website, westernpacificweather.com and works for NHK, a news
organization in Japan.
Arlene Burgos is the Social Media Head of ABS-CBN.com. She took
charge of Bayan Mo, i-Patrol Mo during the typhoon Ondoy and the 2008
presidential elections.
Pamela Asuncion works as an editor at GMA7. She maintained a blog
on multiply.com.
Natashya Gutierrez works as a multi-media reporter at Rappler.com.
She covered the effects of the Habagat in 2012 in Candaba, Pampanga.
Vince Golangco is a radio DJ and the Editor-in-Chief of
Wheninmanila.com. Wheninmanila.com is a community of bloggers and
boasts of over one million views per month.
Justin Dizon works as a New Media professor. He used to work as a
local TV news reporter and has a first-hand experience in the effects of the
Habagat 2012.
22

Cecil Yumul is a practicing broadcast and print journalist in Pampanga.
She worked as an expert in Disaster mitigation and a trainer for Red Cross.
She occasionally dabbles into writing for the online medium through the
website, e-Kabalen.com.
Michael Raymon Pangilinan is a visiting lecturer at the University of
Tokyo. He is a Kapampangan culture advocate and has conducted a study in
the effects of the Pinatubo eruption and continual flooding to the indigenous
Aetas of Pampanga.
Raymond Del Rosario is the Head of the CDRRMO of the City of San
Fernando Pampanga. He has first-hand experience in the rescue and relief
operations during the Habagat 2012.
Charis Aira Manio was a former researcher in CLTV 36. She worked
on contributions of Citizen Journalists on Alerto, Alisto Ako.
Megan Claire David works as an area coordinator at Smart
Communications. Her writing experience involves both traditional and new
media.
Ralf Laurence Bonifacio is a student-leader. He has contributed
several reports on CLTVs Citizen Journalism arm, Alerto, Alisto Ako. He is a
resident of Masantol, Pampanga where flooding is prevalent.
23

Marcelo Batac Lacap III is a student-filmmaker and a Kapampangan
culture advocate. He maintains blogs and also contributed reports on Alerto,
Alisto Ako. He is a resident of Masantol, Pampanga.
Kyle Yabut is an Information Technology student. He maintains a
photography blog and an active social media user.
Kyle Francisco is a fashion blogger and an active online
contributor.
Instruments
Interviews with qualified respondents were used to answer the
research questions. A semi-structured survey questionnaire was used to
interview the subject. An appendix of the interview guides follows the
References section of this paper. It must be noted that although an interview
guide was used, the researchers often pursued a divergent line of questioning
in order to elicit a comprehensive response from the subject.
The interviews were recorded using a digital voice recorder and stored
in various electronic formats and locations.
Procedure
The researchers hand-mailed and e-mailed study information to our
potential respondents. This is to explain the purpose of the study and to
formally request an interview. Once the respondents agreed to have the
interview, the researchers conducted the interviews face to face, through
24

phone or personal correspondence. Interviews varied from 15-30 minutes in
length and were conducted from December 13, 2013 to February 3, 2014.
They were mostly conducted face to face while the others were through
personal correspondence and Skype video calls.
Transcription of the interview was made after each interview.
Responses in Kapampangan or Tagalog language were translated to English
to conform to the structure of this paper. An appendix of the transcription of
each interview follows the References section of this paper.
Data Analysis
Responses were categorized into recurring themes and subthemes
according to their similarity. These were compared in order to find significant
relationships between categories. Initial themes were discarded and new
themes emerged as the analysis progressed. The themes were synthesized
into a coherent theoretical framework.
25

Results and Findings
The year 2013 has posed a lot of challenges for the Filipino. Aside
from the lingering problem of poverty, insurgency and corruption, the country
has also faced a lot of natural disasters. From the expected yearly torrential
rains and flooding to the unexpected ones the Bohol Earthquake and the
Super Typhoon Yolanda (International Name: Haiyan) which devastated parts
of Visayas.
The spirit of Bayanihan once again echoed throughout the country.
Various sectors of the society have utilized the power of Social Media that in
turn made the relief, rescue and rehabilitation operations easier.
The purpose of this study is to highlight the role of the citizen using
Social Media to disseminate information about a disaster. It also aims to show
how the medium was used to further improve the situation.
THEME 1: DIFFERENCE FROM TRADITIONAL NEWS SOURCE
Subtheme 1: Interactivity
Through the comments, or reply sections of various SNS platforms
such as Twitter and Facebook, the audience can give direct feedback to the
author of the posts. Carlos Celdran, a cultural activist and a media personality
in a TV interview (2013) said,
One thing good about Social Media, since the information
is coming from the ground up, and not from just one
26

direction all going down to the people, once upon a time,
all information and media only came from one direction. I
wasnt allowed to talk to back to my newspaper. But now,
on Social Media, I can talk back to the person giving me
the news.
Subtheme 2: Immediacy and Real time interaction
All of the respondents cited immediacy as one of the important
features of Online News. Vince Golangco, Editor-in-Chief of
Wheninmanila.com, a site that publishes stories written by individuals without
any journalistic background said,
You will get your news on Twitter or FB (Facebook) share
or on Instagram before you hear it on the actual news.
Information dissemination is faster now, people function
faster, the world functions faster, and a lot of times, for
people to move faster the use the Internet.
A similar study in 2010 on the Relief Operations via Twitter during the
Typhoon Ondoy highlights the importance of real-time interaction:
Information was sent and received as soon as it was
twittered or encoded in a status update. Thus, the
information was perceived as timely, and individuals
locked into the network responded in a similarly timely
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fashiona key factor in disaster relief, which is driven by
immediate response (Morales, 2010).
Subtheme 3: Precision
On the same study cited above (Morales, 2010), precision in giving
information about the situation was considered a feature given to Social
Media saying that the person tweeting was in the ground (where the calamity
happens) and was in the position to know. Marcelo Lacap III, a resident of
Masantol, Pampanga comments on the accuracy that traditional media have
portrayed on news:
E la pa tinud king pamag-balita king albug king balen mi. Patse
e makalbug, sabyan da, makalbug. Patse naman adua ng bulan
makalbug, sabyan da, ala ng albug. (Traditional media was
never accurate in providing the information about the flooding in
our town. When it is flooded, they report that it is not. When we
have two months worth of flood, they report that it has already
subsided.)
Also, the format of tweets, a post limited to 140 characters
ensured that only the relevant information was posted.
Subtheme 4: Interoperability
Social Networking Sites allow sharing/re-tweeting to other sites and
profiles. Social News Head for ABS-CBN Arlene Burgos, recounts the
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beginnings of BMPM which started through SMS. Now, BMPM has an app of
its own, a website, a Twitter and Facebook account where citizen journalists
can submit their photos, videos, and other materials for news.
THEME 2: PLATFORMS USED
This section gives a brief background on Social Networking Sites that
play an important role in disseminating information in times of disasters.
Subtheme 1: Twitter
RockEd Philippines, a non-governmental organization was able to
effectively communicate the needs of affected areas in Metro Manila during
the height of typhoon Ondoy. Through their Twitter account @rockedphils,
they were able to locate and rescue people that had their power and
communication lines cut off.
Subtheme 2: Facebook
The Philippines was named Facebook capital of the world due to its
number of Facebook users (Digital Media Asia, 2012). Facebook continues to
be an essential part of citizen disaster reporting due to its user-friendly
interface and the potential network.
Subtheme 3: YouTube
YouTube started out as a video-sharing website for entertainment.
Later, web users adapted its use for disaster reporting.
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THEME 3: MATERIALS SENT
All of the respondents said that most of the reports they read are either
in the form of a tweet, photos, or videos. However, personal accounts, which
are written in the manner of diary entries are sometimes accepted and
published as well. Natashya Guttierez, from Rappler who reported the
flooding in Candaba due to the Monsoon rains in 2012, says she picked up
the news from tweets that emanated in the area.
Concerned citizens like Ralph Laurence, a student leader at Angeles
University Foundation and a citizen journalist in Macabebe utilized the use of
SMS in providing information to local and national networks.
Gusto ko makita yung sitwasyon ng mga tao .Yung ginagawa
ko nagtetext ako sa mga networks, CLTV, GNN, ABS-CBN,
GMA na may mga lugar na hindi naaabot ng mga ganong klase
ng media kahit CLTV pa yan o GNN lang yan. Sa
pamamagitan nun nalalaman ng mga media ng mga local media
na meron pa lang lugar na ganito na kelangan ng tulong.
I want to see the situation of the people. What Im doing is Im
texting networks, CLTV, GNN, ABS-CBN, GMA that there are
places that are unreachable by media even CLTV and GNN.
With that, media are informed, local media are informed that
there are places, which are in need of help.
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THEME 4: INFORMATION VERIFICATION
This section aims to describe the system of information verification in
Social Networking Sites. It shows that although the medium for disseminating
information has changed, the method of verifying whether a post is accurate
and reliable is still the same.
Arlene Burgos told us how this is done in Bayan Mo, i-Patrol Mo, ABSCBNs citizen journalism arm,
Yung sinasabi sa citizen was to put it as much details as they
could na makakatulong dun sa pagbubuo ng report. Halimbawa,
kung magpapadala ng picture, as much as possible, as a
journalist, inilalapit mo yung form na ipinadadala nung citizen
dun sa form na edible o kumbaga usable na para sa isang
news articleSo tinuturuan mo sila na pakilagay po kung ano
yung nangyari d'yan sa picture. Sino po yung naririyan. Anong
oras po nangyari yan. Saan po yung insidente.
We tell the citizens to put as much details as they could to
complete the report. For example, when they send pictures, as
much as possible, as a journalist, you try to adapt the style that
the citizen sent to a more edible or usable style in a news
articleSo you teach them what to put on the picture. What is
happening on the picture? Who are involved? What time did the
incident happen? Where did it happen?
31

Wheninmanila.coms Vince Golangco checked the information through
other well-known websites. He makes sure that it has been featured or
tweeted on two or three websites before publishing.
Rapplers Natashya Gutierrez in verifying info during disaster said,
Obviously if it's not real, most people would say, ay hindi po,
hindi po yan totoo (that is not true). For most part especially
disaster, I'd like to think that no one's trying to play joke in such.
But then we'll give the citizen journalist the benefit of the doubt
but also we have to verify if it's true. One more thing, calling
them. Messaging them and saying can we call you, can we talk?
THEME 5: DISADVANTAGES OF SOCIAL MEDIA
In spite of the advantages cited, there are still instances wherein
people using social media fail to provide precise information that leads to
some sort of panic or inappropriate actions.
Natashya Gutierrez mentioned the responsibility of a citizen journalist,
Well I think kung citizen journalist ka, (If you are a citizen
journalist), you also have responsibility to disseminate correct
information. Hindi dahil hindi ka professional journalist pwede
kang mag-imbento ng kahit ano (It doesnt mean that you are
not a professional journalist, you can invent anything)
32

A former reporter of CLTV 36, Justin Dizon narrated a particular event
wherein an act of false information dissemination led to panic,
Naging problema yan nung panahon ng mga habagat, may
namatay dahil sa misinformation. (It became a problem during
the habagat, someone died because of misinformation)
Someone shouted that Mt. Pinatubo was erupting. May
nataranta sa palengke. (Someone panicked in the market)
Everyone in city of San Fernando, vendors were closing their
stores, they were running. May inatake, may namatay
(Someone had a heart attack, someone died) and that is
something stupid. That was very irresponsible citizen journalism.
Someone would share, someone would text na memakbung ya
ing Pinatubu (Pinatubo erupted) knowing that Kapampangans
are very mindful of the said situation or said condition and Mt.
Pinatubo eruption is very traumatic for us Kapampangan.
Mr. Robert Speta, a broadcast meteorologist at NHK, a Television
station in Japan said,
The down side is there are a lot of people out there.
Unfortunately they like to use tactics or they just dont know how
to properly analyze weather information.
33

THEME 6: POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT HAVING A CITIZEN
JOURNALISM SITE
Marcelo Lacap said,
If a local government unit like Angeles City doesnt have its own
citizen journalism, its limiting the interactivity of the people
within the entity of the people.
Kyle Francisco said,
Siyempre sa isang governing body importante sa kanila yung
feedback of whats happening in their community. Feedback on
what they can improve tungkol sa service nila and on what is
really good about it is important.
Of course in a governing body, feedback on what is happening
in the community is important. Feedback on what they can
improve on their service and on what is really good about it is
important.
THEME 7: POSSIBLE DISASTERS THAT CAN HAPPEN IN PAMPANGA
Pampanga is one of the provinces which was greatly devastated
during 1991 Mt. Pinatubos eruption. In the year, 2012 another calamity hit the
province particularly the areas near the Pampanga river basin. Aside from the
said disasters, CDRRMO Head Mr. Raymond del Rosario enumerated other
34

possible catastrophes either natural or man-made that might be experienced
in the province of Pampanga.
Among others so aside from the flash flood na high acceptable
particularly in Southern portion of the city, vulnerable tamu rin
king earthquake. Bakit? Philippines is located at the Pacific Ring
of Fire sasabyan da ne so king city of San Fernando or
Pampanga although alang outline ken ne pero ing peka malapit
ken is West Valley fault or the former Marikina fault and the
Digdig fault in Zambales, Pangasinan etc.. So istung ginalo la
ren bisa tat ali panamdaman ta ya rin. Like for an instance in
1990 during the earthquake, itang megpalasak ketang Haiyat
Hotel ampo ketang school king Nueva Ecija, penamdaman ta la
ren. Fortunately alang milyari keni so nanu mo ing buri kung
sabyan ngeni kasi ali naman keng mangayi ku pero even the
PHIVOLCS director pane yang mag earthquake disaster
preparedness. Why? Sasabyan na ing Marikina fault o ing ngeni
West Valley Fault hinog ne kasi keng for so long a time for
almost 100 years eya gagalo na supposedly ding egana-ganang
fault lines dapat gagalo la banta magrelease lang energy.
Unfortunately up to this time ala pa yatang recorded na ginalo la
so nang buring sabyan istung ginalo ya masikan. Its expected
up to well magnitude 8. 9 counting so ing konsiderasyun ketang
distance na ning City of San Fernando keng Manila
35

