THE POTENTIAL OF COOPERATIVES

BANTAY GOBYERNO SERIES 066
By Ike Señeres 04/30/2011

THE POTENTIAL OF COOPERATIVES

Many cooperatives in the Philippines have failed or are failing because of corruption. This problem in the local cooperative movement is indicative of what is happening in the broader society that is also beset with corruption. In other words, the problem in the cooperatives is a microcosm of the corruption that is happening in our country as a whole.

Regardless of the pervasive problem of corruption in our country however, we have to other choice because we only have one country, and we could not replace it. What we could replace however is the conduct of our society, so that corruption will be decreased, to a point where it will become more of an exception than the rule itself.

Comparing the state of corruption in our country and the state of corruption among the cooperatives however, I would say that there is no other alternative for the cooperative approach as an instrument for the more equitable distribution of wealth, or in other words, for the democratization of economic opportunities for everyone in our society.

I have looked all over, time and again, and I have always arrived at the conclusion that there is really no alternative for the cooperative approach. That being the case, we have no other choice really except to reform the conduct of the cooperative movement, so that corruption will be lessened.

I know that some critics might disagree with me when I say that my goal is only to lessen or decrease corruption, and not to remove or eradicate it. The fact is, corruption is a product of greed, and it will always be around as long as greed remains as a human weakness. It could only be reduced, but not removed.

The law says that cooperatives should appoint professional managers, but it seems that only a few of them are obeying this law. Good business practice says that coops should not appoint their own members to work as professional managers in order to avoid conflicts of interest, but again, many coops are going against this rule. Not unless the coops will obey these two basic conditions, they will never be able to get out of their present problems. As an incentive to the coops that are willing to reform, they could avail of free management training right away.
Since it is part of my work to identify and integrate information and communications technology (ICT) solutions for business applications, I already have direct access to ICT resources that could readily be used by the coops. I am ready and willing to share these resources with all coops, provided that they would agree to implement the two basic solutions.

Aside from management, marketing is the other most common problem of coops. The solution to this is of course simple, and that is the identification of a good buyer. Not so much to start with, but I have already identified good buyers for cacao, rice and tree seedlings, among others. These buyers are potentially able to issue letters of intent already.

Automation is the biggest challenge of business enterprises today, and that also includes cooperatives. Automation should include manufacturing and marketing systems as well. So much could be done in these two aspects in terms of enabling increased revenues and saving more money. In short, the bottom line of coops could really improve, if only they could adopt the right technologies.

Most Filipinos could not afford to invest in big business, and could not also buy the stocks of big companies. That being the case, the only practical alternative for them is to invest in the coops. Most Filipinos are also unable to manage their own business, and that is what the coops are supposed to do for them, provided of course that the coops would hire professional managers.

The idea behind the coop concept is to pool together small amounts of money from small investors, so that it would turn into bigger capital. Since that is the idea, why not pool together the money of professionals so that they could invest in the infra that they need to practice their professions? This idea could work for doctors, nurses, sailors and ship captains, and why not for drivers and mechanics too?

Doctors and nurses could pool their money to put up coops that would own clinics and hospitals. Sailors and ship captains could put up coops that would own ships and barges. Drivers and mechanics could put up coops that would own buses and taxis. The list could go on and on with more imagination applied. The idea about buying ships is interesting because we have so many sailors and yet they do not own a single ship, despite the fact that they collectively earn so many millions.

Tune in to KA IKING LIVE! 6 to 7pm Thursdays in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 8 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text to +639997333011. Visit www.senseneres.blogspot.com. Join Coffee Clutch Fridays

PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY

BANTAY GOBYERNO SERIES 065
By Ike Señeres 04/22/2011

PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY

I met Atty. Cita Garcia for the second time. She is one of the staunch advocates of the adoption of the jury system here. It was a good time for me to be reminded that participation in a jury is one of the rights and obligations of citizens in a real democratic system, a right that is equal to the right to vote, as a matter of fact.

The right to vote in an election in a manner of speaking gives us the means to participate in the executive and legislative processes, because we are the ones who chose the people who run our government and make our laws, even if indirectly. The adoption of the jury system will in effect complete our rights to participate in the three branches of government.

