SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES (FINAL PART)

NO HOLDS BARRED (080) July 31, 2010
By Ike Señeres

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES (FINAL PART)

Since financing is always the biggest problem of livelihood projects, I propose that bankers should be placed at the core of the human resources needed for livelihood delivery. This is also the other reason why I am suggesting that the DOF should be placed on top of livelihood at the local level. By bankers, I mean those coming from the private and government banks. Needless to say, the banks should be the focal points for livelihood delivery.
Since public safety issues almost always end up with a legal problem, I propose that lawyers should be placed at the core of the human resources needed for public safety delivery. The main focal points for the delivery of public safety should be the police stations where the actions of arrest are finalized, but this should also include the other focal points in the other four pillars of justice.
In a manner of speaking, the lack of livelihood is a justice issue, social justice to be exact, because it is poverty related. Directly or indirectly, the lack of livelihood could lead to crime, although I still maintain that poverty should not be taken as an excuse to commit crime. More often than not however, the poor people who are led to commit crime become the more intense victims of injustice, as they are unable to afford the high costs of justice in their defense.
Financing is just one aspect of livelihood, and it might even be the easier part of the challenge. The harder part I think is marketing, but this too has a financial dimension, because livelihood projects need the financial muscle to be able to finance not just the costs of production, but also the costs of marketing, inventory costs included.
The subject of sustainable communities implies that it should be local in scope, the more local the better. Geographically speaking, this should mean that the smaller the community, the better it is in terms of planning for its long term sustainability. Having said this, it would be best if planning is focused at the village level, meaning that it should really be below the barangay level, given the fact that there could be several villages within a barangay. The situation could be different in the provinces where a village is practically synonymous to a barangay.
I also understand that there are many kinds of banks, ranging in size from universal banks to rural banks. Regardless of the size of the banks however, I think that it should become the culture of these banks to go down to the level of the villages to look into their livelihood needs, and to check on ways through which they could help in financing. This culture formation should be encouraged by the DOF among the banks.
As a service to the nation, the United National Integrated Development Alliance (UNIDA) has been reorganized so that each of the alliance members could lead in three priority concerns namely health, education and social services.
The lead organization for health services in the alliance is now the Inter-Charity Network (ICN). The lead organization for education services is now the University Consortium (UNICON). The lead organization for social services is now the Philippine Foundation for the Prevention of Crime and Injustice (PFPCI).
The National Statistical Coordination Board (NCSB) defines social services as programs that are designated to provide meaningful opportunities for the social and economic growth for the disadvantaged sector of the population in order to develop them into productive and self-reliant citizens and promote social equity. This fits very well into the original purpose of the Foundation which is social justice.
Under this new reorganization, the Foundation shall now lead in self-employment assistance and practical skills development assistance, as defined by the NSCB. In addition however, the Foundation will also lead in legal assistance and housing assistance, also two of the original purposes.
In coordination with the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), the Foundation will now train, certify and deploy volunteer paralegals to courthouses, police stations and barangay halls all over the country, the latter in support of the barangay justice system. These paralegals will act as deputies to the organic and volunteer lawyers of the PAO.
In coordination with the Department of Health (DOH), Inter-Charity will now will now train, certify and deploy volunteer paramedics to the school clinics, health centers and public hospitals all over the country. It will also coordinate with Our Barangay Inc. (OBI), an organization that is committed towards supporting the school clinics, health centers and public hospitals.
In coordination with the Department of Education (DEPED), UNICON will now train, certify and deploy volunteer teachers to the school libraries and Alternative Learning Centers (ALCs) of DEPED. It will also coordinate with OBI, given the fact that OBI will now also support these school libraries and learning centers.