panamdaman taya 7.2 intensity. Bohol is 7.2, could you just
imagine itang meging impact na keng Bohol and city of San
Fernando. In consideration ketang earthquake nung milyari
keng unpopulated area wala lang, natural phenomenon la rin.
Malyayari la ren. Pero nung malyari ya ketang populated lugar
like City of San Fernando or Pampanga in general so
considering marakal la infrastructures marakal tau huwag na
lang dun.
Among others so aside from the flash flood which is high
acceptable particularly in Southern portion of the city, we are
also vulnerable in earthquakes. Why? Philippines located at the
Pacific Ring Of Fire, so in City of San Fernando or Pampanga
although there are no outline, still the closest is West Valley
Fault or the former Marikina Fault and the Digdig Fault in
Zambales, Pangasinan etcSo once the fault moves, we might
feel them as well. Like for instance in 1990 during the
earthquake, the one which destroyed Haiyat Hotel and a school
in Nueva Ecija, we felt the effect. Fortunately nothing was
damaged here. So whats my point here? Now, even the
PHIVOLCS director always conducts earthquake disaster
preparedness. Why? They are saying that the Marikina Fault or
West Valley Fault, is already inactive for so long a time. For
almost 100 years, the fault is not moving, which supposedly all
36

fault lines must move in order to release energy. Unfortunately
up to this time, there are still no records that this fault ever
moved. So what does it mean? Once it moves, its expected to
be intense, up to around magnitude 8. 9 counting. Considering
the distance of City of San Fernando from Manila, we might
experience a 7.2 intensity. Bohol is 7.2, could you just imagine
the possible impact in Bohol and City of San Fernando? If it
happened(earthquake) in an unpopulated area, its as if nothing
happened. Its considered a natural phenomenon. But if it
happens in a populated place like City of San Fernando or
Pampanga in general, considering there are lots of
infrastractures, I hope it wont happen here.
Keng City of San Fernando and most of Pampanga is
particularly downstream, vulnerable la rin ketang awsan dang
liquefaction. Siguro ekayu pamilyar kareni, liquefaction meaning
uling flood prone ing metung a lugar so itang underground
masasaturate ya ing danum ketang lalam. Since ing
composition na ning soil kening San Fernando and the rest of
Pampanga tang awsan dang sandy, so uling madanum kaybat
sandy pin itang composition na ning lupa, istung ginalo ing
gabun, o earthquake lumbug ya. So similar ketang awsan dang
sinkhole pero ali ya actually makanita pero magcollapse ya kasi.
Liquefaction, flooding, earthquake of course detang aliwa
37

detang natural na sinabe ku syempre aparte lapa retang human
o manmade, vehicle accidents, terrorism, fire.
In City of San Fernando and most of Pampanga is particularly
downstream, it is also vulnerable with what we call liquefaction.
Maybe youre not that familiar with this liquefaction. In a flood
prone area, the water underground is being saturated. Since the
composition of soil in San Fernando and the rest of Pampanga
is sandy, at the same time soggy, once the soil moves or an
earthquake happens, it is possible that it will sink. It is similar
with what is called a sinkhole but it is not actually like that, but
still, the ground will collapse. Liquefaction, flooding, earthquake
of course there are others apart from natural which Ive said,
and those are human or manmade like vehicle accidents,
terrorism, fire.
THEME 8: AREAS IN DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT
Mr. Raymond Del Rosario also mentioned the four thematic areas in
disaster management.
Ang DRRM (Disaster Risk Reduction and Management) atin
yang 4 thematic areas. One is prevention mitigation, two is
preparedness, three is response and four is the recovery and
rehabilitation.
38

(Disaster Risk Reduction and Management) has 4 thematic
areas. 1 is prevention mitigation, 2 is preparedness, 3 is
response and 4 is the recovery and rehabilitation.)
THEME 9: GOVERNMENT EFFORTS DURING DISASTERS
CDRRMO Head, Mr. Del Rosario narrated some activities that the
CDRRMO is currently doing in order to prepare the people in any possible
danger particularly during disasters.
Tuturu mi la reng tao keng eskwela pati mamye kaming lecture
disaster preparedness. Sasabyan mi ot bakit kelangan
magprepare. Pagsadyan mi ing kalamidad o disasters explain
mi karela ita. Kaybat tuturu mi la makananu magreport,
makananu itang proper way of reporting.
We are educating the people in the school and we are giving
lecture about disaster preparedness. We tell them why they
need to prepare. We are preparing for calamities or disasters,
explaining it to them. And then we are teaching them on how to
report, what is the proper way of reporting.
Tuturu mi la ninu ba dapat ing pagsabyan. Nanu la ring hazards
ning lugar, kaybat prepared ka, atin kang kit nanung laman na.
Tuturu mi lang first aid, tuturu mi lang bandaging, rapid
explication, improvised explication. Banta potang datang ya, na
ali naman sana, on their own dapat ila ing first responders.
39

Pane ming sasabyan ita, remember you are the first responders
ikayu pang atsu, ikayu pang magresponde.
We are informing them whom to talk to. What are the hazards of
the place and then you are prepared. You have a kit but what
does it contain? We are teaching them about first aid,
bandaging, rapid explication, and improvised explication. So
that when disaster comes, which I hope not, on their own, they
need to be the first reponders. We are always telling them,
remember you are the first responders. Youre there, it is you
who will respond first.
Bubuuan mi la kanyan ing kanya-kanya dang barangay
response team at buri mi sana suportan ne ning mabilog na
mikasarili yang rescue team ing barangay. So nung ali mu ing
barangay nu atin pang establishments o organization na bisang
mu rin sarili dang team join mi la rin .Sawpan mi la train mi la.
Ing counterpart namu suportan do retang kelangan da meaning
retang personal protective equipment da retang tao, deng
respondents dapat dinan dala. Gloves, goggles, ing basic.
We are forming response team in every barangay and we want
the support of all, that a barangay will have its own rescue team.
Not only the barangay, if there are establishments or
organizations that would like to have their own team, well join
40

them. Well help them. Well train them. The counterpart is they
will support the needs, meaning personal protective equipment
of the people, the respondents. They should provide gloves,
goggles, and the basics.
On the other hand, former Red Cross Trainer and disaster mitigation
expert Ms. Cecil Yumul comment on the actions of the government during
disasters.
Nung mepile ya ing baranggay, ali na buring sabyan inutil ya,
kasi maglevel up ya. Nung meparalyze ya ing level, munta ya
king provincial. Nung eya mu naman megfunction ing provincial,
atin kang regional level. Istung meparalyze ya ing operation ka
rin atin kang national level. (Once the barangay is paralyzed, it
does not mean that they are ignorant because it will rise up. If
that level (barangay) was paralyzed, it will go to provincial. If it
will not function in the provincial level, you have regional level. If
the operation was paralyzed, you still have national level.) So
therefore, it is not a blame game. It is just widening the
responsibility when one is incapable
THEME 10: CITIZENS ROLE AND RESPONSE DURING DISASTERS
Mr. Raymond Del Rosario said,
Maragul ya ing part ng citizen kasi ala naman ing DRMM nung
alang climate change. Ala namang greenhouse effects na
41

kasalanan na rin ning tawu, kaya mika climate change, papali
ing yatu.... So nanu ita, itamu as individual, most of us family in
a community, gawan tana ing part tamu. Pekasimpleng part a
gawan. Manaman kang tanaman, ugse me kung nukarin me
dapat ugse ing kekang basura, kung eme gagamitan ing sulu
patdan me, magtipid kang danum, small things.
Citizen has a huge role because there is no DRMM if theres no
climate change. There is no such thing as greenhouse effect if
not because of the actions of people. That is why theres a
climate change, the earth is getting warmer So we individuals,
most of us family in a community [sic] should do our part. The
simplest actions to do are plant trees, throw garbage in the right
place, if youre not using lights turn them off, save water, small
things.
As for Ms. Cecil Yumul,
Anggang minor ka pwede kang magvolunteer. Kasi ing
responsibility ene man asusukad king edad. (Even if you are a
minor, you can volunteer. Because responsibility is not
measured by age.) It is not even age that matters, its about
presence of mind, it is about strength, it is about courage and
the willingness to give ones life for other people When you
42

really want to be totally responsible, you make sure that all of
the time.
Limitation of the research
This study employed a qualitative research method that elicited
individual experience in detail, but the sample size cannot be generalized to
the thousands of web users in Pampanga. Although there are a number of
researches on Internet use in the Philippines, there is a lack of quantitative
research on Internet use and Media Literacy in the provinces.
At the time this research was conducted, Gutierrez Networks to the
rescue (2010) is the only known research on the relationship of Citizen
Journalism and Disaster Reporting in the Philippines.
Only a few studies on disasters and its effects were conducted in
Pampanga. Their focus is mostly on the effects of the Pinatubo eruption and
lahar.
Further studies on New Media use in Pampanga must be conducted in
order to aid future researchers in understanding the importance of being
localized.
43

Conclusion
It is evident how citizens participation is important in shaping todays
news. Major news programs have acknowledged this that is why they ask for
peoples opinions on news items that vary from trivial to national matters. In
the national setting, major news networks incorporate citizen news
contributions to their nightly news programs. A trending topic in Twitter last
night can become a headline in todays news.
Social networking and technology has enabled the common man to
engage in a public debate. This was rarely, if not impossible to experience
this in the traditional media setting, which is hierarchal in nature. Audiences
were viewed before as information receivers. Because of this new technology,
audiences are now perceived as information seekers and providers.
The diffusion of innovations theory explains this phenomenon.
Adoption of new technology in the country is fast progressing. When Internet
access was introduced in the country, it was confined to computers and was
priced high. Today, mobile phones have the capacity to connect to the
Internet. Information dissemination and communication have been easier,
faster and cheaper. More and more people are going online to rekindle old
connections or make new ones.
In terms of news reporting, the reporter does not need to have a crew
and huge equipment to deliver a report. The reporter can be armed with just a
mobile phone with a camera and an Internet connection and deliver the report
44

in real-time. With this new technology, the reporter need not to be a
professional broadcast journalist, he/she can be a citizen who happens to be
at the ground zero where the news is happening.
The researchers conclude from the findings that social networking can
significantly affect disaster relief and rescue operations if used properly. Most
of the respondents pointed out the importance of being educated.
Pampanga is one of the most disaster-stricken areas in the Philippines.
It is ironic that social media is rarely tapped in order to improve the disaster
education in the province.
45

Recommendations
More localized studies
The researchers recommend more studies in the areas of disaster
mitigation and Internet use in Pampanga. Most of the related literature that
focus on disasters in Pampanga are few and are not recent. Future
researchers will benefit from understanding localized studies on the habits of
Internet users.
Citizen Journalism Site in Pampanga
Because of the unique characteristics of Citizen Journalism the
researchers recommend developing an independent Citizen Journalism site
that can be run by students from different parts of the province.
The researchers will rely on the guidelines and process set by The
Journalism Foundation in their guide, How to Build a Local Site (2012). In this
guide, they recommended the use of Wordpress.com because of its ease of
use, stability and security.
The researchers will be the primary editors of this website and as the
readership grows, more editors will take in charge.
The website will have its Facebook and Twitter accounts where
headlines and hyperlinks to articles will be included in order to increase
visibility of the website.
46

The editors must screen all comments from readers in order to prevent
spam messages, unsolicited advertisements and malware. However, the
editors must give way to healthy public debate by presenting important
arguments.
Domain name
The domain name of the website should be a term familiar with
disaster response and reporting, such as 911pampanga.wordpress.com or
saupkabalen.wordpress.com
Language
The editors will encourage contributions in the Kapampangan
Language but will also accept contributions in English and Filipino. The
reason behind this is the decline of the Kapampangan language in the past
years. Michael Pangilinan observed this in his study, Assessing the Current
Status of the Kapampangan language (2012).
Rules and Guidelines
The site will adhere to the same basic rules that Mymissouran.com
developed for their Citizen Journalism site (Bentley et. al, 2007):
1. No nudity
2. No profanity
3. No personal attacks
47

4. No attacks on race, religion, national origin, gender or sexual
orientation
It is the responsibility of the editors to verify and scrutinize the articles for
libel and plagiarism before publishing. The editors can do minimal editing for
grammar and spelling in order for the articles to have a journalistic appeal.
Content
The editors will be in-charge of publishing articles, information, photos
and videos. The focus of the content should be limited to information on
disaster mitigation and preparedness, disaster reports and relief efforts.
Rebelmouse application will be used in order to automatically collate
related data and hashtags on the website.
Uploading process
Contributions will be received via private messaging on the sites
Facebook account and e-mail address.
Promotion
The researchers consider the proposed citizen journalism site as an
innovation. According to the Diffusion of Innovations theory, knowledge of the
innovation comes first in the process of diffusion. The researchers will
promote the site by means of social networking sites. Designated
assignments every week will be given to citizens to encourage participation
at the local level.
48

Partnerships
The researchers seek to have partnerships with civic societies in
Pampanga such as the local Red Cross, the Aguman Sulat KapampanganKulitan Inc. and the Center for Kapampangan Studies to expand resources for
news and information.
Partnerships with local barangay and municipal units on disaster
response will also be sought by the researchers in order to get real-time
updates in their respective communities.
The researchers will also seek partnerships with local media
institutions in order to increase reach and visibility.
49
Stage 1
Design the webpage
Stage 2
Determine possible agencies
to tie up with
Stage 3
Present the study and the
website to the agency
Stage 4
Lay out rules and guidelines
for the website
Stage 5
Advertise the website in
cooperation with the partners
Stage 6
Launch Beta phase of the
website and parallel Social
Networking accounts
Stage 7
Publish articles
50

Stage 1: Designing the website
The initial stage of the proposal is designing the lay out of the website.
The lay out and features of the website should be organized as to give the
intended users easy navigation.
Stage 2: Determining the agencies to partner with
The partners could be civic organizations and media institutions that
could help in promoting awareness of disasters and the website itself.
Example of these institutions are Red Cross, local television networks and the
Pampanga Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.
Stage 3: Presenting the study to the agencies
The researchers will present this study and the findings on how having a
localized citizen journalism site can greatly improve disaster mitigation and
preparedness.
Stage 4: Lay out rules and guidelines for posting
Rules and guidelines will be grounded on Mymissouran.coms own rules
and guidelines for posting. However, the partners can add more guidelines if
the need arises. The rule that is added should be agreed upon by majority of
the partners.
51

Stage 5: Advertising the website
Awareness of the website can be done through local and online ads, TV
and Radio interviews, through the help of partners.
Stage 6: Launching the Beta phase and parallel Social Networking sites
The Beta phase could last from one month to one year, depending on the
publics awareness of the existing website.
Stage 7: Publishing of articles
Articles on preparedness and prevention will be the first articles to be
featured in the website. Although there are no imminent disasters in the
province, awareness of such could help to prevent them.
52

References
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55

APPENDIX A

College of Arts, Sciences and Education
December 19, 2013
Arlene Burgos
Head, Social and Mobile Media
ABS-CBN Corporation
Dear Ms. Burgos:

