by Isabel

An anti-crime advisory from the Quezon City Police District Director Magtanggol B. Gatdula has been making the rounds. This is in line with the QCPD’s anti-carnapping initiative.

The full text of the advisory follows:

Dear Beloved Citizen,

Your policemen from the Quezon City Police District have launched a pro-active campaign against carnapping. We are glad that since January this year, we have brought down the number of carnapping to minimum number, but we will not stop. Our aim is to further reduce this crime to a significant level where ordinary citizens will not fear leaving their cars unsecured and unattended.

We know that you can help us in our fight against this menace by doing the following acronym and sharing them to your relatives and friends:

A — Always lock all car doors when you park.
N — Never leave your cars with engine running and unlocked when withdrawing at ATMs and buying anything in nearby stores.
T — Take your family members with you when you park.
I — Install safety and alarm devices.

C — Check the area for suspicious-looking persons.
A — Always park in well-lighted areas at night.
R — Remove visible valuables inside the car that may tempt “Bukas Kotse Gang.”
N — Never entrust car keys to strangers or even to mechanics not known to you who could have it duplicated.
A — Avoid and never trust hitchhikers especially beautiful women.
P — Park your car in secure areas as much as possible.
P — Provide necessary information to area security personnel and the police on suspicious-looking persons.
I — Install a hidden master switch whenever possible.
N — Never leave your car windows and doors open especially during traffic jams or in crowded areas.
G — Garage gates must be secured and locked at all times.

The advisory above was photocopied and left on car windshields in Quezon City. But it’s interesting how law enforcers are also making good use of the Internet now. Here’s an informative video for all drivers (and passengers). Please note that although this was produced in the US, the tips are applicable anywhere.

Security and crime prevention are matters we should all be concerned about. Let’s all do our share to keep our community safe and crime-free.

Many thanks to CDT for the advisory and to serialmacs.blogspot.com for showing me the video.

by Isabel

Before going ahead with Our DEH Community, I sent out a questionnaire that would help assess how many community members are “Netizens” (Internet citizens) and to what degree. The questionnaire also sought to gauge DEH residents’ interest in participating in community life — would we be interested in reading reports about the community, chapel or parish activities, or the youth? Would we participate in online discussions on community issues?

One questionnaire was sent out per household. Of the 200 that were distributed, only 74 were returned. This represents about one-fourth of the number of households in DEH — a small sample, but good enough to get a feel of how and to what extent we were interested in community life.

(To skip the statistics and read ahead, click here.)

What the survey said
Most of the respondents (60%) access the Internet from home, with majority (33%) going online only once a day. When asked to rank the reasons for going online, not surprisingly, the respondents gave email the highest ranking (87%), followed by research (79%). Blogging and reading other people’s blogs each accounted for only a small percentage (21%).

When asked which of the different aspects of community life would interest them, the respondents indicated the most interest in current community issues/events (58%), followed by chapel/parish activities (39%). Participating in online discussions got the least response (26%).

Most of the respondents (32%) were neutral about having a DEH web site or blog; about half this number (18%) gave it a high priority. According to the majority (32%), a web site or blog about the community should carry news about current events/projects/activities. Other suggestions for content were ads (12%), community problems and concerns (10%), and information about neighbors (8%).

For the parish, the responses were similar — a number of respondents (14%) thought a parish web site or blog was a top priority, but the majority (22%) were neutral about it. Content suggestions included parish programs and activities (21%), a schedule of services (17%), official stand on issues (14%), and profiles of priests (10%). However, as St. Benedict Parish (of which Our Lady of Remedies is just a subparish) encompasses a larger community than DEH, these are by no means exhaustive results.

It is interesting that most of the respondents (20%) were from the 21-30 age bracket, followed by the below 21 bracket (18%). I later learned that some homeowners let their children or grandchildren answer the questionnaire because it involved the Internet — a subject they perhaps felt was better suited to the younger members of the household. (The youngest respondent was 12 years old, by the way.) Seventeen percent did not give their ages.

So what?
What does all this mean for DEH, you ask?

The purpose of the survey was to measure how interested DEH residents are in community life. Though the results indicated a high level of interest in community affairs, there was a general attitude of neutrality about having a web site or blog that would both inform us of these affairs and enable us to participate.

Was this a consequence of the medium, of the subject matter, or of age — or a combination? Intimidation with the Internet appears to be a non-issue, as members of the community do go online for communication (email) and information (research) purposes. Was the neutral attitude then a sign of resistance to an unfamiliar form of Internet use (i.e. reading a community blog and participating in interactive discussions)?

Or is it a question of the subject matter and not the medium? Perhaps community members do not see the point in enhancing our experience of community life through the Internet — after all, a short visit with neighbors or a phone call would be faster and much more intimate.

Or, given that most of the respondents were younger than 30, perhaps the results indicate that their priorities simply lie in other things. Is it then a matter of channeling and concretizing their interest in the community into participation?

Are we as a community ready to be engaged in community life? Do we want to make ourselves heard through the Internet? Your comments and reactions are most welcome. No doubt the answers to these questions will make themselves obvious as we continue with this blog.

Thank you for your participation in the survey, and for your interest in the community.

by Isabel

During one of our early years in Don Enrique Heights, my sisters and I joined the youth choir that was to sing at the fiesta mass. I bonded with the other kids, especially the girls who went to the same school I did. We had regular practices and hung out at each others’ homes during that time. Even after our fiesta choir “duties” were over, some of us continued to spend time together and to attend parties as a group.

The friends I made — some of them no longer living here — and the experience of doing something concrete for DEH made me feel that I belonged. This ultimately gave me my first sense of community — of sharing something tangible (living in DEH) as well as something intangible (goals and interests) with others.

This is what this blog seeks to capture — the spirit of community in DEH. Through blog posts, photos, news reports, and discussions, we’ll attempt to document life in and around this place we call home.