Watch KA IKING LIVE! Saturdays 8 pm to 9 pm in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 21 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639293605140 for local cable listings. Visit www.senseneres.blogspot.com

3rd Letter to Fellow Filipinos dated July 17, 2010

3rd Letter to Fellow Filipinos dated July 17, 2010

Dear Compatriots,

Dr. Virginia (Benji) Teodosio is one of the founders of the Corinthian Coffee Club or C3 for short. She is a professor at the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP-SOLAIR). Her advocacy is nation building through the development of our social capital and our natural capital. Because of this advocacy, she has been very involved in expanding the economic opportunities of indigenous peoples and rebel returnees through the cooperative approach.

It was through the persistence of Benji that I met Mr. Paul Soriano who is the Executive Director of the Department of Education Adopt-A-School Program (DEPED-ASP). Paul is a professional manager from the private sector who was recruited by former DEPED Secretary Jesli Lapuz to run the ASP. Benji, Paul and I are now in the process of putting a DEPED Education Channel on the air, in cooperation with the Global News Network (GNN), through Mr. Harry Tambuatco.

It was also through the persistence of Benji that I pursued the idea of acquiring a dedicated channel from Global Satellite (GSAT) so that the DEPED Education Channel could be beamed down to any location in the Philippines where there is a cooperative, using a satellite dish provided by GSAT. Harry is also helping us with this, because GSAT is a sister company of GNN.

The real passion of Benji is to educate the Out of School Youth (OSY) in this country who number about 9 to 16 million, according to Paul. Benji is now trying to convince the cooperatives in this country, numbering about 30,000 to acquire the satellite dishes, so that the OSY children of cooperative members could go to school.

Inspired by the zeal of Benji, I am now requesting Harry to also open up a CHED Education Channel and a TESDA Education Channel. Meanwhile, we are now ready to stream the DEPED Education Channel via the internet, courtesy of my friend Mr. Bycon Bulatao of Inventiv, Inc.

Ramon Ike Villareal Señeres (Ka Iking/Datu Bahandi/Brother Khalid)
+639293605140/iseneres@yahoo.com/www.senseneres.blogspot.com

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES (PART TWO)

NO HOLDS BARRED (079) July 25, 2010
By Ike Señeres

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES (PART TWO)

With all the basic needs clearly identified and incorporated into the UNIDA framework, we now have a roadmap for integrated national development. This is now the basis for integrating all the basic needs into one master plan.
The dimension of public safety is actually encompassing, because its benefits could extend towards the other three dimensions. For instance, environmental safety is really part of public safety, and this would include the other environmental concerns such as climate change and global warming. Environmental safety also affects the sustainability of shelter and livelihood projects.
As required by the laws, all municipalities (my preferred collective term for both cities and towns) are supposed to prepare their own Municipal Development Plan (MDP), in cooperation with their own Municipal Development Council (MDC). In theory, the MDP is supposed to incorporate the inputs of the barangay units, but apparently this does not happen.
Due to the lack of material and technical resources at the municipal level, it would be best to mobilize the more active participation of the private sector in the MDC, in the spirit of public and private partnership (PPP), an approach that is supported by many international development organizations.
In the past, there were already many efforts exerted by the private sector in support of the MDC, but the results have not been encouraging, due perhaps to the lack of cohesion among the participants to agree on a common framework for integrated development. This is the vacuum that could be filled by the HDI method.
Despite the large number of municipalities all over the country, it would be still be realistic as common objective to identify at least one non-government organization (NGO) that will be assigned to assist each and every municipality, at the same time promote the adoption of the UNIDA framework. In this context, civic organizations could be considered as NGOs.
On the practical side, it would be best for these local NGOs to form four technical working groups (TWGs) from among their members. Given this approach, one TWG will be able to focus on the four priority dimensions, namely health, education, livelihood and peace and order.
It is not clear which national government agency is on top of livelihood at the local level. The most suitable agency for this I think is the Department of Finance, mainly through the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA). It is clear that Department of Local Interior and Government (DILG) is on top of public safety, though the Philippine National Police (PNP).
I understand that livelihood is not generally seen as an employment issue, given the fact that livelihood generally falls under the category of entrepreneurship or small business. Looking at it another way however, livelihood could be seen as a form of self-employment. From the perspective of data management, it should really be the DOF that should know how many people in a locality would need financing for self-employment.
I also understand that public safety is more than just police work. As a matter of fact, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) are also considered as public safety agencies under the DILG. From the perspective of data management however, there is a need to review the role of the PNP in reporting the criminality rate, because of perceived conflicts of interest.
In so many ways, public safety as a basic need is very closely associated to the delivery of justice, yet another human need. As a matter of fact, the DILG is directly involved in two of the five pillars of justice, namely arrest (accusation) and penology (transformation). The other pillars of justice are prosecution, judgment (promulgation) and parole (reintegration).
The delivery of basic services is generally affected always by the lack of human resources, and the inability to clearly identify the focal points of the delivery process. It is clear that doctors should be the core of the human resources needed for health delivery, in a similar manner that teachers should be the core of the human resources needed for education delivery. It is also clear that hospitals should be the focal points for health delivery, in the same manner that schools should be the focal points for education delivery.
In the case of livelihood however, it is not clear who should be at the core of the human resources, and it is not clear either where the focal point of livelihood delivery should be. This is also the case of public safety, wherein it is not clear who should be at the core of the human resources, and where the focal point of the delivery should be.

