by Julia Beatriz Iglesias
In order to order to strengthen the barangay’s response to emergencies, a Basic Radio Communication Training was conducted by Brgy. Batong Malake on August 14 for its barangay public safety officers (BPSOs) or barangay tanod.
The training was conducted in coordination with the United Kabalikat Civic Communicators (Kabalikat Civicom) to help the BPSOs get more acquainted with the operation and proper use the radio for barangay communication, especially during emergencies. Melba Notario of the Los Baños Chapter of Kabalikat Civicom, served as the resource person. Notario oriented the BPSOs on the different types of radio and the change in radio frequencies.
During the training, the participants underwent a scenario simulation to test their competency in using the radio during emergency situations. According to Brgy. Chairman Janos Lapiz od Batong Malake, the ability to use the radio is a basic skill that all barangay employees should be equipped with.
The BPSO were to learn the language of radio and memorize the estimated 180 international codes called “ten-code”. “Hindi lang naman sa isang turuan namamaster yung paggamit ng radio at codes, kailangan tuloy-tuloy ginagamit para matutunan nang maayos,” according to Brgy. Captain Lapiz. Radio communication is being used by the Batong Malake, as with most Los Baños barangays, to report criminal incidents, fire emergencies, and during times of disaster and calamities. “Subok na namin ang radio. It is the best communication gadget for local government units (LGUs),” Lapiz added.
With more than 1,000 radio users in the municipality, all of the 14 barangays in the are channeled into a common monitoring frequency. Each barangay in Los Baños has a base radio that is used to relay messages to greater distances, which the portable radios are not cabable o.
According to Lapiz, Los Baños started using radio as a means of communication as early as the year 1990. This was initiated by Mayor Caesar Perez when he was still a barangay chairman. This was the first investment of the barangay, prioritizing the benefits of having fast and efficient communication especially during emergencies, disasters, and storms. Even then, new public safety officers are given basic orientation about radio communication before they perform their appointed jobs.
Brgy. Captain Lapiz explained that while the LGUs can automatically purchase radios that are licensed by the government, the radio users are not automatically granted licenses. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Regional Office is expected to conduct basic examinations to check the radios owned by the LGUs and for the issuance of the radio user’s license. “Without the training, you can’t acquire the license,” Lapiz said, emphasizing the importance of the BPSO radio training.
Brgy. Captain Lapiz (top row, center, in brown shirt) and Kabalikat Civicom’s Notario (bottom row, 4th from left) join Batong Malake’s new batch of BPSO trainees on radio communication in a post-training photo documentation.
Aside from preparing the BPSOs for their NTC examinations, Brgy. Batong Malake will also train its BPSO on how to act and the preliminary precautions to make during a vehicular accident and how to properly administer a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid through a symposium on “Emergency Response to Vehicular Accidents”.