Good day and we hope this letter finds you well.
We are fourth year AB Communication Arts students of Holy Angel University. We
are presently working on our thesis entitled: Citizens Disaster Reporting on
Social Networking Sites: A case study on the Habagat 2012. Our aim in doing
this research study is to determine the role of citizen journalists in the reporting of the
monsoon rains last August 2012. This will be our basis in our proposal to have a
citizen journalism site in Pampanga in order to improve disaster risk reduction and
response in the province.
Being the Head of ABS-CBNs Social and Mobile Media, we hope that we could get
in touch with you for an interview. We could do this via Skype, email, phone call, or
we could go to you personally.
We have chosen ABS-CBN because it is one of the leading news organizations in
the Philippines that provide platforms for citizen journalists to deliver their news
online. It is in this regard that we would like to ask for your assistance for our study.
We hope that our letter merits your approval towards our study.
Sincerely,
56

APPENDIX B

College of Arts, Sciences and Education
January 9, 2014
Robert Speta
Broadcast Meteorologist NHK World
Dear Mr. Speta:
Good day and we hope this letter finds you well.
We are fourth year AB Communication Arts students of Holy Angel University.
We are presently working on our thesis entitled: Citizens Disaster Reporting
on Social Networking Sites: A case study on the Habagat 2012. Our aim in
doing this research study is to determine the role of citizen journalists in the
reporting of the monsoon rains last August 2012.
This will be our basis in our proposal to have a citizen journalism site in
Pampanga in order to improve disaster risk reduction and response in the
province.
Being a Broadcast Meteorologist, we hope that we could get in touch with you
for an interview. We could do this via Skype, email, phone call, or we could
meet you personally.
We believe that your views and comments are significant to our study and to
further our knowledge in disaster risk reduction. We would also like to have
your opinion on having a localized Citizen Journalism site in the province.
We hope our letter merits your approval and support towards our study. Any
help extended will be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
57
APPENDIX C
ARLENE BURGOS
Researcher: Can you give us a background and briefly summarize the
history of Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo?
Arlene Burgos: Yung Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo na nakikita natin ngayon, ang
una niyang form is boto mo ipatrol mo nung 2007 wala pa 'ko rito. Ang ginawa
nila nag open sila ng 4-digit number na kung saan pwedeng magtext yung
mga tao. So nung ginawa nila 'yun during the election, may mga nagrespond,
may mga nagsusumbong. 2007 ito ah. Hindi pa uso yung, hindi pa ganyan
yung pagtingin natin sa cellphone kung pa'no natin tinitignan yung cellphone
ngayon. Tapos pagdating ng 2009, ayan andidito na 'ko no'n. Nung ni-launch
yung Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo, ang forms na niya is really meant to ask, meant
to solicited reports from the people. So nung 2009-2010 tas nag-eleksyon
dire-diretso na siya.
(The Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo that we see today, the first form was boto mo
ipatrol last 2007 I was not here yet. What they do was they open 4-digit
number where the people can send their text messages. So when they did
that during the election, there are respondents who complained. That was
2007. Compare today, we dont see the used of cellphone before. And then,
2009, I already work here when they formally launch Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo,
the forms is really meant to ask, meant to solicited reports from the people.
So come 2009-2010 the operation of BMPM is continues.)
58
Researcher: Is there an instance wherein citizen journalism became your

source of information in a particular event?
Arlene Burgos: Yung very first na nagrerespond tremendously on a large
scale yung mga tao ay nung namatay si President Cory Aquino, August 2009.
Alam namin na may ganung popular sentiment, yung nagdadalamhati yung
mga tao pero yung hindi namin ineexpect yung magiging generous sila dun
sa pagbibigay ng materials kasi ang hiningi lang namin at that time sa mga
tao was for them to share what they remember from Cory Aquino. Ang
daming nagrespond. So nakakagulat yung turn out, yung response nila. They
were sending pictures, text, may gumawa ng videos. At that time hindi pa
masyado popular yung meme wala pang ganon pero nag-aattempt sila na
gumawa ng ganon. Tapos I remember during the march di ba yung funeral
march matagal yun e. Marami ring tao ang nag-aattempt magpadala ng you
know 'I'm here' hindi pa uso ang selfie non. So parang you can see from that
moment what is to become of social media, of citizen journalism. Not really of
ano nga e, of social media but of citizen journalism. Yung second instance eto
actually ang source ng mga balita yung citizen journalist yung Ondoy. Kasi
hindi namin hiningi yun. Kumbaga parang as BMPM, as a part of BMPM team
at that moment, wala kaming, we didn't as for we didn't call out anything
unlike yung 'Cory'. Eto, the citizens took it upon themselves to send in what
59

they could. Kunware, I remember the very first report I got was a person
texted me saying na nasa taas kami ng bubong we need help. Text message
siya. The reason na nakuha niya yung phone number ko is because I was
doing workshop all over the country sa iba't ibang lugar and sinasabi ko sa
kanila na in case na may itatanong pa, you ca contact me at this number.
Binigay ko yung number ko. Yun yung very first time na nakita ko na yung
citizen sila mismo yung source g\ng information.
( the very first that people respond tremendously on a large scale was when
President Cory Aquino died last August, 2009. We knew that there was a
popular sentiment, the people were too generous to give their materials
where in that time what we just need was for them to share what they
remember from Cory Aquino. A lot of responds that even us were shocked.
They were sending pictures, texts and even videos. At that time, the meme
are not popular then, but they attempt to make such thing. Then I remember,
during the march, we know actually that the march will take hours. The people
attempted to send you know I am here where in selfie is not yet popular then.
So its like, you can see from that moment what is to become of social media,
of citizen journalism. Not really of social media but of citizen journalism. The
second instance was the Ondoy, actually the source of are coming from the
citizen journalists, where in we dont actually asked for it. As BMPM, as a part
of BMPM team at that moment, we didn't ask for, we didn't call out anything
unlike in 'Cory'. The citizens took it upon themselves to send in what they
could. For example, I remember the very first report I got was a person texted
60

me saying we are in the roof of our house, we need help. Its a text message.
The reason why he/she had my number was because I was doing a workshop
all over the country, in different places, and I tell them that in case they want
to ask something, they can contact me in that number, so I gave my number.
That was the first time were citizen give source of information.)
Researcher: How important is citizen journalism during disaster?

Arlene Burgos: Kung hindi nangyari sa amin yung Ondoy, kung hindi namin
naranasan yung ganung interaction with citizens, I don't think we would have,
we would be behaving as indispassion in the succeeding disasters for
instance, after nakita namin yung Ondoy, we configured ourselves sa BMPM
to be ready to catch reports kasi yung susunod sa Ondoy ay Sendong ata.
Hindi ako sure pero may malaking sumunod dun sa Ondoy e. So nung
dumating yung mga bagyo na yun, alam na namin na ganun yung
mangyayari, na meron na namang tatawag may mga magtetext na naman,
puputok na naman yung facebook, marami na naman yung magpopost, so
alam na namin. So yung mga succeeding alam na namin. Tapos habang
umaandar yung panahon, paikli ng paikli yung panahon or yung window
during which we would call for pictures or submissions and the citizen would
respond. What do I mean, ngayon kunwari ang aksidente nangyari kaninang
umaga or let's say it happen 9am. Kaninang umaga paggising ko merong
malaking sunog somewhere sa Paranaque, si BMPM meron siyang post na
61

nasa ganitong alert level na po yung sunog sa Paranaque kung andyadyan
po kayo magdala kayo ng pictures. And kahit hindi ko pa sila nakakausap I'm
almost sure merong nagpadala. So paikli ng paikli yung response time nung
citizen journalist. Kumabaga parang before it took as what? A week to get
them going. To get them to respond to our call for 'Cory'. Now it's a matter of
what? Minutes then meron na kaagad papasok. So paikli ng paikli yung oras
ng responde ng mga citizens.
(if Ondoy didnt happened, if we didnt experience that kind of interaction with
citizen I don't think we would have, we would be behaving as indispassion in
the succeeding disasters for instance, after we witnesse Ondoy, we
configured ourselves in BMPM to be ready to catch reports because after
Ondoy it was Sendong I think. Im not sure but there was as strong typhoon
after Ondoy. So when the other typhoons took place, we actually knew what
will happen then, well receive texts and calls, will have updates in facebook,
we already know it. So for the succeeding we actually know it.
Researcher: What are the most common material sent by the citizen to
Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo?
Arlene Burgos: Hindi ako sigurado na ngayon kasi hindi na ko yung head ng
BMPM. Pero nung time ko pinaka common SMS, yes text tsaka nagpopost
sila sa facebook.
Researcher: Does BMPM has a separate website other that facebook or
twitter account?
62

Arlene Burgos: Meron pa rin. Meron before. Hanggang ngayon meron pa rin
sila.
Researcher: As the head of social media, what are the things you need from
citizen journalists? How will the citizen write or report the information they will
be providing?
Arlene Burgos: Whenever we get the chance and I think ganito pa rin naman
yung sinasabi ng Bayan mo ipatrol mo kapag meron silang pagkakataon, ang
sinasabi noon I think maski hanggang ngayon is yung sinasabi sa citizen was
to put it as much details as they could na makakatulong dun sa pagbubuo ng
report. Halimbawa, kung magpapadala ng picture, as much as possible, as a
journalist, inilalapit mo yung formna ipinadadala nung citizen dun sa form na
edible o kumbaga usable na para sa isang news article. For instance, alam
natin yun as journalist ang kailangan dun sa picture caption di ba. So
tinuturuan mo sila na pakilagay po kung ano yung nangyari d'yan sa picture.
Sino po yung naririyan. Anong oras po nangyari yan. Saan po yung insidente.
So sinasabi naman yan. Nakatulong ng malaki I think yung pagkahilig ngayon
ng mga tao sa selfie, sa pagpipicture kasi alam na nila na dapat lagyan para
maintindihan nila yung picture. Sa video ganun din. So parang ang sinasabi
mo sa kanila palagi, sa citizen journalist, inilalapit mo sila. Kumbaga as much
as possible you try to make them emulate, you try to get their work as close
as possible. The actual thing to the actual news item nang hindi naman
nacocompromise yung pagiging citizen nila. Ibig sabihin gusto mo pa ring maretain yung flavor nung pagiging citizen. Ibig sabihin, ano yung flavor? Yung
63

may nararamdamang takot. Citizen siya e. Part siya ng komunidad. Ibig
sabihin kung ano yung nararamdaman ng community nararamdaman niya rin.
So ayaw mong nawawala yun kasi citizen journalist siya. Hindi siya
professional so dapat tinatanggap mo yun kasi kasama yun sa pagkuha ng
report.
Researcher: Aside from disaster reporting, what other sections would be
valuable in a citizen journalism site?
Arlene Burgos: Yung stories na nagbibigay ng hope dun sa community.
Hindi kailangan big time pero yung empowerment. Yung stories of
empowerment. Halimbawa, yung mga kwento na merong problema dun sa
community. Sila-sila yung nag-solve tapos para sila-sila yung nag-solve para
kunwari magkaroon sila ng maayos na source ng tubig. Maipagawa yung
bumabagsak na poste ng ilaw. Yung mga ganon. Bukod sa disaster reporting,
I think yun yung magandang nirereport e. Yung value niya kasi is one.
Nakikita ng mga tao yung gamit nung pagtayo. Yung gamit na yung pag ikaw
may ginawa, merong resulta. Hindi kailangan na puro reklamo. Kasi ang
tendency kapag nanawagan ka ng reports sa mga citizen journalists iisipin
nila, ako hindi ako magrereklamo pwede akong magsumbong. Ang point dito
hindi lang pagsusumbong. Pwede ka na may gawin dun sa sarili mong
community. Pwede yang madocument, makita ng iba, magsilbing halimbawa.
64

APPENDIX D
CECIL YUMUL
Ceci Yumul: Im Cecile Santos Yumul. Im currently a practicing broadcast at
print journalist here in Pampanga.
Researcher: As an environmentalist, what measure would be effective in a
disaster response?
Cecil Yumul: Alright, well go back a little in time ne. Anya kasing panahon mi,
anyang panawun ku pang tuturu king Holy Angel, in place ya, ing disaster
training. Uling Red Cross instructor ku way back in 1976, so from that time
on anggang mako ku king Holy Angel, in place ya ing disaster training every
year. Kareng estudyanti ampong ating alwang organization karin, its called
a disaster relief center which addresses disaster rescue and relief operations
as a continuing activity in a year. Kaybat reng estudyanti maktrain la mu
naman keng proper repacking and distribution of relief. Eya kasi istung
mengolekta ka kabud mu mu ulilan king plastik tsaka mu pemalabag, No.
Theres an entire process to that which is anggang dakal ngening panawun
ayni masasabing dakal a relief goods pero mishandling anya dakal a
wastage because nobody is being trained anymore the way they were trained
before. Like king eskwela yumu, karagul na ning eskwela, but because of the
disaster training has ceased to be. Atin ko pang disaster relief center? Ala?
So mumuna is to educate a whole population, it is to train an entire population,
an entire community, so that anggang anak ya, grade school ya, junior red
65