Watch KA IKING LIVE! Saturdays 8 pm to 9 pm in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 21 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639293605140 for local cable listings. Visit www.senseneres.blogspot.com

2nd Letter to Fellow Filipinos dated July 16, 2010

2nd Letter to Fellow Filipinos dated July 16, 2010

Dear Compatriots,

In my first letter, I wrote about the Corinthian Coffee Club or C3 for short. There is really more to nation building than just C3. I will always write to you about nation building, whether it happens in C3 or anywhere else. This time however, a lot of things are happening in C3 that is why I will be writing a lot about it for a start.

In case you are wondering about my other names, allow me to give you some background. Ka Iking is my radio name. It was given to me by my Iglesia ni Cristo friends when I started broadcasting at DZEC. I still carry this name, and that is why the title of my TV show is Ka Iking Live! Datu Bahandi is my Lumad name. It was given to me when I was adopted as a Datu by the Talaandig tribe of Bukidnon, after the Council of Datus decided on it, led by my friend Datu Didilusan. Brother Khalid is my Moslem name. It was given to me by my Moslem friends led by Brother Jalil Abian, after it was discerned by a pious Imam, based on their belief that I am a Moslem at heart, although born as a Christian.

Tom Lee is one of the founders of C3. He is a Filipino Chinese who left the Philippines when he was 15 years old, and came back when he was already a senior citizen. Tom was an early engineer in Silicon Valley. He invented the first Apple printer and became a business guru later on. Already an American citizen, Tom founded the University Consortium (UNICON) in the Philippines, which he patterned after the Apple Consortium in the United States. He is also a Director of the Philippine Foundation for the Prevention of Crime and Injustice (PFPCI). He also heads the Makati City Chapter of the PFPCI.

Quality education is the advocacy of UNICON. Its goal is to improve the quality of education by improving the technology and the connectivity of its member schools. Equal justice is the advocacy of the PFPCI. Its goal is to minimize crime and injustice by empowering and equipping the men and women in uniform who are serving our nation in the government agencies within the Five Pillars of Justice.

Ramon Ike Villareal Señeres (Ka Iking/Datu Bahandi/Brother Khalid)
+639293605140/iseneres@yahoo.com/www.senseneres.blogspot.com

1st Letter to Fellow Filipinos dated July 15, 2010

1st Letter to Fellow Filipinos dated July 15, 2010

Dear Compatriots,

Since this is my first letter to you, allow me first to tell you who I am, and why I am doing this. I am a broadcaster and a columnist. Perhaps it is because of this that I get to meet many people who love our country and who would like to do something for nation building, in whatever way possible. Tom Lee is one of these people, and because of this common bond, we agreed to organize what is now known as the Corinthian Coffee Club, or C3 for short.

