NO WRONG DOOR POLICY

NO WRONG DOOR POLICY My dear countrymen, according to Microsoft Copilot, “the No Wrong Door Policy is a service delivery approach designed to ensure that individuals seeking assistance are provided with the necessary support, regardless of which government office or agency they initially contact. Under this policy, clients should not be turned away or referred to another agency without first receiving some level of assistance. The goal is to provide a seamless and integrated service experience, making it easier for individuals to access the help they need”. Also, according to Copilot, “the No Wrong Door Policy originated in Singapore in 2004. The policy was introduced by the Singapore Public Service to ensure that members of the public do not get referred from one agency to another when they have an issue for the government to resolve1. Instead, the agency that receives the query or feedback should identify the responsible agency and put the person in touch with them. The policy aims to provide a seamless and integrated service experience, making it easier for individuals to access the help they need without being passed around between different agencies”. The good news is, the NWD policy was already adopted by the Philippine government in 2016, by virtue of Executive Order No. 2, also known as the “Freedom of Information Order” (FOI). The bad news is, most government agencies appear to have ignored it, except for the DTI and the PCOO. The PCOO was eventually reorganized into the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) in 2022, but I have no information whether it is still adopting the policy or not. If not, it may have fallen victim into the transition from one administration to another, even if it is such a good idea. I really do not know how the NWD policy got tangled into the bigger web of the FOI order, but that being the case, it seems to be a good time now to renew calls for the passing of the FOI concept into law, and while doing that, we might as well include provisions for the NWD policy to become part of the proposed law. At this point, it would be worthwhile to note that in so many occasions, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has been calling on government agencies to honor the personal data of citizens as it is collected and presented from one agency to another. Although it is generally known as “data portability” and “single-sign-on” in computer parlance, President Marcos sounds like he is advocating the NWD policy. Although it might sound like a long shot, the NWD policy appears to be closely related to the “Whole of Government” (WOG) approach that is also being advocated by Marcos. What that probably means is that the whole government is just one entity, and it should not only act as one, but it should also serve as one. Truth to tell, there are many among our countrymen who could not differentiate the functions of one agency from another, and because of that, they would tend to wrongly approach one wrong agency or another. That could even be a problem if they are short of transportation money, which means it would be difficult for them to move on to the correct agency. In that case, the NWD policy could be useful to them. Your friend, IKE SENERES/12-01-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

LOOKING FOR CHEAPER MEDICINES

LOOKING FOR CHEAPER MEDICINES Dear Mr. President, according to Microsoft Copilot, a generic medicine “is a medication that has the same active ingredients, strength, dosage form, and route of administration as a brand-name drug. It is considered bioequivalent to the brand-name drug, meaning it works in the same way and provides the same clinical benefit. Generic medicines are typically sold at a lower price than their brand-name counterparts, making them more accessible and affordable for consumers”. In theory therefore, a generic medicine product is practically the same as a branded medicine product, except that it does not have a brand. More often that not however, a generic medicine product carries the name of the manufacturer. That being the case, it is generally implied that if the manufacturer is trustworthy and reputable, then the product should be acceptable. Often however, many consumers only know the brand names of medicine products and not the names of their manufacturers. If only most of the consumers would know the good reputations of the generic medicine manufacturers, then they would not hesitate to buy them instead of the but since they do not, they keep on buying the branded medicines, and there the problem lies. There should be no problem really if they could afford to pay for the branded medicines but if they could not, then it becomes a big drain on their household budgets. That said, what should we do Mr. President? Although it might sound like an oxymoron, there is such a thing as a “branded generic”, as it is referred to by some doctors and patients alike. These are the generic medicine products that have been found to be effective by many doctors and patients over the years, even if up to now these are still unbranded, so to speak. Although it may either be either unethical or illegal for the DOH to endorse these so-called “branded generic” medicines, would it be possible Mr. President to come up with a whitelist or a consumer guide of some kind? As far as I know Sir, there are many sources of free medicines such as the LGUs, the DOH, the PCSO and even some Senators and Congressmen. The problem is Sir, most of the needy and indigent people would not know where to get these medicines, and how to apply for them. Some of these sources might even publish the available medicines in their websites, but the problem is, many of the needy and indigent people do not have internet access either. Perhaps one of the government agencies could come up with a solution to this problem, Mr. President? I do not exactly know how to go about it Sir, but I think that if the government could assist the cooperatives in the buying and selling of both generic and branded medicine products, then it could possibly bring down the prices, at least for the coop members, aside from the fact that the members could earn dividends and rebates also. Aside from that, the problem of trusting the generic products could lessen because the members could complain to their own coop if the products are not effective. Respectfully yours, IKE SENERES/11-30-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

PURELY ONLINE COLLEGE COURSES

PURELY ONLINE COLLEGE COURSES Dear Mr. President, according to Microsoft Copilot, “the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) does not allow purely 100% online courses. According to CHED Memorandum Order No. 16, signed by Chairman Prospero De Vera III, higher education institutions (HEIs) are required to offer either full face-to-face classes or hybrid learning modalities. for hybrid classes, at least 50% of the total contact time must be conducted in person". Also according to Copilot, the Commission came up with this policy “to ensure that students can receive hand-on and practical learning experiences, especially for laboratory courses, on-the-job training and apprenticeships”. Just to be clear Mr. President, I am not against this policy that was issued by CHED. However, I am writing this letter to you in the hope that you could intervene, to convince Chairman De Vera that there are practical ways to interpret this policy, without bending the rules. I believe Sir, that the better way to interpret the policy is to separate the theoretical and the practical components of these courses. What I mean Sir, is that the theoretical components of the courses could be conducted purely online, while the practical components could be conducted purely offline, meaning onsite. For purposes of this discussion, the term “onsite” could be interpreted to mean “on campus” or “off campus”. I also believe Mr. President that there should be no argument when it comes to on-the-job training, because OJT could not really be done except by way of face-to-face “on premise”. However, Sir, it also not be argued that due to its purpose, OJT must be done “off campus”. The same goes for apprenticeships Sir, because apprenticeships must be done “off campus” also. Following my line of argument, it seems that it is there is no choice except to do laboratory work “offline” and via face-to-face, but I submit that this component could be done “off campus”, perhaps in a laboratory in a location that is nearest to the student. Although these ideas that I am presenting might sound new for some people, these are already being practiced in many countries. Pardon the long introduction Mr. President; to go direct to my point now, I think online learning that will be catering to foreign students could be a strong dollar earner for our country eventually. Although I am speaking in the future sense Sir, the online learning industry is already happening now in our country, by way of Filipino teachers teaching English to foreign students via the internet. As a matter of fact, Mr. President, it would not be far-fetched to say that this emerging trend could eventually manifest itself as a form of “educational tourism”. Again, as a matter-of-fact Sir, this is already happening in reverse now, as many Filipino students are now enrolled in online courses conducted by foreign schools. If we apply this concept to our local situation, it could become possible for students from the provinces to enroll in online courses that are being offered by the schools in Metro Manila. I am very sure Mr. President, that regardless of where they are, there could always be local companies that could offer them the opportunities for OJT and apprenticeship programs. Respectfully yours, IKE SENERES/11-29-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

THIRD PARTY GOVERNMENT AUDITS

THIRD PARTY GOVERNMENT AUDITS My dear friends, according to Microsoft Copilot, “the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is responsible for conducting government audits. The GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. Often referred to as the "congressional watchdog," the GAO investigates federal spending and performance to ensure accountability and efficiency in government operations”. I believe that the GAO was created under the legal fiction that whoever appropriates the money, should audit the money. That is the reason why the GAO was created by the US Congress, and it remains within the legislative branch over there. For some reason, we did not copy that legal fiction here in the Philippines. That is perhaps the reason why over here, the Philippine Congress created the Commission on Audit (COA) as an independent commission that is outside both the legislative and the executive branches. The COA is so independent and so powerful, that it could even audit the Philippine Congress itself. I do not know about you, but in my opinion, I prefer the American legal fiction that the one who appropriates should be the one to audit. Of course, we are an independent country, and we do not have to copy everything that the Americans are doing, even if our system of government was patterned after theirs. Yes, we might have copied, but we copied differently. Although it has not done yet, the Philippine Congress also has the power to conduct hearings about anything that the COA is doing, and that could take the form of an audit. Sad to say, there is there is still a lot of corruption happening in the Philippine government, despite the supposedly strict audits that the COA is doing. Is it because the corrupt officials are so good at stealing the money, such that they can go around the COA? Or is it because the COA is not so good at what they are doing, such that the corrupt officials are finding it too easy to go around them? Since the stealing has been going on for many decades despite the many years of auditing, is it not about time that we try other approaches? How about allowing third party audits by private accounting firms in addition to the audits done by COA? Or how about creating an office inside the Philippine Congress that is like the GAO? If the Philippine Congress allows third party audits, we would have an additional means of detecting corrupt expenditures by way of comparing the two audit reports. And if the Philippine Congress conducts their own inhouse audits, it would become easier for them to conduct budget hearings. In theory, our Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) should be able to operate freely as if they are private corporations, so that they could generate the profits that they should. As a possible innovation, they could be allowed to engage the services of private accounting firms. Instead of policing them to find out what is being stolen, we should just check their bottom lines to find out if they are meeting their revenue targets or not. For sure, they could not achieve their revenue targets if someone inside is stealing the money. Your friend, IKE SENERES/11-28-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

