Volume 19 | Issue No. 6 | November-December 2018 ISSN 0119-0725
T
he College of Public Affairs and Development (CPAf) held the First International Conference on Governance and Development (ICGD) on November 20-21 at the Acacia Hotel Manila, Alabang, Muntinlupa City. With the theme“Engendering Innovations in Governance towards Development,”
the conference provided participants opportunities to present and exchange innovative ideas and learnings that could foster effective governance and development.
UPLB Chancellor Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr., in his welcome remarks, acknowledged governance as a timely and timeless issue.
“Today, governance remains a critical issue as it determines whether or not a state is able to provide for the needs of its citizens and ensure their wellbeing and prosperity,” he said.
The conference recognized good governance central in
achieving development. It covered four subthemes in its plenary and parallel sessions: 1) Governance
and Development; 2) Federalism and Development; 3) Innovation Systems and Development; and 4) Communities in Transition and Sustainable Development.
Keynote speaker Rafael M. Alunan III related the country’s failure to meet the Eight Millennium Development Goals in 2015 to poor governance. The Philippines had “red marks for a number of them” he shared. “We failed to meet our commitment because of the poor quality of governance on the average at the national and local levels, characterized by negligence, corruption, lack of cohesion, and incompetence,” he said.
Mr. Alunan, who served as secretary of Department of Tourism (during the term of President Corazon C. Aquino) and Department of the Interior and Local Government (during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos), shared some lessons in governance and public administration including the need to have effective leadership, collaboration, citizen-
centric governance, and strategic management, among others. “You need to have key principles and strategies to guide your way,” he also noted. Mr. Alunan also called for cultural transformation – the need to transform from selfishness to selflessness, from self to public service, and from exclusion to inclusion.
Plenary speakers were Ms.
Regina Paz “Gina” Lopez, former secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and founder of iLOVE Foundation who shared about iLOVE which stands for “Investments in Loving Organizations for Village Economy;”
Atty. Jonathan E. Malaya, assistant secretary for Capacity Development, Public Affairs and Communication of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, who discussed
“Federalism and Development;” Dr.
Yudo Anggoro, deputy director of Jakarta Campus, School of Business and Management, Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia, who
CPAf holds 1 st international conference on
governance and development
2
CPAf UpdatesVolume 19 | Issue No. 6 | November-December 2018 CPAf Updates
3
Volume 19 | Issue No. 6 | November-December 2018
CISC research team presents the community-based fishery action plan to local officials of Laguna
talked about “Government and Innovation: Sharing Session from Indonesia;” and, lastly, Dr. Michael Klaus, director of Hanss Seidel Foundation Representative Office in Shandong, China, who presented the “Local Government and Citizen Participation in Germany: Transfer of the German Experience to P.R.
China.”
The conference also held a special session on “Strengthening Ties: Networking Meeting of
Speakers, UPLB Officials, and Invited Guests.” Participants who came from the private sector, academe, and
government agencies talked about possible areas of collaboration.
Another special session on “Finance and Taxation in Development” was held with the following speakers: Mr. Gil S. Beltran (undersecretary and chief economist, Department of Finance, Philippines), Mr. George John Bierlee (consultant, Asian Development Bank), Mr. Bruce Hutchins (chief of party, Facilitating Public Investment - United
States Agency for International Development), and Dr. Rufo R.
Mendoza (consultant, Public Finance Management).
Furthermore, the conference provided a venue for “Panel Expert Interviews” participated by Mayor Rommel A. Gecolea of Cabuyao City, Mayor Vincent L. Soriano of Municipality of Pakil, Dr. Anggoro, and Dr. Klaus.
The 1st ICGD was supported by the University of the Philippines System, Department of Finance, and other partner stakeholders. More than 170 students, researchers, faculty, and administrators attended the event.
Stella Concepcion R. Britanico
CPAf holds...
T
he fishery sector is important to the economy of the Philippines yet the fishing communities remain to be poor.Dr. Miriam R. Nguyen, university researcher at the Community Innovations Studies Center (CISC), acknowledges this challenge. This led her to facilitate the presentation of Community Resilience Action Plans of Fishing Communities to the local officials of Laguna. The action plans presented contain community selected
strategies, projects, and activities that aim to address problems and needs in the fishery sector, and uplift the lives of the fisherfolks in lakeshore communities.
The first presentation was held on November 7 at Asiablooms, Santa Cruz in Laguna, where the Santa Cruz action plan was
presented to the representatives of the Municipal Agriculture Office and Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office. On November 8, the Pakil Action plan presentation was held at Villa Someros, Pakil also in Laguna, and was attended by representatives of the Sangguniang Bayan, Municipal Agriculture
Officer, Sanitary Inspector, Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer, and Bantay-Lawa. Present in both activities were the barangay officials and representatives of the municipal and barangay Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (FARMC).
