2 governors, mayor share best practices in governance

June 16, 2008 03:41:00
TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—And then there were three—all leading lights in local politics who have joined hands to preach good governance in the hope this would be replicated elsewhere.

In their first much-awaited meeting, Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo, Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca and Pampanga Gov. Eddie “Among Ed” Panlilio plotted on Tuesday night their future, and the country’s.

Over dinner of sinampalukang manok, pancit molo and bistek Tagalog at Club Filipino in San Juan City, the three officials agreed to tackle together problems, and more importantly, share their “best practices” in governance with other local chief executives.

“We are a fragmented nation and what we want is to group together, make a commitment and advocate the same advocacy,” Panlilio said in an interview. “The country deserves better governance.”

One quick way to reach out is through cyberspace. The three officials are planning to set up a “group blog,” where they can write down their thoughts, in the hope of luring others to their cause, according to Robredo, who keeps a blog like Panlilio.

There have been calls for the three officials to get together and talk about what’s good for the country, but it was only last week that they got around to doing it. After all, they are the new breed of reform-driven public servants.

Harvey Keh, director for Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship of Ateneo de Manila University School of Government, arranged and joined the meeting of the three, whom he calls the “hope of the country.”

“If bad people in our government can join forces to wreak havoc in our country, then why can’t the good people join forces as well and promote good governance in our country?” he said.

In their two-hour meeting, the two governors and the mayor made an amusing, but otherwise not surprising discovery about themselves: They’re advocating the same reforms.

Greater transparency

These are ensuring greater transparency and accountability in government dealings, curbing the pervasive illegal numbers game “jueteng” and illegal logging, and fighting for more local autonomy in the maintenance of law and order.

And with less than two years to go before the 2010 national elections, the three officials are now pushing for computerized elections and voters’ education.

After the dinner, Padaca, 44, went home feeling a certain “lightness of heart.”

“I thought to myself. ‘I’m not alone anymore,’” she said by phone on her way to a remote village on a mountainside in San Agustin town in Isabela province for a regular dialogue with her constituents on Friday morning.

Robredo, 50, winner of the 2000 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service and one of Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World for efficient, good governance, said the main consensus was cooperation.

“Since we’re not getting any help from the national government, we agreed to cooperate in solving our common problems,” he said by phone from a domestic airport in Naga. For one, they could share strategies, he added.

Choice of police chiefs

One of their more pressing concerns now, especially in Panlilio’s case, is getting regional police officials to respect their choice of police chiefs, which is crucial in the campaign against jueteng.

The mayor was happy to note that Panlilio employed the same tack he took when faced with the same problem in the past: Call the senators’ attention.

If a solution entails getting a law amended, the three officials said they would write lawmakers to file a bill to this effect.

But over and above their local concerns, the three agreed to share “best practices” on how transparency and accountability work in their respective turf with other like-minded officials.

“Good governance starts with simple lifestyle, low-cost expenses in the capitol, transparency and accountability, efficient delivery of services,” Panlilio, 54, said in a phone interview before giving a talk on good governance at Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro City on Friday morning.

The priest shot to national prominence following his crushing victory over the popular Gov. Mark Lapid and moneyed Lilia Pineda in last year’s gubernatorial elections in Pampanga province.

Best practices

Among the best practices that can be replicated elsewhere are Naga’s practice of allowing NGOs to sit at deliberations of special bodies and the city council, and in effect, help run the city, and posting the disposition of its funds and results of its bidding processes on its website; Pampanga’s efficient collection of quarry taxes; and Isabela’s efforts at food sufficiency.

The three plan to meet again, hoping to see other “like-minded” officials next time around.

“We’re very sure there are a lot of others out there who have their own success stories, but have yet to be discovered,” said Padaca, who thrashed the heirs of the Dy family in the 2004 and 2007 gubernatorial elections in Isabela.

Panlilio agreed: “If we put more emphasis on those who really work for good governance to change the political system, and we work together, it will have a big impact on our country.”

The idea of bringing the three officials together was to create a “coalition” of local government officials who are committed “to promoting good governance, transparency and accountability,” Ateneo’s Keh, 29, said.

“I want to make the organization grow, to include other local government leaders who want to see genuine change in our country,” he said.

Corruption preys on RP poor: UN study

By DAVID DIZON
abs-cbnNEWS.com

Petty corruption is taking a toll on poor people in the Asia-Pacific, including the Philippines, by curbing economic development in the region, according to a United Nations Development Program study.

The report, "Tackling Corruption, Transforming Lives," said small scale corruption is draining economic growth across the Asia-Pacific region and affecting people's access to basic services. It called on governments and citizens across the Asia-Pacific to tackle corruption together by focusing on areas that impact daily life such as health, education, the police and natural resources.

"Corruption undermines democratic institutions, retards economic development and contributes to government instability. It attacks the foundation of democratic institutions by distorting electoral processes, perverting the rule of law and creating bureaucratic quagmires whose only reason for existence is the soliciting of bribes," said Hafiz Pasha, director of UNDP's regional bureau for Asia and the Pacific.

"Economic development is stunted because outside direct investment is discouraged and small businesses within the country often find it impossible to overcome the ‘start-up costs’ required, because of corruption."

The report cited a global study which shows that corruption tends to slow the income growth for the bottom 20 per cent of the population. It said corruption slows down poverty reduction by lowering growth rates and reducing the effectiveness of social programs.

The report said corruption often hinders the delivery of many of the goods and services targeted for the poor. Instead, the goods often finish up in the hands of well-off and connected households who can afford to bribe the officials. It also said that the rice and powerful get the best deals when there is a general shortage of services, public or private.

Politicians, police least trusted

According to the report, politicians are seen as the most corrupt group in government followed by the police, with the judiciary running a close third. Nearly one in five people claim to have paid a bribe to police during the previous year. Other sectors also tainted by corruption include tax collection, education, medical services, utilities and registry or permit services.

The report cited a 2005 study commissioned by the Asian Development Bank that showed that power projects in the Philippines are more expensive than international norms due to delays, heavy reliance on international consultants and contractors, corruption and extensive use of foreign currency loans.

It said corruption was involved in almost all phases of a project, from tendering and bidding to operation and maintenance as well as in privatization and the awarding of independent power-producing contracts.

The report warned that corrupt policemen could extort, abuse or even rape suspects and force them to pay for their freedom. It added that police can also seize people they know to be innocent, threatening them with arrest and demanding payment for release.

On the other hand, the report cited a number of studies that found that two-thirds or more of the Asian population consider their court system to be corrupt and admit that they consider it wise to pay bribes.

The report said governments should ensure that complaints against the police are dealt with by a truly independent body while making changes on police structures and operations
to make them more efficient and responsive. Other solutions include applying rigid recruitment criteria, reallocating individuals across tasks, modifying transfer patterns, and carrying out ethical evaluations of those who are up for promotion.

For corrupt justices, the UNDP recommended that governments ensure that judges are appointed by independent bodies, serve fixed terms, have salaries that match their experience and qualifications and are offered all necessary protection. The judicial system should also require judges to give written reasons for their judgements – making greater use of information technology to offer easier access to court documents.

Strong civil sector involvement

The report also noted the strong involvement of civil society groups in fighting corruption in the Philippine government.

Several of the anticorruption initiatives and groups cited were:

- The Action Program for Judicial Reform initiative, which monitors the selection of the chief justice, ombudsman and election commissioners

- The Transparent Accountable Governance project, which monitors textbook procurement and delivery in the Philippines

- The Concerned Citizens of Abra Good Government, which monitors government projects in the Abra region

- The Transparency and Accountability Network, which monitors road-building in the country.

The report also cited the role of journalists in reporting cases of public interest. It said the Philippine press has helped create public pressure for reform even as some reporters admitted receiving bribes.

'Irrigate more rice lands for self-sufficiency'

From ABS-CBN News Online, May 5, 2008

A former agriculture secretary said the government needs to irrigate at least five million hectares of rice lands to achieve its self-sufficiency goal for the Philippines after President Arroyo's term ends.

Sorsogon Rep. Salvador Escudero, former president Ferdinand Marcos's agriculture chief, said the government should be able to do what Vietnam and Thailand did: irrigate five to eight million hectares of rice fields.

"When we left [the agriculture department] in 1998, there [were] only 1.44 million hectares of irrigated land and I don't know if this number was maintained," Escudero said.

He said the government should immediately release funds for developing irrigated lands. He said the development of these lands will ensure the country's rice self-sufficiency for the next three to four years.

Mrs. Arroyo has announced the government's plan to release up to P43 billion funds for agricultural development starting this year up to 2010. Part of the plan is to develop more irrigated lands in rice-producing provinces, particularly in Luzon regions.

