(RPG-023) “INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT”

It is interesting to note that in the aftermath of the Manila Peninsula siege this week, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales found a reason to connect the incident to the problem of poverty in this country, in the process finding a way to trace the problem to the lack of coordination in the government’s delivery of public services.

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Truth to tell, poverty has always been a problem here. That is not actually the main problem. The real problem is that the government does not seem to have a coordinated plan or program to reduce it objectively and systematically, and therefore the good Cardinal hit the problem right on the nail.

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Coordination is one thing, integration is another. Perhaps we can liken it to the choreography of a Broadway musical where the actors have to be in tune, at the same time that they have to be in step. Integration ought to be the objective, while coordination on the other hand ought to be the strategy.

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Basing it on the principle that governance is a process that should involve not only the government but the people as well, a new alliance was recently formed by three umbrella groups, each one of them active in their own development programs.

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The Citizen’s Foundation for the Prevention of Crime and Injustice (CFPCI), the University Consortium for Resource Networking (UNICORN) and the Inter-Charity Network (ICN) have banded together to form the United National Integrated Development Alliance (UNIDA).

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CFPCI is the umbrella organization for “Peace”. It will work for the improvement of peace and order by helping lawmakers and enforcers. UNICORN is the umbrella organization for “Education”. It will work for the improvement of education and training by helping universities and schools. ICN is the umbrella organization for “Livelihood”. It will work for the improvement of livelihood by helping jobseekers and entrepreneurs.