cross ne, grade school yapa byasa neng manyagip, byasa neng magrespond
king nanu mang emergency. So it doesnt happen overnight, it is training an
entire community and then you re-echo it from one barrio to the next. If you
cannot retrain the whole community, then the students can train the family,
the family therefore can retrain and re-echo king siping dang bale, kaluguran
da. Then, when the disaster happens, eka pile. In other words, eka inutil, eka
mula-mulala, eka magpanic.
Researcher: Yan mu rin pu ing akakit mi kareng studies mi na preparedness
is comes first, bayu itang management, ketang relief.
Cecil Yumul: Yes, there is such a thing. Ating kursu. But I understand now,
eya hmm kulang ya. Kulang yang tawung magvolunteer ing Red Cross uling
meimbentu ya ing care giving meging yang kapanintunan. So instead king
mamagvolunteer la ngeni, para maging red cross, para maging humanitarian
and social worker, everybody you know downs a uniform and earns out of
helping. Im sorry, Im being nasty but it is a reality.
Researcher: What is the importance naman pu itang, kasi sabi yu pin dapat
ing community mag-engage ya naman keta [Risk Reduction]. What is the
importance of citizen s action?
Cecil Yumul:: Ayta karin ya lulub ing barangay. Karakal na dapat gawan ning
barangay ne? Pero ing barangay lulto yamu namang inutil karatang na ning
metung a disaster uling alwa ya tutumbukan ing karelang pamangabit king
krelang posisyun.
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Researcher: So in the first place pu dapat pung ma-educate tamu ngan para
istu ya ing sistema na?
Cecil Yumul:: Wa. Education, information, ampo dapat atin kang kayi e, atin
kang tally. Pilan kayu king barangay ayni? That is very basic, anya pakwanan
da lang sedula, pilan kayu king barangay, pilan la reng matwa? Pilan la reng
tala asawa, pilan la reng single, pilan la reng households? How many people
are in each household? Asneng kacrucial ngeni ita. Very basic and yet they
are not able to provide. Bakit crucial ya ini bawat barangay, kasi keni ya
manibat, anya potang ating malyaring disaster, ini it emanates from the
barangay but it goes up to the national statistics office. Therefore, nung
mepile ya ing baranggay, kalupa ning mengyari king Tacloban, ali na buring
sabyan inutil ya, kasi graduated ya yan, maglevel up ya. Nung meparalyze ya
ing level, munta ya king provincial. Nung eya mu naman megfunction ing
provincial, atin kang regional level. Istung meparalyze ya ing operation karin
atin kang national level. So therefore, it is not a blame game. It is just
widening the responsibility when one is incapable, atin mung atin tutuki. And
he takes care of the responsibilities na ena agyu keni uling incapable la
because they lost everything that will ensure them their capabilities. Ne? Pero
king akakit yu king malilyari ngeni, with all their announcement on television,
on newspapers the day before Yolandas track, karas ning Yolanda alang
milyari, pasalanan da la pa reng pengatambun na inutil la, of course inutil la
ketang moment ayta. So hmm it is not the media alone, media can only do so
much, inform, update and to rally the people to keep calm and to stay in their
67

places if they could. But more than that, citizens journalism, should be just
about every responsible citizen. Anggang minor ka pwede kang magvolunteer
e, because during my time when I was teaching, my volunteers were all
college students. I even head high school people. Kasi ing responsibility ene
man asusukad king edad. You can be 50 and you can be so stupid, you can
be 10, and you can be 12 like that kid during the Bocaue tragedy. You
remember? Si Sajid? He was only 13 and he saved so many and yet the
adults couldnt have done the same, couldnt have done any better, it is not
even age that matters, its about presence of mind, it is about strength, it is
about courage and the willing to give ones life for other people.
Researcher: Currently pu, kasi ikami minta kami king CDRRMC and
PDRRMC they gave us two different numbers.
Cecil Yumul:: Tsaka yo sibukan ne? Neng kayi alang makibat ne?
Researcher: So what is your take na from the City level to the Provincial level,
medyu ating miscommunication king lines of communication da since
magkaaliwa la number binye.
Cecil Yumul:: Its about passing the buck kase e. Ing makanyan ne. When
you really want to be totally responsible, you make sure that all of the time,
nung nanu man ing papasa mung communication, because these are the
most crucial connection. When everything fails, itang line of communication
should be the last to break down. Kaya tandanan yun, ambaski nanung
rebelyun, maski nanung kudeta muna dang iattak deng lines of
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communication. During the Edsa revolution, I was covering that, nanung
minuna dang papataran. Petad de ing channel 4, petad dala reng government
stations, and the attacked, they tried to shut down all means of public
communication by radio, by tv or whatever AM, FM. Kasi kung pitda me ini,
mitda na ngan ing eganagana. None of your preparations could even weight
50% when communication lines are down. Omap nung biasa kayung mental
telepathy.
Reseacher: so what do you think of the phenomenon na ausan dang Citizen
Journalism ngeni, is it an advantage or a disadvantage.
Cecil Yumul:: It is an advantage but, you should at the same time be very
responsible. Balu de dapat ing ethics. It may be called citizen journalisms but
and at the same time you must observe the basic ethics of old journalists
whether you are a volunteer, a licensed journalist gives you the same
responsibility as anyone who gives out public information, who may in danger
and save a community or a group of people in times of emergency and in
times of trouble.
Researcher: What do you think is the difference between traditional and
social media na awsan tamu ngeni?
Cecil Yumul:: Well in writing online kasi its different like in Electronic
Kabalen, ala ya kasi talagang tema like on newspaper. Ing newspaper atin
kang banner, atin makanyan, regular. Where I write at EK, aliwa liwa kami
forte, aku ketang EK, ing handling ku is I try to weave I try to weave the oral
69

traditions and the oral traditions vis--vis with whats happening now, our
changing society, our adaptation to the global kind of culture. Aku ing
gagawan ku, I try to connect the past and the present. So that we will
remember who we were and how we have arrived at this point. So ketang
aspetung ayta, importanti ya. Because for me, potang emu ne gagamitan ing
metung a bage, emu ne kakanan ing metung a pamangan, you lose more
than the food, you lose more than the object, you lose more than the visual
theme that is upon you, you lose the language and when you lose the
language, you lose the part of who you are.
Researcher: Nanu pa kayaing other sections o pwde pang ilage na maging
valuable king Citizen Journalism site?
Cecil Yumul:: Kasi ali naman throughout the year ating disaster ne. Siguru
ketang citizen journalism, it is education, mumuna yang dili. Maragul yang
weapon ing education. You know when people are informed, they dont panic
e, balu da ing gawan da. When you know what to do, you stay calm. Balu yo
king maski nanung disaster. Alwa ya itang mismung disaster itang makamate
e, ing makamate yapin itang potang metuliru ka, emu balu ing gawan mu,
mekisabe ka king mob, mumunang mumuna king earthquake metung yang
bage ita. Holy Angel in 1990, on July 16 between 4:30 and 5:00 in the
afternoon, there was an earthquake, when the Digdig fault line moved, ng
milyari? The disaster team was there, ing office ku ne, so we know what to do,
however, you know at that time, ing pekamatas ming building was APS,
memorial hall, nanu ya ngeni yan? APS ya pa rin? Oh that was the highest
70

building, angga yang 5th floor. Dapat king makanyan, atin kayung traffic, mag
earthquake drill ko pa ngene? Mag fire drill kayo? Do you have those? E
malagad, it should be by semester. Because coming in and going out of
students are not by year actually e. Kung minsan atin kayung passing through,
so it becomes part of your habit. Nung magmartial arts ka, it becomes a
second nature to you. You dont do it once a year. Nung malyari mu, ating
pabigla e. you know like it is a coordinated practice that makes it a getting to
your consciousness, so that when the real thing happens, you just move like it
to your drill. I mean the urgency is there, but because you have been so used
responding to an emergencies, then you will act calmly, rationally at balu yu
ing gawan yu. So dapat keng citizen journalism metung ya kareng bitbit king
katawan yu. You know how to respond to emergencies. Kasi nung ika mismu
magreport ka taranta ka ng malyari? Malilyari ini akakit ku even with
journalism on television. I see them when they report, theyre more taranta
than the people in actual scene. You know, during Mt. Pinatubo, when I was
throwing accounts over Manila broadcasting at that time, ila namu kanta ing
mamawus kanta kanaku, kasi ali naman makanta kamodern ing
communication kanta ne. alright, for me to go on air is for me to go to a pldt
landline, ala pang cellphone, ing cellphone metung yang kodradu ing baterya
na, metung ya pang separate a kodradu itang phone. So you just can imagine,
potang makasake kang helicopter emu balu nung nanung bitbitan mu kaybat
retang vhs a pangwa mi at neng kabayat king pago. Siguru kasingdagul ne
ning bag ku. So can you imagine how life was then there no. Pero ing
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pamagrespond kasi king disaster, keng makanyan ati yang Mt. Pinatubo, for
example, ikayi ke by example ne, istung inawus naku ning news center, ibye
ke ing tutung milyari. Ill give an example anyang matdas ya itang banda ing
porac, kasabe ne nitang Bocaue tragedy, that was June 30, ng kasikan ing
uran. Itang babanten mi 40 ft. yang lahar. 40ft. Kaybat, anyang mawus ku
news center, sinabi ku makanyan ya itang magflow pero stagger ke, awsan
yuku every 15 minutes or even sooner than that. Graduated ya, purmeru
sinabi ku 20 ft. misane no reng tawu keng makanyan after 1 year. So, balu
mu na ing gawan mu, 10ft. eka pa numanu. But you know if you tell them that
40ft. was coming right there, anggang ika ing pekamatinu mawala ka king
sarili mu. Aku makanta ne, I give the facts, but pisabyan mi king news center
how to deliver it in such a way na ela matda reng anggang didinan mung
balita, emula tatarantan. It is your task as a citizen journalist to make the
people informed but and at the same time you instill them in calmness,
responsibilidad mu na paklaman me ing tawu imbes na tarantan me. I want
you to observe the reporters now what they do, not everybody but most of
them.
Researcher: We would like to follow the same verification process of student
citizen journalists, what do you think of this?
Cecil Yumul: l: Those are standard ne. Kasi eme babatu ing report anggang
ali ya validated. And there are so many ways on validated it now, you can
either have a real time video in a few seconds ali na kalupa nitang kekami
alang camera, imemorize me itsura ing disaster, imemorize me itsura ing
72

mete. You know, use your memory, o anti mo aku matamad kung susulat, so
all of the memories are here. Theyre not in any notebook.
Researcher: Reng college papers, atin lang advisers, so bayu ya ma-publish,
dumalan ya pa karela para a-determine nung on the verge ya itang article
king libel, plagiarism, etc
Cecil Yumul:: But you know that takes too much time, that is too much
censure. If youre talking about real time journalism you can only have today,
and publish it tomorrow, otherwise it is staled. O lalo nayan changing la reng
figures, if youre talking of an emergency. Ahh, okay mu sana nung normal ya
ing panawun. But if youre talking about important events happening your
facts, your data could change from minute to minute.
Researcher: So it doesnt have to go undergo the whole process no maam
Cecil Yumul:: I think it takes a lot of responsibility ketang citizen journalist
mismu e. Kasi enaka man makyabe ken kung eka seryosu. You just dont add
it to your profile just because you want to be mention or remembered. Oh!
Miyabe ya plus plus ana citizen journalist ku makanyan ne. So what you can
do actually is to tie up to the office of civil defense. That is why the called civil
defense, civilian e. Alright, in my time, Im part of that, member ku king civil
defense. Kasi ika atsu ka king ground zero, ila atsu la king office, so you give
them raw data and then ofcourse they have other sources on how to validate
it. So anggang maging citizen journalist kayu mas masanting na ating kayung
legal attachment to unpolitical part of the government and the office of civil
73

defense is one such and also you can tie up with Philippine red cross, we
have chapters, ren unpolitical la ren, ali dala pyalungan deng kekayung datox,
eko mapoliticize. So these are the hmm in fact they can help you so much in
terms of ground training how to go about it, how to respond, what are the
basic dos and donts. Pati reng drills, they are the one whose responsible,
when there is a fire drill, earthquake drill and other kinds of disaster. So it
makes you prepared for an eventuality when you tie up with organization like
this. That is how I trained. I became an instructor when I was 16.
74

APPENDIX E
RAYMOND DEL ROSARIO
Researcher: What is the function of CDRM Office?
Raymond Del Rosario: The CDRRM office ikami ing executive arm ampong
secretariat na ning CDRRMC council ah na bubuuan na ning chair na ning
City Mayor. And usually deng halus egana ganang head offices ning city plus
city society organization, volunteers, private organizations, ikami so bali ing
council iya ing mag gagawang policy magset directions gagawang programa
mag approve programa on DRMM and then ing drrmo, DRRM office iya ing
mag execute and see to it that there is continuity of all DRRM and all related
plans, projects and activities.
Researcher: Can you explain the location of San Fernando in Pampanga,
why is it always flooded?
Raymond Del Rosario: And of course the City of San Fernando is at the
heart of Central Luzon and not only being the capital Pampanga so
geographically speaking ing city of san Fernando has low pain elevation ne
so its from 5m-70m above mean sea level floating so baka ating sinabi
kekayu ding ingkung yu siguro o apu yu tamg simboryu na nitang cathedral
sasabyan da pin elevation na ning Angeles tutu ita so pakanyan ya kasi ita so
kung papansinan mu nung papunta ka angeles bala mu neng kabagal ing
saken balu eka agad miraras pero pag pauli ka ng kabilis ing biyahe so thats
one reason sloping to 570m above mean sea level so nanung buri ng sabyan
75