Billions poured into food program

The President announced a "wide array" of agriculture initiatives she dubbed as FIELDS (fertilizers, infrastructure and irrigation, extension and education, loans, drying and other post-harvest facilities, and seeds) during a food summit in Pampanga on April 4.

At least P43.7 billion funds for agriculture were allotted by Mrs. Arroyo during the food summit. The funds include:

* P500 million for fertilizer support and production.
* P6 billion per year for large and small irrigation systems.
* P6 billion per year for farm-to-market roads and Roll-On-Roll-Off ports.
* P5 billion for research and development, capacity building, and improving educational efforts for the agriculture and fisheries sector.
* P2 billion for hybrid seeds (for the remaining five planting seasons, up to 2010).
* P6 billion for certified seeds (also up to 2010).
* P2 billion for dryers and other post-harvest facilities.
* P15 billion for agricultural loans to farmers, most of which will be coursed through Landbank.

The Philippines has been tagged as the biggest rice importing country in the world, despite having vast agricultural land.

The government has been banking on imported rice from Vietnam, Thailand and United States to sustain its needs during the lean months of July until September.

The agricultural department said 1.7 million metric tons of imported rice are expected to be shipped into the country to augment the National Food Authority's depleted rice stock.

Increasing poverty caused by corruption

By Neal Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:04:00 03/10/2008


MANILA, Philippines - For lack of anything else to be proud of, President Macapagal-Arroyo likes to boast about her “economic achievements” because very few Filipinos understand economics. She cites numbers written on pieces of paper—like “the Gross Domestic Product grew by so much percent last year”—and you have to take her word for it. It is very difficult to check these figures. So what she says becomes the official statistic. And it usually gives a wrong image of the nation. For example, our image now is that we have an improving economy.

But there is another statistic that everybody can see every day and that is very easy to understand: the number of poor people is increasing. There are more children and old people begging in the streets, squatter colonies where the poorest of the poor lead wretched lives are expanding. More and more people are looking for jobs and finding too few; recruitment agencies are always awash with people hoping to get jobs abroad. The Department of Foreign Affairs can’t cope with the demand for passports as more and more Filipinos try to escape the poverty at home for greener pastures overseas. All of these are clear signs that something is very bad with the economy: it cannot support our population. But GMA does not want to see them; instead she sees only the numbers that somebody probably picked out of thin air and put down on paper as official government statistics.

Actually we don’t need the statistics just released by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) to know that poverty is worsening because we can see it day by day. Nevertheless, the NSCB has made it official: One out of every three Filipinos is poor. The Inquirer editorial last Saturday spelled it out very clearly: Within the presidency of GMA, from 2003 to 2006, the number of poor families—those that earn less than P6,274 a month, the amount a family of five needs to be able to afford the basic necessities—grew from 4 million in 2003 to 4.7 million in 2006. The number of poor Filipinos grew by 3.8 million, from 23.8 million to 27.6 million. The number of families that did not earn enough to buy the minimum amount of food they needed grew from 1.7 million to 1.9 million—meaning 14.6 percent of the population, 12.2 million souls, were not eating enough.

If the economy is improving as the GMA administration claims, why are there so many poor Filipinos? Why can’t so many Filipinos find jobs at home? Why are they forced to leave their families to earn a living abroad? Why don’t so many Filipinos have enough to eat?

If the economy is really as good as GMA trumpets, there would be few poor Filipinos, they would have jobs here, they would have enough to eat, there would be few squatters.

Every time her countrymen ask what their President is doing about this or that problem, she answers: “I am concentrating on the economy.” What economy? An economy that keeps so many Filipinos poor?

Administration apologists are quick to make excuses for the growing incidence of poverty: It is because of inflation brought about by the increase in oil prices, they say. It is because of the typhoons. Excuses, excuses.

Other countries were also hit by the high oil prices; other countries were also hit by typhoons. But we are the only country that had such a big increase in poverty.

No, it is neither Opec nor typhoons that are to blame; it is corruption. Companies find it expensive to do business in the Philippines because of corruption and red tape, so no jobs for Filipinos. Funds that should go to projects and to basic services to the people go to private pockets. Commissioners and brokers are no longer content with 10-percent commissions. They now collect 100 percent of the original cost, thus doubling the cost of the project. The ZTE-NBN and NorthRail projects are just the tip of the iceberg.

Although the Arroyo administration has sold and is still selling assets and has increased taxes, we are still deep in debt. From China alone, the Arroyo administration borrowed in recent years $8 billion (that’s billion). In pesos at the time they were borrowed, they were worth P450 billion! Needless to say, hard-pressed Filipino taxpayers will have to pay for them.

And what do we have to show for that P450 billion? Probably half of that went to private pockets.

GMA also claims in her speeches that poverty and the unemployment rate have gone down. Now we know she has been lying all along. The President lying to her people? Not surprising anymore.

Has anybody noticed that corruption has jumped as the Arroyo administration winds to a close? Kickbacks have also increased tremendously. The explanation is simple: Knowing that they would be out of jobs when GMA is no longer President, top government officials are providing for their future. Knowing that this or that character got so much in kickbacks, succeeding commissioners demand bigger and bigger kickbacks. It was a case of oneupmanship. And immoderate greed. GMA officials’ motto seems to be: “Take as much as you can while the getting is good. Time is running out on us.”

Cabinet meeting called to intensify anti-poverty programs

By Michael Lim Ubac, Cyril Bonabente
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:22:00 03/11/2008


MANILA, Philippines -- Saddled by the increasing number of poor Filipinos under her watch, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo convened on Tuesday a full Cabinet meeting to monitor the progress of the government's hunger-mitigation programs.

The Cabinet meeting came on the heels of the latest Social Weather Stations survey showing that some 6.1 million households, or 34 percent of Filipino families in the last quarter of 2007, said they considered themselves poor in terms of food.

SWS said the figure was the lowest recorded since June 2004, when 35 percent of Filipino families said they were food-poor.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Anthony Golez said the meeting focused on the Arroyo administration's program of “enhancing activities addressing poverty.”

Golez said the number of poor people indeed increased despite government's intensified campaign to arrest hunger around the country.

The President told the Cabinet “to accelerate programs for milk, corn and wheat production, including spending on rural infrastructure -- irrigation, post-harvest facilities, cold storage facilities, decreasing the cost of transporting goods, including access to education, health and other social services.”

Arroyo, however, treated this disturbing figure as a temporary setback.

“The President expects the figures of poverty incidence would go to a steady downward trend especially after the 2008 budget has been signed, which will focus on investing more in our economy, education and environment,” said Golez.

The Fourth Quarter Social Weather Survey also showed signs that many Filipinos, or 34 percent, were tightening their belts and eating less.

The survey, conducted from November 30 to December 3, 2007, asked 1,200 adult household heads from all over the country to rate their families based on the type of food they eat and to rate themselves as poor, not poor, or somewhere in between.

Thirty-four percent said they were food-poor, another 34 percent said they were not, and the remaining 32 percent put themselves on the borderline.

By region: Self-rated food poverty declined in Mindanao (from 59 percent in September 2007 to 39 percent last December), Metro Manila (from 33 to 28 percent) and in Luzon (from 41 to 35 percent), but remained steady in the Visayas (from 33 to 32 percent).
Respondents were also asked: “In your opinion, how much money would your family need for food expenses each month in order not to be called poor anymore in terms of food?”

SWS found that the food poverty threshold for those who considered themselves food-poor failed to increase significantly. “[This] is a sign that the poor are actually lowering their real living standards,” SWS said.

Median thresholds for food-poor households went up slightly in Mindanao (from P3,000 in September to P4,000 in December) and Metro Manila (from P4,500 to P6,000), but stayed at P3,000 in Luzon and the Visayas.

“These levels had already been reached and surpassed several years ago,” SWS noted.

'Queen' enthroned for helping Maranao poor

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Outsourcing firm makes workplace woman friendly

By Ronnel Domingo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:34:00 03/08/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- Consulting and outsourcing firm Accenture on Friday said it will strengthen efforts to make its workplace more conducive to women, especially in the Philippines where the proportion of men to women is higher compared to elsewhere in its global network.

Kevin M. Campbell, Accenture's chief executive for its outsourcing group, said in a briefing there was a one-to-one ratio in the firm's 15,000-strong workforce in the Philippines.

"The statistics are lower outside this country," Campbell said. "We view this as one of the strengths of our operations here."

He said the sex ratio of Accenture's local workforce evened out in the past three or four years when more and more women were hired as working women became more and more socially acceptable and necessary.