Hon. Ramon D. Tan, municipal councilor of Santa Cruz, graced the presentation for the said municipality. According to him,
“Yung pagcope-up sa [climate]
change napakahalagang bagay, kasi yan kalaban natin. Naapektuhan yung mga aquatic animals kung saan tayo nabubuhay dahil sa [climate change] na lumalala nang lumalala.”
(It is very important to cope with climate change because that is our
enemy. The aquatic animals from which we get our living are affected by the worsening of climate change).
Meanwhile, Hon. Rolando L.
Galing, municipal councilor of Pakil, recognized the need to take care of the lake as he called it “Buhay ng Lalawigan ng Laguna” (Lifeblood of the Province of Laguna). Both councilors came to the respective presentations to hold the opening remarks on behalf of the mayors of Santa Cruz and Pakil.
After the Santa Cruz
presentation, Municipal Agriculturist Victorino M. Relocano of Santa Cruz expressed his gratitude to the research team. He said, “Nakita ko po sa pamamagitan ng proyektong ito, isa na rin ito sa tools na kapag na- implement natin ito sa ating bayan ay malaki ang maitutulong nito sa inyo.”
He also committed to present the plan to the Sangguniang Bayan of Santa Cruz. Meanwhile, Ms. Theresita K.
Payumo, Municipal Agriculturist of Pakil, said that some of the projects are already achievable as they are also aligned with the plans of the Local Government of Pakil. For the other projects identified in the Pakil Action plan, Hon. Narciso A. Catarino, chair of the Committee on Agriculture, gave his commitment to help the fisherfolks in presenting the action plan to the Sangguniang Bayan.
The action plan presentation is the project’s activity for the months of November and December 2018.
Dr. Miriam R. Nguyen presents the overview of the program’s activity to the Santa Cruz participants.
SAPS-HCAAP sustainability plan gains support from government agencies
V
arious government agencies in Northern Samar committed to support rice farmers’ sustainability plan during the Multi-stakeholders Meeting held on November 7 at the Governor’s Conference Room, Capitol Building, Northern Samar.Vice Governor Gary Manook Lavin presided the meeting.
The sustainability plan is one of the outputs of the Special Assistance for Project Sustainability for the Help of Catubig Agricultural Advancement Project (SAPS-HCAAP). The rice farmers who belong to the 12 irrigators’ associations (IAs) in the Municipalities of Catubig and Las Navas, Northern Samar prepared the plan together with the concerned agencies/organizations during the 4th SAPS-HCAAP Planning Workshop held on July 23-24, and it was finalized during its 5th Planning Workshop on November 6-7. Both activities were conducted at the Governor’s Conference Room of the Capitol Building.
Director Blanquita R. Pantoja of the Community Innovations Studies Center (CISC) of CPAf presented the final sustainability plan during the Multi-stakeholders
Meeting and successfully received the continuous support of concerned agencies. Specifically, they committed to provide financial assistance to farmers (Office of the Provincial Agriculturist through its Land Bunding Program and Department of Social Welfare and Development Regional and Provincial Offices);
maintain peace and order in the SAPS-HCAAP areas (Armed Forces of the Philippines), support the construction and rehabilitation of farm-to-market roads (FMRs) in the covered areas (Department of Public Works and Highways); and provide additional equipment for repair and maintenance of earth-lined canal
(National Irrigation Administration).
The Local Government of Las Navas and Catubig also promised to incorporate the sustainability plan in the 2018-2020 Municipal Development Plan.
The sustainability plan addresses the issues, problems, and concerns of farmers, particularly IA members, as pointed out in the socio- economic survey conducted by Dir.
Pantoja and the project team. The plan proposes the following programs:
1) Capacity building for technology transfer and sustainability, particularly the strengthening of IAs; 2) Conduct of networking and linking sessions;
3) Credit and microfinance programs;
4) Provision of insurance; 5) Land development, paddy diking and land bunding; 6) Maintenance of irrigation systems; 7) Addressing tenure and land use problems; 8) Construction/
rehabilitation of FMRs; 9) Capacitate local government units in marketing of produce; and 10) Encouraging the youth to go to agriculture.
The CISC led the
implementation of SAPS-HCAAP funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with Dir.
Pantoja as project leader. Members of the team were CPAf Dean Rolando T.
Bello, Mr. Danilo J. Lalican, and Mr.
Rene L. Limosinero of UPLB College of Agriculture and Food Science, and
Dr. Jaime F. Sanico of the University of Eastern Philippines. CISC
researchers Francisca O. Tan, Mena E. Umali, and Florita P. Raneses were also involved in the project. It was conducted from June 23, 2017 to October 31, 2018. Francisca O.