COMBINING JOBS AND OWN SMALL BUSINESS

COMBINING JOBS AND OWN SMALL BUSINESS My dear friends, perhaps there was a time when it was difficult for anybody have a regular job and own a small business at the same time. That was the case before, because owning a brick-and-mortar business takes too much time and effort. Nowadays however, the preponderance of the internet technology has changed all that, because of electronic commerce or ecommerce for short. Nowadays, anyone using ecommerce could run his or her business remotely from anywhere, at any time, for as long as he or she has a computer or a mobile phone, and if he or she has a good signal of course. What that means that anyone who has a full-time job could still have the extra time to own and operate an online business, even if he or she does not have his or her own website yet. As far as I know, many small business owners are only using Facebook Marketplace to sell their goods and services, meaning that they are not yet selling on Shopee, Lazada. Alibaba or the other online platforms. If they are happy with that, they could stick with that, but eventually it would be best if they could have their own ecommerce site. It does not matter to me no matter what platform they use. As a matter of fact, they don’t even have to sell online yet, if they have a business on their own, no matter how small. My advocacy is for every Filipino to have their own business, aside from having a job. And they don’t even have to go into processing or manufacturing either. Many small business owners are just going into simple buying and selling, either from local or foreign sources. What is good about the internet is that you could buy anything on wholesale and retail, and it will be delivered to your doorstep. What that means is that you don’t even have to go to Divisoria physically in person, because the Divisoria merchants are already online also. And unlike before when it was to find merchants among the maze of stores hidden in many places, it is easier to find them now using the search engines of Facebook and Google. Up to now, many small business owners are still making a good living by selling via some Multi-Level Marketing (MLM). As far as I am concerned, there is really nothing wrong with MLM, for as long as there are real good quality products to sell, and no one is forced to buy inventories that they do not need. Those who want to join MLM organizations should however be careful about joining without doing some background investigations first. Otherwise, they could be joining a scam. A Direct Selling Organization (DSO) could be a better option compared to MLM. There is no need for the so-called pairing, and you only buy what you need. Aside from that, you could see all their products online, and you could check on their company profiles online. Better still, it would be advisable to check on their company reviews, just to be sure. Your friend, IKE SENERES/11-27-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

HOW TO MAKE THE INTERNET FASTER AND CHEAPER

HOW TO MAKE THE INTERNET FASTER AND CHEAPER My dear friends, do you think that it is possible to make the internet go faster, and not only that, to make it cheaper? My answer to both questions is yes, and allow me to explain to you why, but first let me tell you what the internet is, and how it runs. Perhaps you have already heard people talk that the internet is an information highway? Well, that story is true, and let me tell you why. Imagine that your town has a superhighway, but it only has two lanes. If only a few vehicles will traverse the superhighway, the flow of traffic will be very fast. Perhaps when that superhighway was built, there were only very vehicles on the road. As the number of vehicles doubled, the government should also have doubled the width of the superhighway, meaning that they should have added two more lanes to make it four lanes. Otherwise, the flow of traffic will become very slow. Now, imagine that the internet is like a superhighway, and that is why it is called an information superhighway. But instead of vehicles traversing the superhighway, it is data that is traversing it. Just the same, if the width of the superhighway is narrow or thin, only a few megabits of data can traverse it, and if there are too many megabits of data that will traverse it, the flow will be very slow. Therefore, the solution to that problem is to make the information superhighway broader, and that my friends, is the easiest way to explain what broadband is. Now that you know what broadband is, allow me to tell you what a broadband network is. According to Microsoft Copilot, “a broadband network is a high-speed internet connection that provides fast and reliable access to the internet”. By definition, a broadband network has three components, namely the backbone, the middle mile and the last mile. Some experts would define the middle mile as part of the backbone, but I think otherwise. So now, it is clear to you that to fix the internet to make it go faster, we must fix all three components. Going straight to the point, the Philippines now has at least five broadband networks, namely the ones owned by Globe, PLDT, Converge, Ditto and DICT. That is the good news. But the good news is, these five broadband networks are not interconnected, at least not now, or for the most part. Converge and Ditto have reportedly agreed to interconnect, but not yet Globe and PLDT. I am sure that DICT would like to interconnect with all of them, but the National Broadband Program (NBP) that they are building is yet to be completed in 2026. If you ask me, I will tell you that the NBP should be bigger and broader than what the private networks have right now. And if we could make that happen, we should then allow the private networks to use the NBP for free, in the same way that private bus companies are now using our physical superhighways for free. If we do that, the costs of the private networks will go down, and in theory, they could pass on their savings to their customers, hence making their internet services cheaper. With a bigger NBN, the DICT could now convince the private networks to interconnect, and that is what is going to make the internet in this country go faster, among other solutions. Your friend, IKE SENERES/11-26-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

MORE FUNDING FOR ORGAN DONATION DATABASE

MORE FUNDING FOR ORGAN DONATION DATABASE My dear friends, for several weeks now, I have been trying to contact the Philippine Network for Organ Sharing (PHILNOS) to find out how I could possibly help them. I tried contacting them via Facebook Messenger but all I can get are the same auto replies that keep telling me to send them an email or to call them. I keep sending them an email, but they also do not reply. I tried calling their landline, but I was told that nobody was around to answer me. I also sent them Viber messages, but they also do not reply. Having failed to contact them, I now worry that anyone needing an organ to transplant may not have a way to reach out to them in time. According to Microsoft Copilot, the request for organs typically involves multiple parties: 1. Doctors: Physicians identify the need for an organ transplant and initiate the referral process. 2. Hospitals: Medical facilities coordinate with PHILNOS and manage the logistics of organ donation and transplantation. 3. Family of the Patient: The patient's family plays a crucial role, especially in cases of deceased donors, as they provide consent for organ donation. What that means is that any of those multiple parties could request for an organ, but before that could happen, PHILNOS must have a source of the organs, and that is how important a sourcing program is. What really happens is that there is a waiting list of patients who need organs, and the decision what organ to give to whom is strictly managed by PHILNOS. In that sense, a hotline, if it is made available, should only be accessible to doctors and hospitals, and not to the patients or their families. Perhaps the patients or their families could use email, text or Messenger instead, but we should help PHILNOS so that they will have more staff who could answer. Perhaps due to budget constraints, PHILNOS is now a unit of the Philippine Organ Donation and Transplant Program (PODTP). In turn, the PODTP is a program under the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau (DPCD). The DPCB is also responsible for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). As a matter of fact, DPCB is practically the local equivalent of the American Center for Disease Control (CDC) and that should give you an idea of how busy and underfunded they are, not to mention understaffed. I do not want to sound like an alarmist, but I believe that we should always be 100% ready already, if we are again hit by a pandemic like Covid, due to a virus of some kind. To be able to do that, we need to provide more funding to the DPCB, so that it could fully function like the CDC. Better still, we should just fund the PODTP separately, so that it could focus solely on managing the organ donation system through the PHILNOS. I am sure that our Congress will understand the importance of these suggestions, because these involves saving many lives. Your friend, IKE SENERES/11-25-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

BEST PRACTICES SHARING

BEST PRACTICES SHARING My dear countrymen, many years ago, I was talking to an OFW who told me that in Japan, road repair is done after midnight up to early dawn, and by doing so, vehicle traffic is not affected during the busier hours. The first thing that came to my mind then was, why did we not think of that? It was not really a brilliant idea that needed a genius to come up with. But why did the Japanese think of that, and we did not? After so many bright people running the DPWH with so many consultants working for them? Is that not simply common sense? And if that is indeed common sense, why did nobody in the government think of that, all these years? Many years ago, I also went to Japan as a JICA scholar. When I was there, I was told that Japan Railways was required to lay down fiber optic cables everywhere they would build new railroads, regardless of whether these were built underground or above ground. My Japanese government hosts also showed me complete fiber optic map of Japan, where I saw that most of the fiber installed were built along the railways. I recalled then that the United States also did the same thing, and that is the reason why they did not have right of way problems in building their broadband infrastructure. According to reliable sources, there are now about 15 million who are living and working abroad. They are a mix of OFWs, expatriates and immigrants. Just think for a minute that their total remittances amounting to about 33.5 billion US dollars per year is the one that is practically keeping our economy afloat, noting that that amount represents about 9% of our GDP. But no, I am not going to ask them to remit more money back to the Philippines, more than what they are already sending. I am simply going ask me to get information about best practices in good governance that they could easily gather from their own local government where they live abroad. These could be in the form of state laws, municipal ordinances or board resolutions. Because of existing laws in many countries, anyone could easily request for copies of these documents, more so if they are already permanent residents or naturalized citizens of those countries. Do not be surprised if some of them have already been elected to serve in their own local governments. Either that, or some of them would already wield some influence over their own Mayors, Governors or lawmakers. And, they do not have to spend anything to transmit these documents to us, because they could send these via email or Facebook Messenger. Generally, I would like them to get copies of local laws that could improve local governance in any way. However, I would like specific laws that could give us the legal basis to solve our local problems such as poverty, hunger, crime, corruption, traffic, pollution and disease, among others. My plan is to edit these local laws, and then distribute them for free to any local government official who wants to get copies. My own common sense tells me that many of these officials will adopt these laws if these are applicable for them. Besides, it does not cost them anything, and these draft laws are ready do go. Does anyone of you know anybody abroad who wants to start the ball rolling? Your friend, IKE SENERES/11-24-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