"A big boost to motivate women as half our workforce here was having a female country managing director," Campbell said. "From there, it became more of finding out culturally what works for this country."

He was referring to Beth G. Lui, who has been at the helm of Accenture in the Philippines since 2002.

Lui said Accenture has adopted programs that encourage women employees to stay with the firm "for a long time."

She said these programs include flexible working hours, remote working (from one's home), and ways that help them enjoy social activities without spending too much money.

"We have parts of community programs that are specifically for working women, especially mothers, who enjoy their careers but need to spend more time with their families," she said.

For example, if an employee has DSL service at home, it is possible that she can work from there two days in a week.

Lui said there also was training on managing personal finances, crafts like jewelry and bead-making, and the traditional sport-oriented activities.

She said one reason for the large number women in Accenture's local workforce was that outsourcing work suited women because they are good in multi-tasking and because of their leadership qualities and empathy.

"The job is not dependent on physical abilities," Lui said. "It is process-oriented and uses one's intellect, it is about discipline."

"We want to keep our female employees with us for the long haul and the challenge to that is to help them build self-confidence as well as exposing them to role models," said Campbell, who is based in the United States.

Both Campbell and Lui said another program that showed how the company appreciated its women employees was its decision to celebrate International Women's Day every year.

Accenture commemorated the occasion a day early on Friday, the fourth year in a row, with this year's celebration themed, "Discovering opportunities in a multi-polar world.”

Also on Friday, the New York Stock Exchange-listed firm released the findings of a recent study which showed that only 43 percent of women professionals worldwide felt they were well-equipped to compete in the business economy of the future.

Sponsored by Accenture, the study titled "One Step Ahead or 2011: A New Horizon for Working Women," surveyed some 4,000 male and female business professionals in 17 countries across Europe, Asia, North America, and South America.

However, the study had no respondents based in the Philippines.

The survey asked respondents to consider their "skill readiness" in six categories -- agility, social responsibility, global skills, technology, inclusion and diversity, and business relationships.

Skills readiness was defined as representing the respondents' perceived importance of the specific skill as well as their readiness in that skill.

Both men and women rated technology at the top of their skills readiness assessment, with 75 percent and 73 percent saying so, respectively.

Further, the study found that women were more likely than men to attribute their career advancement to ambition and drive, to passion for their chosen careers and to family support.

Asked what factors limited their careers, 23 percent of women respondents cited gender, 22 percent said it was the need to devote energy to children and family, and 18 percent said it was an unwillingness to relocate.

Arroyo goes on attack, doles out goodies

By Christine Avendaño
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:31:00 02/26/2008


MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Monday dug into her arsenal to fight her enemies.

Her weapons: Cash cards, grocery bags, promises of a mass transport system, schools, among other things.

As her political foes called on Filipinos to mount yet another popular uprising against her on the 22nd anniversary of EDSA I, Ms Arroyo urged her supporters to use people power in fighting for the rule of law and democratic principles.

“Political stability is in your hands,” the President said at a peace rally organized by her supporters in Trece Martires City in Cavite province, one of three places she visited during the day.

Before flying by helicopter to Trece Martires, she stopped at Silanganan Elementary School in Bagong Silang, also in Cavite, to lead in the laying of hollow blocks at a school being constructed there.

Earlier, the President went to Caloocan City, where she distributed “Ahon Pamilyang Pilipino” cash cards -- P15,000 worth of medical and education assistance -- to 12 families as well as grocery packs.

She said that the “true spirit of people power” was for the country, especially the rich, to help the poor.

Thousands of Arroyo supporters, some carrying placards saying “GMA all the way,” massed Monday at Liwasang Bonifacio in a show of support for the President. Organizers said the crowd there numbered 35,000, but police said no more than 6,000 were present, including House Speaker Prospero Nograles and the President’s two sons.

The Pampanga Mayors League sent 100 people from each of the 20 towns and cities in the province to the rally.

Lawmakers go to Palace

Later Monday, 100 lawmakers, led by Nograles, trooped to Malacañang to express support for the President.

In Trece Martires, Ms Arroyo told some 4,000 cheering supporters led by Cavite Gov. Ayong Maliksi that she had been asked by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales to attend their rally so she could “talk about people power or talk about our freedom.”
The President noted that the birth of the country’s freedom happened in Cavite.

Ms Arroyo said just as the freedom that the country gained on June 12, 1896, was a significant event, so was the first people power uprising of 1986.

But she reiterated again her line that while the world celebrated EDSA 1, which drove the dictator Ferdinand Marcos into exile, and tolerated EDSA 2, which ousted President Joseph Estrada for corruption, it would not forgive an EDSA 3.

“We are shooting ourselves and we are not stable,” she said. She asked under this condition, how will investors come to the country.

The government, she said, was doing its part to entice investors to invest in the country but she stressed the country’s political stability lie with the people.

Ms Arroyo told the Cavite residents that the success of a mass transport project that would connect the province to Manila’s Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines lay with them. She said the project was being delayed by a threat of a Congressional investigation.

People power for LRT

Just as people of Cavite rose to gain freedom in the 19th century, the President said they now had a big role to play in the country’s development.

“Let your voice reach the Senate,” she said.

Like the people, Ms Arroyo said she was against corruption. But she reminded Caviteños that their province mate and the country’s first president, Emilio Aguinaldo, fought for the rule of law and democratic principles.

“Let us fight for these,” she said.

Countering allegations that people close to her, including her husband, were involved in the bribery and overpricing of the now scuttled national broadband network deal with China’s ZTE Corp., Ms Arroyo asked that the controversy be brought to the courts. Courts decide cases on the basis of evidence, not rumors, she said.

“If we are to talk about freedom, if we are to talk about democracy, let’s talk of the rule of law,” the President said. With reports from Michael Lim Ubac, Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon

Across RP, calls for truth, ouster

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:34:00 02/26/2008


MANILA, Philippines -- Leftist, religious and civic groups in cities and towns outside Metro Manila on Monday marked the 22nd anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolt by staging anti-administration marches and rallies and vowing to continue to fight corruption in government.

Groups from the Southern Tagalog region gathered in Calamba City to form a regional alliance against poverty and corruption, while in the Bicol region, a prayer rally led by the Catholic Church, militant organizations and civic groups in Legazpi City in Albay pledged to stand united in pursuing the truth and justice.

Protest actions were also held in key cities and towns in Cavite, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.

While most leftist groups called for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a number called only for her resignation, while still others were “playing it safe by only calling for truth and accountability,” Tessa Lopez, spokesperson for Bayan-Bikol, said.

In Cebu City, the leftist Akbayan-Cebu presented “The Okrays” awards to recognize what it called corrupt officials in government.

The group named President Arroyo as the “best corruptress” and the President’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, as the “best corruptor.”

In Bacolod City, thousands marched to the public plaza, demanding the government disclose the truth about the allegations of corruption and the ouster of the President.

In Iloilo City, around 200 protesters belonging to the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) marched on the city’s main streets before holding a rally at the Iloilo provincial capitol.

In Aklan, around 150 protesters led by Bayan held a picket at Crossing Banga in the capital of Kalibo.

In Tacloban City, the League of Filipino Students held a 20-minute noise barrage calling for Ms Arroyo’s resignation but the police dispersed them.

In Mindanao, 500 members of Bayan staged a rally at Magsaysay Park in Cagayan de Oro City, and called for the launch of another people power uprising.

Some 800 protesters gathered at Freedom Park in Davao City, while in Iligan City about 100 members of Bayan threw tomatoes at a streamer with a photo of President Arroyo.

In Cotabato City, about 50 militants held a lighting rally on Sinsuat Avenue.

Nina Catherine Calleja and Jaymee T. Gamil, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Jhunnex Napallacan, Carla Gomez, Joey A. Gabieta and Nestor Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas, and Ma. Cecilia Rodriguez, Franklin A. Caliguid, Edwin O. Fernandez, Jeffrey M. Tupas, Frinston Lim, Inquirer Mindanao

Church protest fails, QC passes sex ed law

A Church-led protest outside their session hall failed to deter Quezon City councilors from approving a proposed ordinance to teach reproductive health lessons in all of the city's public high schools.

ABS-CBN News correspondent Apples Jalandoni reported that priests, nuns and other members of Catholic religious organizations picketed outside the session hall as the council voted on the proposal.

The protests was aimed at stopping the approval of the city ordinance that according to the ralliers, "violates the beliefs of the Church."

The ordinance states that all public high schools in Quezon City will teach sex education to its students, including the use of contraceptives.

The ordinance also recommended the use of artificial family planning methods.

"[It's] not good to teach adolescents about sex... it will perpetuate sex early... results may be abortion...," said Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco.