ah naturally located tamu at naturally low lying tamu so mumuran o ali directly
keng city of sn Fernando istung minuran keng up land say Tarlac, Bacolor,
Angeles, masikan a masikan ing uran ken gang emumuran king san
Fernando neng kayi makaexperience tamung flash flood amanwan tamu
akakit tamu o nung apapansinan ning kayu istung chu ka mc Arthur higway
although megawa no deng drainage ken e pero nung akit mu babalibul ing
danum king side na ning mcarthur highway uling masikan ing kayi ka rin so ita
ing ing maragul a hazard na ning City Of San Fernando due to its natural
window lying a photography so flood prone tamu flasflood actually.
Researcher: Aside from flash flood, what other disasters that can possibly hit
Pampanga?
Raymond Del Rosario: Among others so aside from the flash flood na high
acceptable particularly in Southern portion of the city vulnerable tamu rin king
earthquake. Bakit? Philippines located at the pacific ring of fire sasabyan na
ne so king city of san Fernando or Pampanga although alang outline ken ne
pero ing peka malapit ken is west valley fault or the former Marikina fault and
the Digdig fault in Zambales, Pangasinan etc..etc.. So istung ginalo la ren
bisa tat ali panamdaman ta ya ren like a for instance in 1990 during the
earthquake itang megpalasak ketang haiyat hotel amp ketang school king
nueva ecija penamdaman ta la ren fortunately alang milyari keni so nanu mo
ing buri kung sabyan ngeni kasi ali naman keng mangkayi ku pero even the
phivolcs director pane yang mag earthquake disaster preparedness why?
Sasabyan na ing Marikina fault o ing ngeni west valley fault hinog ne kasi
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keng for so long a time for almost 100 years eya gagalo na supposedly ding
eganagang fault lines dapat gagalo la banta magrelease lang energy
unfortunalelty up to this time ala pa yatang recorded na ginalo la so nang
burin g sabyan istung ginalo ya masikan its expected up to well magnitude 8,
9 counting so ing konsiderasyun ketang distance na ning City Of San
Fernando keng manila panamdaman taya 7.2 intensity, bohol 7.2, coud you
just imagine itang naging impact na keng bohol and city of san Fernando. In
consideration ketang earthquake nung milyari keng unpopulated area wala
lang, natural phenomenon la rin. Malyayari ka ren. Pero nung malyari ya
ketang populated lugar like the City Of San Fernando or Pampanga in
general so considering marakal la infrastructures marakal tao wag na lang
dun.
Keng City of San Fernando and most of Pampanga particularly downstream
vulnerable la ren ketang awsan lang liquefaction, siguro ekayu pamilyar
kareni, liquefaction meaning uling flood prone ing metung a lugar so itang
underground masasaturate ya ing danum ketang lalam. Since ing
composition na ning soil kening san Fernando and the rest of Pampanga tang
awsan lang sandiluma, so uling madanum kaybat sandi apin itang
composition na ning lupa. Istung ginalo ing gabun, o earthquake lubug ya. So
similar ketang awsan dang sink hole pero ali ya actually makanita pero
mgcollapse ya kasi. Liquefaction, flooding, earthquake of course detang aliwa
detang natural na sinabe ku syempre aparte lapa retang human o manmade,
vehicle accidents, terrorism, fire.
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Researcher: What department in the government are you partnering with?
Raymond Del Rosario: Ing DRMM atin yang local counterpart na ning
National DRMM Council so itang National DRMM Council daramdaman nya
ketang balita den ila ren,so itang kalerang executive arm ampong secretary at
the bali balamu ikayu Office Of The Civil Defense, kening region 3
government center.
Ang DRRM atin yang 4 thematic areas.1 is prevention medication, 2 is
preparedness, 3 is response and 4 is the recovery and rehabilitation. Retang
4 thematic areas atin lang 4 vice chairperson na amanwan so itang prevetion
and medication sa DOST kaybat ing preparedness ing DILG kaybat itang
response DSWD and ing recovery and rehabilitation ing NEDA. So reta ing
agency. So itang hierarchy na is from national, regional, provincial, city
municipality, barangay. Atin kami ring awsang Assisting And Cooperating
Agency. Detang sinabi ku government la reta pero ing DRRM council dpat
atin yang atleast tatlong civil society organizations na member ampo metung
private representative not mentioning na automatic na dapat itang redcross.
Kaybat itang highest ranking AFP, dapat member ya naman. Specific la pero
generic la reng makastate. It doesnt necessarily state the name of individual
dapat yung organization. Itang atlung civil organization itang council ing
bahala ninung buri ng abe.
Researcher: In the community, with whom are you partnering with?
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Raymond Del Rosario: Aside ketang sinabe ku na barangay atin lang sarili
dang BDRRMC, Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Management Committee,
nakikipagpartner kame karing other communities say for example kareng
commercial establishments like keng kayi atin kming earthquake drill keng
laus group. So nanung gagawan mi, tuturu mi lareng tao keng eskwela pti
mamye kaming lecture disaster preparedness. Sasabyan mi ot bakit kelangan
magprepare, pagsadyan mi ing kalamidad o disasters explain mi karela ita.
Kaybat tuturu mi la nu makananu magreport, makananu itang proper way of
reporting, kayi kasi atin tendency ala naman gewan ing gobyerno. Ing
sasabyan ke, sinabyanan me ba ing gobyerno na attin milyare keka. Minsan
atin milyare keng barangay ali naman misabyanan ing city. I kapitan enaman
kasundo I mayor. sabyanan na keng baryu ala naman ginawa ing munisipyo.
Tuturu mi la ninu ba dapat ing pagsabyan,nanu la ring hazards ning lugar,
kaybat prepared ka atin kang kit nanung laman na, kaybat tuturu mi lang first
aid, tuturu mi lang bandaging, rapid explication, improvise explication pota
banta datang ya na ali naman sana on their own kasi dapat ila ing first
responders, panay ming sasabyan ita, remember you are the first responders
ikayu pang atsu, ikayu pang magresponde. So nung emu balu ng gagawan
mu emu balu nung makananu magresponde ba mayari ka talaga . kasi ikami
emu naman asabi kapalyaryan kayu tambing atsu kmi , mumunang dili baka
atsu kareng barangay keni kami pa, katlu nu malawak ita grabi ita, eme
naman asabi baka kami mismo biktima kami. You cant tell Lawen me keng
tacloban biktima langan pati deng responders. So ita, so nanung gagawan mi
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ngeni, ngeni ing program well actually second or latter part of February awsan
mi nongan deng barangay kanyan. Buuan mi la kanyan ing kanya kanya dang
barangay response team at buri mi sana suporthan ne nng mabilog na
mikasarili yang rescue team ing barangy . so nung ali mu ing barangay nu
atin pang establishments o organization n bisang magkayi mu rin sarili dang
team join mi la rin eng establishments. Sawpan mi la sawpan mi la train mi la
ing counterpart namu suportan do retang kelangan da meaning retang
personal protective equipment da retang tao, deng respondents dapat dinan
dala. Gloves, goggles, ing basic nanu pa retang basic na kailangan dang
gawan .
Researchers: How did the government response during the 2012 Habagat?
Raymond Del Rosario: Well, makanini yan. Ing 2012, Karin ya pamu,
balamu history. Although ing 2012 atin neng entering office atin neng entering
drrmo. Ikami, yaku particularly, officially mekayi ku king april, so second part
of 2012. Nanu itang minuna tamung diling gewa, mumunang gewa, kasi ing
ikit ku at that time, ala pang sariling rescue unit at treasurer of city of San
Fernando. So, ng gagawan tamu kanita, istung kapalyaryan tamu, pane
tamung magrely kanyan kareng bumberu, deng DFP pang awsan kanta.
Nung ali man, deng pnp, nung ali man nung ating deng army o AFP, so nung
ala lang kulang a tawu o nung atin la palang alwang makananu ka, ala. So
it was, during that time na megpropose tmu, na kung talagang world class ya
ing City Of San Fernando. So I think its about time to establish or organize
our own next, so how, how we do that. So dapat mag identify tamug tawu,
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itrain tala, so nanu ing applicable training para karela, ali mu kabud basic. So
ka rin ya meg umpisa itang compulsive training. Wa, emergency medical
technicians and rescue personnel for who will make the comprise this san
Fernando rescuer. So, megtraining kami, begun mga june, august 6. We were
supposed to have our culminating activity, balamu graduation activity na
magkaroon kaming wilderness training, bakit makanta atsu kmi kig city, kasi
kung mika disaster, mawala ngan yan ing services, mawala ing kuyenti, itang
nanu nanu, itang etc. etc. So you have to do with what you have, August 6 ita,
ena kmi peyagan ning mayor, supposedly munta kami Aurora oneng uling
mumuran na. Kaybat munta kami Aurora Karin mi dapat gawan, oneng sabi
ning mayor ali, eda ko buring iexpose king necessarily danger, pota makulong
ka Karin, king landslide etc. etc. ken ng malapit chake reschedule ta nemu,
oka sige pu. Male mu ban a August 7, I remember august 7 meg umpisa ing
habagat 2012 so ita palang supposedly practice o simulation mi ka rin eke
pala dapat lumawut keni pala actual so nang milyari kekami baptism of fire
binyag binyag mi supposedly actual kami meg responde so nanu ing meging
responde mi mapali e kapalyan na nitang kayi ne so tin kaming training, basic
training of ICS kanita so keng kakung levevl inimplement ke, inimplement ke
kaybat medyo introduce ta yang bagya bagya kareng council and then
semasan ta ya tang awsan dang operation center na during calamities or kayi
yang gewa ming emergency operation center so inintroduce ta ya king council
drrmc so nanun melyari anya naman megrabe ita because of the breaching
of tale dike so nung eya binigay ita most likely eta naman maknta
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kapalyaryan. Oneng binigay ya mabilis anya pin mepasakto deni tin ng
mapilang equipment anya mekaresponde tamu so nanu pang gewa
immediately after 2012 habgat ikit ta la retang kulang pa ne so nanung
gewa? Mas sekanan ta ya tang employment of the incident connect system in
City of San Fernando its all hazard incident management system na
gagamitan da ngan dening drrm council pesikanan ta ya ita pesikanan mi ya
ing merge operation center itang incident management team on team.
Semasan taya pa lalu itang city like resources, personal protective equipment
medical supplies and etc.etc. trainings, training. So thats the reason why ing
2013 na maulit ya ing habagat, mabilis na itang system ICS atsu ne, it means,
nanung milyari kanta, actually ala na mang grabi kanta, ng milyari, ing gew
tamu is preventive. Meko tana, etana penayan ita na maging biktima da reng
tawu Karin para irescue tala. Kingwa tala kasi ating prep, eta naman
penalangin pero binigay ya itang king Minalin, meligtas ya ing San Fernando,
eta naman kaburyan ita. Pero milyari.
Researchers: Sir, what is the importance or role of citizens during disaster?
Raymond Del Rosario: Maragul ya ing part ng citizen kasi ala naman ing
drmm nung alang climate change, ala namang greenhouse effects na
kasalanan na rin ning tawu, kaya makaeffct ing climate, kaya mika climate
change, papali ing yatu. Haiyan o Yolanda, iya ing pekamalakas diling
engyari king yatu, recorded, super typhoon, mg strong, name it o nanu mang
awus da keta. Mapali, istung mpali ya ing king danum, sisikan ya ing bagyu,
ken ya lulub ing climate change, titas ing temperature, mesikan neng mesikan
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pero nung atin man lang sanang portion na ning ketang danum, kasi king
area medyu marimla kanita, makamatda kanita unfortunately ala, anya pin
potang kayi balamu ating sasabyan dang human, ne siguru king internet, atin
lang sasangkanan a bansa, atsu ne yan ken. Expect tana ngan, expect tana
ing mangasikan a bagyu like Yolanda makanyan, and expect tana ing
mangasikan a daratang a lindol. So nanu ita, itamu as individual, most of us,
family ada pin, in a community, gawa tana ing part tamu, pekasimpleng part a
gawan. Manaman kang tanaman, ugse me kung nukarin me dapat ugse ing
kekang basura, kung eme gagamitan ing sulu patdan me, magtipid kang
danum, small things. Detang pweding iwasan, iwasan na king sarili tamu.
Kadwa inform tamu, dapat nanung buri kung sabyn, o nu mong king
palyaryan, nanung gawan, dapat balu mu, prepared ka. King sarili mu nanung
gawan, halimbawa king school, istung palang minayun, dapat pala duck cover
roll, nukarin ya ing exit tamu, nukarin dapat mikit ikit, ninung magtake care
king head count, so that is preparedness. Nanu pa, capability building nung
sakali, kepalyaryan nanung gawan mu halimbawa mebagsakan ya ing kaklasi
mu, mewalan yang male, e kailangan meng ilakwan Karin kasi pota lalu yang
magtaka, so makananu ya ita, mabilis, alako me, alwa itang mebagsakan ya
buntuk, inabit me keni. So capability building, kaybat itang the respondents,
mumuna, kayan me pa ing sarili mu, gawan me ing part mu, eme paneng
asali ing gobyerno, remember mas dakal la reng memalen kaysa kareng tawu
king gobyerno, sawup sawup mas mabilis. Kasi, mikastormsurge ana king
visayas, dusug ka kei, dinusug kang bagya, ngeni pala matas ing alun ing
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buri dang sabyan, sasangkanan de kanyan ing pag-asa, kasi marakal
mengamate. Sasabyan da, ay ing sasabyan na ning pag-asa tsunami, ena
man rugu pweding sabyan ning pagasa na tsunami, so pag announce yang
tsunami ing pag asa, makulung ya, o mipalitan ya ing tawu keng pag asa,
bakit, kasi ing tsunami magcause earthquake ing danum, yapin itang wave.
Ngeni, ing stormsurge,tang stimulation ketng kayi ne dudurut, so itang danum
king dagat udurut mu naman. So itang storm, mag surge king danum keng
dalampasigan, yapin tang, king tagalug ana daluyong. Imagine 50 kilometers,
imaginan me kung makananu ya kasikan ita, kayan e king danum syempre
magtas ing danum. So up to 7 meters high, marakal mengamate, pero ating
metung a island, akalingwan ku nya lagyu na meg evacuate la reng tawu, so
metung ya ing megstay, so ing casualty Karin, metung yamu. So nung gewa
da ita ne, ita ing sasabyan mu e, nanung gawan na ning part na ning tawu.
Dapat makialam ya, makibalu ya, pra dapat balu na ing gawan na, dapat
aware ya king malyari king paligid na nung nanu la reng hazards, nanu la
reng risks na atin, nanu pa ing daapat gawan. Makananu kung mag sadya,
nanung kailangan kung iready. Kaybat if ever mekayi ku ketang community,
ninung awsan ku nanu la number.
Researcher: Does CDRRMO have its social media site?
Raymond Del Rosario: Wa, ita pin, ing CDRRMO atin kaming SAFRU. Nung
nanung akakit mu king metung yamu rin ing akakit mu king metung. Akakit
me rin king city of information office account. Kasi pin anyang 2013 habagat,
kinayi mi ne talaga ing social media, meging successful ya, kasi ketang
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suspension of classes talagang binanten de reng tawu. Balu mu no man deng
tawu buri da ing alang klasi ne. So ita, ampo retang alwang information
makanyan.
Researchers: Can you give us information on how and what hash tag to use
in social media?
Raymond Del Rosario: Deng mahilig karen den. Nanung klasing advice?
What do you mean advice? Ketang account? Nung ketang account mu, wa.
Nung information mu rin.
Researchers: What is the proper way in reporting during disaster?
Raymond Del Rosario: Atin kami detang awsan dang four Ws and one H.
Itang para mas mabilis. What, where, when, who and how. Halimbawa,
magandang umaga po, ako po si, gusto ko lang pong ireport ing milyari pung
nasunog dito sa makanyan makanyan, meron po kasing natumba na poste na
nagging sanhi ng sunog.
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APPENDIX F
NATASHYA GUTIERREZ
Researcher: Can you briefly describe the situation and your experiences
during the Habagat.
Natashya Gutierrez: Obviously since then I've covered other typhoons but I
remember particularly in Pampanga because that was my first. I remember
we rode because it was really hard to get into the city but we got after a while
because we have to take the rubberboat out and drag it through the water. So
that was actually an eye-opening experience. Disconnected and unreachable
areas are. So once we got there honestly, I remember walking for hours.
They put me on the boat. It's my first time. There were still people on the roof
of their houses not wanting to go down or no thinking that it's a good idea to
stay. It was really shocking, an eye-opener, it was my first major typhoon
coverage. It was very hard and we go straight into the town and it was really
devasting. Para siya talagang river hindi mo iisipin na, you know may mga tao
dun 'cause really wouldn't be anybody for miles you know and only lights
would come from the trucks that were passing by kasi trucks lang ang
nakakadaan or the rubber boats. It was really heart-shocking kasi nga
devasting it was and I also talked to the mayor and the mayor was saying nga
that they weren't prepared but yah it was definitely a shocking experience
especially for me and siguro gabi na kami nakaalis no'n and we have to ride
one of the big truck as in nakasakay kami sa pinaka tuktok lang kasi wala na
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talaga kaming kotse di na kami makapasok di makalabas yung car just to
show na ganun na kataas yung tubig and then some of them are really
covering roofs of houses and up to the roofs. That was really shocking to see
definitely but it was just to describe to you how high the latter one.
Researcher: Before the coverage were you able to gather information about
the situation through social media?
Natashya Gutierrez: What areas to go to because people were twitting about
Candaba. Well like you know, when you see photos, right? They take photos
and then they post in social media, then it's really, then you know they need
help there and youll know the situation there. We chose there to go, the
sending on citizen journalist, the sending we found on twitter, we were able to
compare photos, oh tignan mo mas malala sa Candaba kesa dito, right? So
even when they were out or lack of electricity, they were able to connect to
the outside world through social media. They were able to connect to us
journalist through social media. That's one of the ways, second I said the
pictures so you can see how to prepare and you'll able to see on social media.
Then as a reporter you'll be able to prepare and hopefully get to document.
Researcher: How did you verify the accuracy of the information?
Natashya Gutierrez: Obviously if it's not real, most people would say, ay
hindi po, hindi po yan totoo. For most part especially disaster, I'd like to think
that no one's trying to play joke in such. But then we'll give the citizen
journalist the benefit of the doubt but also we have to verify if it's true. One
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more thing were doing is that, calling them. Messaging them and saying can
we call you, can we talk. Again they were able to give us information and they
would not able to if they are not actually there. Its a way of verifying it.
Researcher: Do you think it would have been better if we had localized social
journalism site where they can request for their needs such as food and
relief?
Natashya Gutierrez: I think any source of system or database that can
collate these information is very helpful so yung sinasabi mong website na
magcocollect ng citizen journalists reports absolutely you know because from
then madali na lang magdesseminate ng scenes, o meron scene dito, meron
ng scene dito kaya lang ang problem pa now there's just more information
being thrown in the internet and walang nagcocommunicate so yun nga
naapektuhan yung effectiveness nung rescue team, right and the same way I
think also for agencies that are willing to help 'cause there's no
communication. So I think a website will help, yes I absoulutely think so
especially system that will show people that were already been helped di ba
something na 'pag natulungan ka na they can move, so they can function. I
think that was the major thing that were looking for the idea of having it would
be helpful not just for reporters but also for rescuers which I think works.
Researcher: What is the importance of localized citizen journalism site?
Natashya Gutierrez: Well definitely it must something we need kasi
depending on the place di ba, iba-iba yung needs niyan e. So I think sa
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community mas madali nilang maaaddress yung needs. What I do is I scan
pa talaga ah kung ano yung mga Pampanga. So I can type Pampanga but
then when I type Pampanga ganito yung mga lumalabas, may mga typhoon
na may mga hindi ganyan tapos tinignan kung may mga hashtag na parang
PH Relief. So when I click PH relief, dito sa Pampanga may PH relief from
different areas you know from Zambales so you still have to sort. So kung
naka-sort na yan out for you lalo na do'n sa mga local sites, the typhoon is
from Pampanga, I know which site to go to hindi na 'ko nag-aaksaya ng oras
ko naghahanap pa sa twitter. So if there's a way to do that, actually I think a
way of doing that is di ba may location base surf sa isang cellphone so that
automatic sya na mapopost sya dun sa site kung may hashtag sya. So in that
way, you'll able to specialize and narrow it down. Collate all the information in
one place.
Researcher: What do you think would be best in order for the citizen
journalist to avoid libellous post?
Natashya Gutierrez: Well I think kung na citizen journalist ka rin, you also
have responsibility to desseminate correct information. Hindi dahil hindi ka
professional journalist pwede kang mag-imbento ng kahit ano, right? So
basically if you hear something, preferably first hand ikaw yung nakarinig.
Narinig ko si Mayor sinabi niya ito sa amin that's very specific. Pero syempre
mga citizen journalists 'pag minsan they're just trying to help o they just
wanna post what the situation is lalo na kung when they overcome their
emotions. Hindi necessary accurate yung pinopost nila, mga sinabi ng mayor
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ganyan. So yung job naming mga journalists is to verify. But citizen journalist
in terms of accuracy, actually yung raw, most of the time kasi any information
kasi we can get from citizen journalist are helpful. But primarily what we want
or what we hope to citizen journalist especially during the first few hours yung
wala pang media doon is what is the situation, what is the situation. How does
it looks like. Videos, photos these are very very useful very essential. The raw
footage. Hindi namin kailangan ng naka-edit na video or naka-edit na picture
na maganda. It's honest speak what the situation is, videos kahit emotion.
Honestly, kahit mag-twit ka ng emotion na "natatakot kami medyo tumataas
ang tubig" that's so helpful to us. I think number one advantage ng citizen
journalist is really describe what they see. Obviously if the mayor may sinabi
siyang significant we can include that but they don't have to find the mayor
and interview them. Obviously that would be helpful for me primarily talaga
yung situation nung area yung kailangan namin through citizen journalist or
would be most useful from citizen journalist.
Researcher: What sections other than disaster reporting would be valuable in
a citizen journalism site?
Natashya Gutierrez: Corruption report would be good lalo na 'pag election
na so yung mga report na bumibili ng votes o nagbabribe ng votes. All these
are very important lalo na kung citizen journalist sabihin nila oh sa barangay
namin yung mga kapitbahay namin nakareceiveng ganyan ganyan ganyan
galing kay ganyan. So parang kailangan investigate yun. I think in any field
pwede e. Not just in disaster, not just in politics kahit nga lifestyle or kung may
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mga event sa community niyo. You would never now na kung kunwari may
malaki or let's just say a gay pageant in a small barangay in Pampanga and
you know something special happens there, that can be a national story. We
would not know that kung walang nag-twit. I feel like citizen journalist, they
can create there anywhere or any field. I think anything that's important to you
is worth sharing and then bahala na if the world picks it up because
sometimes like citizen example yung raid on (Binladen?). The first part that it
broke that wasn't a journalist. Like I said, it just something important on
normal person and a world news pala. So I think that was perfect example in
really showing the power of citizen journalism in any field. Obviously in
disaster I think it's very important especially from a country but it can also be
used in different ways.
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APPENDIX G
JUSTIN DIZON
Researcher: Can you briefly describe your experience during the Habagat.
How you acquired the news?
Justin Dizon: Prior to habagat coverage, medyo maulan-ulan na. So before
that nagkaroon kame nagcover ako ng balita yung preparation for habagat sa
Masantol. Masantol being known as a flooded area naman talaga. Flooded
municipality in the province. So, yun yung una nating tinitignan how are they
preparing for the Habagat or the coming rainy days season. Tapos naalala ko
non after, days siguro or nung nagcover kame after 2 days, usual morning ko
I get up. Gigising ako tpos magkakape, paglabas ko sa kwarto, paglabas ko
sa bahay nakita ko doon sa terrace namen inaabot na ng tubig.
Researcher: Where are you from, sir?
Justin Dizon: Sa Gemsville ako non sa San Fernando. Kaya lumipat din
kame ng tirahan dahil nasira rin talaga yung bahay don. So, as a reporter
common na saken na kapag maulan, asahan mo na kinabukasan standby na
kayo for special coverage. E ako naman bilang night person, nung umaga
pala may nagtext 5am pala na ako ay tulog pa na di ko pa napapansin. So
nagulat ako ay! Makalbug! So nagulat talaga ako bat baha sa labas. Tinignan
ko yung cellphone ko na yung news desk namin nagtext siya samin at sinabi
nya na be ready for special coverage, be prepared and then kumbaga
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kumuha na kayo ng litrato, ng mga video sa area ninyo na flooded o
nadadaanan niyo along the way. So syempre as a reporter kailangan maging
resourceful ka e, hindi mo sasayangin yung mga chances na ganon to
through enough, I got some pictures sa terrace namen na in 30 minutes
lumubog sa tubig. So ako lang and yung parents ko, mother and father ko
lang ang nasa bahay, then wala silang kasama, so inasikaso muna nmin ni
ertap (tatay) ang dapat ayusin sa bahay, itinaas yung mga dapat itaas, ilagay
sa pagtaguan na dapat itago. Then we decided to leave the house at around
siguro 9pm, ay 9am, 9 to 10am ganyan, bago ako pumasok sa CLTV non.
Tapos nung umalis kami ng bahay, sa tangkad kong to, yung tubig sa tapat
ng bahay namin ay hanggang bewang ko na. So imagine that, from my father
and from my mother na mas matangkad ako sa kanila. So I, brought them to
my uncles house and then after non pumasok na ko sa office. So from there,
basa pa ang lahat and I myself is a victim also of the said phenomena
Habagat pero kailangan mong mareport. Kailangan mong magcover so
nandun kame. That time sa tapat ng network non baha na rin ang kalsada
wala ng sasakyan. So we needed help from our friends to bring us to places
kung saan kailangan naming magcover. So we asked the help of Pampanga
Off-Roaders Club. Tinawagan naming sila. So they brought us some four by
four tracks na pwedeng gamitin during the first day of the coverage. So we
went there, we went to Sto.Tomas. By that time, I was with the member of
Pampanga Off-roaders Club. We used his pick up and then we went to tail
dike Sto. Tomas. Heto yung naging crucial na dike na nasira na nag-
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causecause ng excessive flooding dun sa 4th district of the province. So
papunta don, we werent able to pass by Mcarthur highway na, so we took the
Nlex. We went out sa may San Simon exit tapos going to Sto. Tomas so
kailangan ikutin mo yon. Then dun hindi pa flooded, we were very happy that
time kumbaga parang, oh bat dito hindi baha. Sobrang saya saya namen na
bat dito may lupa kase during that time sa mga oras na yon 10am to 11am
nung first day nung Habagat na yon I remember all of San fernando talagang
walang makadaan na sasakyan. So we have to find different places kahit na
naka four by four na kame ayaw malusong kase mataas talaga yung tubig. So
we took the Nlex tpos dun kami pumasok sa may Sto. Tomas, parang ano
parang medyo shocking kase very dry, dry yung lupa as in walang tubig dun
sa Sto. Tomas. Walang tubig dun sa Minalin dun sa nadaanan namin na lugar
sa San.Simon. Tapos nagpunta kami sa dike. We were parang welcome by
the Mayor. He companied us to this tail dike na malapit ng magcollpase. So
dumaan kami don, okay nakita nami yung mga tao na talaga namang
makikita mo talaga yung tubig mula dun sa side ng Bacolor na yon. Umaagos
na sya and even pag nakatayo ka sa taas ng control ng dike na yon, mafefeel
mo na umaagos yung tubig. So, these people na naabutan naming hand in
hand they are trying to put out sandbag, nagssandbag sila para hindi
lumagpas yung tubig, para hindi maovertop yung tubig yun yung term overtop,
hindi lumipat yung tubig dun sa kabilang side. Kasi heto yung residential at
yung mga farms. So, the Mayor was very worried, very worried na oh umuwi
na kayo umuwi na kayo malapit ng masira yan. So yon umuwi kami. Pinauwi
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yung mga tao, so kame we took another road kasi that time bumigay na yung
dike, so kailangan naming umalis. Umalis kami tapos nung bumigay na yung
dike, bumalik kami ng news roo. Pagbalik namin don tapos nung idedeploy
ulit kame wala na yung Sto.Tomas, parang sobrang baha na nya. Ang bilis
just a matter of 30 minutes or less than 30 mins. Kung hindi kami nakaalis
posibleng inanod-anod na ang sasakyan, gumulung-gulong din. Tapos
pahinga muna that day. Tapos kinabukasan pinasok ulit namin ang
Sto.Tomas. This time we were bringing our pickup tapos nakiangkas ulit
kame dun sa PFC. Actually, we had the chance to parang ride this motor as
speed boat, parang pinahiram nung kaibigan from PFC din na ginamit para
makita and we were only the media to be there at the bridge portion of the
dike during those days na sobrang taas ng tubig. Parang nagbabangka kami
sa isang palayan, sa isang manggahan. Nagbabangka kami katabi naming
yung mga bubong ng mga bahay. Naka-speedboat kami so ganun sya. Lahat
basa as in basa ultimo mga mikropono basa ilang beses ako nakuryente.
Kung experience at experience lang no sobrang solid yung experience.
Tapos na-meet namin yung mga national reporters, national media from TV5.
Were very familiar to the place. Because hindi sila local, kami pa yung
nagguide sa kanila and it was those times na naappreciate namin na maliit
lang yung gamit namin sa network, maliit lang yung camera, hindi ganun kahigh tech, kasi magaan. As in marami ang na-stranded. May kasamahan din
akong reporter na kinailangang mag-stay for some time dun sa area dahil nga
na-stranded sila. While me, I took the speed boat. The the next day I joined
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the Philippine Army dun sa relief efforts naman dun sa Lubao. So yung
experience naman don, I had to ride the Huey chopper ng air force. And dito
ko nakasabay yung isang reporter ng TV5 na di ko na lang papangalanan.
Pagbaba namin he was crying and nangingilabot ako. Tinanong ko kung bakit
sya umiiyak, sabi nya ilang linggo na itong nakikita ko, ang bigat na. So
pumapasok na samin yung kami mismo na na-sstress na kami dahil arawaraw may namatayan, nalulunod. Well as to compare to Tacloban wala pa
naman yung nangyari sa tin pero we experienced it. Ganon na siya kabigat
no parang heto yung helicopter, mag-ddrop ka ng isang sako, isang barangay
ang tatakbo na parang langgam, hahabulin ang isang pirasong asukal na
nahulog. Yun yung vision at ako nasa helicopter walang magawa. Gusto ko
mang iwan kung ano man ang pwede kong iwan sa kanila pero yun lang
yung kaya naming dalhin sa mga oras na yon. So dun mo makikita na parang
ay solid! Ganun yung experience, mahirap siya. Nangyari din pala sa kin
nung first day, I even went home before my duty ends kasi parang I texted
someone from our subdivision. Sabi niya mataas na yung tubig lampas tao na,
e yung mga gamit namin hindi ganun kataas, saktong taas lang. I went home
from the news coverage I was bringing my media ID. I asked this personnels
from BFP to please bring me home. Sumabay ako dun sa rubber boat nila.
Pagbaba ko dun sa area kung saan ako naglakad kanina hanggang bewang
ay ngayon hanggang leeg ko na sa tangkad kong to. Sabi ko sir babalik ako
teka lang hintayin nyo ko, so pagpasok ko sa bahay, yun na, lumulutang
yung ref, yung tv. Lumulutang lahat syempre medyo mabigat din. Parang
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emotionally end all diba. 22 years old pa lang ako sa panahon na yon, bat
parang ganito. Parang kanina kino-cover ko lang, hindi ko alam na pati samin
mangyayari. Well good enough walang nasaktan. Walang buhay na nabuwis
pero yun nga nasira din ang lahat. And we have to overcome that, you
yourself is a victim pero you have to report about the typhoon or weather
phenomena also. So yun, yung relief efforts nakita naming. Tapos yung hmm
siguro 2 weeks yung special coveragr or even a week. Yun nga tapos yung
mga isolated areas, tinry naming puntahan. We joined relief operations para
lang din makapunta sa mga lugar na dapat puntahan. And kasi we dont have
any means by ourselves but by the networks power na makarating dun sa
mga lugar aside from the chopper nga dun sa huey atsaka company chopper
o yung own by the companys president. Ginamit din namin yon to oversee
everything and makikita mo from above na talagang devastated. What used
to be green and very beautiful about Pampanga, the rice granary which they
call was lost, everything was underwater. Kulay brown lahat, tubig lahat. And
kung may makikita ka mang lupa, dun mo makikita ang kumpol ng tao. So,
para saken if youre asking my emotional side medyo mabigat. Medyo
kailangan mong mag-break down, medyo mag-bebent out ka at the end of the
day. Sinasabi nga ng TV5 reporter bro last week galing ako sa Mindanao
binagyo rin sila dito ganyan ganyan, tapos heto na naman dito, so one month
na ako sa mga ganitong okasyon. Di ko na kaya. Dumating sa point na
kailangan niyang bumigay while kami naka 2 weeks palang naman kami
during those time pero kinaya pa naman. Pero yun nga yung pagiging
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expose dun sa stress, dun sa problema. Mauuwi mo yon e, mabibitbit mo yon
as a reporter so mahirap siya. So we gathered news very limited and kung
umaasa kami sa phone patch, for example I was in this place na tatawagan
ka anong mararamdaman mo dyan, heto po nagrereport ako na hanggang
dito ang tubig. Wala akong papel kase lahat ng papel nabasa, lahat ng
ballpen hindi umaandar, cellphone nakaplastik, cellphone and mic lang dala
mo. Minsan ayaw pang umandar ng mic dahil grounded, yung cellphone
nakalubog sa bulsa mo pero naka-plastik tapos kapag linabas mo buhay kasi
tatawag ka, yun yung way. Tapos every now and then bumabalik ako sa
station nagbabato ng takes, ganun yung experience. So, iyon.
Researcher: Prior to the first day of the Habagat, were there reports that tail
dike can break down?
Justin Dizon: As far I remember, wala akong maalala. Wala akong maalala.
Ang ginawan ko ng balita, I dont know kung nasa akin o kung nasa ibang
media organization. Ako nga, sabi ko nga kanina ang ginawan ko ng balita ay
yung masantol. Kasi alam naman natin na it is a flood prone area and alam
natin na every now and then baha talaga diyan. So, kung may paparating na
weather condition, we have to check this flood prone areas first na alam natin
na greatly magiging apektado. And during that night, wala akong
maramdaman na walang balitang nakarating sakin maliban na lang nung
nagising ako kinabukasan at ang una kong ginawa bukod sa tumingin sa
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cellphone ay lumabas, magkape sa terrace. So pagkakita ko may tubig na
dun pa lang ako nagcheck ng cellphone at dun palang nila sinabi na beware.
So we went there directly but prior to that parang wala.
Researcher: Where there citizen contribution in giving information during the
Habagat?
Justin Dizon: Actually, naging problema yan nung panahon ng habagat.
May namatay dahil sa misinformation. Someone shouted that Mt. Pinatubo
was erupting, so may nataranta sa palengke. Everyone in City of San
Fernando, the market place were closing their stor. They were running tapos
sinasabi lahar lahar atsu ne ing lahar at may inatake may namatay. And that
is something stupid. That was very irresponsible citizen journalism. Someone
would share, someone would text na memakbung ya ing Pinatubu knowing
that Kapampangans are very mindful of the said situation or said condition.
Yung Mt. Pinatubo eruption is very traumatic for us, Kapampangan. And
someone would make a joke on the social media or social text or whatever
put saying this. Yon irresponsible citizen journalism yung nangyari from
someone. Yun yung problema with citizen journalism I guess.
Researcher: How about in relief operation?
Justin Dizon: Relief operations, maraming nakatulong. Maraming natugunan.
For example they were sending us rescues parang oh sa lugar na to pakirescue si ganito, si ganyan wala pa pong reliefs sa lugar na to. So we
coordinated with a proper organizations and we pin pointed what areas
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needed very much support during those times. So ganon naging madali
naman with regards of social participation, yung citizen journalism na sinasabi.
We were able to attend personally through text messaging brought by this
persons. And they have posted on the page also, the facebook page of the
CLTV. So napuntahan namin yung mga dapat puntahan. Yung mga
nagpaparescue o actually tubig din yung primary concern. Dun ko rin pala
nakita na yung desire for water. Kasi may baon akong water, gusto kong
ibato pero pag ibinato mo magagalit yung isa, kase bakit yung isa binigyan
mo ng tubig. So media, being media and not being someone kailangan
spectator ka lang, hindi ka organization para magrescue pero syempre we do
away with that naman na nagbigay din tayo ng relief efforts. Tumulong din
tayo na magbato-bato ng tubig kasi talagang kailangan ng malalakas na bato
as in isipin mo sumisenyas ang mga tao ganyan, yung dalawang araw na
kong di umiinom, so what would you feel diba. Ikaw na reporter uunahan mo
ba yung balita o yung tutulungan mo. During the calamties, diyan pumapasok
din yung mga ganon, will you consider first as a reporter or as a citizen or as
a Christian or as someone na gusto mong tumulong.
Researcher: Why do you think people would like to remain in their houses
despite of the situation?
Justin Dizon: Filipino culture. Matigas ulo ng mga Pilipino. At sasabihin ko
talaga ito at ito ang ginawa kong balita na kahit ako hindi ako magpaparescue
sa gobyernong to. Kung dadalhin lang ako sa bulok na eskwelahan na wala
akong tutulugang maayos, dun lang ako magkakasakit at hihintayin ko ang
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kamatayan ko don, might as well mamatay na lang ako sa bahay ko. Sorry,
pero crab mentality, sasabihin nila na ayaw mong sumunod sa sinasabi ng
gobyerno. The government first should do some actions for them. Yun nga
pala speaking of rescue, 2 weeks after the calamity pinuntahan namin yung
mga evacuation centers. You know whats hell on earth, yun yun e. Might as
well die on your own place kaysa mamatay ka sa ibang lugar na hindi mo
alam kung saan ka pupulutin. So hindi ko sinasabe na kulang, actually I want
to commend City of San Fernando. Isa sa mga maayos na rehabilitation
efforts o yung tinatawag na rescue efforts o evacuation centers na meron.
And evacuation center, kada kwarto meron nurse, may doctor, nadoon yung
gamot, nandun yung kailangan, pero sa iba kong napuntahan hindi ko nalang
din babanggitin, may kulang talaga at naiintindihan ko na ang mga
kababayan natin kung bakit ayaw nilang magparescue. Kasi kung yun at yun
na lang naman ang dadatnan mo na evacuation center, wag na lang. Yun
yung nakikita kong problema na kailangang solusyunan ng gobyerno.
Researcher: Is the penetration of social media in other parts of Pampanga
would be enough for the people to share information and to help during
disasters?
Justin Dizon: Posible, pwede naman. By all means. Kahit naman sabihin
natin, marangle yan or kung ano mang term na malayo. Rural man yan, there
are social media. Hindi niya sasabihin na magsasaka siya na hindi niya alam
yung mga ganyan o mangingisda siya. Well, they are just more users, more
expose people dito sa city, sa urban areas, dito sa province rather than
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sympre sa mga rural areas. Pero somehow umaabot and it could contribute
dun sa gusto nating marating. Kung ano man ang nangyari don through social
media as well. Pero mas marami rin kasi yung text na pumapasok, sms. Im
not particularly sure pero dun sa official faebook ng CLTV during that time
may mga nakukuhang information from the different parts of the province and
as well as the radio. Pero the problem is, syempre during this calamities,
kapag pumasok na yung kalamidad, syempre yung signal mahirap. Kumbaga
we have to consider the electric source, yung wala kuryente minsan, so wala
silang magiging mean to communicate their information. Yun lang, at least
dito sa city tingin ko medyo matagal pa naman bago magbrownout at mas
marami ang pweding means dahil nga sa urban place.
Researcher: Where did you get the information? Is it first hand or are there
citizen contributions?
Justin Dizon: Sa kasagsagan siguro or during sa onslaught yun yung term.
During the onslaught of the Habagat, I assume meron, pero kasi hindi ako
ang social media officer thats why hindi ko namonitor pero yung mga balita
na ibinato samin are from source na, oh tumawag si ganito oh nagpost is
ganyan, so takbuhin mo na yan. So once youre there na youll make another
news from the situation. Also the scenario and marami, hindi ko alam
maraming pumasok yung sa hotline, maraming tumawag, maraming
nagpopost sa facebook sending pictures na ganito na kalalim yung tubig dito
and naging malaking tulong siya kase for us to be prepared to what to see,
kumbaga post ka muna ng picture without any hm kase kumbaga syempre
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malay mo sa dami-dami ng confirmation purposes na yon, sa dinami-dami ng