REBUILDING OUR LOCAL DAIRY INDUSTRY

REBUILDING OUR LOCAL DAIRY INDUSTRY My dear countrymen, sad to say, we are importing more than 90% of our total milk requirements. That is not a good thing to say for an agricultural country like ours. Much as I do not want to place blame on anyone, the fact remains that this dire reality could be blamed on some previous administrations, starting from the time when milk production started declining. I remember that when I was a Brand Coordinator for Magnolia Dairy Products, I used to visit the Magnolia Dairy Farm in Tagaytay, Cavite as part of our product knowledge program. I do not know what happened since then, but the farm has been closed since then, even if San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is still making ice cream up to now. Presumably, SMC is already importing its dairy milk requirements, just like all the other ice cream makers. Although it may sound like a worn-out cliché, I still want to say that by consuming food products imported from foreign sources, we are making the farmers of those countries rich, instead of making our own farmers rich. We are importing 30.9 % of our milk from the United States, 28.9% from New Zealand, and 9.2 % from Australia. And believe it or not, Malaysia is fourth in the list, because we are importing 5.3% from that ASEAN neighbor. All the rest are exporting less than 5.0% to us, namely the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Canada and Poland. If only we are exporting enough to these ten countries, then we could perhaps there could be a positive balance of trade, and therefore our milk imports would be unjustifiable. Otherwise, we would be at the losing end not only because of our spending too much of our dollar reserves, we will also be incurring too much carbon debits because of the long-distance logistics. I wonder if there is a government agency that is tracking these econometrics? Could it be the DTI? Or the DOE? Or the PSA? Or the NEDA? Or the DOF perhaps? Why not an interagency task force? Congratulations to Dehusk, a Filipino company that has recently launched what I believe is a Coconut Milk Beverage (CMB), as opposed to an Evaporated Filled Milk (EFM). I discussed the difference between the two in my essay dated September 23, 2024. Although Dehusk claims that they have already fortified their product to make it practically as nutritious as cow’s milk, I am still doing my research to determine whether their claim is 100% percent accurate. Meanwhile, I am willing to say that their product is good enough as a milk substitute for adult consumers, but not for newborns and infants. What does it take to revive our dairy industry? I think that it does not really matter whether we get our milk from cows, carabaos, if we could produce what we need. I am however partial to goat milk, because goats would be easier to evacuate in case of floods, and goat meat has a huge global market, especially if certified as halal meat. I believe that whatever money that the government will put into dairy production, it will be very much worth it, not only because of livelihood creation, poverty reduction but also because of food security. Very truly yours, IKE SENERES/11-23-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE FOR FOOD SECURITY

DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE FOR FOOD SECURITY My beloved countrymen, for so many generations now, most Filipinos have been eating rice as a staple food, except for some people in the Visayas who have been used to eating corn. Meanwhile, the price of rice is going up, and there are very few signs that it could go down. As the effects of climate change are worsening, we now see how droughts and floods are affecting agriculture production worldwide. As rice shortages could possibly happen because of climate issues, it could also possibly happen that some rice exporting countries might even stop exporting, to protect their own food security as rice supplies are threatened. When McDonald’s Hamburgers first opened in the Philippines many years ago, many Filipinos were speculating that they are going to fail, because we would always prefer rice for lunch. The rest is history, because we patronized their hamburgers, but of course without saying goodbye to rice. Since we did not really change our food preferences, McDonald’s even had to start serving rice, something that they are not doing anywhere else. That is not saying that we Filipinos have stopped ordering hamburgers either. It is just all about choices, I guess. Over the years, we have seen how Filipinos have adjusted their food choices by including non-rice foods in their diets, such as pizzas, spaghettis and even shawarmas. Not only that, it is evident that many Filipinos are just eating bread for breakfast, but sometimes with eggs and meat dishes like tapas and hotdogs. And so, the evidence is very clear that worse comes to worst, most Filipinos could survive even without rice or if not, with lesser intakes of rice. As I understand it, Israel had officially stopped growing rice many years ago and have chosen to grow oranges instead. From the money that they earn from selling oranges, they buy rice from other countries. From what I heard, Israel had decided that it takes too much water to grow rice, therefore they had to stop growing it, because they need their water for other priorities. Of course, we do not have to do that here, because water supply is not an issue here (at least not yet), and we cannot afford not to produce our own rice because of national security reasons. Just to be clear, I am not saying that we should stop growing rice. What I am saying instead, is that we should diversify our staple food sources so that we would still have something to eat, even if the droughts and floods would not stop coming, and even if the other countries would stop selling rice to us. Among others, we could diversify our diet by substituting or mixing our rice intake with corn, sorghum, cassava, potatoes, bananas, sweet potatoes, breadfruit and carrots, among others. Very recently, there is a growing trend of mixing Moringa flour with wheat flour to bake the local favorite pandesal. If Filipinos could get used to that, why not also start mixing banana flour, carrot flour, breadfruit and even cassava flour? This would be a good idea to pursue, because as of now, we are importing about 80% of our flour requirements. That figure is really not good for our food security, considering that climate change could also deplete the flour production from our existing sources. Therefore, the smart thing to do is to start producing our own flour substitutes. Very truly yours, IKE SENERES/11-22-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

THE ECONOMICS OF THE COCONUT BUSINESS

THE ECONOMICS OF THE COCONUT BUSINESS My beloved countrymen, when I was in Thailand some years ago, I noticed that their farmers were watering their coconut trees. My first reaction was to think that those people must be stupid, because who in his right mind would water a coconut tree? It was only later when I realized that they are doing the right thing, because their trees are healthier. Much later, I also realized that as commercial crops, coconut trees not only need water, but they also need fertilizers. Very recently, I saw an online video where the farmers dug up creeks in between their rows of coconut trees, so that the nuts could just fall into the creeks for easy transport. I imagine that the creeks are also used to supply water to the trees. That could be a smart thing to do for our farmers here, simply because our government does not seem to be irrigating other crops yet, aside from rice. Digging up creeks in between rows of coconut trees seems like a good idea, but is it really the best idea? I am asking that question because I have recently watched an online presentation where the speaker proposed not only the intercropping of coconut trees with other trees such as coffee and cacao, but also raising cattle in between. I wish that the government will study the pros and cons or the economics of these two approaches, so that our farmers could choose wisely. Who do you think can do this? Perhaps an interagency task force composed of PCA, DA, NEDA and DTI would be needed? I believe that there was a time when the Philippines was the number one exporter of coconut products in the world, but sadly, Indonesia has already overtaken us with 17.9 million metric tons, while we only exported 14.3 million metric tons. The third in place is India with 13.32 million metric tons. What happened to our coconut industry? Is the problem the lack of irrigation? Or is it the lack of fertilization? What can we do to overtake Indonesia and become number one again? I have an idea, and I would like to convince you to agree with me. Instead of competing with Indonesia and India in exporting raw coconuts, why not go into the exportation of finished products that are coconut based instead? We have already started doing this with coconut milk, coconut cream and coconut water, but we should do more product development to come up with better products that have more value added. To make our coconut industry more innovation driven, there is no other way except to adopt the “Whole of Government” approach. That means mobilizing not only the DA and the PCA, but also other agencies that could help in engineering, financing, packaging, advertising and marketing, among others. Aside from the DTI, the government should harness the DFA to do more of economic diplomacy abroad. The “Country Team Approach” is still a good idea, but our ambassadors should become more vigorous in leading the teams. Very truly yours, IKE SENERES/11-21-2024/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

ARE TYPHOONS CAUSED BY CLIMATE CHANGE?