After the rally, the bishop and the protesters gained entry to the session hall. They, however, found out that the council already passed the ordinance.

The councilors, meanwhile, defended the ordinance.

"It's time for family planning, because this is really a poverty issue," said Councilor Joseph Juico.

The council also said that five out of every 100 children in Quezon City are underweight and one of the reasons is successive births.

The protesters, meanwhile, said they will not be deterred. They said they will elevate their case to the Supreme Court.

GMA releases additional P1-B fund for hunger

Paolo Romero / Thursday, November 8, 2007 / Philippine Star

President Arroyo ordered yesterday the release of P1 billion more for anti-hunger measures as part of the government’s stepped up fight this year versus poverty.

Mrs. Arroyo ordered Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. to immediately release the amount during the Anti-Hunger Task Force meeting that she convened at the Manila Hotel.

She said the additional appropriation would be distributed to government agencies directly involved in the implementation of the government’s hunger mitigation program.

She said the hunger mitigation program seeks to address the unavailability or insufficiency of food as well as the lack of financial resources to purchase food items.

On the supply side, the measures include increasing food production through productivity programs like livestock, crops, mangrove and coastal fishery development, farm and irrigation; and, enhancing the efficiency of logistics and delivery of food items to end consumers through the development of more farm-to-market roads, full utilization of the Roll-On Roll-Off (RoRo) ports and terminals, increasing the construction of more Barangay Food Terminals and Tindahan Natin stores and the strengthening of school feeding programs.

On the demand side, mitigating measures include, providing income to the poor through aggressive micro-financing programs, more employment opportunities, livelihood and training seminars and the development of “other value-adding products” such as coconut for coconut coir and virgin coconut oil; promoting good nutrition through social marketing information seminars; and managing the population through responsible parenthood.

Mrs. Arroyo stressed that concerned agencies should focus their attention on the supply side as this would have the greatest and most immediate effect on ending hunger.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, who was at the meeting, updated Mrs. Arroyo on the agency’s anti-hunger programs.

Yap said his department has already attained its target of 3,000 kilometers of new and renovated farm-to-market roads and 5,000 kilometers more are being readied.

He said 7,765 Tindahan Natin convenience stores are now operating across the country.

Yap assured Mrs. Arroyo that with the P1 billion additional appropriation, the government’s target of 8,000 Tindahan Natin stores by the end of the year would be achieved.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, for his part, said that under the Food for School Program (FSP) with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, one kilo of rice is issued daily for 120 days to families who suffer from severe hunger and whose children are in pre-school and Grades one to six.

Other government agencies involved in the program are the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, National Irrigation Administration, National Food Authority, Department of Transportation and Communications, Philippine Ports Authority, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and local government units.

Survey results welcomed

Malacañang said the results of the latest SWS self-rated poverty survey showed that more people have benefited from the country’s economic gains.

“The common people are now feeling the benefits of a growing economy. The implementation of the much needed tax reforms contributed to the strengthening of the peso and the increase in investments,” Mrs. Arroyo said.

According to the SWS, self-rated poverty has been at a lower range of 47 to 53 percent since September 2006 compared to the 55 to 59 percent between December 2005 and June 2006.

“That decline roughly translates to five million Filipinos or one million families,” Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

Presidential Management Staff director general Cerge Remonde pointed out that the average self-rated poverty under the Arroyo administration is the lowest since the Marcos regime.

Remonde said that based on the records, the average self-rate poverty rate was at 55 to 74 percent during the Marcos administration; 51 to 72 percent under President Aquino; 58 to 70 percent for the Ramos administration; and 54 to 66 percent under President Estrada.

“The news that 52 percent rated themselves poor today is welcome. It is one of the lowest self rated poverty thresholds of this generation and it is happening under the Arroyo administration,” Remonde said.

Remonde emphasized that the President has remained focused on governance and on ensuring the growth of the economy amid “political noise.”

He pointed out that the government has undertaken several measures to address poverty and that all agencies and offices are involved in this effort.

“The strategies include putting money in the hands of people through MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) loans and the like, bringing down food costs by enhancing supply through Department of Agriculture programs and food for school and food for work programs among others,” Remonde said.

‘Red alert’

A group that claims to promote anti-poverty initiatives said the country is on “red alert status” regarding poverty despite government claims that it is addressing the issue.

Global Call to Action against Poverty-Philippines (GCAP) said the economic growth trumpeted by the government “does not trickle down” but “stays put with those who already have a lot.”

“Despite the government’s continuous rhetoric that eradicating poverty is its overarching goal; poverty continues to grow amidst the trumpeted economic growth,” it said.

“The government’s response to the calamity of poverty and hunger in the country is mere palliative to the root causes of the problem,” said Erning Ofracio, an urban poor leader from Kilusan para sa Makatarungang Lipunan at Gobyerno (KMLG), a member of GCAP-Philippines.
“Billions of pesos are put into these poverty and hunger mitigation programs that have been proven to be ineffective and a waste of resources as evident in the government’s recently concluded 6-month war on hunger, which by the end of its duration witnessed the record rise in hunger incidence, with one out of four Filipinos experiencing hunger, and now one out of two Filipinos who see themselves as poor,” Ofracio added.

The Third Quarter 2007 SWS survey showed that “self-rated poverty” rose in all areas, except in the Visayas where the figures actually went down.

GCAP-Philippines cited the results of the 2003 Family Income and Expenditure Survey, which showed that the income of the richest 10 percent was still 20 times the income of the poorest 10 percent.

The group pointed out that the net worth of the nation’s 10 richest individuals and families in 2006 was equivalent to the combined income of the country’s poorest 9.8 million households.

“But 45 million poor Filipinos have spoken; the admission of poverty in the recent surveys has unveiled the truth,” Ofracio said.

“We are facing a war on poverty and hunger but this war begins with the government facing up to the true state of poverty and hunger in the Philippines,” he said.

“If the government is really doing their job in poverty reduction, then why do they need external surveys to tell them that hunger and poverty is rising? In fact, if they were really doing their job, our people would not be facing worsening poverty and hunger,” he added. - with Marvin Sy and Katherine Adraneda

World Poverty Day is our Day

Opinion /Ma. Ceres Doyo / Human Face / Philippine Daily Inquirer

First posted 02:18:58 (Mla time) October 18, 2007 / Ma. Ceres P. Doyo / Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines--We who are not on the extreme side of the economic divide, we who are fortunate to have a little more than the have-nots, but who have so much less than those who talk six to eight zeros in boardrooms and on golf courses, have no reason to feel that there is nothing important or impactful for us to do.

We are many, in fact, we are the majority, and we have the power. And I do not mean only on election day. If only we could bring forth that power. If only we knew how.

Yesterday was the United Nation’s official World Poverty Day. It was not a day to be celebrated, but rather to be observed. It was a day to remind the world that a third of the human citizens of this planet -- the “have-nots” -- could be dying because of hunger, disease and disasters at this very moment because of the neglect, greed and ignorance of the few “haves” who have too much in their hands and those who have the power, might and numbers to change the order of things but don’t.

For the two billion people who live on less than $2 (or about P90) a day, every day is poverty day. Half of them live on less than $1 a day. The UN’s official day -- they’ve never heard of it, and for them it doesn’t matter when it is.

Seven years ago, in 2000, 189 nations committed themselves to cut that grim figure in half. Four years later in 2004, the figures still looked grim, swinging from hope to despair to hope.

More than 100 million children were still out of school. Each year, about 10 million children die before their fifth birthday. Some 40 million people are living with HIV and AIDS of which five million die each year.

UN figures remain grim. Every day, about 25,000 people die of hunger or hunger-related causes. This means one human being every three and a half seconds, with children being the most likely to perish.

Is there not enough food to go around? Oh, but there is enough food to feed the teeming millions. The problem is that there are millions who are trapped or held hostage by poverty and can’t get to where the food is because they have no money, they have no work, they can’t go anywhere. And when they are further weakened, they become even poorer, sicker and less likely to find work and get to where the food is. They can’t even grow the food they must eat.

Without intervention from outside, they are trapped in a spiral that goes further down. This spiral has to be broken. Doing this is not easy, it is not going to be broken by simply pumping aid money or building infrastructure. Development aid without regard for the human factor will eventually fizzle out.

There are many ways of dealing with the poverty spiral or breaking it softly, so to speak. Development workers would often speak about “food for work” programs that would enable jobless adults to get up slowly and build for themselves the infrastructure that would help them get out of the mire. And for children, there is the “food for education” where children are fed while they are in school.