I received an email from Mr. Andy Rosales, and in that email he reminded me that there is another means for us citizens to participate in the executive process, but unfortunately we are practically ignoring the said means. I am referring to the rights and obligations of citizens to participate in the mandated development councils at the barangay, municipal, provincial and regional levels.

It is ironic to think that while the people in the Middle East are giving their lives for the sake of democracy, we on the other hand are wasting our opportunities to take advantage of the democratic process. Citizen participation in the development councils is supposed to be through the involvement of local non-government organizations (NGOs), but this set-up is very much disorganized now.

In order to address the disorganized state of NGOs at the local levels, I believe that it is now time to organize local chapters of the Socio-Economic Development Alliance (SEDA) at the barangay, municipal, provincial and regional levels, all managed by a central office at all regional centers. Needless to say, the officers at the central office should also be the ones who will attend the meetings of the Regional Development Councils (RDCs).

In order to establish order in the regular meetings of SEDA at all local levels, I have written a set of protocols that will be used in these meetings, along with Robert’s Rules of Order that should also be used. Any organization that is interested in getting a copy of this protocol may contact me and I will send it via email. If you have any contacts at these local levels, please let me know.
The Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) is supposed to be the overall framework of all the mandated development councils. All the reports of all local councils are supposed to be submitted to main office of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), where the secretariat of the MTPDP is located. Fortunately, NEDA is also the secretariat of the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), and because of this dual role, NEDA is really in a position to coordinate all developmental and environmental concerns.

In the same manner that we get what we pay, we also get the government that we deserve. President Noynoy Aquino is correct in saying that we the people are his “boss”, but that does not mean that the government should be doing all the work, and we the people should just remain as passive spectators. Since the mechanisms for participatory democracy are already in place, let us now become active in good governance through the local chapters of SEDA.

As a service to the nation, SEDA should become active in continuously monitoring and reporting all the socio-economic indicators that could be used by NEDA in particular and by the government in general. This should include the poverty rate, the illiteracy rate, the mortality rate, the crime rate, the unemployment rate and many other known measures. On top of these, we should come up with new measures that are still relatively unknown, such as the hunger rate and the homeless rate.

The poverty rate, the illiteracy rate and the mortality rate are measures that are being monitored by the United Nations under the framework of the Human Development Index (HDI). It would be fair to say that the mortality rate is directly related to the crime rate, and that the poverty rate is also directly related to the unemployment rate, therefore we should be conscious of these inter-relationships.

Since mortality, illiteracy, hunger and poverty appear to be our four biggest national problems, I have come up with a collective approach that will deliver Health, Education, Agriculture and Livelihood solutions, otherwise known as the HEAL framework. This is going to be the working framework of SEDA. Health is the solution to high mortality. Education is the solution to illiteracy. Food is the solution to hunger. Livelihood is the solution to poverty. People will always die because of one reason or another, but at least, we could lower the mortality rate.

Tune in to KA IKING LIVE! 6 to 7pm Thursdays in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 8 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text to +639997333011. Visit www.senseneres.blogspot.com. Join Coffee Clutch Fridays

POVERTY AND STARVATION

BANTAY GOBYERNO SERIES 064
By Ike Señeres 04/14/2011

POVERTY AND STARVATION

We should all be shocked to learn that 25% of Filipinos are “experiencing hunger”, and 50% consider themselves to be poor, not just President Noynoy Aquino. Thanks to the Social Weather Station (SWS), this grim reality is now known to all of us, and we should all do something about it.

According to economist Mr. Butch Valdez, “hunger” is actually a mild term to use, because the more accurate term is “starvation”. I recently interviewed Mr. Valdez and Dr. Ernie Gonzales in my TV show, and both of them said that not unless we change the economic policies that are now in place in our country, the poverty and hunger problems here will worsen, possibly even destroying our entire country in the years to come.

Reacting to their statements, I asked them why is it that our government and our people are not yet seriously alarmed about the situation, considering that it appears to have already reached a very critical stage. I then offered the explanation that perhaps the reason why we are not yet alarmed, is because people are not yet dying in the streets, unlike what has happened in India.