ARE TYPHOONS CAUSED BY CLIMATE CHANGE? My beloved countrymen, just in case you are wondering, it is not true that typhoons are caused by climate change. What is true is that climate change has made typhoons stronger and more frequent than they used to. For those who do not believe that climate change is not real and is just an elaborate hoax, I hope that the recent series of strong typhoons and devastating floods have already convinced all of you that climate change is real. And for those of you who do not believe that global warming is real, I must tell you now that it is global warming that is increasing the temperatures of ocean waters that is in turn causing the typhoons now. And since the oceans are becoming warmer more frequently, the typhoons are now forming more frequently. In addition to that, the typhoons are also becoming stronger now. To put it simply, global warming is the cause of climate change, and climate change is the cause of stronger typhoons. To put it even more simply, global warming is the father of climate change, and stronger typhoons are the children. So how do we stop typhoons from becoming stronger and more frequent? Of course we could not stop typhoons from forming, because these are natural occurrences that have been happening long before global warming started. We could not stop typhoons, but we could still lessen its frequency and intensity, at least in theory. But wait, let us not forget that pollution is the grandfather of the stronger typhoons, because pollution is the father of global warming! But wait again! Do not forget that the stronger typhoons have three grandfathers, that is if you count air pollution, water pollution and land pollution. One way or the other, these three forms of pollution are contributing to the process of depleting the ozone layer, a depletion that ultimately results in the melting of the ice caps that in turn increase the ocean temperatures. Since I have explained to you what causes the stronger typhoons, I think that it is now fair to ask what causes them? That is a valid question, but I would rather ask instead, who causes them? The answer to that should be clear by now. We the humans are causing them. The bad news is, we are the problem. But the good news is, we are also the solution. If we could only gather the political will to do it, we could reduce pollution in all its forms. If you now believe that global warming is real, please also believe that reducing pollution is also real. There is no other way except to reduce pollution as much as we could. Otherwise, not only the stronger typhoons will happen, rising sea levels will happen, more forest fires will happen, droughts will happen, and famine could happen if food production will go down. If you want to do something about this, start with your local government. Very truly yours, IKE SENERES/11-20-2024/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

INTERNATIONAL MOBILE EQUIPMENT IDENTITY

INTERNATIONAL MOBILE EQUIPMENT IDENTITY My fellow Filipinos, I do not know who the technocrats are who proposed the whole idea of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card registration, but perhaps it is not too late to take a second look at it. But before I go any further, I would like to ask those technocrats what their purpose is for proposing the project. That is so, because whatever their choice it, it will determine whether they have met their objective or not. Going straight to the point, SIM cards are the better choices for purposes of network connectivity and communication. The other choice, International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) is not a card, but a number that is embedded into the mobile device instead. By comparison, IMEI is crucial for device identification and security. While an owner of a device could change his or her SIM card at any time, the IMEI number is permanent in his or her device and therefore it could never be changed. In my opinion, the use of SIM technology could be preferred if the objective is data privacy, and the use of IMEI could be preferred if the objective is data security. I am saying that because a user could change his or her SIM card at any time if he or she wants to change his or her identity, and he or she could get away with it, provided that the government does not require him or her to register his or her IMEI number. This opinion of mine is oriented towards data privacy for the device owner. However, if the orientation is data security for the country, and not for the data privacy of the owner, then the use of the IMEI would be preferrable. This is also just an opinion of mine, and others could have their own interpretation. In defense of my opinion, I would like to cite the possibility that if anyone changes his SIM card for any purpose, the government could no longer track him or her if his or her IMEI is not registered. On the other hand, if his or her IMEI is registered, the government could still track him or her if her IMEI is registered. In theory, all the scam messages that are being sent now via Short Messaging Services (SMS) and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) messages could either be stopped or minimized if all the IMEI numbers of all numbers that are being used will be registered. Although this technology is already available even as we speak, I would still caution the government to carefully weigh the pros and cons of implementing it, because it could potentially violate data privacy laws and even human rights. The reality is, there is always a need for the government to balance the dual need for data security and data privacy. Between our three branches of government, I really do not know which of them could resolve this issue. Perhaps the Executive Branch could start the ball rolling by issuing some Executive Orders (EOs), but eventually the Legislative Branch could pass the pertinent laws. Later, the Judicial Branch could issue rulings if landmark cases are filed. Very truly yours, IKE SENERES/11-19-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

CAN AN INVASIVE FISH SPECIES BE NATURALIZED?

CAN AN INVASIVE FISH SPECIES BE NATURALIZED? My fellow Filipinos, in theory, an invasive fish species will always be an invasive species no matter what. According to Microsoft Copilot, “An invasive fish species is a type of fish that is not native to a particular ecosystem and whose introduction causes, or is likely to cause, harm to the environment, economy, or human health. These species can spread rapidly and compete with native fish for resources, potentially leading to the decline or extinction of native species”. By that definition, there is no question that Tilapia is an invasive fish species. By all accounts, it is very clear that Tilapia has already caused the decline of native fish species in Philippine lakes and rivers, but it is still not clear whether it has caused the extinction of native species or not. True to the nature of invasive fish species, Tilapia has reproduced quickly wherever they have invaded, and always in huge numbers. Even if they are invasive however, Tilapia is considered tasty by many people, and for that reason, it has become a popular choice as a fish dish. It is also for that reason that Tilapia as a species has already gained sufficient economic value, providing livelihood to many fish farmers and contributing to the diet of many people. Regardless of the scientific facts, most of us Filipinos are not aware that Tilapia is an invasive species. Instead, most of us think that Tilapia is a native species. That is so because Tilapia has been in our local waters for so many decades, perhaps for almost a hundred years already. According to fisheries expert Romualdo Pol of the BFAR, there is already a growing notion that Tilapia has already become a “naturalized” fish species, because it is already generally accepted, and because it has already created its own economic value. Nonetheless, being a “naturalized” foreign species still sounds an oxymoron. Given all that background information, it appears that the government now finds itself in a damn if they do, damn if they don’t situation. If the government declares that Tilapia is still an invasive fish species up to now, it has no choice but to take the necessary actions to exterminate and remove these from our local waters. If the government does that, it will destroy the livelihood of many fishermen and deprive many households of an affordable source of food. If, however, the government will legally declare that Tilapia is already a “naturalized” fish species, meaning that is no longer an invasive species, then it could still endanger the native species, knowing that invasive species eat the eggs and fingerlings of the latter. How do we end this dilemma? I do not have the answer myself, and all that I could think of right now is to ask the Office of the President (OP) to create an inter-agency committee to resolve this question. The lead agency for this could be the Secretary of the DENR, assisted by the Secretaries or Heads of NEDA, DTI, DA and BFAR. Many other countries have declared an all-out war on Tilapia as an invasive species. Do they know something that we don’t? Your friend, IKE SENERES/11-18-2024/Visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

YES, WE CAN REPLACE LIQUIFIED PETROLEUM GAS

YES, WE CAN REPLACE LIQUIFIED PETROLEUM GAS My dear countrymen, if you are now using Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), have you ever thought that you could probably replace it with a cheaper and better alternative? An alternative that is more environment friendly? Well, I am happy to inform you that the technology now exists to produce either Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) from nothing but sewage, and all we need is the political will to make it happen. According to some estimates, the Philippines is importing about 938 billion pesos worth of LPG per year, representing about 21 million barrels per year. Based on data available from the Department of Energy (DOE), the retail price of an 11 kg. LPG cylinder costs from 691 to 997 pesos. If each household consumes about 12 cylinders per year, the annual LPG expense per household per year is from 8,292 to 11, 964 pesos. Is that not a good incentive to shift to either LNG or CNG? Although the process of converting sewage to compressed gas takes several steps, I can assure you that it is going to be worth it both at the household level and the national level. Based on the data earlier presented, the Philippines is importing about 938 billion worth of LPG per year. Can you imagine how much savings that could mean for our foreign reserves? And how much good that could do for our economy? On the downside, only the eastern section of Metro Manila has an existing centralized sewerage system. However, there are existing systems in private villages such as Ayala Alabang Village, Villamor Airbase Village, Magallanes Village and Greenhills Village. On the upside, there are existing efforts to build such systems in Bacolod City, Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro City, General Santos City and Puerta Princesa City. With all the politics going on at the LGU level, one good way to tell whether past Mayors have done their jobs is if they have built sewerage systems or not. For the most part, most cities, municipalities and villages in the Philippines do not have centralized sewerage systems. What are existing instead are individualized “Pozo Negro” systems for houses, apartment buildings and condominiums. Since these individualized systems have no place to go, the only way to pump them out is to use private sewage truck services. The two water service concessionaires in Metro Manila are under contract to provide these services for free. By design, all sewerage systems are supposed to terminate to a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) where the sewage is supposed to be processed into water, prior to releasing these into nearby lakes or rivers. Some cities like Singapore have managed to process these liquids into water qualities that are good enough for washing or even for drinking. The first step in producing CNG or LNG is to produce the biogas first, from the raw sewage material. After that, the second step is to produce the biogas into biomethane. The third step is to convert the biomethane into CNG or LNG. The fourth and final step is to bottle the compressed gases int cylinders, like the LPGs. Perhaps as of now, the government has not yet seen the wisdom of producing CNG or LNG locally, by converting sewage to biogas and then to biomethane. Aside from saving money from our petroleum imports, this could also be a matter of national security, because the possibility of foreign wars could lead to oil shortages or oil embargoes at the very least. Even if there will be no such shortages or embargoes, is it not enough incentive to save billions of pesos from petroleum imports? Perhaps it would be a good idea for DENR and DOE to start meeting and planning about this? Your friend, IKE SENERES/11-17-2024/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