Of what use are a school and a good curriculum (and broadband networks) if the students have addled brains because they are malnourished? They wouldn’t be able to get to the school house because they suffer from vitamin and mineral deficiency, their lips and gums are sore, their bodies are ravaged by infection, etc., etc.

One small step at a time. A global problem could find some local solutions that would mean the difference from here to there. And the poor themselves, if they are not yet so crippled by disease and hunger, could do a lot for themselves, with a little help, of course.

The theme for the 20th International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (that’s the official name) is “People Living in Poverty as Agents of Change.” This suggests recognition of the poor people’s role in their own emancipation.

There are as many stories on this as there are many poor families. I have seen stories unfold around me. I have seen failures and successes. I have seen crossovers from despair to hope.

It is difficult for a journalist to remain on the fringes. I have always needed to savor what it is like, to be there, to sometimes put in something where my mouth is. But one must forget that something will ever come back. Oh, but something does, but not in the way we might expect.

And then, one must remember that local efforts are not everything. On the occasion of World Poverty Day, Jubilee South (a global network of social movements, including those from the Philippines) has issued a reminder that one of the biggest challenges for the global debt movement today is to correct the perception that the debt problem has largely been solved by the debt relief programs offered by lenders in recent years.

“The majority of the peoples of the South continue to suffer from the injustice and staggering burden of debt. It is a burden not only because of the huge amounts of debt payments in the face of poverty and deprivation. It is unjust not only because our people did not benefit from much of the debts they are forced to pay. The debt is also used as an instrument to ensure that our economies generate profits for global corporations and meet the requirements of global markets instead of providing for our needs.

“We continue to struggle for freedom from debt. We struggle not only to wipe out the outstanding debt claim from our countries but to transform the structures, the institutions, and the relations of power that has led to the accumulation of unjust and illegitimate debt.”

Poverty has a human face, a name, a voice that we know very well. We need not journey far. We who are un-poor and un-wealthy can do a lot.

New national hunger record belies MDG achievement

Posted by: Isa Lorenzo on 17 October 2007 at 2:48 pm

MIDWAY to the 2015 deadline of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Arroyo government reported last week that the country is well on its way to achieving its commitments, highlighted by a drastic reduction in the proportion of Filipino families living in extreme poverty.

Yet a week prior to the government declaration, the results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey seemed to negate this rosy picture as a new national hunger record of 21.5 percent of Filipino households — or about 3.8 million families — was found to have experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the last three months.

The new record, up from 19 percent tallied in February and November 2006, is almost ten points above the 11.8 percent average in 38 quarterly SWS surveys from mid-1998 to the present. Hunger declined briefly to 14.7 percent last June. A survey conducted last year by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), according to SWS President Mahar Mahangas, already revealed a national hunger rate of 19 percent.

With even more Filipinos now going hungry, Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP)-Philippines says the government’s six-month campaign against hunger has proved worthless.

Declaring a war against hunger, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced the release of P1 billion in March to fund school feeding and food for work programs, barangay food terminals, and Tindahan Natin and Gulay ng Masa projects to address hunger in the depressed areas of Metro Manila and several provinces. The hunger response ended last September.

Despite this, hunger has remained on the rise.

“This just shows how ineffective the government hunger intervention programs are,” said GCAP, a local network of nongovernment and people’s organizations which is part of the biggest anti-poverty alliance in the world. “We said it in March and we say it again, more strategic solutions, rather than palliatives or stop-gap solutions, are needed to fight worsening hunger.”

Eradicating extreme hunger and poverty is one of the eight MDGs. Extreme poverty refers to the proportion of families living below the subsistence or food threshold. The Philippines is said to be on track in meeting its target of halving the proportion of people below the food threshold. As of 2003, the proportion of people with incomes below the subsistence threshold was 13.5 percent (10.2 percent of all Filipino families), down from 24.3 percent (20.4 percent of families) in 1991.

However, the government uses the subsistence threshold in measuring extreme poverty, instead of the $1 per day international benchmark. The present subsistence threshold is pegged at P40.73 per person per day, with P27.36 allotted to food. This means that one would only need P9 per meal.

“P41 is not enough for any person to live a decent life with,” GCAP said. “The government is mocking us all by saying so.”

For these “ridiculously low” figures, several civil-society groups have thus tended to believe that poverty incidence is widely underestimated.

Official poverty statistics are also suspect, pointed out GCAP’s Ma. Victoria Raquiza. “To begin with, the comparability of the official poverty estimates of the National Statistical Coordination Board from 1990 to 2003 is undermined by the 1992 and 2003 major methodology changes,” Raquiza said. Comparisons with earlier data sets of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) have been deterred by the methodology change in 2003 whose implementation was applied retroactively only up to 1997 figures.

Raquiza said FIES data also underrepresent the poor since these exclude the ambulant poor, or families without “official and permanent residence.”

Worsening hunger has been caused by a decrease of purchasing power and rising unemployment and inflation, according to a PCIJ report. Food takes up 60 to 70 percent of a person’s income, thus unemployment and underemployment would greatly affect one’s ability to buy food.

In 2004, the 5.8 percent food inflation rate was higher than the 5.5 percent overall inflation rate. It was also the highest from 2000-2004. “With the double whammy of higher unemployment and underemployment, as well as higher inflation, hunger will inevitably increase,” said Agriwatch Chairperson Ernesto Ordoñez.

Population Growth, Poverty, MDGs

Rapid population growth barrier to reaching MDGs
10/16/2007 11:59 AM / GMANews.tv

The Philippines's rapid population growth rate is one of the primary reasons hindering the country from attaining the millenium development goals, as it dilutes the impact of economic growth and policy improvements, a joint report by the government and the United Nations showed.

In a statement, the Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development Foundation Inc., said that the Philippines, with a growth rate that is one of the highest in Asia, still has a long way to go before it makes noteworthy progress on the eight MDGs.

"Among the challenges and priorities for action that must be viewed with urgency is the rapid population growth," the PLCPD said, quoting the Philippines Midterm Progress Report on MDGs jointly released by the UN and the National Economic and Development Authority.

"Rapid population growth rate is closely linked to persistent poverty as it reduces overall economic growth and prospects for poverty reduction. It strains the environment as competition for scarce resources and public goods expands," the report continues.

If the rapid growth of the Philippines's population is not addressed, PLCPD said the country's population would hit 102.55 million by 2015, a number sure to tax the Philippine economy and environment. However, PLCPD said that as of now, the government is doing very little to address this problem.

“The Philippines, along with 191 member states of the United Nations, signed the Millennium Declaration in September 2000. Eight years after, the country still lacks a comprehensive national law that would address our population management problem," said Ramon San Pascual, executive director of the PLCPD.

San Pascual said that the current administration has instead let local government units shoulder the burden of implementing policy on population and reproductive health. "However, without sufficient budget allocation from the (national) government, any LGU efforts will not be sustained," San Pascual said.

There are eight MDGs that should be achieved by 2015: halving extreme poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowerment, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership for development.

However, a report by the Asian Development Bank, has showed that no developing country in the Asia-Pacific region, including the Philippines, will be able to meet all millennium development goals by 2015.

“The region still faces quite a challenge. Most of the developing countries can point to success in some of the goals, but none is on course to achieve all of them," the regional lender's The Millennium Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2007 report said.

Philippine hits and misses

The ADB said that among the 21 criteria under seven MDGs, the Philippines is either slow or showing no progress in nine categories. There are eight MDGs: halving extreme poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowerment, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership for development, by the target date of 2015-- but the ADB study did not release a rating for the global partnership goal.

The multilateral lender noted that the Philippines is slow in reducing the number of its population living in $1 a day, reducing the number of underweight children, providing sufficient water, and improved sanitation both in rural areas.

The Philippines, the ADB report said, is either showing no progress or even regressing in the MDG criteria of number of primary education enrollees, number of those able to reach 5th grade, forest cover, carbon dioxide emission and water accessibility in urban areas.

However, the ADB also said the Philippines is an early achiever in the following MDG criteria: primary completion rate, gender primary, gender secondary, gender tertiary, tuberculosis prevalence rate, turbeculosis death rate, increasing the number of its protected areas, and ozone-depleting CFCs consumption.

Besides this, the ADB lauded the Philippines for making progress in reducing under-five mortality, infant mortality, people with HIV, and improving urban sanitation.

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Opinion

Reminders for our war against poverty

ROSES & THORNS By Alejandro R. Roces / Tuesday, October 16, 2007 / Philippine Star

Tomorrow, October 17, marks the 20th anniversary celebration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. United Nations’ theme for this year is “People living in poverty as agents of change.” It is ironic that many countries all over the world are developing and experiencing economic growth, yet destitution and poverty still exist. Global trend forecasts show this to continue in the year 2020 particularly in East Asian countries. Driving forces are population growth, the unabated abuse of natural resources and if left unchecked, a possible pandemic.