C3 now meets every Friday from 3 to 6 pm at the Elks Club located at the 7th Floor of the Corinthian Plaza Building along Paseo De Roxas Avenue in Makati City. The purpose of C3 is to bring together people who love our country and who would like to do something for nation building, regardless of whether they are Filipinos or foreigners.

The format of the C3 meetings is very much informal. We sit around in a table and each one is free to talk about what he or she is doing for nation building, and what kind of help he or she needs if ever. Conversely, anyone could also talk about what he or she could do for nation building, as an individual or representing a company or an organization.

As an informal gathering, C3 does not intend to implement projects on its own. Our intention is to give the opportunity to project proponents to talk about what they are already doing, or what they are planning to do. Anyone in the gathering who wants to help any project proponent could do so on his own or on her own, as an individual or representing a company or an organization.

Many people talk about nation building, but they generally do not have the ways or means to implement what they are talking about. This is precisely the purpose of C3, to help the people who want to do something for nation building, so that they could do more than just talk. There is nothing wrong with talking, but nothing will happen to our country if we just keep on talking without doing anything.

Ramon Ike Villareal Señeres (Ka Iking/Datu Bahandi/Brother Khalid)
+639293605140/iseneres@yahoo.com/www.senseneres.blogspot.com

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES (PART ONE)

NO HOLDS BARRED (078) July 18, 2010
By Ike Señeres

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES (PART ONE)

The United National Integrated Development Alliance (UNIDA) has consolidated four statistical methods into one development framework, now to be known as the UNIDA framework.
The most fundamental method among the four is the Minimum Basic Needs (MBN) approach. This statistical method measures access to basic human needs such as health, education, livelihood, food, water, clothing, shelter, public safety, recreation, transportation and the environment.
The Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations is a statistical method used to rank the level of human development among its member nations. The HDI has three dimensions, namely (1) life expectancy as a measure of health and longevity, (2) adult literacy as a measure of knowledge and education, and (3) economic prosperity as a measure of the standard of living, as indicated by the gross domestic product per capita.
Looking at it another way, the HDI is a composite measure of how much access the residents of a country actually have to three basic services, namely (1) health, (2) education and (3) livelihood. Also looking at it another way, the HDI recognizes the three most critical problems of developing countries, namely (1) the mortality rate, (2), the illiteracy rate and (3) the poverty rate.
In the interest of national development, I am advocating the full adoption of the HDI as a popular method of measuring access to the three basic services not only in the national level, but also in the local level, meaning the Local Government Units (LGUs). So far, the HDI method has not been used to measure local development, and we could have a breakthrough if we will become the first country to do it.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), also of the United Nations is a program aimed to achieve eight specific development goals on or before 2015, namely (1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, (2) achieve universal primary education, (3) promote gender equality and empower women, (4) reduce child mortality, (5) improve maternal health, (6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, (7) ensure environmental sustainability and (8) develop a global partnership for development.
The Non-Economic Measures (NEMs) approach quantifies the initiatives of national governments to improve the standard of living in their own jurisdictions. NEM includes initiatives in (1) social investment, (2) environment, (3) taxation and (4) quality of life.
The social investment component of the NEM approach includes (1) infrastructure, (2) education, (3) health, (4) water and (5) shelter. The environment component includes (1) pollution, (2) waste, (3) nature and (4) land use. The taxation component includes (1) tax compliance and (2) incentives. The quality of life component includes (1) material wealth, (2) mental state, (3) stress and (4) crime.
For planning purposes, I believe that the MBN approach should be the centerpiece statistical method, because it encompasses all of the human needs that are also covered by the HDI, the MDGs and the NEMs. To be more specific, the MBN approach covers health, education and livelihood which are all within the scope of the HDI.
Still in reference to the MBN approach, the following MDGs are health related: reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. The achievement of universal primary education is of course education related, and the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger is livelihood related. Ensuring environmental sustainability is of course environment related.
The last MDG might appear to be unrelated to all the other basic need, but we could actually say that developing a global partnership for development could be the basis for the acquisition of more resources from international sources, in support of the MBN approach.
MBNs such as food, water, clothing and the environment could be considered as basic services that are directly related to the health dimension, as defined in the HDI. MBNs such as shelter and transportation could be considered as basic services that are directly related to the livelihood dimension, also as defined in the HDI. In the past, many shelter development projects have failed because of the lack of access to transportation and livelihood.
It is interesting to note that in the social investment component of the NEMs, shelter is described as an objective to provide affordable and accessible housing to meet the needs of those who are in search of homes and employment. This validates the notion that shelter and livelihood are two twin strategies that should really go together.
With all the basic needs now fitting into the UNIDA framework, there appears to be only one local dimension that is left out, and that is the dimension of public safety as a measure of peace and order. As a way of adopting the framework to the local realities, I am also advocating that we promote public safety as a basic need, as measured by the criminality rate.