LET’S HAVE MORE PUBLIC RENTAL HOUSING

LET’S HAVE MORE PUBLIC RENTAL HOUSING My dear countrymen, when I was living in New York City many years ago, I was able to observe how the city government was able to turn a problem into an opportunity and let me tell you why. Just like in the Philippines and in many other countries, there was a housing backlog in that city which seemed hopeless and never ending at that time. Fortunately, however, for one reason or another, some former city officials thought about the public rental housing strategy, and the rest is history. From being a big problem in New York City, public housing became an opportunity because it became one of the city’s sources of revenue. The public rental housing business of the city (yes it became a business) not only was self-sustaining, it also became self-generating because it was able to earn additional income that was needed to finance the city’s other projects. But how can we do that in the Philippines? How can we convert a public problem into a public opportunity? How can we convert a burden into an opportunity? In theory, Public and Private Partnership (PPP) is project funding approach that includes the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme. PPP is the broader term that includes many types of collaborations between the public and private sectors. BOT is simply a specific type of PPP. In general, PPP can cover a wide range of projects, including public transportation, public parks, public hospitals and many more. There are many applicable types of revenue models, but it usually involves the payment of user fees or tariffs, government payments or a combination of both. Risks are shared between the two parties, depending on the pre-arranged agreements. Under the BOT scheme, a private company finances, builds and operates a project for a specified period, and after that period, the ownership of the project is transferred to the public sector. BOT is generally used for major infrastructure projects such as highways, power generation and water systems. The revenue model is similar, also usually by way of fees or revenues generated prior to the transfer. The private company bears most of the risk during the period of operation (prior to the transfer). Supposedly, there is no need for the government to go into a BOT scheme if it is fully capable of building and operating a project by itself. It could however be argued that the government may be capable of building a project but may not be capable of operating it. or it could be the other way around, the government may not be capable of building a project, but it could be capable of operating it. The latter argument could be the reason why the government could still go into a property management contract, even after the ownership is transferred. In the case of public housing for rental projects, I think that the most ideal approach is a PPP project using a BOT scheme, but there should be a separate property management contract given to the developer, after the project ownership is transferred. The management contract may be subjected to public bidding in accordance with procurement laws. What is important is that our citizens who could not yet afford to buy their houses could rent in the meantime. Your friend, IKE SENERES/11-16-2024/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

LET’S HAVE MORE MOBILE CLINICS

LET’S HAVE MORE MOBILE CLINICS My dear countrymen, as the saying goes, “If Mohammad cannot go to the mountain, then the mountain must come to Mohammad”. That logic seems to be applicable to the case of our fellow Filipinos who cannot go to the public hospitals, for one reason or another. That being the case, then it should be the public hospital that should go to our fellow Filipinos. That appears to be the reason why First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos started the “Lab for All” project. The project aims to provide accessible healthcare services, including medical checkups, diagnostics and free medications, to underserved communities in our country. To make that happen, the First Lady has mobilized several government agencies to support the project, including the Department of Health (DOH), the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and many other government agencies. The long-term goal of the project is to facilitate the donation of mobile vans equipped with x-ray machines, portable urine analyzers, glucose monitors, cholesterol testers, ultrasound and other machines to the different provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays. Aside from mobilizing the government agencies, the First Lady has also invited the participation of the private sector. According to their website, several companies have “already made an impact on various communities through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs”. In that connection, the project managers have asked the private companies to help them by “providing mobile vans, medical missions and gift packs directly to the LGUs where they will be visiting”. They also said that “by nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset and connecting innovators with industry experts and investors the project encourages the creation of real-world solutions”. Dr. Jim Sanchez, the founder of Hospital on Wheels (HOW), has also been bringing the “mountain to Mohammad” for so many years. In tribute to him, please allow be to repost his recent message: START QOUTE: {My life's journey has been like running a marathon. Becoming a doctor is the last mile of my race, a dream I’ve pursued with every ounce of my energy. I remember my father's advice: "Give your best in everything you do." His words have been my constant guide. And my mother’s compassion lives on in me. Once, after giving alms to a beggar, she said, "Always help the poor and the weak." Those simple but powerful words shaped my purpose. I don’t see myself as a hero—I just want to make a difference, however small, and be a good example to my children. Helping others, especially the underserved, is my way of honoring the values my parents instilled in me”}. END QUOTE In recognition of his achievements, the Association of Philippine Physicians in America (APPA) bestowed upon him the 2024 Humanitarian Service Award at their 52nd Annual Convention, held at the Marriott Hotel in Newark, New Jersey, from October 23-27, 2024. As I understand it, the APPA is one of the foreign organizations that has been supporting the HOW program all these years. Thank you for your service, Dr. Sanchez and Madame First Lady. Yours truly, IKE SENERES/11-15-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

LET’S BUILD NEW MANMADE LAKES!

LET’S BUILD NEW MANMADE LAKES! My fellow Filipinos, as an additional solution towards flood control, has anyone suggested the building of new manmade lakes? If no one has suggested it, then chances are, I might be the one to propose it. and why not? Simply put, floods happen because there is too much rain, and the water on the ground either has nowhere to go or, it could not go to the water bodies as fast as it should. Although my suggestion might sound like a new idea, there is already an existing legal basis for it, therefore, there is no longer a need to create a new law to make it happen. Republic Act 9275, otherwise known as the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 can be interpreted to include the making or building of new manmade lakes. The Act defines waterbodies to include both natural and manmade bodies of fresh, brackish and saline waters, such as ponds, lagoons, reservoirs, lakes, bays, estuarine, coastal and marine waters. The Act also includes provisions for the management and protection of water resources, which can be relevant maintaining ponds for flood water collection. It appears however that at that time when the Act was passed, the need then was generally for generally for quality water management, and not specifically for flood control. Perhaps that is also the reason why the Act focuses not only on the sustainable use of water resources, but also on controlling and reducing the pollution of water in general. Please note that earlier, in 1989, Republic Act 6716, otherwise known as the Rainwater Collector and Springs Development Act, also mandates the construction of water wells, rainwater collectors, and the development of springs in all barangays. This other Act ensures the availability of potable water and can be related to maintaining ponds for collecting flood water. Aside from these two Republic Acts, the DILG has also recently issued Memorandum No. 2024-065, instructing all LGUs including all barangays to implement water conservation measures, including promoting and maximizing rainwater harvesting and water catchment systems. Microsoft Copilot says that the goal of the order was “to collect and store water for non-potable uses, such as cleaning and irrigation, to help mitigate the effects of El Nino”. Specifically, what that means is to have enough water if El Nino would cause droughts. All told, the two Acts and the single DILG Memorandum Order may have cited many reasons for collecting rain water, but I have no reason to interpret that these three references could also be interpreted to become the legal basis to build, make or construct manmade lakes primarily for the purpose of flood control, but also for other related purposes such as fish farming, vegetable production, irrigation and even recreation. With the right technology, the water could even be filtered for drinking. The common belief among many people is that it floods because it rains. I disagree with this belief, because I believe on the other hand that it rains because the rainwater either has nowhere to go, or the rainwater could not go as fast as it should go to where it should go. Aside from improving our drainage systems or building new drainage systems where there are none, we should also implement other solutions to flooding such as cleaning and deepening our creeks, rivers and natural lakes. In addition to that, we should build not only giant reservoirs, but also huge manmade lakes. Yours truly, IKE SENERES/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com/11-14-24

WHERE IS OUR ORGAN DONATION DATABASE SYSTEM?

WHERE IS OUR ORGAN DONATION DATABASE SYSTEM? To my fellow Filipinos: In fairness to the DOH, I am not going to say yet that we do not have an organ donation database system yet. Instead, I will just pay for now that I could not find it yet, even if it probably exists somewhere in the bureaucratic maze of the government. I asked a contact at DOH where it is now, and he referred me to someone who is supposedly in charge of it now. When I sent her a text asking about her about where it is now, she said she will ask her ICT staff where it is. Apparently, her own staff is still looking for the database up to know. Is it simply missing, or maybe it does not actually exist at all? For some reason, both the Philippine Organ Donation and Transplantation Program (PODTP) and the Philippine Network for Organ Sharing (PHILNOS) are difficult to search both in Google and in Facebook. That is the reason why I suspect that one or both are not operating fully as they should, or the people in charge of them are simply not too keen on being active in social media. The way these two are organized, PHILNOS is supposed to be under the supervision of PODTP, and both are under the DOH. That is too bad, because is an organ donation database system really exists, the medical profession and the public should be able to contact it 24x7x365 via any available means, such as via call, text, email and social media. That is so, because the process of locating and delivering a human organ is a mission critical operation. The usefulness of a human organ is time bound, and it deteriorates very quickly. And so is the window of time that is available on the part of the recipient of the donated organ. This organ donation database system is somehow an unfinished business for me. It was a project of a Singaporean company that used to be my client as a mobile application development consultant, but the project fizzled out when the company closed. My former developers still have the source code up to now, and that is why we still feel the burden of finishing app this for the good of the country. Although I do not have the details yet right now, I suspect that the information about organ donation that is shown at the back of our driver’s license cards are not yet connected to an organ donation database system yet, if ever there is one already. Again, feeling the burden of an unfinished business, I am volunteering to assist both the LTO and the DOH to jointly build this database once and for all. To put it simply, all drivers are supposed to check on their drivers’ licenses whether they want to donate their organs or not, in case of death. In case that happens, someone should notify PODTP or PHILNOS that donated organs are available. The system, once there is one, should either transport the organs to an organ bank, or to a hospital’s operating room where the organ could immediately be transplanted into a waiting recipient. Very truly yours, IKE SENERES/11-13-24