Readers may say this is particularly true in our country where the common opinion is that the economic advancement being claimed by the present administration cannot be felt where many still languish in hunger and poverty. A Social Weather Station report in March 2007 indicates that around 17 million Filipinos or 19% of the population are hungry, while 45 million Filipinos or 53% of families saw themselves as poor. The positive news, according to the recent UN report, is that the number of people living in extreme poverty in our country is decreasing, with the proportion of families below the poverty threshold falling to 24.4 percent in July this year, compared to the same month in 1990. The same report, which will be released worldwide this October, says the Philippines’ poverty alleviation targets are “on track” and that statistics point to the fact that economic gains having trickled down to the grassroots.

The fact remains, however, that more than 50 percent of the labor force or roughly 16.1 million Filipino workers, mostly unskilled workers and agricultural laborers earn P5,000-8,000 (P33-53 per person per day for a family of 5), an income level that hovers around the 2007 poverty threshold pegged at P40 per person per day, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). The workers’ low income, combined with high prices of goods and services, fuels poverty and hunger in the country.

More than 10 million people live in Metro Manila alone. This means 10% of the total population live in the metropolis. We can just imagine the congestion of people and establishments in an area of 636 square kilometers, where the density rate is 15,700 people per square kilometer. Population grows as more people move from the rural to urban areas in search of economic opportunities and of course due to a natural increase in number of births. This rapid urbanization leads to the lack and deterioration of existing resources, which includes the lack of clean drinking water, water shortage, sanitation and garbage problems, air and noise pollution, to name a few.

There are over one million Filipino street children at present. Starving children are victims and they should get top priority in the aspect of education and health.

The future of our country in a highly globalized economy will depend on its greatest resources, the Filipino people. We must involve the poor and the disadvantaged if meaningful change is to be realized. For a people who work together with one mind and spirit, for the future of their children, winning this war against poverty will not be difficult.

Poorest Pinoys spendng MORE, earning LESS

By Cai U. Ordinario
Reporter/Business Mirror/October 10


HIGHER prices have taken their toll on the poor. The poorest families are now spending more and earning less, according to the latest preliminary results of the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) Tuesday.

The FIES showed that poor families, or those belonging to the bottom 30-percent income group, spent P153,000 last year but only earned P148,000.

While these figures are higher than the P125,000-worth income and P128,000-worth expenditures in 2003, the difference is higher in 2006 at P5,000 a year than in 2003’s P3,000 a year.

The NSO said for every P100 spent by these economic sectors in 2006, P59 went to food, compared with only P48 in 2003. Consequently, there was a decrease in the share of other expenditure items like rent, which dropped to 9 percent from 12.7 percent.

Macroeconomically, the upper 70 percent earned P2.73 trillion and spent P2.3 trillion for a savings of P437 billion in 2006 compared with the
bottom 30 percent that earned P258 billion and spent P267 billion, or a deficit of P9 billion.

The Gini coefficient measured in the FIES was estimated at 0.4564 in 2006, slightly lower than the 2003 ratio of 0.4605 .

The Gini coefficient provides a measure of income inequality within a population and ranges from 0 to 1, with 0 indicating perfect income equality among families, and 1 indicating absolute income inequality.

The good news, if good news it is, is that, “the share to the total income of families belonging to the 10th decile exhibited a slight decrease, from 36.3 percent in 2003 to 35.9 percent in 2006. The gap in family income between the families belonging to the 10th decile and those in the first decile had narrowed slightly.”

The FIES is a nationwide survey of households undertaken every three years by the NSO. It is the main source of data on family income and expenditure, which include among others, levels of consumption by item of expenditure as well as sources of income in cash and in kind.

The number of households, or families, for the 2006 FIES was estimated using the 2000 Census of Population and Housing (CPH)-based population projections and information from the 2000 CPH on the average household size by province.

Report notes Philippines' slow progress in reducing poverty

BusinessWorld / 9 October / Bernadette S. Sto. Domingo

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, including the Philippines, are not on track to achieving all United Nations-led goals of cutting poverty in half by 2015 — or the socalled The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — a report released yesterday said.

For the Philippines, in particular, efforts to reduce poverty and hunger have been slower than some of its neighbors, although still better than the Asian average.

The report, “The MDGs: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2007,” said “most of the developing countries can point to success in some of the goals but none is on course to achieve all of them.”

The Philippines, for its part, “has given high priority to achieving the MDGs,” report author Shiloh Chatterjee told reporters. “The Philippines is making tremendous effort to achieve these goals. Among countries in Asia, it’s one of those who have given high priority to focusing on MDGs. What’s necessary is local governments are supported in terms of policies, institutions, and capacities.”

The eight MDGs — targeted for achievement by 2015 — formed a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s nations and leading global development institutions. The eight MDGs are: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/ AIDS malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, as well as develop a global partnership for development.

The report, produced through a partnership among the Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Program and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, said the eighth development goal, which seeks to create a global partnership for development, calls for enhanced market access.

“The best way to provide additional momentum would be to conclude the Doha Development Round which would add legal certainty to least developed countries’ duty and quota-free access to developed-country markets,” the report said.

The Philippines has made slow progress in eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, cutting its 1990 poverty rate of 19.8% to just 14.8% in 2004. While Asia’s average poverty rate fell to 17% from 32%, China was able to slash its poverty rate to 9.9% from 33%. “The Philippines has traveled half the distance towards the target [of 9.9%] over the period… it is slowly moving towards the target, but will come very close to it by 2015,” the report said.

The country made no progress at all in the area of achieving universal primary education with a decrease in its primary enrolment ratio to 94.4% in 2003 from 96.5% in 1991. The number of children reaching grade five also dropped to 71.5% from 75.3%. It also lagged behind in the area of ensuring environmental sustainability, while it registered slow progress in providing improved drinking water resources and sanitation facilities to rural areas.

In the area of reducing underfive mortality and infant mortality as well as cutting HIV prevalence, the country remains on track, the report said.

But the Philippines has already achieved the goals of promoting gender equality and empowering women.

Mr. Chatterjee said, “I’ve seen a lot of evidence that the Philippines is giving very high importance to education and health.”

“Fast, effective delivery of public goods and services is a demonstration by a government of its commitment to reach the very neediest,” ADB chief economist Ifzal Ali said in an interview. “This is, to my mind, an acid test… Otherwise, everything is just rhetoric; nothing is real.

A progress report on MDGs, part of a National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) report to World Bank executives last Sept. 17, showed the Philippines having high chances of achieving four MDGs by 2015. These are: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, reducing child mortality, combating HIV/ AIDS, malaria and other diseases, and ensuring that families have access to safe drinking water.

But NEDA admitted the Philippines had problems in achieving universal primary education, reducing maternal mortality and increasing use of contraceptives. The Philippines committed to the MDGs — quantitative targets designed to improve human conditions — in September 2000. The goals are incorporated in the UN Millennium Declaration, which targets the reduction of extreme poverty by 2015. — Bernardette S. Sto. Domingo

HUNGER at a record peak

09/30/2007 11:03 PM / REPORT FROM BUSINESSWORLD / GMANews.tv

HUNGER HAS HIT A FRESH PEAK nationwide, a new Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed, with the national percentage of families having experienced nothing to eat rising to a high of 21.5%.

The survey results, made exclusive to BusinessWorld, showed a dramatic reversal of gains noted in June when hunger fell to 14.7% from the previous record of 19%, notched in February 2007 and November 2006.

The national proportion of 21.5%, the SWS said, was equivalent to 3.8 million families and was almost ten points above the 11.8% average for the 38 hunger surveys it had conducted quarterly starting mid-1998.

The Palace immediately disputed the results, saying nothing significant had happened in the last three months to warrant the spike.

An economist, meanwhile, warned of the human resource impact, particularly with respect to schoolchildren’s school performance.

The independent research institution said new record highs in the Balance of Luzon (outside Metro Manila) and the Visayas were behind the overall national deterioration.

A total of 1,200 respondents were polled in the latest survey on involuntary hunger.

Household heads were the subject of the poll, which used the phrase "nakaranas ng gutom at wala kayong makain" or "experienced hunger and did not have anything to eat."

The SWS conducted face-to-face interviews with 300 household heads each in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao from 240 geographical spots.
The margin of error was plus or minus 3% for national percentages and plus or minus 6% for regional percentages.

Moderate hunger, referring to those who experienced it "only once" or "a few times", rose to a record 17.4% in September from 12.5% in June. Counted in this category were those who did not state their frequency of hunger.