Tan
SAPS-HCAAP...
(continued next page)
CPAf Updates is published by the College of Public Affairs and Development, UP Los Baños. Contributions from the faculty, non-academic staff, and students are welcome. Please send news/feature articles and photos to [email protected]. Requests for use of content should be addressed to the
Editor-in-Chief. More news at CPAf website at http://cpaf.uplb.edu.ph. Comments and suggestions for improvement are most welcome.
Editorial Adviser: ROLANDO T. BELLO • Editor-in-Chief: EVELIE P. SERRANO • Associate Editor: STELLA CONCEPCION R. BRITANICO Managing Editor: STOIX NEBIN S. PASCUA • Layout Artist: RUETH T. CABRAL • Photos: DANILO G. REFORMA
Production: SANDRALYN V. TAN
Follow us on www.facebook.com/uplb.cpaf • plus.google.com/+UPLBCollegeofPublicAffairsandDevelopmentLosBaños • twitter.com/UPLBcpaf
CPAf Updates Volume 19 | Issue No. 6 | November-December 2018
Extension of JICA-funded project in Northern Samar entails a new study
T
he Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) project in Northern Samar entitled“Special Assistance for Project Sustainability for the Help for Catubig Agricultural Advancement Project (SAPS-HCAAP)” is extended until May 2019. Based at the Community Innovations Studies Center (CISC) of CPAf, the project was supposed to end on October 31, 2018.
The SAPS-HCAAP covered 12 irrigators’ associations (IAs) in the Municipalities of Catubig and Las Navas, Northern Samar.
With the 7-month extension, an organizational assessment will be conducted. The influence of IAs to farmers’ decision to adopt/practice modern rice technologies will be evaluated and those IAs that have
influence on farmers’ decision will be characterized in terms of financial status, management capabilities, and organizational structure.
The extension of the project also led to the continuation of its second component, Rice Farming Technology Training and Demonstration Farm. Of the target 19 rice farmer-cooperators, only 12 were able to establish their demonstration farms. Three of them stopped their planting activities due to insufficient water supply brought about by unexpected drought in the province. The rest of the cooperators who were located in the rainfed areas were delayed in the establishment of their techno demo farms due to delayed rainfall and their sources of water using the impounding
facilities already dried up. Hence, the establishment of the techno demo farms of the 12 cooperators will be extended until next cropping season, November 2018 - March 2019. Farmer-cooperators will also continuously receive mentoring from the project team to help them establish their farm.
The organizational assessment will be led by CISC researcher Samantha Geraldine G.
De los Santos as Project Leader and Director Blanquita R. Pantoja as Study Leader, with Francisca O.
Tan as Assistant Agrarian Reform Specialist and Rona Thea T. Reodica as Project Assistant. Francisca O. Tan
Together with Dr. Nguyen, Ms. Maria Francesca O. Tan, Ms. Francisca O.
Tan, Ms. Roxanne A. Banalo, and Ms. Samantha Geraldine G. De los Santos will return to the rest of the project’s study sites to present the action plans. This is to ensure that the plans formulated by fisherfolks and barangay officials are recognized by the officials at the municipal and provincial levels. The project sites are located at Tanauan City and Talisay in Batangas; Jala-jala and Binangonan in Rizal; Naujan and Victoria in Mindoro; and Buhi and Bato in Camarines Sur.
The action plans were a product of the Participatory Community Resilience Action Planning (PCRAP) held from May to July 2018, an activity under Dr.
Nguyen’s DA-BAR funded project
“Developing Strategies Towards More Resilient Fishing Communities Amidst Climate Change: The Case of Major Lakes in Luzon.” The Santa Cruz and Pakil Action Plans were drafted in July 2018 by the Municipal Local Government Unit (LGU) representatives, barangay officials, and FARMC officers. The resulting action plan is seen as key to improve fisherfolks’ livelihood and living conditions through community- identified projects.
Dr. Nguyen’s project aims to develop improved adaptation strategies in coping with negative effects of climate change. The project has three study components.
The first two studies covered 1) characterization and profiling of
fishing communities (led by CISC Director Blanquita R. Pantoja) and 2) community-based adaptation strategies on the effects of climate change among fishing communities in Luzon. Both were completed in 2017. Meanwhile, the third study was implemented in 2018, which focused on capacitating fishing communities on climate change adaptation strategies towards improved resiliency. The research team of the third study conducted dissemination and validation of research results from the first two studies, awareness raising and development of strategies to enhance resilience to climate change effects, and training-workshop on PCRAP to help communities develop an action plan. Article and photo by Samantha Geraldine G.
De los Santos