DATA DRIVEN VERSUS HEADLINE DRIVEN GOVERNANCE

DATA DRIVEN VERSUS HEADLINE DRIVEN GOVERNANCE My fellow Filipinos: There is no question that the two houses of our Congress have the power to conduct public hearings “in aid of legislation”. However, I wish that these public hearings will be data driven, instead of being headline driven. Of course, I am not blaming our lawmakers to conduct public hearings based on what the hot issues are in the news, but perhaps they should learn to balance their topics with needs that are based on empirical data. In my opinion, what could be considered as “data driven” is practically the same as what could be considered as “demand driven”. To be able to illustrate my point, allow me to use some examples about what is in demand in the healthcare industry. As everyone knows, many of our loved ones died during the Covid 19 pandemic, because of the lack of beds, ventilators and medicines, among many others. Given that example, our lawmakers should have conducted public hearings about the inventory of beds, ventilators and medicines, so that they could pass laws that will address the shortages. To cite another example, I know for a fact that there are still many LGUs that do not have ambulance units and even if they do, not have the qualified and certified EMT personnel who are supposed to man these units. Aside from that, these LGUs also do not have 911 systems that could dispatch police, fire, ambulance and rescue units in the event of emergencies. Ideally, the LGUs in the island communities should have sea ambulances, but they do not have that either. The problem is, these issues do not come out in the headlines, and that is why no public hearings are conducted about them. Every year, the two houses of Congress conducts public hearings to question and review the budget proposals of the National Government Agencies (NGAs), the end result of which is to eventually pass and approve the General Appropriations Act (GAA). During these deliberations, would it not be possible instead for the two houses to present their own data about what is really the “demand”, based on their own empirical research? I think that this is not an impossible task, because these two houses have their own research and development units. In theory, the government is supposed to have a Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) that is supposed to coincide with the term of the incumbent President of the Philippines. In theory again, the GAAs of every year could be tailored to support the MTPDP. Aside from that, the GAAs could also be tailored to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the United Nations that will end in 2030. There is no shame in admitting that we failed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when it ended in 2015, but there is still time to make sure that we will meet most of the goals before the deadline in 2030, or at least the more important goals in relation to poverty, hunger and climate change. That should be the priority subjects to discuss “in aid of legislation”. Your friend, IKE SENERES/11-12-2024

THOSE DAYS OF MANY HONEST MEN

THOSE DAYS OF MANY HONEST MEN My Fellow Filipinos: I am publishing here a letter that was sent to me by my brother Rey, an architect and town planner in New Jersey. I am publishing this letter as I received it, in memory of my father, and in memory of those days when honesty was the norm among ordinary men and women who lived in our country. I also remember that in those days, corruption and dishonesty among government was the exception, rather than the rule. Are we ever going back to those days? START QOUTE “In May 2023, my wife Arlene and I were honored with an invitation to dine at Almont Inland Resort, extended by my father's good friend, Mr. Felipe Gumagay and his family. Mr. Gumagay, the proprietor of Ever Hardware in Butuan City, shared a rich story with my father, Federico—affectionately known as "Dick" among friends—as both were active members of the Knights of Columbus from the 1960s through the 1990s, a period when many of Butuan's devout Catholic men joined the organization. The dinner was Mr. Gumagay's way of celebrating their enduring friendship. As the evening unfolded, he shared reflections that filled me with immense pride for my father. He described my father as the sincerest person he had ever encountered. To be sincere is to possess virtues like honesty, integrity, authenticity, empathy, humility,respectfulness, trustworthiness, open-mindedness, responsibility, and consistency. Such individuals are genuine in their actions and interactions, treating themselves and others with kindness and respect. Hearing Mr. Gumagay speak so fondly of my father was profoundly touching. His words are a testament to a legacy I aspire to uphold, one that I hope will inspire pride in my children just as it does in me”. END QOUTE My friends, please also allow me to share with you how my father’s honesty has led me to marry my beautiful wife who bore me two wonderful children. My wife comes from a political family in Butuan City with diverse business interests. Long ago, my father decided to run as a city councilor in the same political party as my wife’s uncle. To cut a long story short, my father received some campaign funds from my wife’s family. My father won the election in the city proper, but he lost in the barrios. After that however, he saw it fit to return what remained of the campaign funds to my wife’s family. As it happened, some people were amused at what he did, for returning the money, but that was who he was, he was an honest man. Years later, when I was courting my wife, her mother conducted a background investigation about me. Unfortunately, she could not find out anything good about me, except that I went to a good school, and I had a respectable job. On the downside, I was also fond of some youthful habits at that time. However, she found out that I was the son of Dick Seneres, the honest man who lost the election, but won the respect of her family for returning the remainder of the money that they gave. That, my friends, is the story of how I became the beneficiary of my father’s honesty. Your friend, IKE SENERES/11-11-2024

PROMOTING LOCAL CATSUP

PROMOTING LOCAL CATSUP My dear friends, given the choice between Kraft Heinz Tomato Catsup and Del Monte Tomato Catsup, which one will you buy? I will choose the latter, and I will tell you why. Although there are other Del Monte companies selling other products elsewhere, the rights to manufacture and sell Del Monte Catsup worldwide is owned by Del Monte Pacific Limited (DMPL), a Filipino company identified with the Campos family here. Since we live in a democratic country and we have a free market economy, I have to say that everyone is free to buy any catsup they like, including Kraft Heinz. The reason for that is that in fairness, there are probably many Filipinos who are employed by the local distributor, and that counts too in terms of what is good for the local economy. However, it is easy to say that Del Monte trumps Hienz in terms of local benefits, because the former not only buys tomato fruits from local farmers, but they also hire more workers for local manufacturing and distribution. Perhaps unknown to many of us, the Campos family also owns NutriAsia, the company that makes UFC, Jufran and Papa Banana Catsup. As a matter of fact, I personally believe that it’s the money made by the Campos family from these three brands that they used to gain control of the global Del Monte Catsup brand. Although I believe that the Campos family was able to succeed on their own, the government should help them so they could expand their operations in bigger and faster ways abroad. I know that the comparison is too far-fetched, I think that Del Monte Catsup could become the “red oil” of the Philippines, just like the “black oil” of the Middle East. That is the reason why I am recommending full government support for Del Monte and other companies that have made their mark in the global market. The list includes San Miguel, Jollibee Foods and Alliance Global Group. The latter makes Emperador Brandy. Perhaps, not too many people know also that Alliance Global Group now owns Fundador Brandy, one of the biggest brandy brands of the world. And if I am not mistaken, the group raised the money to buy Fundador from their sales of Emperador in the Philippines. I will not be surprised if Emperador will also become a global brand, because all it must do is to ride on the organization behind Fundador. That is one sure way to promote the export volume of a local product. Can you imagine how many farmers will benefit if Del Monte Catsup becomes a bigger global catsup brand than it is now? Although the market share figures are not available, Del Monte is undoubtably one of the biggest players in the tomato catsup category, along with Kraft Heinz, Conagra, Unilever and Nestle. Although I like the latter two because they are good corporate locators in the Philippines, it makes sense for all Filipinos all over the world, regardless of where they are to buy Del Monte Catsup all the time. What can DTI do to help them? Your friend, IKE SENERES/11-10-2024

PATRONIZING LOCALLY GROWN FILIPINO COFFEE

PATRONIZING LOCALLY GROWN FILIPINO COFFEE To my fellow Filipinos: If I have a choice, and under normal circumstances, I will rather go to Figaro’s Coffee or Bo’s Coffee instead of Starbucks Coffee or Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) or any other foreign franchised brand. But then again, there are other factors that I must consider, such as the proximity of local branches, and the availability of parking spaces in those branches. The reason why I prefer to go to the local franchised Filipino coffee shops is because I know that they serve coffee drinks made from locally grown coffee beans. That is also the reason why I drink Nescafe instant coffee at home, because I know that Nestle buys coffee beans from local coffee farmers. Not only that, Nestle has been supporting these farmers by improving their yields and incomes, and by promoting their sustainable farming practices. The bad news is, both Starbucks and CBTL are sourcing their coffee beans mostly from abroad. But the good news is, they have started buying local coffee beans in some countries where they operate, such as what they are doing in Yunnan Province in China. Although the details are unclear, CBTL is now serving coffee made from beans coming from a variety of sources, including the Philippines. Although the Philippines is theoretically a “free market” economy, I believe that there is nothing wrong if the government will encourage both Starbucks and CBTL to also start serving coffee made from locally grown beans. Aside from that, the government could probably offer some incentives to these two companies, so that they would be encouraged to export coffee beans to their branches all over the world. I am also drinking San Mig Sugar Free 3 in 1 coffee because it tastes good, but how I wish that SMC will make it locally or get a local company to toll manufacture it here, instead of toll manufacturing it in Thailand. Can you imagine if San Mig Coffee Mix could become an export product instead? Can you imagine what good that could do to our local economy? Can you imagine how many coffee farmers that could help? While the DTI is actively trying to promote our coffee products abroad, some multi-level marketing (MLM) companies like DXN and Organo Gold are raking in millions from coffees made in Malaysia. I need not ask, but of course we know that those who are selling these products are doing so because they are making money, but it is sad to note that by buying coffees made abroad, we are reducing the livelihood of our coffee farmers. It is a good thing that DTI is now promoting its “Buy Local” program, but perhaps they could be encouraged to talk to these foreign companies to also start buying locally grown coffee? Or perhaps convince them to eventually export our local coffee products? I do not know the particulars for now, but to encourage them, we could probably give them some tax incentives. Very truly yours, IKE SENERES/11-09-2024