Severe hunger — meaning it was experienced "often" or "always" — rose to 4.1% from 2.2% in June. It remained, however, below the record of 6% notched in March 2001.

Overall hunger rose in all parts of the country except Metro Manila, where it went down to 17.7% from the record high of 22% in June.

In the rest of Luzon, the percentage went up by 10 points to 22.3% from 12%, while in the Visayas, it jumped by nine points to 21.7% from 12.3%, with both areas notching fresh peaks. In Mindanao, it rose by four points to 22% from 17.7%.

Moderate hunger also declined in Metro Manila (12% from 17.7%) but went up in the rest of Luzon (18% from 9.3%), the Visayas (17.3% from 10.7%), and Mindanao (19.7% from 17%).

Severe hunger went up in all areas: Metro Manila, 5.7% from 4.3%; Balance of Luzon, 4.3% from 2.7%; Visayas, 4.3% from 1.7%; and Mindanao, to 2.3% from a record-low of 0.7%.

"Hunger declined in Metro Manila because the six-point decline in Moderate Hunger outweighed the one-point increase in Severe Hunger," the SWS said.

Presidential Management Staff director-general Cerge M. Remonde said he had reservations about the survey results.

"The gap is large considering that no significant event or calamity that happened in the past months," he said in a phone interview.

"If, for instance, there were typhoons, then that would have been understandable."
But he said the survey could be used by administration in its hunger mitigation programs.

"This could help us determine the areas where we can focus our anti-hunger efforts. We will ask the Department of Health National Nutrition Council to look into this so we can channel our efforts in provinces where many families are hungry."

Anti-hunger programs such as the food-for school-program and the Gulayan ng Bayan which encourages backyard farming, Mr. Remonde said, are continuously being implemented.

"We have also directed our institutions to be more aggressive in lending so the people can start a small business which would enable them to earn income so they can buy food," he added.

Cielito F. Habito, a former Socioeconomic Planning secretary and now economics professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, warned that the failure to address hunger problem would impact on human resources.

"For instance, if children are hungry, it will have an impact on their mental capacity and their schooling. Thus, the quality of our human resources would be affected," he said.

"The government’s plan to focus on school feeding is strategic as this would also make it attractive for children to go to school. But these are never enough because the incidence of hunger goes beyond the school," he added.

The government, Mr. Habito said, must strengthen its job-generation programs as hunger is usually caused by poverty and unemployment.

"We need more employment generating economics. One way is to develop MSMEs (micro-small-medium enterprises). They must have better access to finances," he said. — ADBR/BUSINESSWORLD

Donor-driven, donor-dependent

Opinion / Financing and Population Management

Health News and Views / Dr.A.G. Romualdez / Malaya, 25 September

Donor-driven is the term used by a number of senators to describe the ZTE-NBN project. The fact is that the deal was also supplier-promoted and externally facilitated. All these features rendered the ZTE deal extraordinarily susceptible to unsavory practices such as bribery and other forms of corruption.

However, apart from the immensity of the amounts involved and the exposure of unprecedented direct participation by very high-ranking officials, donor-driven, supplier-linked, and externally facilitated projects are the rule rather than the exception in most foreign assisted projects in the Philippines, whether they be bilateral (one country donor) or multilateral (international finance institution).

In the health sector, Japan, Netherlands, Austria, Spain, and in fact almost all OECD countries have in the past implemented projects with features similar to the controversial broadband network deal. The modus operandi for project development is essentially the same in most cases.

The story usually begins with a supplier who is well-connected in the donor country. The supplier identifies and approaches a local group that has vested or professional (or both) interests in an activity and offers to secure funding for a project. In exchange, the local group is expected to facilitate the government processes for project development and approval including counterpart funding or government guarantees when necessary. Depending on the donor countries’ procedures for overseas assistance, the deals can be finalized anywhere from one year to a few years of initial contact.

At this point, it should be emphasized that not all projects that follow this process are disadvantageous to the Philippines. In fact most of them are of distinct benefit and have contributed to peoples’ welfare significantly. The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang (funded by Japan) and the Eye Institute as well as the Emergency Medical Complex at the Philippine General Hospital (funded by Spain) are only two examples out of many.

Unfortunately, quite apart from the potential for scandal and graft, there are other adverse effects of foreign assistance that need to be anticipated and to the extent possible mitigated. The worse of these are most likely when the supplier-linkage is eliminated or minimized such as is the case with most multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Among the most undesirable of these adverse effects is the strong tendency to develop donor dependency in Philippine institutions. Donor dependency is in the long term more harmful to Philippine interests than some of the financial consequences of individual projects. Unfortunately, in the health sector there are a number of examples.

Arguably one of the most successful of foreign funded programs in this country is USAID’s family planning assistance. Over the last three decades, population growth rate dropped significantly, and the population management program is so well institutionalized that repeated attempts (including the present administration’s) to dismantle it have so far failed. However, the country’s complete dependence on foreign support for contraceptive supplies, aided and abetted by government’s reluctance to allocate money early in the program, has resulted in today’s dangerous situation of lack of supplies especially for those who need them most – the country’s poor women.

Similarly, a number of apparently successful programs currently on-going are in danger of suffering the same fate if and when donor interest wanes. For instance, drug procurement for the Philippines’ most important disease control programs is largely dependent on funds from the Global Fund on AIDS, TB, and Malaria (GFATM).

The Department of Health’s Formula One strategy to institute health reforms in the Philippines is another example of donor dependence preventing the major portion of the Philippines from benefiting from serious changes in the way health services are delivered. All efforts are concentrated on 16 provinces identified by a combination of past experience (old pilot projects) and donor-interest that are beneficiaries of World Bank, European Union, Asia Development Bank or other donor agencies projects. It appears that without foreign-funding, even the highest of priorities are unlikely to receive attention because no Philippine funds are appropriated for them.

One characteristic that is shared by all donor-driven activities is over-pricing. This is because it is in the donors’ interest to spend as much money as possible. In the late 70s, when it was established that 95 percent of the World Bank’s First Philippine Population Project objectives had been met at a loan availment rate of 55 percent, a naïve health official suggested that the excess money be returned. The government finance establishment was aghast and instructed the health ministry to forthwith reprogram the funds for other activities.

For the record, these instructions were issued without finger pointing and the use of the phrase "back off".

The big reveal: Model cities’ secrets of governance

By Beverly T. Natividad, Tonette Orejas
Inquirer
Last updated 01:10am (Mla time) 09/02/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Poor residents of Tagbilaran City in Bohol get free hospitalization benefits and free medicines.

Marikina in Metro Manila offers free dental services to its residents, while San Fernando City in Pampanga has placed some 6,000 of its residents in jobs here and abroad through its job fairs and recruitment projects.

“Tagbilaran is telling us that we are our best hope. San Fernando has rebuilt from the ashes [of Mt. Pinatubo] and has provided an empowering atmosphere. Marikina is moving the concept of leadership into [one] that ennobles the people,” said Mario Antonio Lopez, associate dean of the Asian Institute of Management’s Center for Development Management.

If these three cities are edging out their counterparts in the rest of the country, it’s not that their mayors—Marikina’s Ma. Lourdes Fernando, San Fernando’s Oscar Rodriguez, and Tagbilaran’s Dan Neri Lim—are lords of all they survey.

Far from being a one-person act or a top-to-bottom management approach, their style of governance involves a way of doing things that demands the participation of both the governing and the governed.

They share the power and responsibilities of governance with those who have stakes in their communities and institutions, involving them every step of the way to reach commonly agreed aims and targets.

Tagbilaran, Marikina and San Fernando were recognized as public governance system (PGS)-proficient cities at the two-day 2007 Public Governance Forum in Pasay City last week, dubbed the ‘Mahal Ko Ang Pilipinas’ (I Love the Philippines) forum.

They were three of 24 cities that adopted the PGS system, which is an adaptation of a corporate governance tool called the “balance scorecard system,” a strategic approach that directly connects the objectives of a company or local government to its operations.

Introduced by the International Solidarity in Asia (ISA) in 2004, the PGS is also being practiced in 14 sectors and six national public institutions. The ISA is an independent, non-partisan and non-profit institution which seeks to improve public governance.

“A PGS-proficient city means that these cities have mayors that are committed towards good governance, that they have highly involved constituents and sectoral groups, and that their governments have discipline and are transparent,” said ISA chair and president Jesus P. Estanislao.

The Philippine Military Academy under its superintendent, Maj. Gen. Leopoldo Maligalig, was also recognized as a PGS-proficient institution.