It was Dr. Gonzales who explained that in our culture, we still manage to take care of the sick and the dying in our homes, and that is why we do not see people dying in the streets. His explanation is acceptable, but if that is the case, we should still find out how many people are dying because of poverty and hunger, directly or indirectly. If we have to require our hospitals and our funeral parlors to do that, we must do so, because we need the data to be able to guide our policy actions.

I am not an economist myself, but I would venture to offer an explanation that we still do not see people dying in the streets, because the problem of homelessness here has not yet worsened as it has in India. What I mean however is that people here still manage to have a place to stay even if it is just a shanty. If however we strictly define the standards for decent habitable homes, these shanty dwellers would all technically become “homeless”, even if they have placesto stay.

One does not have to be an economist to understand that the problem of hunger is directly related to the problem of poverty, and the problem of homelessness is directly related to both also. During the interview, Mr. Valdez said that we should not be surprised if the poor people will die as they do, because they they have nothing to eat, and when they are hungry, they get sick, and when they get sick, they have no means to get medical attention, so they die. To that, I will add that if they are homeless, there is a higher probability that they will get sick, because they are not protected from the elements.

Three Filipinos are executed in China, and we are all scandalized. The fact is, about three thousand poor people die here every day according to Mr. Valdez, and we are not scandalized. I understand that there are many economic policies that need to be changed in order to solve the problem of poverty related deaths, but first of all, it has to change with our change of values, about what we consider to be important, and what is not.

Of course it is important for us to plan a good future for our people, but first things first, we must first deal with the present triple problems of poverty, hunger and homelessness. The first order of business is to declare a NATIONAL STATE OF EMERGENCY to address the problem of HUNGER. We are preparing for the eventuality that people could die in case of an earthquake, but we are not doing enough to deal with the present reality of HUNGER.

The best place to start is at the barangay level, where serious and real POVERTY MAPPING should be done immediately, leading to a DATABASE that should include data about poverty, hunger, sickness and homelessness. These are the four DATA SETS that should always be gathered together, not one at a time. Everyone should get involved in this exercise, and anyone who needs help in putting up a DATABASE should let me know, because I can help.

It is not yet in our national consciousness, but it is now about time for local government units (LGUs) to put up HOMELESS SHELTERS. We are all aware of the existence of street children, but the fact is, there are STREET FAMILIES already if we just bother to look. It goes without saying that STREET FAMILIES are in effect homeless, but we should also include in that category all families that are staying in shanties, because in effect, they do not have real homes. For my part, I will assign myself the homework of organizing a FOOD BANK starting in Metro Manila, so that food companies and restaurants could donate their surplus foodstuffs to these HOMELESS SHELTERS in exchange for tax credits.

Tune in to KA IKING LIVE! 6 to 7pm Thursdays in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 8 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text to +639997333011. Visit www.senseneres.blogspot.com. Join Coffee Clutch Fridays

THE PRO-POOR MANIFESTO OF 2011

April 15, 2011
THE PRO-POOR MANIFESTO OF 2011
The time has come for all Filipinos to acknowledge the reality that HUNGER as a social problem has now reached alarming critical levels, and therefore it is time to declare a STATE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY.
We the signatories of this manifesto hereby declare a STATE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY in order to address the problem of HUNGER on our own, and we at the same time call upon the GOVERNMENT to do the same, to also declare a STATE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY on its own, in order to make this declaration OFFICIAL.
We the signatories of this manifesto hereby call upon all Filipinos everywhere, those who are in the Philippines and those who are overseas, to acknowledge the following realities:
About 50% of Filipinos now consider themselves to be POOR;
About 25% of Filipinos have experienced HUNGER at least once for the past three months;
About 10% of Filipinos have a life threatening SICKNESS and are in danger of dying because they could not afford medical care, and many of them could die without even seeing a doctor;
About 5% of Filipinos are now HOMELESS, not counting those who are living in shanties and makeshift dwellings under subhuman conditions.
We the signatories of this manifesto hereby call upon the GOVERNMENT to immediately implement the following programs:
POVERTY MAPPING- To establish a database of POOR Filipinos, in order to know who they are, and where they are, down to the barangay level;
FOOD BANK- To establish a system of feeding the HUNGRY by collecting surplus foodstuffs from food companies and restaurants, in exchange for tax credits;
HEALTH CARD- To establish a system of giving identity cards to indigent Filipinos who are suffering from SICKNESS, so that they could see a doctor and avail of medical care;
HOMELESS SHELTERS- To establish a system of providing temporary shelters so that HOMELESS Filipinos could have a place to during the night, with breakfast in the morning.
We the signatories of this manifesto hereby call upon the private sector to support the GOVERNMENT in implementing the above programs as soon as possible.
1. Ike Seneres, iseneres@yahoo.com, +639997333011
2.