LET’S WELCOME THE GIG ECONOMY

LET’S WELCOME THE GIG ECONOMY My dear countrymen: Perhaps many of you have already heard of the gig economy? The more vulgar term for it is “racket”, as in “what is your racket now”? Well, the term “racket” as used here is just a figure of speech, because for the most part, most of these are not illegal. Most of these are just innovative and creative ways of making an extra buck, to meet one’s daily needs, one way or the other. For some, a gig or doing many gigs is their main way of earning a living, meaning that it is not just a sideline to them. What is the gig economy and how does it work? When I was renovating my house some years ago, I asked one of the workers who was painting my walls if he was really a painter. He said no, explaining that he just knows how to paint. After a while, I saw the same workers fixing an electrical socket, but I no longer asked him if he was an electrician or not. I think that these “casual workers” have a work for it, they say that they are just “pa-extra extra”. There is this tricycle driver in my village who only drives occasionally. The last time I saw him, I asked him why he does not drive all the time. He explained that he is not a regular driver because he is just “pa-extra extra”, meaning that he could only drive whenever the regular driver is absent, meaning that he is only “on call”. Nonetheless, he is someone whom we could call an “accredited” driver. Also in our village, we have someone who we could call an “exercise coach”, for lack of a better term, but I think you know what I mean. But other than his exercise lessons, this coach gives me a free therapeutic massage which really relieves my body pains. My son tells me that this coach knows what he is doing, except that he does not have the money to spend to get certified. What a waste, because he could really earn more money if he could get certified. Technically speaking, all of these “gig economy” workers could be considered as “self-employed”. While some of them could be considered as “entrepreneurs”, most of them do not own their own business, and they just move from one gig to another. What can the government do to help them? Which government agency could help them? Is it PESO at the local level? Or DOLE at the national level? As a writer, I could always identify many social problems, but I could not always find the solutions to these problems. Often, I am left with questions like these that I could not answer on my own. If you have some ideas about how to solve this problem, please let me know. Or perhaps you might know of a government agency or an LGU that is already doing something about this problem, please let me know. Very truly yours, IKE SENERES/11-08-2024

UNDERSTANDING THE PERCEIVED HUNGER RATE

UNDERSTANDING THE PERCEIVED HUNGER RATE My dear countrymen: Perhaps most of us know what the latest perceived hunger rate of the Philippines is, but how many of us understand how the data was collected? Let us look at how the Social Weather Stations (SWS) does it. The SWS uses a sample size of 1,200 respondents. The four regions surveyed are the National Capital Region (NCR), and the balance of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Each region uses a sample size of a minimum of 300 respondents. The first question asked is this: “In the past three months, has your family ever experienced hunger and not have anything to eat?” If the answer is yes, the follow up question is this: “Did it happen only once, a few times, often or always?”. If the respondent answers “only once or a few times”, he or she is categorized under “moderate hunger”. If the respondent answers “often or always”, he or she is categorized under “severe hunger”. Based on the data collected, the SWS concluded that the incidence of hunger in the Philippines as of the first quarter of 2024 was 14.2%, of which 12.2% is under the moderate category, and 2.0% is under the severe category. Based on an estimated total population of 117 million people, that amounts to about 16 million hungry people. What are we going to do with that data? Which government agency is responsible for dealing with this problem? Many people would probably say that this is a problem for the DSWD to solve, but that is only partially correct. There is no question in my mind that DSWD is in charge of poverty alleviation, but which agency is really in charge of poverty reduction? Sad to say, in my long career as a government official, I have met some officials who do not even know the difference between poverty alleviation and poverty reduction. To me, poverty alleviation is like easing the pain of poverty, but not liberating a person from the condition of poverty itself. It does not really take a genius to understand that the problem of hunger is a subset of the problem of poverty, and that the problem of malnutrition is a subset of the problem of hunger. Down the line, it also does not take a genius to understand that the problem of stunting in children is a subset of the problem of malnutrition. In other words, this is a domino effect that we must stop. It is a vicious cycle that that we must terminate. It also does not take a genius to realize that if a person has a means of livelihood like a job or a business, he or she could be liberated from poverty, assuming that he or she will be earning a steady income. The solution to the problem of poverty is therefore no other than livelihood. That said, I will now repeat my question: which agency is in charge of livelihood? Or to be more precise, who is in charge of livelihood creation? To answer these two questions, I think that it is best to answer this other question: which agency is in charge of poverty reduction? Very truly yours, IKE SENERES/11-07-2024

WOLBACHIA AS A WEAPON AGAINST DENGUE

WOLBACHIA AS A WEAPON AGAINST DENGUE Dear Mr. President: It is commonly said that to win a war, we must first know our enemy. I think that that saying is very much applicable in our war against dengue, and please allow me to explain what I mean by that. To be clear, our enemy is not dengue itself, but the infected Aedes mosquitos that are the carriers of the dengue virus. Not all mosquitos are carriers, and not all Aedes mosquitos are carriers, only those that belong to the Flavivirus genus are the carriers. It goes without saying Sir, that to win the war against the dengue virus, we must defeat not the disease itself, but the carriers of the virus, namely the Aedes mosquitos. Going back to the subject of knowing our enemy, we must know that mosquitos in general are arthropods belonging to the class Insecta. Since we know already who or what our enemies are, the next thing that we need to know is what weapons we need to fight them, so to speak. According to Microsoft Copilot, “Wolbachia is gram-negative bacteria that infects a wide range of arthropods and some nematodes”. In other words, Sir, Wolbachia is a bacterium that could be used as a weapon to fight against the Aedes mosquito, simply it is an arthropod that is vulnerable to it. what can Wolbachia do to the Aedes mosquito? First, it can live inside the cells of the host mosquito, and the bacteria can be passed from one generation of the host to the next, through the eggs. Secondly, it can do damage to the reproductive cycle of the host, such as asexual reproduction, feminization and male killing. Thirdly, it can function as a biocontrol agent that weakens the ability of mosquitos to transmit viruses such as dengue and zika. Copilot also says that the use of Wolbachia in the Philippines is “still in the research and evaluation stage”, possibly within a unit of the DOH. Copilot adds that “public sentiments towards this technology is generally positive, but more studies and public engagement are needed to ensure its safety and effectiveness. I can understand why the DOH is very careful in releasing this bacterium for general use, because if mistakes are made, we might cause some biohazard accidents that could go beyond the control of the government. In the meantime, Mr. President, the government should also carefully weigh the pros and cons, because we could be losing the war already as we speak. As of September, this year, the government reported about 208,000 cases of dengue, representing an increase of about 68% increase over the same period last year. While waiting for a final approval Sir, perhaps you could consider instructing the DOH to conduct a small pilot test in a controlled environment? Perhaps the DOH could do it in a remote isolated island? IKE SENERES/11-06-2024