Watch KA IKING LIVE! Saturdays 8 pm to 9 pm in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 21 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639293605140 for local cable listings. Visit www.senseneres.blogspot.com

DISASTER WARNING SYSTEMS

NO HOLDS BARRED (077) July 15, 2010
By Ike Señeres

DISASTER WARNING SYSTEMS

President Noynoy Aquino has reason to get down at PAGASA officials for not being able to warn Metro Manila residents about the impact of the storm “Basyang” in the metropolis. Did he probably wonder that Gloria could partly to blame for the failure?

PAGASA is an agency under the DOST and if there is anyone to blame for the failure, it should be no other than the DOST. Not unless we start believing that an attached agency has nothing to do with its mother agency and what attached agency is under what mother agency is just legal fiction.

All throughout the nine year regime of Gloria, the DOST was under Dr. Estrella Alabastro, and you would think that that would have been enough time to fix DOST and all the agencies under it, including PAGASA.

At least, Gloria made a lame attempt to claim that she did some good during her nine years, but we have not heard anything from Dr. Alabastro, not even a report of what she has done and not done.

During the inauguration of President Noynoy, a huge banner clearly announced the sentiments of the people in the crowd: “GLORIA WE ARE NOT GOING TO MISS YOU”. I wonder if anyone is going to say that they will miss Alabastro.

I have no complaints about academics being appointed to cabinet positions, but we should treat this on a case to case basis, because heading a cabinet department is a management job, perhaps too much of a challenge for someone who is good for nothing except a teaching job.

Aside from being a management job, a cabinet position is also a policy job, meaning to say that it is the job of the Secretary assigned to review and improve the policies that would affect the sector assigned to him or her. We have not heard of any major policy changes either in the time of Alabastro, so we wonder what she did during her nine years on the job.

Newly appointed NEDA Secretary Dondon Paderanga could be an exception to the rule that an academic is not always a good manager. Dondon is actually just returning to his old NEDA post, and no President would put him back there if he is no good.

No one doubts the management savvy of Dondon, but I think that his greater strength is his policy prowess, and that is exactly what we need at this time that we are trying to rise from the damage of the super typhoon Gloria that wrecked havoc on our economy.

With all apologies to my friends in DOST and PAGASA, this whole function of warning people about disaster is all about data. It is all about getting the right data at the right time, and bringing out the data to the most number of people in the fastest possible way.

Now that Noynoy has dressed down PAGASA, he should also take a look at what the DFA might have failed to do, in connection with this function of gathering the disaster data. You might wonder why the DFA could be involved, but they do have a technology transfer division that could have brought in the equipment needed to address this problem.

I wish that I will have the chance to suggest to Noynoy about what could be done to solve this problem of disaster warnings. The bottom line here is that PAGASA is still using analog weather stations, and they have less than a hundred of this old equipment all over the country, no thanks to Alabastro.

If I will have the chance to suggest to Noynoy, I will tell him that I know exactly what to do, so that we could immediately shift to digital weather stations, and immediately installing thousands of this new equipment all over the country, without so much expense, and without asking Alabastro.

