TACLOBAN CITY- For some residents of San Julian town in Eastern Samar, the vibrantly-colored 10 meters crosswalk is just an ordinary concrete passage way.
But not for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community of the town.
The rainbow-colored crosswalk symbolizes what the members of the LGBT community of the sleepy town have been fighting for: equality and recognition as legitimate members of the populace of San Julian of more than 15,000 people.
On Saturday (June 1), San Julian became the first area in Eastern Visayas to have a ‘pride crosswalk,’ as the LGBT community calls it, with its unveiling.
It’s unveiling coincided with the observance of LGBT Pride Month which first started on June 27,1970, incidentally, sparked by a riot involving the gay community in New York City calling for recognition and equality among its members.
In San Julian, behind the Pride crosswalk are the 159-members of the San Julian Pride founded on December 23,2017.
Its founder, Roel Andag, a graduate of public administration at UP-Diliman, said that it was just fitting that their Pride crosswalk version is located in a busy street of the town where the seat of the municipal government is located.
“It’s symbolizes our call for equality and recognition. It is located along a national highway in between Barangays 4 and 5 where our municipal building is located,” the 42-year old Andag said in a Facebook interview.
And based on their Facebook account, the group said that the Pride crosswalk signifies their ‘oneness with the rest of the world in celebrating the Pride month.’
“That we are part of a bigger diverse community. It is our assertion of our LGBT+identity in our rural setting-that we will not be rendered invisible, we will see and will be seen.”
The group also said that the Pride crosswalk is a proof that the rest of the people of San Julian embraces and accepts them as members of the community.
“Our Pride crosswalk is our visual reminder that we have come a long way and we still have a long way to go,” the group said.
And true to form, their group does not ‘discriminate’ their own saying that members of their group came from all walks of life-professionals and non-professionals, students, out-of-work, and even farmers.
Andag said to discriminate who can become members of the group would go contrary to what they are fighting for-equality and recognition.
The 10-meter crosswalk was a group effort as they hired a painter to do the job for more than three hours Saturday night.
Andag said that they have to use blow-dryers so the paints could dry right away.
For this project, the group spent P3,000 from their group’s funds.
Once the work was completed, they all felt not only relieved but ‘happy and proud’ that they have now their own version of Pride crosswalk which could be seen in other parts of the country like in the cities of Quezon and Cebu.
They have planned to have their Pride crosswalk for the last three months and were just gratified that the provincial office of the Department of Public Works and Highways allowed them to have a section of the public street be painted with various and bright colors.
And they are also thankful that officials of the municipal government of San Julian are very supportive of their campaign, naming Mayor Dennis Estaron and the members of the town council which passed an ordinance of which the group is passionate about-the creation of a local AIDS council. The ordinance was passed last year.
Incidentally, one of the advocacies of the San Julian Pride Advocacy Group is on HIV-AIDS awareness campaign which they do by conducting lectures and distribution of condoms donated by the Department of Health (DOH).
HIV-AIDS commonly affects among members of the LGBT community.
In Eastern Visayas, there are more than 700 HIV-AIDS cases with 48 deaths as of this year, records from the DOH said.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

It’s good to be prepared always, thus the need to strengthen the capacity of schools to enable them to respond in the event of disasters and emergencies to save more lives and ensure resilience.
Recently, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has warned of a possible strong earthquake in Leyte as the Philippine Fault in the province never had significant shaking in more than 100 years.
Aiming for disaster resilience, Gov. E. Jaro Elementary School (GEJES) in Babatngon II District has initiated its disaster risk reduction (DRR) programs that prepare students and teachers for different disasters.
According to Head Valentin C. Trapela, the school regularly conducts earthquake drills.
“All students and teachers participate in the regular drills, where they pass through the designated routes to evacuate,” Trapela said.
Trapela emphasized the importance of preparing for earthquakes through regular drills, as the province of Leyte is prone to earthquakes, and earthquakes are more difficult to predict.
Barangay Gov. E. Jaro, where the school is located is also prone to flood, being located near Bagahupi River.
But Trapela said it is easier to predict floods. “We can see it coming, and people can make announcements right away. Unlike with earthquakes, there aren’t announcements for that, except when it actually happens, then that’s when you respond. That’s why we focus on having earthquake drills,” Trapela said.
Aside from strengthening the capacity of the school, GEJES has also bolstered its partnership with different agencies for the promotion of volunteerism, humanitarian values, and culture of safety and health through trainings on life saving and first aid.
The local Philippine National Police (PNP) and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the local government unit have been active partners for activities and programs involving disaster risk reduction. These technical assistance strengthens the capacity of the school and help minimize and efficiently respond to the impact of disasters.
This also becomes an opportunity for the school officials to ask the PNP and BFP for evaluations and recommendations, either written or oral, and uses then to improve the program.
“We study the evaluations. Whatever they point as weaknesses, that’s what we keep in mind for improvement. What they point out as okay, that’s what we maintain,” Trapela said.
Every year, GEJES boosts the disaster awareness and preparedness through the conduct of quarterly nationwide simultaneous earthquake drills (NSED).
Trapela meanwhile hoped that GEJES’ DRR programs will equip all members of the GEJES community with the knowledge and skills to prepare for any kind of disaster.
“We urge our students to take earthquake drills seriously so they would know what to do when a strong tremor happens. We also asked them to share what they learned in the drills to their families,” Trapela said.
The Leyte Island fault line is part of the 1,200 kilometer-long Philippine fault zone, a major tectonic feature that transects the while Philippine archipelago from northwestern Luzon to southeastern Mindanao.
The presence of active fault zone have put some areas in Eastern Visayas as high risk to earthquakes.
“As they say, it’s good to be prepared,” he said.
(Note: The author is a Teacher III of Gov. E. Jaro Elementary School in Babatngon District, Babatngon,Leyte)

BY SHELLARICA C. ARINTO