tumatawag at humihingi ng tulong during those days syempre kailangan
mong unahin kung ano sa tingin mong pinaka kailangang unahin. So pweding
maging way yon yung facebook actually. Heto parang yung sa may
pinakitang puno, yun yung mga naalala kong mga pictures na may mga puno
tapos tubig na before heto yung puno ganyan. So, ayun nagamit din siya
somehow plus siguro yun nga yung sa relief efforts din. Pero sa atin dito sa
Pampanga naman, I would say parang okay active na rin naman ang social
media when it comes to citizen journalism lalo na sa mga ganyang
pagkakataon mga newsworthy na bagay bagay yun nga hindi naman sa
pinopromote ko pero its a good thing na yung CLTV na meron siyang Alerto
Alisto Ako prior pa dun sa Alisto ng Gma7. Good start na encouraging talaga
na yung mga citizen journalists to send their videos kung ano man yung gusto
nilang iparating tapos yon, mas naging way sya. And during the Habagat
nandun pa rin naman sya. Hindi naman siya nawala, bagkus mas dumami pa
yung mga nagsubscribe mas dumami yung tumangkilik dun sa site, mas
naging active.
Researcher: What are the advantages and disadvantages of not having a
citizen journalism site in a local government unit?
Justin Dizon: Sa LGU? Para sa kin malaki ang maitutulong ng citizen
journalism arm sa isang LGU. Journalist as to be considered as a fourth
estate, watch dogs of the government, of the society. Therefore, having a
citizen journalism arm of the LGU makes it more parang hard for them to do
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something anomalous, mas madaling mabantayan. Were not talking about