It has been said that the lack of development in this country is due to the technology lag, being the problem of delay in deploying new technologies here. I think however that the problem is in the lack of vision and drive among the people who are supposed to hasten the pace. Too bad, along with Gloria, history will tell that Alabastro wasted technology in their time.

Watch KA IKING LIVE! Saturdays 8 pm to 9 pm in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 21 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639293605140 for local cable listings. Visit www.senseneres.blogspot.com

ALTERNATIVE LEARNING SYSTEM

NO HOLDS BARRED (076) July 07, 2010
By Ike Señeres

ALTERNATIVE LEARNING SYSTEM

Mr. Paul Soriano, Executive Director of the Adopt-A-School Program (ASP) of the Department of Education (DEPED) says that there are about 9 to 16 million children in the Philippines who are considered as out of school youth (OSY). These are the children who should be targeted to become the beneficiaries of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of the DEPED, a system that includes the Home Study Program (HSP) also of the DEPED.

One wonders why there would be that many children who are now out of school, considering that public schools are free to everyone who is of school age in this country. I found out that the reasons for this problem are very simple: the children could not afford the transport costs, the meal costs, and at times, could not even afford the clothing costs. One other reason, which is rather surprising, is the high incidence of teenage pregnancies, a problem that drives many girls out of school.

Dr. Jose Rizal once said that the youth is the hope of the fatherland, but what is going to be the future of this country if the youth do not have hope, do not even have the right opportunities to have brighter futures? How are we going to reconcile the past aspirations of Dr. Rizal with the present realities that the futures of these children are practically hopeless?

I consider myself lucky that after being exposed to the information and communications technologies (ICT), I have recently gained some new experiences in the mass media and broadcast technologies, particularly in cable and satellite television broadcasting. In reality however, these two technologies are very much related, and that is the reason why we are now talking about the convergence of these technologies.

Computerization and automation are the two buzz words that have become very popular in the technology circles. Because of this, it has become the knee jerk reaction of technology planners to computerize and automate everything. While I do not disagree that this is a good direction to take, these planners should also consider the cost implications of their technology choices.

A monthly subscription to a cable television account costs only about 500 pesos a month and that comes with free installation. A monthly subscription to a satellite television account costs only about 300 pesos a month, with a one time entry fee of about 7,500 pesos. These are commercial rates that are still subject to academic discounts.

A used personal computer would cost about 5,000 pesos, whereas a used television set would cost only about 1,500 pesos. It would cost several thousands of pesos to pay for educational software, whereas it would cost only a pittance to produce learning videos. Computers would require a lot of maintenance, whereas television sets are practically maintenance free. These are some of the reasons why videos are more practical to use as learning tools compared to software, at least in a developing country like ours.

Fortunately for the DEPED, a law has been passed that gives tax incentives to companies that would donate any item of value to the DEPED, for any educational use. Taking full advantage of this law, I am now in the process of establishing the Social Education Network (SEN), also to be known as the SEN Channel, a 24 hour educational channel that will be available through cable, satellite, internet and mobile broadcasting.

The primary objective of the SEN Channel is to support the ALS. The secondary objective is to support the conventional schools of the DEPED, by providing for at least one television set in every classroom. Considering the cost implications, this is a more doable goal, compared to the very costly goal of providing for at least one computer in every classroom.

As planned in coordination with the ASP, six hours of programming will be dedicated to elementary subjects, while another six hours will be dedicated to high school subjects. The rest of the remaining hours will be used for teacher training, adult education, professional review courses and vocational learning.

Through the efforts of Dr. Virginia Teodosio of the University of the Philippines, several hundred cooperatives will purchase satellite units so that the children of coop members could take all of the courses being offered.

Watch KA IKING LIVE! Saturdays 8 pm to 9 pm in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 21 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639293605140 for local cable listings. Visit www.senseneres.blogspot.com