LET’S TEST USING MOSQUITRIX VERSUS MALARIA

LET’S TEST USING MOSQUITRIX VERSUS MALARIA Dear Mr. President: To my surprise, the carrier of the malaria disease, the female Anopheles mosquito, is alive and well and living in Palawan. The disease is caused by Plasmodium parasites that are spread through the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitos. Once the parasites enter the bloodstream, they travel to the liver, where they mature and multiply before infecting the red blood cells. Well, to be exact, the Anopheles mosquito could be also living in other places of the Philippines, but Palawan is where 6,188 cases of malaria were reported, out of the 6, 248 cases reported nationwide. Unfortunately, there are no vaccines yet that are available for use against malaria in the Philippines. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the Mosquitrix vaccine for Malaria prevention in children living in malaria-stricken regions in the world, but up to now, these vaccines are used only in pilot programs in Africa. As of now, Mosquitrix is not being used in the Philippines yet, and there is no available information whether anyone, from the government or the private sector has applied for approval from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It seems logical to speculate that the most likely applicant will be the local company of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), since it was GSK that developed the vaccine in collaboration with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), with partial funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. According to Microsoft Copilot, “the vaccine requires at least three doses in infants by age 2, with a fourth dose extending protection for another 1-2 years. It has been shown to reduce hospital admissions from severe malaria by around 30% and toddler deaths by 15%”. Copilot also says that “symptoms of malaria can include fever, chills, headache, nausea and muscle pain. In severe cases, it can lead to complications like anemia, cerebral malaria and organ failure”. Are these not enough reasons for us to plan and already start pilot-testing Mosquitrix, preferably in Palawan? Mr. President, we all have reason to believe that our country is prone to diseases that are carried by mosquitos. Two of the best-known diseases are malaria and dengue, but there could be more. It is still fresh in our memory that we were totally caught unaware by the Covid 19 pandemic. As a matter of fact, we had no choice but to use a vaccine that was not fully tested, because we had to do it as a matter of survival. Fortunately, Sir, in this case of malaria, there is a vaccine that has already been tested with good results, and there is really nothing that stops us now from also start testing it ourselves. How and where do we start Sir? Perhaps with the local offices of both GSK and Microsoft, because for sure they will be able to connect us with their headquarters. Both the DFA and the DTI could also request our embassy in Washington, DC because Microsoft is based in the US. Our embassy in London could talk to GSK, being based there in the UK. Other than that, perhaps the DOH could coordinate with the local or regional offices of the WHO, to start the ball rolling. IKE SENERES/11-05-2024

BANNING SINGLE USE PLASTICS

BANNING SINGLE USE PLASTICS Dear Mr. President: The good news is, our Congress has passed almost all the necessary laws banning single use plastics in the Philippines. The bad news is, the DENR appears to be having difficulty in implementing these laws. I wonder what the problem is? Could it be a lack of funding? Or a lack of manpower? Or a lack of interest? Or could it be that the DENR has too much to do, such that paying attention to single use plastics is way belong among their priorities? Or could it be that they are facing opposition from strong industry lobbies? The National Solid Waste Commission (NSWC) was created under Republic Act 9003, also known as the Ecological Solid Waste Act of 2000 (ESWA). The NWSC was created for the purpose of implementing the ESWA law. In 2020, the NSWC issued Resolution No. 1363, banning “unnecessary single-use plastics”. The ban covers National Government Agencies (NGAs), Local Government Units (LGUs) and all other government offices and instrumentalities. Unfortunately, compliance to the resolution appears to be very slow, even after four years. This appears to be a real problem Sir, because if the government could not implement environmental laws within its own ranks, how would it be able to implement these laws nationwide? In addition to ESWA, the Extended Producer Responsibility Act (EPRA) was also passed in 2022, to further strengthen our waste management laws by making producers responsible for the entire lifecycle of their plastic packaging, including post-consumer waste. According to Microsoft Copilot, the combination of ESWA and EPRA was “meant to broaden the government’s efforts to promote sustainable consumption and production practices in the country”. Sad to say Mr. President, after about twenty years, the solid waste management system in our country has not improved. According to the ESWA, the de facto Chairman of the NSWC is the DENR Secretary. According to the EPRA, the actual implementation of the said law is assigned to the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), an agency that is also under the DENR Secretary. These functions include overseeing the compliance of “covered enterprises” with the EPR requirements, also including the recovery, treatment, recycling and disposal of plastic packaging waste. That said, it is very clear that the DENR is solely responsible for banning the use of single-use plastic in the Philippines, and no one else. While the term “unnecessary single-use plastics” might have been vague, the term “covered enterprises” is clear as day. The term “unnecessary” is very subjective and arguable, and the determination of what is “necessary” and what is not might even be a temptation for corruption. However, the term “covered enterprises” clearly covers all companies that are producing all forms of one-way plastics, supposedly without exception. And so, if that is so, why is it Mr. President, that so many of these plastic packaging wastes are not recovered, treated, recycled and disposed? Additionally, Mr. President, the ESWA also mandates all barangays or clusters of barangays to establish Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs). The purpose of these facilities is to intercept recyclables such as glass bottles, aluminum cans, plastic packaging and paper stocks, so that these will not end up in the dumpsites or landfills and would instead be sold to junkshops. Sir, if only the DENR could be encouraged to actively implement both ESWA and EPRA more vigorously, then perhaps we could manage our solid waste problem better. IKE SENERES/11-04-2024

MACROECONOMICS OF ABACA PRODUCTION

MACROECONOMICS OF ABACA PRODUCTION Dear Mr. President: I have a question and since I could not get a clear answer in online sources, perhaps you could help me get the right answer? Does the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) use local or imported abaca materials for the Philippine banknotes? All the while, I thought that BSP has been using local abaca materials all along, but the artificial intelligence application Microsoft Copilot says that it uses imported abaca. Copilot also says that the BSP uses 80% cotton and 20% abaca to produce the banknotes, but the cotton materials are also imported, just like the abaca materials. That to me, is very sad news Mr. President, because I was really hoping somehow that the time will come, sooner or later, that cotton could be grown in the Ilocos Region, to replace the tobacco crop, because of the latter’s dwindling markets. I understand that studies have shown that cotton can be a viable crop to grow in Ilocos Sur, it is not practical to grow it, because other crops like garlic and watermelon could have higher returns on investments, due to their higher prices. Much as I could not contradict that data, I still believe that cotton could be a viable additional crop to grow in the Ilocos Region, if only a local market could be developed for it. Perhaps that market could be developed by the BSP, if only they would buy local cotton. As of now, there are no government reports yet about how much damage the recent typhoons have done to the Bicol Region, especially to Catanduanes, specifically to their abaca industry. What is now a no-brainer Mr. President, is that in order for Catanduanes to recover, the abaca industry must be rebuilt, and that means the government must now work double time to help that industry develop and market its abaca derived products. About six years ago, the DOST announced that “The time may not be long before the country develops the capability of producing banknotes as Department of Science and Technology (DOST) researchers have crafted a technology that can produce currency bank paper (CBP) from local indigenous materials”. Since that time however, nothing has been heard from neither DOST nor BSP. If only the technology announced by the DOST could be used by the BSP, it would become more economically viable for the government to invest in abaca, and all related products that are derived from it. Not only that, but there are also new developments that could bring new life to the abaca industry, and that includes a new fiber yarning machine invented by the National Abaca Research Center (NARC) at the Visayas State University (VSU). The machine could produce higher quality yarn at a faster rate. Hopefully, very soon, a newer and better version of “Manila Hemp” will emerge, one that is still organic and biodegradable, but stronger because it will be blended with a bioplastic film that will be using a nanocellulose material extracted from abaca fiber. This new material developed by the Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) of the DOST will not only replace conventional rope, but it will also replace traditional petroleum-based plastics and reduce plastic waste. Hopefully, this innovation will improve the macroeconomics of growing abaca. IKE SENERES/11-03-2024

DEVELOMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS TRIBES

DEVELOMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS TRIBES Dear Mr. President: I think that it was a very good decision on your part to transfer the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) from the DSWD to the Office of the President (OP). Because of that Sir, I think the transfer has now made it possible to introduce as many development projects for the benefit if tribal communities, as much as possible. With due respect, please allow me to mention some of these projects. To begin with, I would like to highlight the fact that most of these tribal communities have very large agricultural lands to develop, and they have plenty of manpower that they could tap from among their members. However, as much as they have large lands and have plenty of people, they are also very much lacking in technology, training, financing, processing and marketing assistance. Among the possibilities of what could be done, I am particularly partial to the potential of tree planting, and beyond that, perhaps going into reforestation, meaning the revival of denuded forests. And if possible, Mr. President, they could also go into afforestation, meaning the planting of new forests where there was none before. The decision to plant which species Sir. Will depend on the soil and water tests but suffice it to say that all should be native tree species, meaning not the invasive species. The data also shows Mr. President, that livestock could also grow under the trees, either in cages or through the free-range approach. The same goes, Sir, for poultry species such as chickens, ducks, quails and turkeys. And in places where there is an abundant supply of water, the tribal communities could also go into aquaculture, either in the natural lakes, ponds and rivers, or in manmade fish tanks such as the Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) technology, a closed and land-based way of farming fish. Going back to the choice of tree species, priority should be given to those that are fast growing and have a ready market waiting. Although bamboos and bananas are technically not trees, they could be given priority because both are fast growing, and both have huge markets. Although some tree species might be fast growing enough to give medium term incomes to the tribes, it would be advisable for them to also plant some fast-growing cash crops. Regarding planting trees Mr. President, we should also help our Indigenous Tribal Peoples (ITPs) so that aside from the sale of wood, fruits and related products, they could also earn money from carbon credits and from the debt-for-nature swap program, together with the newly emerging debt-for-climate swap program. According to Microsoft Copilot, “these agreements allow countries to reduce their debt burden in exchange for commitments to protect the environment”. As far as I can recall Mr. President, there are several National Government Agencies (NGAs) that have yet to come forward to help not only the NCIP, but also all the ITPs all over the country, regardless of whether they already have Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADTs) or not. Among these agencies are the National Development Company (NDC), the Small Business Corporation (SB Corp), the Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI), the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). IKE SENERES/11-02-2024