the different weather condition, climate change problems. Dun sa mismong
normal setting siguro mas madaling mabantayan. Yung mga lokal yung mga
tiga San Fernando or tiga angeles yung mga kani-kanilang local government
units. Aside from that also syempre mas madaling maipaabot, kasi you dont
need someone. Its a good thing that we have a local stations right now and
ginagawan ng istorya yung mga problema lokal para mapanood ng mga lokal
na opisyal at para tugunan sana. And its a good thing that also the citizen,
kung LGU arm yan or citizen journalism ng LGU, sila na yung didirekta, sila
na yung magdidirekta dun sa report. And Im pretty sure na this LGU leaders
would know, would take time to see kung ano mang meron ang citizen
journalism. When it comes to disaster preparation, dun natin titignan kung
paano ulit maaandar. Well, preparation naman kasi, Pilipino naman kasi kahit
anong preparation medyo mahirap para sa tin. Well, maganda kung merong
prepared pero mostly meron ding iba na hinde. And kung magkakaroon man
tayo ng citizen journalism arm dyan sa LGU para tugunan yung mga
pangangailangan pagdating sa mga disaster preparation, mas makakatulong
siya kasi mamomonitor ng CDRRMC or yung PDRRMC sa provincial level.
Yung kada LGU, yung kada baranggay ng probinsya atleast kung
macentralize ay maisentro yung lahat ng impormasyon nang sa ganon alam
kung ano ang mas uunahin. And sympre umaasa sila madalas sa media, sa
mga journallists, networks, dyaryo para alam din nila mismo. Pero Im pretty
sure naman na this LGU must have or have their own ano, yun nga yung mga
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tiga CDRRMC or yung mga rescue units nila na they know kung na sila dapat
tumugon. They know kung saan sila dapat mas prepare, syempre excessive
information, additional information always be gathered and it should always
come from the people and having a citizen journalism arm sa isang LGU
would help us, would help LGU itself and the people also in the said
community to be more prepared when it comes to this disasters. In a way
siguro yung heads up informations. Kasi posible sa part na yon di pa baha,
sa part dito pabaha na samin yung mga ganon. Kasi yung mga LGU before
they rely on tv stations, headcount ilan na yung baha, ilan na yung ganito.
Actually they have their NDRRMC. This citizen journalism, I do not know if
your thesis is about citizen journalism lang with regards to calamity. Tama
ba? And it should coordinate closely with the NDRRMC or the CDRRMC kung
calamity ang i-fofocus ng citizen journalism arm na pinaplano niyo for the
disasters preparedness alone. So dapat nakatie up sya dun sa CDRRMC or
MDRRMC kung munisipyo man yan and ayun nga pwede nyong maging
model yung City of San Fernando for that.
Researcher: Aside from disaster reporting, what other sections would be
Justin Dizon: Sabi ko nga kanina yung corruption dun sa governance, good
governance. Yung crusade ng mga taong bayan para sa good governance. I
just hope hindi siya mapupulitika. I just hope hindi siya magiging CIO, PIO o
kung ano pa mang information office ng kung sino mang pulitiko. Na hindi
siya information office ng Angeles City, na hindi siya information office ng City