A NEW CULTURAL REVOLUTION

BANTAY GOBYERNO SERIES 063
By Ike Señeres 04/09/2011

A NEW CULTURAL REVOLUTION

I remember an old debate way back in my Diliman days, about who is really the prima donna of the social sciences, whether it is economics or political science. Of course I was on the political science side at that time, but when I graduated and moved on to the corporate world, I realized that it is really money that drives the politics of a developing nation.

It is the development aspect that makes the difference, because in politically mature societies, there is no doubt that it is politics that drives everything, including the economic aspects. To be precise however, politics and economics of the same coin, given the fact that many politicians enter politics in order to protect and preserve their economic power.

Into this picture enters Art Valdez, the leader of the Philippine Mount Everest team, and the Balanghay Voyage team. An iconic leader with impeccable credentials and unquestionable credibility, he now says that what we need now is a new cultural revolution. He explains that way back in our early history, our territory was inhabited by a highly civilized, dignified and proud people, adding that we should recover and restore that pride in order to move forward as one united country.

Art cited the example of China, a country that was once devastated by war and humbled by national defeat and economic failure. He said that it was because of the cultural revolution of China that enabled the Chinese people to rediscover their national identity, and as a consequence they also restored their national pride, a factor that enabled them to move towards a clear path of progress.

In a manner of speaking, Art is in effect saying that culture is more important than economics and politics, suggesting indirectly that a new cultural revolution will give us the strenght and the inspiration to move forward economically and politically. As it turned out, it now appears that the conquest of Mount Everest by Filipinos and the succesful journey of the Balanghay boats are actually part of this emerging new cultural revolution.

Not the type who would stop while he is ahead, Art is now about to start an expanded Balanghay voyage that will take his team to more ports of call in the Philippines, in a sort of seaborne roadshow that will take five years to complete, a mission that could kindle and inspire the whole nation towards a new cultural revolution. True enough, Art told me that aside from the medical, dental missions that are being planned, the roadshow will also include the documentation of native and indigenous arts and cultures.

In our private conversations, Art told me that during the Mount Everest climbs and the Balanghay voyages, he and his teams realized the importance of disaster preparedness and emergency response readiness. Because of this realization, Art has now added disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) to his advocacies, saying as well that DRR and CCA seminars will always be part of the new voyage activities.

Art and I are fellow American Field Service (AFS) scholars. Another well known AFS scholar is Tony Meloto of Gawad Kalinga. Sharing a common bond, we have agreed to work together for the good of the nation, possibly also bringing in Tony into the joint efforts. We still have to work out the specifics, but the general idea is to build lasting institutions in all the ports of call where the boats will go.

Among other specific ideas, Art and I talked about establishing Command and Control Centers (CCC) in every region, similar to the CCC project in Makati that I supported as a computer consultant. A CCC is the nerve center of all police, fire, ambulance, rescue, hospital and traffic information and communications within a locality, and logically it should also be the base of all DRR and CCA operations.

We also talked about establishing a Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) branch in every region, also a Marine Biodiversity Center (MBDC) in each region. These are big and tall ideas, but are surely within the realistic reach of a true visionary who has proven himself in the achievement of near impossible goals. In so many ways, he believes that our natural diversity is part of our cultural heritage.

As part of the MBDC project, Art has agreed to promote the replanting of mangrove trees in all the coastal areas where the boats will dock. Needless to say, this will include the Manila Bay, and this is where MABIADO will come in. To know more about it, visit http://sedablog.blogspot.com/2011/04/manila-bay-integrated-area-development.html. Join the new cultural revolution now!

Tune in to KA IKING LIVE! 6 to 7pm Thursdays in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 8 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text to +639997333011. Visit www.senseneres.blogspot.com. Join Coffee Clutch Fridays