Estanislao said that while Filipinos are used to blaming their leaders for the inadequacies and failures of government, the PGS system teaches both leaders and citizens to think past government personalities and focus instead on active citizen participation. This is what makes good public governance sustainable, he said.

The ISA has partnered with the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) and the National Competitiveness Council to “aid cities in crafting programs that will push the competitiveness rating of the country.”

It has also teamed up with the AIM to develop “tools to gauge and track a city’s progress” and with the Netherlands government to “sustain the institutionalization of the PGS in select Philippine cities.”

The PGS will be one of five case studies to be featured in the Global Public Sector Summit in Washington, D.C. in October.

Being PGS-proficient means Marikina, Tagbilaran and San Fernando are about six months to one year away from institutionalizing the PGS in their own public governance systems.

The participating cities started off three years ago by drafting their objectives and plans for their cities.

The ISA conducts a twice-a-year audit of the participating cities and groups to see if they are on the way toward achieving their goals.

Marikina’s vision for itself is to become a model city in competitiveness, not just in the Philippines, but in Southeast Asia by 2015. In her presentation, Fernando said that Marikina was working towards this goal, using such indicators as honest, transparent and business-friendly government, a clean and green environment, efficient delivery of basic services, good infrastructure and financial stability.

The free medical and dental services at the health centers is one of the concrete results of the PGS system in Marikina. The privilege card is an example of how the people’s taxes are working for them, she said.

The city has also relocated 30,000 families and is on its way towards being squatter-free by 2010, she said.

Fernando said business permits have been streamlined to encourage businesses to locate and invest in the city to create more jobs. The city is also aiming to eradicate unemployment in three years.

Tagbilaran aims to become a prime ecotourism hub by 2015. In line with this, Lim said the city is focusing on environmental protection to preserve the marine-protected areas of Bohol.

He said the city has already rehabilitated about 80 percent of its coral reef cover. It has reduced solid waste disposal by 20 percent, with 65 percent of the city’s residents practicing segregation of solid waste at source.

Tagbilaran was also one of the first cities to phase out the two-stroke engine in tricycles through a credit system that allows tricycle drivers to buy on installment the more environmentally compliant four-stroke engine.

The Tagbilaran city government has also provided indigent families with the Blue Card that entitles them to free hospitalization in the city’s two major hospitals. Lim said the program brings to 99 percent the number of city residents with health insurance coverage.

Tagbilaran also topped the Asian Institute of Management’s recent quality of life survey among cities with a population of 200,000 and below.

San Fernando’s stated goal is to become the regional growth center of the Central Luzon region. It has streamlined local government policy and practices to make it conducive for foreign and local businesses to locate there. It succeeded in attracting about P481 million in new investments in 2006.

The city’s renowned parol (Christmas lantern) has been chosen by the national government as the model for the “one-town-one-product” project in 2006, aimed at marketing the product to the world market.

Rodriguez also said that some 6,000 urban families affected by the construction of the Northrail project are being resettled by the city government.

The city government is also funding the education of some 8,000 scholars who are receiving information and communication technology (ICT) training so they can compete for jobs locally and abroad.

The city has also built 35 school buildings to accommodate 150,000 students in the next 10 years through the city’s special education fund, Rodriguez said.

In the PMA’s case, Maligalig said the shift to long-term institutional development has, among others, improved the success rate of graduates from 36.8 percent to 64 percent.

The mayors of the three cities agreed that the secret of making public governance work is the people’s commitment towards achieving a vision for their city.

“Our people have an open mind and an open heart. This comes from the collective effort of the people,” said Lim.

It is having capable constituents who know enough to put the right person in a position of leadership, said Fernando.

Good governance is just the commitment of both the people and their leader towards achieving a vision for their city, according to Rodriguez.

For Lim, it is simply “loving your own city.”

“Governance is essentially participatory. It is not only of those at the top, it is also a responsibility of those in the middle and at the bottom. It is the concern of everyone. It is a matter for both the governors and the governed,” said Estanislao.

At the end of the day, the PGS system shows that doing good pays, he said.

The principles of governance are not hard-to-reach concepts, they are, in fact, basic ethical principles, said another speaker at the forum.

The governance principles of transparency and disclosure are just echoes of the commandments “Thou shall not lie” and “Thou shall not steal,” he said.

MDG Midterm Review: Missing the target

This is a wake-up call kind of an article. Read on..... up to the last sentence.

HUMAN FACE
MDG midterm review: Missing the target

By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
Inquirer
Last updated 02:05am (Mla time) 08/23/2007

The Philippines is “off the track,” it’s too soon to celebrate and there is a lot of work that needs to be done to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The year 2007 is midway through the 15-year-long process of achieving the so-called MDGs targeted by the United Nations, but the Philippines is still way off the expected results.

Social Watch Philippines gathered civil society groups last Aug. 15 and 16 to do a mid-term review of the MDGs and came up with conclusions and suggestions. Among them: Government is “missing and messing up the MDG targets” and citizens should therefore help monitor government performance and push for an alternative budget for the MDGs.

The Philippines is one of 189 countries that signed in 2000 the Millennium Declaration and covenant to attain the MDGs by 2015. The MDGs refer to the eight goals and 18 targets that the international community committed to attain in 15 years.

The eight goals are: (1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (2) achieve universal primary education; (3) promote gender equality; (4) reduce child mortality; (5) improve maternal health; (6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; (7) ensure environmental sustainability; and (8) develop a global partnership for development.

After presentations by civil society groups working in different regions, Social Watch challenged government pronouncements that the Philippines is on track with majority of the MDGs. The government, Social Watch said, had admitted that the goals with low probability of being achieved are: universal primary education for both participation and survival, maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and access to reproductive health. The government also admitted problems in financing, regional disparities, advocacy, localization and monitoring.

Social Watch concluded that with the way things are, and judging from MDG performance in the last seven years, most of the goals will not be fully met. It cited the 2006 report of UN-ESCAP, UNDP and the Asian Development Banks that showed that the Philippines was “failing further behind” in relation to countries in Asia and the Pacific.

Social Watch International ranks the Philippines as “very low” in the Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) on a global scale. BCI is based on three indicators: percent of children reaching Grade 5, under-5 mortality, and percentage of birth attended by health personnel.

Minar Pimple, deputy director of the UN’s Asia Millennium Campaign, said that globally poverty has been reduced. The number of very poor, which used to be 1.25 billion, has been reduced to 980 million. Pimple came to attend the Social Watch convention where civil society groups from different regions shared how the MDGs are faring on the ground.

Social Watch convener Leonor Briones raised questions on the reliability of data presented by the government. Briones, who once headed the Bureau of Treasury, pointed out that national data do not reflect the situation in the regions. “There is disparity between national data and regional data,” she said. “Averages are a poor measure.” She cited the example of Makati City which could pull up the averages even while the ethnic minorities remain very poor.

Citing key indicators in education such as “participation rate and cohort survival rate,” Social Watch noted that these are going down in the elementary and secondary levels. Drop-out rates are rising and the number of out-of-school youth is among the highest in Asia, higher than in Indonesia and Vietnam. The Philippines, Social Watch added, rates very poorly in performance scores in math when compared with other countries.

Inequality is more serious than mere poverty, Social Watch pointed out. The claims that poverty has been reduced in the Philippines, Briones said, are only in terms of national totals, which do not reflect reality. National totals are pulled up by the few relatively rich regions.

The Gini Coefficient, which is used to measure inequality, shows that inequality in the Philippines remains high. Social Watch cited the 2003 Family Income and Expenditure Survey that showed that only 2 percent of the total number of families earn more than P500,000 a year, and only 10 families control 52.5 percent of the total market capitalization.

While the Philippines is supposed to have a sound environmental policy, translating these policies into actual programs and allocating the needed resources have been problematic. Social Watch noted inconsistencies in governance, characterized by a high turnover of environment secretaries.

Briones said that among the MDG goals, environmental sustainability remained the least funded at less than one percent of the total budget.

Social Watch criticized the government’s overemphasis on the so-called “super regions,” which was evident in President Macapagal-Arroyo’s recent State of the Nation Address.

“For the past seven years,” Social Watch said, “the Sonas which are the bases for budget priorities, hardly noticed the MDGs. Attention has been focused on the super regions these past two years, while the poor are lagging behind in the ‘un-super’ regions.”

Seven years to go and there is still hope for the Philippines to get near the targets. There is need for more civil society groups (forget the incorrigible politicians) to get involved on the ground. There are NGOs that spend so much time, effort and money on political protests and propaganda while the poor they claim to defend continue to languish.

This I need to say out loud: Time also for some of these civil society groups to look into themselves and how they spend the funds entrusted to them by their funders.