of San Fernando o ng Pampanga. Sana wag ganon. Sana information office
siya ng lunsod huwag yung pulitiko, ng tao talaga. Sana maging ganun siya.
Sana hindi siya magamit for political purposes only. Kasi heto yung
nakakatakot na alam niyo naman na lahat linapitan na ni Mayor, lahat
linapitan ni Congressman binabahiran talaga nila ng pulitika and yun yung
worry naman natin dyan. Baka naman dahil nga may citizen journalism arm
mabilis ang information dissemination, mas mabilis ang pangangampanya di
ba parang yun yung worry natin, yun yung kailangan natin bantayan.
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APPENDIX H
RALPH LAURENCE
Researcher: Could you describe your experiences during rainy seasons?
Ralph Laurence: Im Ralph Laurence from Masantol student from AUF. Alam
nga natin kapag Masantol di ba, sabi nga nila sa Kampangan, mimi ya ing
tugak, lumbog na. Totoo naman yun, kasi wala mang ulan minsan lulubog.
High tide lang lubog na, kasi yung mismong bahay namin nilulubog yun. So
every tag ulan, yung every July expect na naming babaha, laging maano sa
daan, ganyan basa. So mahirap, mahirap yung ganyang sitwasyon, kasi kami
may grocery store kami. Naapektuhan yung businesses, mga businesses sa
Masantol. Tapos yung mga ibang tao kawawa lalo yung mga sa squatters
area kasi laging may tubig laging merong pagmumulan ng sakit, lamok. Sa
amin sa harapan naming di natatanggal ang tubig. So ayun mahirap ang
sitwasyon kapag ganung panahon ng tag ulan.
Researcher: What are your experiences on being a citizen journalist in Alerto,
Alisto Ako of CLTV 36?
Ralph Laurence: Actually kasi, once pa lang ako nagsubmit ng video talaga
sa alerto alisto ng CLTV, pero during the habagat yung bagyo hindi ako
nakapagpadala ng pictures, or news, nagtext lang ako na sa ganitong lugar
po kailangan ng tulong ganyan. Gusto ko makita yung sitwasyon ng mga tao.
So yung ginagawa ko nagtetext ako sa mga networks, CLTV, GNN, ABSCBN and GMA na may mga lugar na hindi naaabot ng mga ganong klase ng
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media kahit CLTV pa yan o GNN lang yan. Sa pamamagitan nun nalalaman
ng mga media ng mga local media na meron pa lang lugar na ganito na
kailangan ng tulong. So yung kino-cover ko talaga , yung nung election nung
registration last May sa Masantol yun talaga ang pinagawan ng balita sa kin.
Yung ginawa ko nun ay nagtext ako kasi magpaparegister rin ako that day.
Sobrang dami ng tao. Mabagal talaga ang process kasi isang computer lang
ang gamit. Imagine hundreds yung nakapila so ang tagal. Tapos ayun nagtext
ako sa CLTV. Tinanong ko kung pwede i-cover yung nangyarI tapos sabi nila
sakin kumuha raw ako ng mga video o mga pictures. Ako na mismo yung
mag balita. So ginawa ko naman saka kinabukasan bumalik ako at kinover
yung registration. Tas ayun ganun pinadala ko na sa CLTV.
Researcher: Is there a process of verification on the article or material that
you have sent in the said local TV Station?
Ralph Laurence: Hindi ako nagbigay ng pictures, video talaga, nag interview
ako ng mga tao sa sitwasyong nararamdaman nila. Kinuha ko rin yung both
sides e, syempre yung una yung mga taong nakapila sinabi nga nila kung
gaano katagal yung process and tinry ko rin na kunin yung pahayag ng
comelec. Kung mapapanuod mo yung video makikita mong sinubukan ko
kaso busy nga sila para magbigay nang sagot.
Researcher: What are the possible contents which will be valuable for a
citizen journalism site?
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Ralph Laurence: Iniisip ko kasi bakit ba kailangan gumawa ng citizen

journalism site para sa mga citizen journalists kung yung, lets say yung CLTV
merong sariling segment yung Alerto Alisto bakit di na lang natin pagtibayin o
palakasin yung project ngayon ng CLTV. Instead na gumawa pa ng another
group institution or website o kung ano man yan. Pero kung kayo gagawa
talga ng site ok lang kasi maganda rin yun kasi mabibigyan ng power yung
mga tao simpleng mamamayan. Kung may cellphone ka lang, picture lang
okay na citizen journalist ka na. Pero dipende rin sa laman ng sinesend mo
para matawag kang citizen journalist. Pero siguro in some way maganda rin
ang magkaroon ng ganun na ang focus ay ang focus lang talaga ay yung
citizen journalism. So siguro maganda parang gawin mo syang citizen
website may interaction among the ibat ibang community or cities. Halimbawa
sa Pampanga, o diyan sa Porac kamusta kayo diyan? Kapag baha diyan sa
Macabebe tapos share ng pictures ng balita.
Researcher: What motivated you to report or to become a citizen journalist?
Kasi ano po student leader ako sa school . kapag may bulok na sistema o
merong hindi magandang nangyayare sa paligid ko na nakikita ko gumagawa
ako ng paraan, gumagawa ako ng something na kaya ko para matulungan at
mabago ang ganung sistema. Dahil sobrang mahal ko ang pilipinas at ang
probinsya kong Pampanga. Yung passion kong maayos mabago yung
sistema yun talga ang motivation ko. Kapag nakikita ko talga kasi yung mga
taong naghihirap, nahihirapan samantalang ako di ba Im fourtunate. Lalo na
yung naalalak o yung habagat , dito sa angeles may pasok kasi hindi
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bumabaha dit , tapos iniisip ko dito wala akong problema, nakaaircon ako
tapos yung mga kasama ko rin, yung pamilya ko nahihirapan. I have to do
something.
Parang mas gusto ko na yung gagawin nyo is yung talagang mamamahala is
yung mga youth lang. Yung mga youth leaders dito sa Pampanga tapos, hindi
kaya mahirapan na maghanap ng mga tao tulad ng EIC, willing kaya. Sino
yung willing na magpapadala ng mga news ganyan. Sino yung mag yes na
gagawin ko to knowing na di lang naman dapat ito yung ifocus mo kasi
marami rin naman tayong ginagawa sa buhay. Siguro maganda rin na
makipagpartners sa mga organization tulad ng Comm. Arts. kasi una yung
pinag aaralan nila, practice na rin yun .
111
APPENDIX I
MEGAN CLAIRE DAVID
Researcher: What is the importance of citizen journalism as another medium
of disseminating information?
Megan Claire David: The importance of citizen journalism as another
medium is that people get to see a different side of the story and on a faster
pace. Unlike professional Journalism or the ones we see mainstream, citizen
journalism can be seen by the public especially now that new media or
technology is at hand. Citizen Journalism also gives the public a chance to be
involved and to be the informant. In the past kasi, we get used to the
reporters giving us the news pero now, we also get feeds from locals na on a
different note.
Researcher: What are the possible consequences if a local government uni
does not have citizen journalism arm?
Megan Claire David: Possible consequences can be first, stale news. We
can't be sure na all news worthy ay na-cocover ng mga journalists since they
are not really everywhere. Okay sana kung malapit sila sa area kaya agad
nakukunan pero what if provinces or mejo malayo na lugar? we can't really be
sure na all news worthy na pangyayari ay nakukunan or nasusulat.
Researcher: What contents do you want to see in a citizen journalism

website?
112
Megan Claire David: I would like to see sa isang citizen journalism website
are news na well written and photo or video docs na can speak by itself. Kaya
nga may ganyan is para maging source natin ng information so dapat yung
mga makikita or mababasa natin doon is super informative and talagang
magbebenefit yung mga makakabasa. Were fed up na sa mga news na
minsan is wala na talagang kabuluhan. sa mainstream journalism nga minsan
may mga news na parang hindi na dapat ibinabalita e. So sana sa isang
CJW, yung mga makita natin or namin eh may dating and may laban din sa
professional journalism.
113
APPENDIX J
MARCELO LACAP
Researcher: What motivated you to report or to become a citizen journalist?
Marcelo Lacap: First and for most kasi since Im having my OJT at CLTV, we
were all encourage to have this report, do our own reports. To report what I
see, what I understand whats happening in the area and whats happening
by them. So what motivated me, first, yung I was encourage to do this report
and I really wanted to report this thing I reported. Online, yes, I already did, I
actually had this blog before. I had 3 blogs before, 2 blogs before, because
this one Im having right now. Tapos, ang printed, I also did, published some
in Sunstar, I think yes. Tapos, in highschool, in our school publication.
Researcher: What platforms were used in disseminating information about
your report online?
Marcelo Lacap: When I was in CLTV, they used Facebook, YouTube and
inside of the channel.
Researcher: Why online?
Marcelo Lacap: Well, obviously since a lot of us are spending more time in
internet. So its like, if you want to reach a wider audiences, a lot of people at
the same time. Its best to utilize in internet or social networking site. And also
since as a student journalist before and a young lad wanting to tell this story
to others, my main target is actually youth for which I belong. Thats why the
114
youth are spending more time in internet. And also, if Ill report this to the
authorities, they wont do anything, politicians and policemen, they wont do
anything. They wont even bother to listen to you, kase yan ang maganda sa
citizen journalism sa online, (thats one good thing about citizen journalism)
everyone is heard. Like if you go in police O manong I have this something in
our barrio, they wont give you attention. In media, why dont you go in media
automatically? Because they still tell the information, as we know as a future
communication practitioners, whether they like it or not they select which
news, which information they will going to disseminate to the public. So if I
want the public to see a true to life or closest to reality on whats happening in
the area. In that moment its best to post them in online /social network.
Researcher: What are the possible consequences if a local government unit
does not have a citizen journalism site?
Marcelo Lacap: If local government unit like Angeles City doesnt have its
own citizen journalism, its limiting the interactivity of the people within the
entity of the people. Suppose, an earthquake occurs in Sapang Bato, an
earthquake which is not felt here in Angeles City, how will they supposed to
know about it and for me, its embarrassing if media people would know it first
rather than the local government officials. Dapat unang malaman ng mga
officials, nakakahiya yon. (Local officials should know first, its embarraing)
Even if CLTV is coming from San Fernando, the Angeles City Mayor doesnt
know that theres something happening, its best if they have citizen

journalism. And I think its also best if they really encourage students to be a
citizen journalist.
115
116
APPENDIX K
KYLE FRANCISCO
Researcher: What is the importance of citizen journalism?
Kyle Francisco: Yung importance ng citizen journalism kasi as a media
disseminating information, kasi di ba may ibat ibang sectors sa community,
so if this sector doesnt know about it, through this citizen journalism may
nangyayari online. Alam naman natin parang everyone has an access of the
internet di ba. So kapag itong sector na to, malalaman nila kung anong
nangyayari dun sa iba pang parts ng community through the online. Yun yung
isa sa mga importance niya. Parang ang government pwedeng magbenefit
doon sa citizen journalism online. By seeing that this community has its
awareness on what is happening and kung ano yung pwede nilang maimprove as a governing body ng community na yon.
Researcher: What are the possible consequences if a local government unit
Kyle Francisco: Kapag ang isang local government ay walang citizen
journalism arm, yun nga yung feedback, syempre di ba sa isang governing
body, importante sa kanila yung feedback of whats happening in their
community. Yun, feedback tungkol sa service nila on what they can improve.
On what is parang really good about it. Tapos second is yung happenings
dun sa community na yon. Its like, parang yung citizen journalism through
online, its like a conduit, para siyang bridge na kung ano man yung pwedeng

malaman or kung ano man pweding maipadala ng community dun sa
government and then same through sa government. Pwede nilang macommunicate kung anong pwede nilang sabihin through citizen journalism.
Researcher: Aside from disaster reporting, what other sections will be
Kyle Francisco: Di ba in our world, parang palagi nating nakikita ang mali,
palagi mali yung nakikita natin. Palaging mga puna, palaging mga paniniste.
Why not i-expose kung ano man yung mabuting naibibigay ng mga tao and
syempre hindi naman natin matatanggal sa sarili natin yung negative aspect.
Like let say sa community. Ma-eexpose siya through online di ba. Yun yung
parang gusto kong Makita. Yung positive side naman, hindi yung palaging
negative.
117

APPENDIX L
CHARIS AIRA MANIO

Researcher: What is the importance of citizen journalism as another medium
of communication in presenting news during the Habagat 2012?
Charis Aira Manio: Citizen journalism is relevant not just during habagat
2012 but also everytime a country is hit by a calamity. The country will be
able to know what a citizen is going through. Next thing to happen, the
country will send help (relief and rescue operations) to those people in need.
Not just the country but also people around the globe can extend a hand.
Researcher: Are you doing some revisions on the articles sent by citizen
journalist? If so, to what extent do you revise the articles/materials?
Charis Aira Manio: Yes i do make revisions. For example, Drftig a blog,
getting inspiration/ideas fron an article written by a citizen journalist then add
personal insights on that matter. If i find that an idea is not relevant better nit
include it. The article has to increase awareness of what happened so people
will know how to reapond. And what are the means to help.
Researcher: What platforms were used in disseminating information about
the effects of the weather in different region?
Charis Aira Manio: Media, new media (social channels like fb/twitter etc.)
print materials (newspapes etc) were maximized to disseminate infos about
the effects of weather
118

Researcher: What are the common ethical issues that arise in publishing an
article by a citizen journalist?
Charis Aira Manio I think they must only write facts and ways of how people
can meet their needs.
Researcher: How do you verify if the information on the submitted material is
accurate?
Charis Aira Manio: To verify that infos in any material is accurate, you have
to research. Look for other relevant/useful materials and compare. Analyze
wisely.
Researcher: What are the discrepancies on the articles published by citizen
journalists?
Charis Aira Manio: Some Citizen journalist are activists. If that's the case,
they will intend to post subjective articles instead of being objective like what
reporters do.
119

APPENDIX M
Interview Guide for Online Editors

1. What is the importance of citizen journalism as another medium of
communication in presenting news during the Typhoon Yolanda?
2. What materials (videos, pictures, written, personal accounts, etc) were
sent/uploaded online?
3. Are you doing some revisions on the articles sent by citizen journalists? If
so, to what extent do you revise the articles/materials?
4. What are common ethical issues that arise in publishing an article by a
citizen journalist?
5. How a citizens contribution newsworthy?
Interview Guide for Citizen Journalists

1. What motivated you to report the disaster?
2. Have you published an article before? Do you have any work experience in
the journalism field?
3. What material(s) have you submitted/uploaded online?
120

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Running Head: CITIZENS DISASTER REPORTING ON SOCIAL NETWORKING

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites:

A Thesis Presented to the

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

We dedicate this study to all the victims of past disasters in the

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Results and Findings .

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Social Media have undeniably changed how people communicate with

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Disaster is defined as a sudden calamitous event bringing great

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Robert Speta is an Broadcast Meteoreologist currently based in Japan.

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites