start at the barangays - part 2

I was initially in the “strike while the iron is hot” mode again.    I was about to follow up my article “what now, potrero?” but super typhoon “Yolanda” came and lost my interest.  My thought was who will be interested in politics, especially local, in times like these.  If I was distraught and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the destruction, misery and displacement I saw in various TV footages, so is everybody, most likely.   

But as I reviewed my list of articles, I came across my earlier blog “start at the barangays” (http://raulgalangsarmiento.blogspot.com/2011/07/start-at-barangays.html) and gave me an idea that I could still do a follow up by taking off from this.  I also decided to reuse the title of this particular blog; which now looms as a recurring episode in my blog writing.  (As this was up for final editing, though, my 91-year old father suffered hemorrhagic stroke, was hospitalized for two weeks and met his death two days after he was discharged from the hospital.  Thus, the further delay in its publication.) 

The original article dealt on how to handle disaster risks that may arise from natural hazards.  I opined that we, Kapampangans, should be one of the most disaster-prepared among Filipino ethnic regional groupings.  Since time immemorial, our forebears had been exposed and confronted by natural hazards arising mainly from their choice of place to live—along the banks of the great Rio Grande (Pampanga River).  As “taga pampang” (people from riverbanks), natural hazards, like floods and tropical cyclones, were casual occurrences and elements of their lives, thus, they were forced to tame and live harmoniously with them.  At the time the Spanish conquistadors came, these “taga pampang” had their own form of government, their own culture, were already food self-sufficient and were trading in nearby countries. 

This collective innate ability to deal with natural hazards had been strengthened further by our not-so-distant encounter with Mount Pinatubo eruption and the resultant lahar flows.  But with super typhoon “Yolanda” as benchmark, we should now busy ourselves  building upon this accumulated collective innate ability to enable us to become much better prepared in these times of highly environmentally degraded and globally warmed world.  Since resiliency is one of the traits Kapampangans are known as a people—as all other Filipinos are—we should warm to this in no time. 

We really can’t afford to do otherwise since “the Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone places on Earth”, declared Kathleen Tierney, director of Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado.  “They’ve got it all.  They’ve got earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tropical cyclones, landslides,” she further said (Associated Press, November 13^th, 2013 reprinted in globalnation.inquirer.net).   

This innate ability, I would say, is not confined to natural but to man-made hazards as well.  During the World War II, just like all other Filipinos, we successfully triumphed over and survived one of the worst man-made hazards and its equally catastrophic resultant disaster mankind had ever seen; the wars between the most powerful capitalist countries in the world fought in our midst.  As if this was not enough, another man-made hazard, the agrarian-based social and political unrest—the Huk rebellion—immediately followed.  This caused fear, displacement and mayhem mainly in Central Luzon, with Pampanga at the core.  For this old man, though, the greatest man-made hazard that we’ve encountered and continuously confront is of course our government, both local and national.  

I won’t be surprised if other people will presume that Kapampangans are seasoned to deal with both natural and man-made disasters because of our past exposures to natural and man-made hazards.  But from the country’s recent experience with the flurry of disasters that hit us just this last half of the year, especially the one brought about by “Yolanda”, we should not be so sure of this but instead should look deeper into it and do major adjustments and additional preparations. 

This early, though, this old man believes on the importance and indispensability of solid preparations at the grassroots (barangay) level.  If we can hardly describe the near annihilation of cities, towns and communities directly hit by super typhoon “Yolanda” in Central Philippines, how much more if current disaster risk reduction plans and activities are not tweaked accordingly by the concerned local government units and national government agencies.

We certainly can’t do away with the hazards but like the Kapampangans of old we should learn how to live harmoniously with these and consider them regular elements of our existence on this part of the Earth.  But our local governments should proactively play a central role in enabling individual residents to cope with and in accomplishing this seemingly impossible task. 

One of the most undeniable truths that truly convinced me on the indispensability and importance of local government units and solid grassroots preparations was the highly inspirational experience of a barangay in the Municipality of Guian in Eastern Samar that was hit first when “Yolanda” made its first of six landfalls.  Here is an impoverished far-flung and unheard of barangay reduced practically to rubbles but only suffered one casualty.  A resident interviewed by a TV network attributed their near zero casualty to early evacuation of fellow residents to safe grounds initiated by their barangay government.  There is no better proof than this to disprove the popular notion being peddled by government officials unwilling to take the blame—and aided by a section of the media—that the masses did not know what storm surge is, thus, the huge losses in lives and properties.  

Contrast this with what happened in Tacloban City, the highly economically developed regional center of Eastern Visayas.  The city mayor, his city councilor-wife and their children nearly became statistics in government’s list of casualties for stubbornly staying in their beachfront mansion.  I really pity their children who had to go through this ordeal because of the ineptness of their local government official-parents and their utter failure to safeguard them from harm.  My compassion also goes to all the residents that were either dead or physically and emotionally scarred.  Certainly, the people of Tacloban deserve better leaders that could equal, if not better, the leadership shown by the leaders of that small barangay that had beaten all odds and had triumphantly tamed the fury of “Yolanda”.  I just hope that the city leadership will wake up in time to pursue a no-nonsense post-disaster plan to mend and rebuild the shattered lives of the Taclobanons.

This also goes with all local government units, especially the frontline barangays, not only in the devastated areas but throughout the country.  It’s really high time that we all pay attention to our barangays not just in relation to how they handle hazards and respond accordingly to the resultant disasters but, more importantly, in transforming them into disaster resilient communities, in particular, and as safe refuges of the people notably in times of poverty, of war, and of danger, in general.  Any barangay that can overcome and thrive during adversarial times will surely have easier time pursuing not just post-disaster rehabilitation but also holistic community development in times of prosperity, of peace, and of safety.

As an end note, I cannot help but ask: how could barangays with run-of-the-mill leaders face the challenges of modern times replete with dangers and trials both man-made and natural?  In addition, would leaders whose victories in elections are gained through grave intimidations, irregularities and frauds be concerned with these dangers and trials?  Would they go to the extent of committing these despicable acts just for the opportunity to lock horns with these dangers and trials?  This, in the end, is where the bigger disaster in local governance starts.  This is also where barangay residents should direct and focus their risk reduction interventions against this man-made hazard that engenders and breeds breakdown not just in local but national governance, too.   (30)

nanu na, potrero?

Ating kasabyan keng Inglis a makanini:  “strike while the iron is hot”.  Pamukpukan me kabang mapali ing bakal.  Siyempre, balu tamu makapatungkul ya ini keng pamagpande.  Isipan mu makananu meng aporma ing bakal king ispada o patus kabayu, alimbawa, nung e mapali.  Nung gamitan keng tutung bie, sasabyan na nung kapilan ka dapat maktu.  Nung tukyan ke ini, ala nang mas angkup pang panaun para sumulat kung katuki na nitang minuna kung blog, “rat on one’s own: kwentung baryu”, nune ngeni kabang matas pa ing interes da detang mekabasa.  Dagdag pa, ngeni mu naman ing mas malagung oras para iarap ing metung a alternatibung munikala nung makananu yang lawen ing milabas a eleksyun at ing kayang relasyun king pangmalambatang panyulung ning baryu.  Pwedi ya naman lawen bilang boluntaryung payu ning matwang ini ali mu kareng bayung alal opisyalis nune kareng kabaryung manayang pamagbayu ampong reporma keng pamagpalakad keng barrio council.  Ing alikabuk dala ding milabas a eleksyun kinumpa na para asuri tamung masalese nung nanu ing sinabat keng panyulung ning baryu bang kanita makatagal ya kareng kasiping na.

Bayu ku gawan ini, atin ku pang buring ipayuna.  Mumuna, eku migbotu.  Ating kakalat balita na ating mapilan a kabaryu a binayad dang tsa 500 pesus para ena magbotu bang dagul ya tsansang sumambut itang metung a kandidatu.  Siguradu kung siguradu eku abe kareta, nung atin mang katutwan ini.  Kayabe kareng mapilang rason, ala kung pilakwan kareng kapamilya ku keng 91 idad kung tatang kabang magbotu.

 

Kadwa, masaya ku pa rin ambaski eku mekapagbotu.  Agawa kung mikaugnayan kareng mapilan a kabaryu uli ning milabas a eleksyun.  Ing mas makasaya ing nung makananu milyari ini, uling ali ketang akasanayan tamung paralan.  Ini milyari uli na nitang mesabi kung blog na nukarin palage ku keraklan kareng maigit 400 a linawe kabaryu la.  Misdan ku pin karagulan inyang bigla nakung kinaul matalik nitang metung tang kabaryung babai, a medyu mas maidad kaku, libutad ning palengki kabang sasali kung asan danum.  Ambaski ala yang sinabi, balu ku para keta yang sinulat ku ita.

Para keng kabaryung ita ampo detang ginawang paralan para aparatang da ing asabi da keng sinulat ku, migpasya kung mika Inglis ampong Kapampangan bersyun ya ini.

Ngeni, mibalik tana keng nung nanu na ing dapat  gawan kaibat ning eleksyun.

Magumpisa tamu ketang metung nang direktang resulta nini.  Dapat kung ipabalu ing atin kung limitasyun keng pamangalap impormasyun inya migdipendi ku mu kareng kakung araramdaman na pweding ausang tsismis.  Sumangid na nita, atin tamu namang kasabyan a “nung atin asuk, atin api”.  Maniwala ya ing matwang ini na mas praktikal na arapan no deni agad-agad bayu pa manyirang maragul kareng demokratiku tamung institusyun, kalupa ning eleksyun, kesa keng magpakatali pa keng pamanintun patutu.

Sobra lang maka-alarma deng sasabyan dang mengawang bawal, nung tutu la, inyang milabas a alalan inya dapat nong suwayan kabang maranun.  Iti bang eno lalung dagul at kumalat pa ing kasiran a idulut kareng miyaliwa-liwang prosesu ning alalan.  Milalage la naman keng mikelangan pati ing moralidad laluna ding pakakalulu.  Basi keng kakung dindam, keraklan kareni merapat la bayu ampong kabang mararapat ing eleksyun.

Metung kareng sobrang matingkad a iregularidad megawa kanu bayu ing aktwal a eleksyun ya pin ing bigla lang merakal deng botanti kayari ning special voters registration.  Ini siyempre e malyari nung alang milyaring sapakatan pagitan ding opisyalis baryu ampo ning COMELEC.  Basi keng impormasyung binye da kaku kabang makabakasyun ku king Playpen (basan ing http://raulgalangsarmiento.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-playpen_3440.html) misampa lang reklamu keng COMELEC Bacolor nung nukarin migsabmit lang listaan dareng posibling flying voters karetang bayung pepalista.  Ing eku aintindian nung bakit ene tinggap ning COMELEC Bacolor itang buung listaan nune memili yang mapilan dang inimbistiga at leko.  Inya asabi ku kareng minta kaku na kumunsulta la keng abugadu o kaya makisabi lang mayap keng Vice Mayor, na dating tinalan at migpanyambut keng reklamu ning meyor ning Magalang, ba dang abalu nung nanu ing dapat gawan.

Para keng matwang ini, katungkulan dana deng bayung alal a opisyalis na pakyalaman ini bang alinis ya kareng flying voters ing listaan da deng botanti ning baryu kabang maranun.  Ing lawe ku, ing mesabing reklamu ali nyamu keng oriinal a migreklamu nune karen ne ngang egana-eganang memaryu.  Nung gawan da ini ampong aliwa pang kalupang aksyun, pati ila magbenepisyu kelambatan uling mabawas ing suspetsa da karela na kasangkut la keng megawang pamagloku.  At keng talagang migreklamu, dapat nang pangunyatan, magdili-dili ya man o kayabe no reng mapilang opisyalis baryu, na mikamalinong pararasan ing kayang reklamu ali mu para kareng sinuporta ampong maniwala kaya nune pati kareng egana-ganang kabaryu.  Ini ing lalung magpatutu na kasing karapat-dapat ya, nung e man mas ya, kareng sinambut king alalan.  

Uli ning makanining mengapalyari, maniwala ya ing matwang ini na dapat tanang mitalakad a aguman da reng ating masabal keng Potrero.  Dapat indipindienti ya ini keng council at iyang manimunang misulung kareng pisasabyan da deng memaryu.  Dapat mebyasa tana na e tangan pweding lakwan keng council ing panyulung ning baryu nung ali lalu yang e masensu ampong lalu daka tamung pulutan keng kangkungan, ngana pin ning kasabyan.  

Kabang isipan ke ini, ing organisasyun agad kung aganaka ya pin itang aguman dareng taung magmalasakit keng probinsya ning Abra na magsilbing tagabante da deng memalen kareng karelang opisyalis ampong lokal dang gubyernu, lalu na keng pamagbante kareng gagawan dang dalan ampong tete ampo keng karelang pinansya.  Inya e makapagtaka marakal kareng miyembru na niti inyeru, CPA ampong aliwa pang professional.  Sangayun kareng abasa ku, ela basta-bastang makagawang kalokwan deni uling pane yang makabante ing aguman.  Maragul mebawas ing kurakutan uling ela mitakutan ambaski katatakutan ya ing Abra bilang balwarti ding warlord ampo ding karelang private armies.

Kayabe kareng ayisip kung papil ning ketamung pweding italakad a aguman ya pin ing magsilbing taga gising kareng matutudtud a opisyalis ampong maglatag munikalang alternatibung planu ampong programa, iyabe na pati ordinansa, lalu na nung mika Barangay General Assembly na.  Pota namang panaun na ning alalan, otomatiku yang mag-transporma ini bilang bante keng eleksyun, kalupa ning NAMFREL o ning Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), bang pigilan ing pamaglapastangan kareng batas pang-eleksyun kalupa na ning atangalan keng mengalabas a alalan.  Kalupa ning aguman king Abra, dumipendi ya ini kareng human capital ning baryu na ikit tamung ilang sangkan keng kayang panyulung bayu ya pa memakbung ing Pinatubu.

Dudwang ne ning matwang ini ing kayang serbisyu para pangunan ing pamagpalitang ideya nung nanu ya ing maging porma ampong programa ning agumang italakad.  Mika karanasan ya kasi keng pamanayus ampong pamagpalakad aguman keng milabas ng obra kareng NGO pati na mu rin keng pamangawang planu gamit ing participatory rural/community planning.

Oini naman ing buring nang sabyan kareng bayung alal tamung opisyales.  Sana apagtantu da ing meyaring eleksyun patikim ya pa kareng mas masakit pero mas importanti dang papil, gampanan ampong responsibilidad: ing pamanyambut IYA PA ing umpisa.  Kabang maranun, magaral na kayung Local Government Code (LGC, 1991) bang maging pamilyar na kayu kareni.  Nung sakali naman, ing Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) mamye yang orientation-seminar tungkul kareni, siryoswan yu ing pamagaral at eyu gawang bakasyun (uling mepagal kayu keng pamangampanya) nung marapat ini kareng tourist spot kalupa ning Baguio, Subic ampong aliwa pang mangalagung lugar.

Nung eyu pakiramdaman ini, kutnan yuno mo ding sarili yo nung makananu yung iyaktu ing papil ning metung a barangay:  “As the basic political unit, the barangay serves as the primary planning and implementing unit of government policies, plans, programs, projects and activities in the community, and as a forum wherein the collective views of the people may be expressed, crystalized and considered, and where disputes may be amicably settled” (LCG 1991: Sec. 384). [Bilang pekamababang parti ning gubyernu, ing barangay iyang primerung magplanu ampong magpatupad kareng polisiya, planu, programa, proyektu at aktibidad king komunidad, ampong lugar ya nung nukarin alulwal, alino ampong apagdibatyan deng piyabe-yabeng opinyun deng memaryu, ampo nung nukarin alang sigalut lang malutas ding e pamikaintindi o pate ding tau.]    

Keng kapitan, dapat mu nang balu nung makananu kasaklo ing kekang kapangyarian.  Mas malapad ini kesa keng meyor, na keng kagyatan iyang boss mu.  Asasabi da mung mas makapangyarian ya ing mayor kesa keka uling iyang kokontrol ampo lalawe kareng gubyernung pambaryu ampong iya ing malyaring sumuspindi keka ampo kareng konseyal.  Pero ika, ali mu ing kalupang kapangyarian—executive—ning meyor  ing atin ka, nune kapangyariang legislative—gawang ordinansa—mu naman kalupa ning keng bise meyor, uling ika ing magpalakad at manimuna kareng miting ning konsehu.  Aliwa mu ita, atin ka naman kapangyarian da deng korti—judicial—uling ika mu rin ing manimuna keng Lupon Tagapamayapa na ating atas para mabilis ampong alang sigalut nong lutasan deng eda pikaintindian ding memaryu.  Makalula la deng kekang papil, gampanan ampong responsibilidad nung talagang gawan mula.  Pero nung balu mong gamitan deng kekang mesabing kapangyarian, malagwa mulang tuparan ampong gawan deni.

Malati ku panenayang agawa na ning bayung konsehu, kalupa ning asulat ku ketang minuna kung blog:  “magbalangkas ampong magpatupad lang batayang polisiya o ordinansa, sistema ampong paralan na king kelambatan akasanayan dong tutukyan" bang tapat ampong masalese dong agawa deng karelang papil, gampanan ampong responsibilidad.  Masakit ya ba ine?  Siguru pin, nung ing karelang pusu ampong kaladwa ala yu king dapat dang gagawan king konsehu.  (30)

what now, potrero?

There’s an English saying which goes: “strike while the iron is hot”.  This obviously refers to the forging or shaping of metal.  Can you imagine how you can shape a piece of iron into a sword or horseshoe, for example, if it’s not hot?  When applied to life situation, it tells one when is the best time to act or make your move.    Based on this adage, the most opportune time, therefore, to come out with a follow up to my earlier blog, “rat on one’s own: kwentung baryu”, is now so as to cash in on the interest of those who’ve read it.  This is also the most apt time to advance an alternative perspective on how to look at the past electoral exercises vis-à-vis our barrio’s long term-development, which might be taken also as this old man’s unsolicited advice not only to the newly elected barrio officials but to other barrio residents too who longed for changes and reforms in our barrio governance.  The dusts that were disturbed by the rampaging horses that were the barangay elections, so to speak figuratively, should have settled down by now to enable us to critically start to look into our barrio’s stunted development with the objective of bringing it at par with that of our neighbors.

Before doing so, however, allow me to make some disclosures.  First, I didn’t vote.  There was a rumour spreading around that a number of residents who did not vote were paid 500 pesos by a candidate to lessen the chances of her rival to win; this definitely was not my case.  Among other reasons, no one in my family could look after my 91-year old father while I’ll be away to cast my vote. 

 

Second, I still felt happy in spite of this failure.  The elections enabled me to link up with a few fellow barrio residents.   What made me happier was the manner in which this was made possible.  It was accomplished in a very unusual manner compared to what we’re all used to.  And it was through my above mentioned blog where the majority of the more than 400 page views were fellow barrio residents, I assumed.   This recent incident tended to support this.  An amiable lady, a bit older than me, suddenly embraced me tightly in the middle of the local wet market two days after the elections while I was buying some fish.  Without uttering any word, I knew that hug was her expression of appreciation for my article.

 With that lady in mind and others who find ways to relay their feedback, I decided that this will come out in both English and Kapampangan.

And now, back to this old man’s take on what is to be done after the barangay elections.   

Let’s start with an issue that’s a direct off-shoot of the recently concluded political exercises.  I must divulge beforehand that I am basically in no position to personally gather information that I needed and verify some that I’d heard since I can hardly leave home because of my care giving responsibilities to my father.  So, whatever I say here is practically based on mostly second hand information, or simply put, hearsays.  But as another cliché goes: “where there is smoke, there is fire”.  This old man thinks it’s prudent to address this now before it really causes irreparable damage in our local democratic institutions. 

 The rumored irregularities in the last elections are truly disturbing development, if true, and should be arrested before they can develop further and corrupt extensively our local electoral processes.  It also endangers the moral fiber of our fellow residents, particularly the poor and marginalized.  Based on what I heard, these irregularities happened mostly supposedly before and during the elections.

One of the most glaring of these alleged pre-elections wrongdoings was the padding of our voters list after suspected non-residents where able to register during the recent special voters registration.  This of course will not be possible unless connivance existed between concerned barangay officials and the local COMELEC office.  I was informed of this while I was vacationing at the Playpen (see http://raulgalangsarmiento.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-playpen_3440.html) and was initially briefed of the case filed with the municipal COMELEC office.  If I got my facts right, the Municipal COMELEC Officer refused the submitted list of new registrants that were alleged to be flying voters but had only chosen a few, a partial list, to investigate.  I still don’t understand the reason behind this decision to this day.  I advised those who visited me to avail the services of a lawyer, or seek the advice of the Vice Mayor who successfully handled the election case of the Magalang town mayor before seeking his present post anew, so they’ll be guided on the legally correct steps to take.

For this old man, it is incumbent upon the newly elected barrio officials to follow up the initial case filed and effect the purging of our voters list of flying voters as early as now.  This is no longer just the case of the previous complainant but of all the Potrero residents as well.  In the long run, this will benefit these officials, in a way, as this can somehow erase the cloud of suspicion on their possible complicity to this by taking this and other related actions.  To the original complainant, it is also obligatory on her part to see this through to its proper conclusion either in conjunction with other barrio officials or solely on her own.  This will be a much better invaluable service she can render not only to her supporters who believed in her but to all residents as well.  This will prove further that she's just as deserving, if not more, as the others who were elected. 

Because of this development, this old man believes the situation is rife for the formation of an organization of concerned citizens that will neither be for nor against the barangay council but will pursue issues independently from it.  We should have learned by now from the outgoing barangay council that the whole barrio could not just wait idly for their actions otherwise we’ll end up deeper in underdevelopment and as a local cliché declares “pulutin tayo sa kangkungan”—we’ll up in a pond of water spinach. 

While on this, the organization that easily comes to mind is that of the concerned citizens of the Province of Abra that serves as the people’s watchdog over their local governments, especially as monitors of various infrastructure projects and government finances.  It is not surprising that this organization is stacked with engineers, CPAs and other professionals.  From what I gathered from my readings, this organization keeps their local—municipal and provincial—governments on their toes and consciously aware that the people are watching over them.  It has been instrumental in keeping graft and corruption at bay although the province is a known bastion of warlordism and private armies.

Among the many roles that our own organization will perform is to jolt the barangay officials from their slumber and inaction and propose alternative barrio plans and programs, even ordinances, especially during Barangay General Assemblies, that is, if they’ll now be held.  During election periods, this organization should automatically transform itself into an election watchdog, like the NAMFREL or the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), and guard against the various infractions against the Omnibus Election Code that were noted in the last elections.  It will also rely on our barrio’s human capital, which has been in abundance ever since as shown by the kind of development that Potrero enjoyed prior the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, which won't be possible with just the council around, I surmised.  

This old man is volunteering his services to facilitate brainstorming sessions of these concerned residents to further crystalize and sharpen what this organization should be and in organizing it thereafter.  Part of his work as a NGO (development) worker dealt with organizational development and management and participatory rural/community planning.

And to the newly elected barrio officials, this is what I want tell you.  You should realize that the elections were just the run-up to your more difficult but more important roles, functions and responsibilities; winning the elections was just THE beginning.  This early, take the initiatives to review these in the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991.   If ever the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will conduct an orientation-seminar on this, take it seriously and don’t see it as an opportunity to see tourist spots in the country if ever you’ll end up in Subic, Baguio or any other places for this.

If you don’t heed this advice, ask yourselves how are you going to enact the role of the barangay:  “As the basic political unit, the barangay serves as the primary planning and implementing unit of government policies, plans, programs, projects and activities in the community, and as a forum wherein the collective views of the people may be expressed, crystalized and considered, and where disputes may be amicably settled” (LCG 1991: Sec. 384).

To the kapitan, you should know the extent of your powers.  That you have more extensive power than the municipal mayor, which is your immediate boss.  The mayor is only deemed more powerful than you are because s/he supervises the barangay governments and has the power to suspend you and other barangay officials.  But your office does not only have executive powers that s/he possesses but also the legislative powers of the municipal council, particularly of the vice mayor, as you’ll be the presiding officer of the barrio council.  But that’s not all; you also wield judicial powers similar to that of a judge as you’ll also chair the Lupon Tagapamayapa that is tasked to speedily and amicably settle disputes in the barrio.  Your role, functions and responsibilities, if you really intend to do them, appear daunting.  But these same powers will see you through in competently performing your role, functions and responsibilities, that is, if you will learn how to harness them toward this end.

I really have very little expectation in terms of accomplishments from the incoming barrio council, which I wrote in my last blog:  “just craft, implement and, eventually, mainstream the basic policies/ordinances, systems and procedures” toward ensuring the performance of their specified roles, functions and responsibilities.   Is it still a tall order?  Maybe, but only for people whose hearts and souls lie elsewhere. (30)    

rat on one's own: kwentung baryu

There was urgency when I was writing this.  For the first time, I imposed a really strict deadline on myself otherwise this will lose its freshness and relevance.  I finished my first draft but missed my deadline by a day.  I found my first draft too long and verbose—a weakness that I can’t just rid of.  After initial editing, it was shortened substantially but still I’m not satisfied.  I dilly-dallied too much, although I would say on the side of prudence, and I missed my set deadline by a mile, before I realized it.  I really wanted this as factual as it could.  It was indeed hard to come out with a final copy.

As you might have noticed, the title is rehashed (see my earlier post http://raulgalangsarmiento.blogspot.com/2011/07/rat-on-ones-own_15.html).  In the original post, I wrote that I cannot be like most Kapampangans who would accept hook, line and sinker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s protestation of innocence on the graft and corruption charges she’s accused especially on top of the tons of evidence being unearthed just because she’s a Kapampangan—she’s one of us.

In this blog, I’m not only going to “rat” on fellow Kapampangans but on dear blood kin and my best friend.  Unlike in most of my blogs, anger is never present in this one.  I’m writing this because I want to see substantial reforms in the barrio where I was born and jumpstart meaningful and equitable development after the local elections at the end of this month.  And as an aging former political activist, I hope these reforms will form part of the people’s ammunitions to force genuine changes in our national politics, public management and governance.  This old man believes genuine reforms should be initiated and nourished at the grassroots—the barangay (barrio) is the basic political subdivision of the government—by practicing selfless, upright and people/community-centered governance.  To borrow from the ideology that exerted big influence on me as a political youth activist, our barrios should be our “independent guerrilla bases” where we’re going to shoot down our decadent and rotten national political and governance system—remember the recent brouhahas, Napoles, PDAF, DAP, etc.—to give rise to one that will truly reflect our national aspirations and pursue real development that will not exclude, or put at the bottom of the list, the poor and the marginalized.

Having laid the context of my blog let me say my piece.  As the popular local cliché goes, this is going to be “trabaho lang, walang personalan” (there’s nothing personal, it’s just a job to do).

Potrero is the north-westernmost barangay of the Municipality of Bacolor in Pampanga bordering the towns of Porac and Sta. Rita.  Because it was traversed by the Pasig-Potrero River, it was probably the most devastated by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991 and the resultant lahar flows in the ensuing five years in the town.  Before the eruption, it can be considered one of the more progressive barangays of Bacolor although majority of the people depended mainly on agriculture for their sustenance.  Sand quarrying was barely given any attention then and it was an untapped revenue source for the locality.

The around eight-kilometer road linking it to the Poblacion, the town center, was concreted a few years after the devastation wrought by the 40-day rains in 1972, making it easily accessible.  Not long after, electricity came and effected further improvement in the lives of the residents.  Potrero was among the first to have its own functional health center, a concrete one-storey structure standing on its own fenced lot.  A registered midwife was stationed in the barrio as early as the 1960s and was primarily responsible to look after the basic health care needs of the people.

It was also the original seat of the Mother of Perpetual Help Parish before it was transferred to Barangay San Antonio under dubious circumstances.  I think the establishment of the parish was made possible when the landlord of the agricultural lands fronting the physical church structure unselfishly earmarked his yearly harvest share for the upkeep of the church and the priest—a trait our elected and appointed officials should possess.  Furthermore, it was the first barrio of Bacolor to have its own barangay high school, which was established in 1966, if I’m not mistaken.  Most residents of my age and younger finished their primary and secondary education in our barrio schools.  The Potrero High School also catered to the residents from surrounding barangays including those from the town of Porac, a role it still performs now that it's based at the Bulaon Resettlement Complex.

Children have to walk at least four kilometers of dusty roads in the morning to go to school in Barangay San Antonio and another four in the afternoon to return to their homes. 

Potrero of old was far from being an Eden but we fondly cherished it as the cradle of our youth, a real rural bliss compared to our lives in resettlement complexes today.  Many among us, therefore, had a long standing wish to see it rehabilitated and redeveloped—mibalik ing dati nang ningning (return its old glory) to borrow a battle cry of a former town mayor.

All the kapitans (barangay/barrio chairpersons) elected after we were displaced by the deadly lahar flows after the Pinatubo eruption in June 1991 should have adopted and doggedly pursued this battle cry.   This apparently was in the back of the minds of most kapitans after the huge avalanche that wiped out Cabalantian in 1995 (or was it 1996?), when many barrios started their rehabilitation efforts as the threat from lahars had abated substantially thereafter.

In the few times that I visited our barrio, I can’t help but be disappointed.  It practically lagged behind from all the barrios you’ll pass by from the Olongapo-Gapan (OG) Road (now officially called Jose Abad Santos Avenue—JASA).  They had longer cemented roads, if not totally concreted, had micro and small enterprises (SMEs) and had built more permanent houses.   Admirable undertakings were the holding of extension classes in Barangay San Antonio and the establishment of a green house in Barangay Duat where farming techniques were being tried and demonstrated.   All these developments occurred mostly in the last decade.

Given the glowing accomplishment of our forebears as evinced by my above narration, Potrero should not have been the “basket case” among the barrios of Bacolor.  If we are to follow our ancestors’ example, our barrio should be high up there in terms of rehabilitation and development.

Big gaping holes, some can enclose vehicles as big a Forward truck, are left unattended even if the rains had stopped.

Sadly, it is the incumbent kapitan, my nephew being the son of my first cousin, who’s taking all the flaks for the lack of development, or underdevelopment, in the barrio.   His critics were of course correct to blame him but they were, at the same time, wrong to single him out.  But that’s understandable because most of the people do not completely know the workings, powers, and functions of the officials comprising the council, including these officials themselves.  Otherwise, they know that the other members of the council, the kagawads or konsehals (councilors), are equally to blame. 

The kapitan truly deserves all the flaks since he’s nearing the end of his third 3-year term in office, in fact, he’s actually on his 11^th year as a result of election postponement in the past.  ELEVEN long years but he could hardly brag any worthwhile accomplishment.  And to think that Potrero was practically more “equipped” as it had more resources than other barangays for this.  During Among Ed’s tenure in the Provincial Capitol, our barangay was among those that regularly received checks, I just don’t remember if it was quarterly or semi-annually, from the provincial government as its share in the provincial quarry revenue collection.  In one instance, the shares ran into almost half-a-million pesos, I believed.  Most likely, its share has increased further as the incumbent governor, Lilia Pineda, reports bigger collection than Among Ed.    

I learned something was wrong early on in his reign.  I came to know this from my best friend during one of those rare times we have impromptu get together to enjoy our favorite pale pilsen.    This friend initially ran for kapitan but lost to my nephew and opted to run as a kagawad the following local elections.  He complained about the absence of regular sessions.  I told him that being kagawads they have the right to demand and force the kapitan to hold regular sessions.  I suggested that he’ll read the Local Government Code ( LGC—Republic Act 7160), which is considered by those in the know as the “bible” of local government and governance.  I think I even bought him a copy of the book so that he’ll be guided on the extent of his powers and in performing his duties and functions as a kagawad.  Despite all these, he apparently stuck to his belief that they can’t do anything unless the kapitan agrees.

Knowing this, I just can’t help but wonder how the council was able to come out with annual and supplemental budgets and other plans.  With this also, I don’t wonder why Potrero is tailing other barrios in terms of rehabilitation and development, most especially in service delivery to its constituents.  As the frontline in the government’s service delivery structure, what would you expect it could provide to its constituents when it could not even hold regular sessions?

This most likely is the reason that no General Assembly had been held in my nephew’s nearly 11-year reign.  I remembered that I reminded my best friend that the barangay council is mandated to hold Barangay Assembly “at least two times a year” [LGC 1991: Chapter Six, Sections 397(b)].  In his 11-year incumbency, the outgoing kapitan has never presented any “semestral report of the sangguniang barangay concerning its activities and finances as well as problems affecting the barangay” (Ibid).  At this juncture, therefore, he should have at least done this 21 times!
 For this old man, the local elections in three days’ time should be viewed in this context.  It is imperative that the in-coming barrio council should exercise its oversight function and look into where the previous council spent not just its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from the national government but its shares in the provincial quarry revenues as well as its own collection.  This leads this old man to ask, will the incumbent kagawad-candidates, as well former kagawads who “rested” for a term to legally run anew, perform this very important function given their roles in the previous councils if ever elected anew?  Will my niece, older sister and anointed successor of the incumbent, do this as well as review other acts of his brother if elected?  Or will her rival, also a niece, have the capability and fortitude to do this and won’t just sweep everything under the rug, so to speak, if she’ll be the one chosen by the people?   

With my best friend in mind, this old man believes that it is also equally important that the kagawads we’ll elect should be capable, independent-minded and should possess the fortitude to stand for what is right and good for the people.  We'll need such kagawads to ensure that the council will stand by the people. 

This old man, however, would be HAPPY if the in-coming council could just craft, implement and, eventually, mainstream the basic policies/ordinances, systems and procedures necessary to perform its fundamental role as the frontline in the delivery of basic services to the residents of my beloved Potrero in a transparent and accountable manner.  And that's a tall order for this old man. (30)

stupid people in high places

I was the typical old man in this blog’s title.  I was irked to the nines because of the development surrounding the Pork Barrel Scam and resultant events.  It was not only the humongous amount involved that got me incensed this much but also the people linked to these.  I really felt an intense need to do something about this welling rage but this something that I could think of had me in a familiar quandary anew;  the same Catch-22 I was in when I was writing “will I or will I not” (see http://raulgalangsarmiento.blogspot.com/2013/06/will-i-or-will-i-not.html).

  It took me a long while, as evinced by my last post, before I finally decided to recklessly throw all cautions in the wind to ease this anger.  Even if I don’t have certain immunity from suits like them, I’ve decided to “cyber bully” these people in high places.  Far from being like them and typical bullies, I chose people much bigger—in this case, bigger only in our society’s misplaced regard on who is big and respectable—not weaker and defenseless to pick a fight on.   Imagine what more I could have done had I’ve been infected by the same “virus” that affects the so-called dragon ladies in the government—DOJ Secretary Leila De Lima, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares—now running after these scum bugs.  The least, maybe, is roast them with the fire I breathe until their bodies are drained of all those pork lard they'd consumed.  

Even without this virus, though, the conditions are too compelling and too overbearing that ordinary previously apathetic citizens now dare to show their outrage over these brazenly decadent and perverted developments in our society.  In the past, there were hardly voices in the wilderness, so to speak, which denounced the country’s social malaise and merited attention.  But the situation is now much different.  Thanks mostly to the socially desirable and beneficial effects of information and communication technologies, they’ve developed just as fast, gained greater momentum and would most likely morph into something bigger if certain vested interests will not stunt the naturally evolving conditions that would nourish their growth and will not overpower and co-opt the development of the other but more important actors.  I’ll expound on this in my next blog. 

In this blog, I’m going against the commonly accepted definition of the legal maxim presumption of innocence—the burden lies with who declares, not who denies (Wikipedia 2013)—that crooks in high places always invoked to profess their guiltlessness.  This they’ve resorted repeatedly even after being initially declared guilty by the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court.

  Although I only have a 3-unit course that had something to do with law during my undergraduate program, Farm Laws in particular, I completely subscribed to jurisprudence that this should not be “considered evidence of the defendant’s innocence”  (The Free Dictionary 2013).  This is also why I totally agreed with the declaration of the venerable but irreverent Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz that politicians allegedly involved in the Pork Barrel Scam, and any other crimes for that matter, should be assumed guilty until proven otherwise by a competent court of law.  I sincerely believe that this should be the norm in dealing with elected, appointed too, government officials entrusted with substantial powers because of their too many undeserved privileges never available to ordinary citizens like us.  The more that this should be case since traditional interpretation of our jurisprudence on presumption of innocence is not absolute for the defendant could still be jailed while on trial once initial evidence presented was deemed to constitute probable cause that s/he has committed a crime.

With this, I now start my cyber bullying.

As a result of the continuing coverage of the Pork Barrel Scam, I’ve discovered—I’m sure other people too—that  the Senate and the House of Representatives are populated by the most stupid people in our country.  Nay, these people are also found in the august halls of the Malacaňan Palace as photographic evidences of their occupants’ dalliances with the Napoleses are either being slowly leaked to or discovered by the media and as the Aquino administration tries to rationalize the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), its newly coined term for pork barrel to differentiate it from the old and much maligned Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).  This actually is no longer new for it is a recurring occurrence.  These and other similar actuations are in fact regular incidents in Philippine public management and governance. 
(Last year, those who stayed glued to their TV sets to watch the impeachment trial of the chief magistrate of the Supreme Court, Renato Corona, could have concluded that this institution was no different from the two other branches of our government.  More so, if one had read "SHADOW OF DOUBT PROBING THE SUPREME COURT" (Marites Dangilan Vitug (2010).  Most likely, the trueness of this conclusion would be strengthened further as the Supreme Court pursues its investigation over its own version of Janet Lim-Napoles, Ma'am Arlene.)

But what’s new today though was how these people are losing their minds as they outdo each other in coming out with the most outrageous denials of their undeniable pork grease-laced liaisons with the Napoleses and their use of pork barrel, thus, exhibit the height of their stupidity in the process.   The veracity of this looms as clear as a photograph taken by a high-megapixel top-of-the-line DLSR camera during a cloudless sunny midday.  What made them more stupid was their unchanging assumption that they can always freely get away from their wrong doings against the Filipino people.  They repeatedly mistook our people’s apparently never-ending patience to fearfulness, naivety and apathy.  They surely have not learned from the past.  These stupid people acted as if EDSA I, EDSA II and EDSA III were figment in the nation's consciousness. 

Take Jinggoy Estrada for example.  He had been previously charged with plunder together with his criminal president-father, now city mayor of Manila.  Obviously, he did not learn, or did he just opt not to learn?, any lesson from their criminal past.  Instead of atoning for his and his father's sins to the Filipino people and thinking of a better legacy to leave after he was elected senator in 2004, look where he busied himself.  Is he that stupid to think that he’ll be as lucky and be accorded the same fate of his father when he was pardoned by the equally corrupt ex-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, now second district representative of Pampanga?
If that's what he thought while doing all these despicable and vile acts against the Filipino people, then, there's no proof more apt than this of his stupidity. Pushed against the wall, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had adroitly reduced the threat to her shaky “robbed” presidential reign when she pardoned Erap Estrada as soon as he was declared guilty of plunder.  Even if the current brouhaha over the pork barrel would end up knocking at the doors of the palace and threaten the Pnoy dispensation, Jinggoy's pardon won't accomplish anything to dissipate, not even abate, such a threat. 

This Economics graduate from UP Manila apparently learns very little from his highly esteemed alma mater to entertain thoughts that the masses would be duped into storming the gates of Malacaňang if ever he’s declared guilty and incarcerated in a regular prison, not in his rest house nor in a high-end hospital-prison.  The more you'll conclude this if you consider his last privileged speech in the Senate. Instead of refuting the charges against him, his speech turned out to be a demolition job not only of himself but also the scum bugs like him in both chambers of the Congress.   Former Education Secretary Edilberto de Jesus writing in his column declared that by employing what he called the “Peanut Butter Defense” (Philippine Daily Inquirer 5 October 2013:A13), Jinggoy “spreads the blame beyond personalities. After brushing his colleagues with the black paint of corruption, he generously excuses them and himself by blaming the system: ‘I believe that we are all the victims of a flawed system, which is so ingrained that it has been instutionalized’.”  What gall, he and his equally corrupt legislator-colleagues, victims?  

 But if you think that’s the best soap from the Senate, well, better wait what Jinggoy’s bosom buddy, Bong Revilla, is cooking.  He just threatened to go after his “tormentors”.  What he’ll do this time?  When this issue first hogged the national limelight, he was the first one to come out with his guns blazing claiming it was a demolition job for he’s THE front runner in the coming 2016 presidential derby.  He quickly retreated like a dog with its tail in between its legs, though, and made himself scarce when various photos of him getting chummy with Janet Napoles got front page treatment from major media outfits.  I thought that was a very intelligent act from someone who’s never attended to college. 

But now, he just aired his threat to defend his allegedly soiled reputation.  And that’s worth the wait.  Will he upend the vaudeville staged by his best friend Jinggoy?  Although the latter was ridiculed left and right over his privileged speech, it cannot be denied that this accomplished its real objective.  It did not only deflect the attacks on him and his fellow scum bugs but has successfully put the Pnoy administration on the defensive.  In fact, the president now appears to be the felon and the perpetrator of the scum. 

This of course will not be possible without the input of stupid people freely roaming the halls of Malacaňan Palace.  Just like how Jinggoy and his bosom buddy, Bong, did to the issues thrown to them, they too miserably bungled the handling of the DAP and the surrender of Napoles, in particular, and the president's fight against corruption, in general, which Benjamin Pimentel (Inquirer Global Nation 15 October 2013) claimed they made to sound like a religious crusade instead of a political battle.  The lack of unity in their explanation of the DAP has stirred the curiosity and scrutiny of the people and put their boss in neck-deep shit where Jinggoy, Bong and Juan Ponce Enrile are in.  What's revolting is, Pnoy is practically blaming everybody for this but not his own people and himself.

And with the certainty of Janet Lim-Napoles appearing before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee after Frank Drilon dilly-dallied for quite some time before finally caving in to pressure to sign the subpoena, the plot thickens.  The Vaudeville of the Swinos will surely be the ultimate entertainment of the people wallowing in poverty and still reeling from the effects of disasters as it will surely showcase the stupidity of people in high places. (30)

References:  1.  Wikipedia 27 August 2013

                    2.  The Free Dictionary 2013

                    3.  Edilberto de Jesus.  Business Matters,  “The Peanut Butter Defense”.   Philippine Daily

                          Inquirer. 5 October 2013.

                    4.  Benjamin Pimentel.  Kwento, “The Problem with ‘Daang Matuwid’. Inquirer Global

                              Nation. www.inquirer.net  

the development worker

I was an NGO worker.  I was very proud I was one.    It’s not because I’m now rich because of this.  Far from it, in fact, I gave up opportunities to secure a stable financial future when I opted to take on this career.  My late mom, who practically sought me out for a day to hand me the telegram, was surely disappointed when I turned down a management trainee offer from RFM, which I did not solicit in the first place, and stuck to being an organizational staff of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL) for my first job in 1987.  It’s not the typical job that most workers know for I didn’t receive a regular salary and other perks that a regular job offers; only allowances for my transportation fares, simple meals, cigarettes—the cost of one pack of Champion cigarettes per day when I smoked at least a pack of Marlboros at that time—and other basic personal needs when I travelled around Central Luzon to attend meetings and conduct consultations with member organizations.   

Moreover, instead of hooking up with the more conservative NGOs that were funded by big business and offered competitive salaries to their workers, I had chosen to get involved with the more progressive NGOs that were overtly anti-status quo and, therefore, were not as financially endowed and, as a result, could only offer nickels and dimes to their workers.  This early decision in my professional life has made me financially dependent on my wife today and would likely stay so throughout my remaining days on planet Earth, as the likelihood of embarking on and pursuing a late-life second career after I’m through with my care giving responsibilities to my father seems far-fetched and ambitious.  

This sense of pride is not also because this has made me famous and brought me national prominence and respect, which can compensate for not being rich.  This had neither given me public acclaim nor media exposure, not even the kind that I experienced as a student at the Gregorio Araneta University Foundation (GAUF) in early 1987.  As the student council president, I was one of the more high profiled and “exposed” leaders of the multi-sector group—students, faculty members, employees and alumni—that demanded the ouster of the university president for being the spearhead in what we alleged as the deliberate mismanagement of GAUF.  (See my earlier blog  ”the noble bastard son” for more on this)  As such, I was the one being interviewed by reporters from the national dailies and radio stations that covered our barricades and, especially, our hunger strikes until our demands were met.   These media exposures were my five minutes of fame, so to speak, as my pictures together with that of the editor-in-chief of the student publication that remained steadfast in our hunger strikes were flashed in the front pages of at least a national broadsheet and my voice was heard regularly from some major radio stations.  Some people, of course, would not call this fame but infamy especially the conservatives—reactionary forces as we called them then as national democrats—and a number in the university community whose sympathies lied with the status quo and the ousted president, respectively.

This too, in a way, became my badge to gain entry and have a glimpse of the insides of the Malacaňan Palace, the Administrative Building in particular, when the employees’ and faculty unions’ presidents and I were summoned by a palace functionary tasked to mediate the resolution of the nearly two-month barricades of the multi-sector group and the more than 20-day hunger strikes of selected student leaders as public clamour mounted for President Cory to step into the fray.  Years before, as demonstrators, we were never able to set even a single foot inside the palace to air our grievances but there I was inside Malacaňang negotiating with a government official.  The farthest that we did in the past was set foot at the foot of the historic Mendiola Bridge.  That was the first of a couple more visits when I attended palace-sponsored conferences of student council and youth leaders, some of whom would later on occupy high government posts—one became a senator and another an education department undersecretary.

The pride and gratification that I got from being a NGO worker simply came from the belief that I took part in some important democratic struggles particularly of the poor and disenfranchised rural people while I was struggling on my own to meaningfully take part in the raising of my two daughters.  The importance of my work was articulated best by Lim Teck Gee, 1988 (cited in Mahar Mangahas, 31 August 2013) who wrote that NGOs “see their work as explicitly situated in the context of a wider concern for progressive social development and change in the society . . . [T]heir main concern really is with all the various groups and classes found in the society and with the wider social processes.”  To take part in this, however, my wife has practically borne most of the brunt in raising our kids, which extends even to this day. 

The source of this self-importance, though, is now being undermined, to a certain extent, by news of some NGOs’ complicity in the scheme of the now infamous Janet Lim-Napoles that allegedly fleeced the rural poor of vital resources that could have helped to bail them out from abject poverty and hunger.  I cannot fault the uninitiated and those not in the know to conclude that most, if not all, NGOs operate like the ones that Napoles allegedly organized to perpetrate her ruse.  This was figuratively just the icing on the cake as it immediately followed the news of a more progressive—more ideological, too, I supposed—NGO organized by former (or did they remain?) national democrats, which was able to source funds from the USAID among other funding agencies was found to have misused them by the American conduit of US official development assistance (ODA) in the Philippines.  This though did not merit the same prominence in print and electronic media.  Maybe the sum involved was a pittance when ranged to that of the Pork Barrel Queen and it was not the Filipino but American taxpayers’ money.  I will not be surprised, therefore, if somebody someday will go to the extent of asking for some “balato” from all the money s/he’ll assume I’ve illegally made just like Napoles.

 On hindsight, though, I, myself, could have made some retirement money and be more financially independent had I shared the same values and orientation of Napoles.  Of course, the money I could have made will surely not be as mind-boggling as that of Napoles but will certainly allow me to indulge more frequently some simple luxuries which my public school principal-wife showers me with every now and then. 

In 1992, I and practically all the leading field- and office-based staff left the NGO we worked for and formed one of our own.  The former was the first development NGO I joined in 1991 since I started my development work with militant peasant organizations in 1987.  The initial reaction of those in the know was to dismiss ours as an off-shoot of the rift within the communist party and the national democratic movement; a simple case of reaffirmists (RA) versus rejectionists (RJ).  But this was far from the truth; it was just mere coincidence that the core in my group also rejected—thus, the term rejectionists—the thesis advanced by the mainstream communist party and its satellite organizations in the National Democratic Front on how to continue and correctly pursue the national democratic revolution in the midst of the series of major debacles suffered by the movement.  The real cause of our particular split was the deliberate deviation from the original mandated strategic role of that NGO in the overall national democratic change we all aspired and, more importantly, the corruption—financial opportunism was the term used in the movement—of the executive director.  The movement did not allow the ouster of the executive director but allowed our group to set up our own NGO and promised us Php250,000 “separation pay” for this. 

Although only Php125,000 of the promised “separation pay” was given, we still  set up a NGO with practically the same vision, missions, goals and strategies (VMGS) as we promised.  With this start-up capital and the initial USD10,000—exchange rate then was only Php26:USD1—we sourced from a Swiss Lenten group, we started our operations and proceeded with our project development and resource mobilization.  Simultaneous with the implementation of the Swiss-funded one-year community organizations strengthening and development in barangays (villages) that suffered the most from the mine tailings-induced degradation of the Agno River in Bayambang, Pangasinan, we were able to come out with a program proposal on how to comprehensively and holistically addressed the environmental degradation along the Agno River as well as smaller project proposals on our development interactions with the Aetas that survived the Mount Pinatubo eruption in Cabangan, Zambales.  We also acted as the secretariat of the newly organized Buklod ng Malayang Magbubukid (BUKLOD).

However, even with all the help we could muster, including ones outside the country, we could not raise the needed resources to pursue our projects and programs in line with our VMGS.  After more than a couple of years of existence, the Swiss Lenten group remained the only source of our NGO’s fund.  It was not because our programs and projects were not good and were ill-conceived.   Ms Laura Kern(?), sister-in-law of former Senator Rene Saguisag, who was mobilized by Fil-Am Washington State Representative Velma Veloria to help in raising fund for our Pangasinan program considered  our proposal much better than most of the proposals she reviewed for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as a consultant.  I’d heard a similar comment from the treasurer of our Board of Trustees (BOT), who reviewed some of the proposals of peasant-based national democratic NGOs prior to 1992 before these were endorsed to European and other funding agencies.  Both concluded that our failure to get funds for our programs and projects was our NGO’s lack of tract record. 

It was at this juncture that another BOT member had come in contact with a “broker” that solicited Php5-million project proposals to be submitted to the Department of Agriculture for funding under its Agricultural Competitive Enhancement Fund (ACEF).  The catch was, only Php3-million will be forwarded to the project proponent (NGO); the remaining Php2-million will go to the broker’s group who facilitated the approval.  As the executive director of our NGO, this was brought to my attention and was told to prepare as many as two project proposals within the declared objectives of the fund.  ACEF was created under Republic Act No. 8178 that was enacted in July 1995 and was popularly known as the “Agricultural Tariffication Act”, which “basically seeks to raise farm productivity and reduce costs by providing necessary support services such as, irrigation, farm-to-market roads, post-harvest facilities, credit, research and development, extension services, market infrastructure and information”.  (Yorobe, 2005)

The offer was tempting.  The Php6-million that we’ll get from the Php10-million total cost for two projects would surely have gone a long way in our NGO’s operations and establishment of tract record.  I remembered how we were able to stretch the first USD10,000 extended by the Swiss Lenten group to cover almost two years of our operations by saving on some expenses without sacrificing the quality of our outputs and jeopardizing the extension of another fund for project continuity from the Swiss.  More importantly, this amount could have helped prevented the departure of the staff to more decent paying NGOs and the private sector.

In the end, though, I decided not to take the offer.  This would not only tie me up and, at least, another staff to practically manufacture receipts for the Php4-million that will go to the broker and his group.  Furthermore, we won’t be able to leave our seats to take even a breather from this task had we also decided to take our own cuts from this fund to fatten our own pockets.  The more weighty reason was my inability to accept the fact that by taking part in this highly fraudulent and immoral scheme; a regular fixture in the bureaucracy it now appears.  Granting that we won’t be lining our pockets from this, the mere fact that you took part in this dubious scheme was not only your imprimatur of support to a very corrupt system but, more importantly, a betrayal of the very people whom you professed to fight for.

In the end, too, we’d decided to close shop.  This was after realizing that it was not only very difficult for new and fledgling but legitimate NGOs to avail funding from the usual foreign development agencies but also from the government.  On my end, I opted to offer my services to other NGOs that I still perceived to be true in their avowal to uphold and fight for the genuine democratic rights and welfare of the poor and marginalized in Philippine society.  That, in the end, was what this pride was all about. (30)