Looking for development opportunities?

Forget about the promises that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s told you in her State of the Nation Address. One could only depend on his ability to contribute to community development if a Filipino wants to see change in his lifetime — unless he wants to pay more taxes to which the President claims have …well, saved the economy.

 

You have a wonderful idea and you absolutely know what to do but you don’t have the resources to make your dreamvillage come true. Don’t fret about it. There are wonderful opportunities that are being advertised through email where Filipino communities and individuals are eligible to participate. Check these out:

 

1. 2008 Innovative Base of the Pyramid Grant Competitiion – http://www.ibop-asia.net/. Deadline is August 30, 2008.

2. Reebok Human Rights Awards – http://www.reebok. com/Static/ global/initiativ es/rights/ text-only/ awards/index. html.

3. Training for Young Volunteers, “Learning the Unimaginable”  (Volunteering as a Tool for Mutual Understanding: – http://wwhttp://www.asef. org

 

You might also be interested to see these announcements at http://www.pinoyworld.org/2008/ .

 

4. Radio Peace Workshop at CEBU on August 21. Deadline of Sumission of application on July 28

5. AAUW Education Foundation Scholarship Now Offered (United States).

6. World Creative Youth Forum (WCYF) 2009.  

7. Mandaue Business Month 2008: Cebu Blog Contest

 

Just a word of caution: don’t just look for opportunities. It is important that you have a grasp of what is really needed and what good will an opportunity do to your organization or community before you ever knock to anyone’s door. Not all that glitters is gold.

 

 

 

Straight and simple

Students rally to oust gloria due to unabated prices of oil and food. Photo taken in a rally in Morayta to Mendiola , July 2008.

You must have seen the recent footages of students rallying for Gloria’s ouster. It’s really amazing how they did it this time. No hyperboles. No superlatives. You could really say there were hundreds of students that trooped to Mendiola and thousands who joined the school-based protests last week. The spokespersons also gave crisp, quick messages this time.

They posters were also full of wit and frankness. These are just the posters you’d like to put on front page.  Thumbs up to the young activists!

 

Learn the ABCs of Food Crisis

So long as there’s rice in our tables, who cares about the food crisis? That attitude will not be for long. It’s time to learn more about the food crisis and how it will affect you. This invitation came yesterday:

The continuing rice crisis, coupled with the non-stop increases in the prices of petroleum products, positioned the Filipino people in much serious difficulties. 

The government’s piecemeal subsidies to families in need cannot solve the rural backwardness does not address the current rice crisis.  We understand that an end to the crisis  would necessitate a reversal of the economic programs and priorities of the government. 

As such, it is necessary to explain to the largest number of students, professionals and advocates the envisioned programs, plans and strategies that will foster a solution to end the food problem in the country.  In this regard, AGHAM, in cooperation with the alliance Resistance and Solidarity Against Agrochemical TNCs (RESIST Agrochem TNCs), will hold a forum entitled Rice Crisis, Modernization of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform on July 24 2008, 8:30 to 12:00  in the morning at the Conference Room of Balay Kalinaw in UP Diliman, Quezon City.

We  cordially invite you and your office/organization to the said forum. Please refer to the attached program for your perusal.  For further inquiries, kindly call us at 4343173.

 

Juday stains her career over Meralco infommercial

Juday’s intention must have been good. It’s just too bad that her Manager Alfie Lorenzo was just able to brief her on the monetary benefits of clinching the deal with Meralco — and failed to tell her of its major consequences. This infommercial of Meralco really turned Juday’s icon of the masses into a ghastly corporate speaker. Iiiiiwwww.

I’ve chanced to read to this comment being circulated in the internet.

Bilib ako sa commercial ni Juday, biro mo naipaliwanag niya in 30 sec ang masalimuot na system loss na yan..:)

Tama si Juday sa kanyang paliwanag ng system loss, pero kung tayo ang bibili ng yelo at ayaw talaga nating mabawasan ang yelong binili, siempre magdadala tayo ng styrofoam ice box o Coleman..

Ang tawag diyan ay increase the efficiency. Kung baga sa mga distribution utilities ayusin nila nang husto ang electrical network, pati na ang mga substation and step-down transformers para nagooperate sila sa maximum efficiencies. Kung lumang-luma na, palitan o di kaya imaintenance. Tapos, ireduce, at kung maaari ay alisin, ang mga administrative inefficiencies, tulad ng wrong meter readings, pilferage ! at kung ano ano pa…

At alam ba ninyo na hindi lang meralco ang nagpapasa ng system loss? Pati ang TRANSCO na government owned at siyang nag me maintain ng power grid. Balak ipasa or naipasa na ng TRANSCO ang 2.98% ng system loss nya sa meralco.. at shempre kanino pa ba naman iyan sisingilin ng meralco..

Ngayon alam na natin kung bakit natunaw ang yelong binili ni Juday.. pero part pa lamang yan ng equation kung bakit mataas ang singil ng ating koryente, kunin ang electric bill.. at heto ang component ng ating electric bill…

Generation charge
Tax on Generation charge
Transmission charge
Tax on Transmission charge
System loss
Tax on System Loss
Distribution, Metering and Supply charges
Lifeline rate subsidies
Tax on distribution, metering and supply charges and lifeline rate
subsidies
Local franchise tax
Universal charges

I-add mo lahat yan at yan ang total electric bill mo… pero napansin nyo ba sa isang electric bill 5 tax ang babayaran natin?

Para lalo nating mapansin, ganito ang flow ng kuryente bago dumating sa bahay naten..

Ang napocor or IPP ang mag po produce ng koryente…bago pa maka alis ng planta ang koryente, magabayad na tayo ng tax na 51 cents /kwh.

Ang kuryenteng iyan ay padadaanin ngayon sa TRANSCO, papunta sa distribution utility natin gaya ng meralco.. Muli tayong bubuwisan ng gobyerno, this time 11 cents/kwh

Pag nakarating sa meralco ang kuryente, muli sisingilin tayo ng buwis ng gobyerno, ng distribution tax at franchise tax…

At dahil magbabayad tayo ng system loss muli na naman tayong bubuwisan ng gobyerno… ng system loss tax..

At eto pa ang kwela sa lahat, after i total ang iyong electric charges.. papatawan kang muli ng tax.. t! his time yung 12% e-vat. Imagine 5 Tax na binayaran mo, yung tax na yun eh bubuwisan pang muli ng isa pang tax…

Ang alam ko po sa batas bawal ang double taxation… pero sa ginagawang ito ng gobyerno.. cguro naaayon na sa batas kase lampas na sa double eh (sarcastic lang po)

At upang madagdagan pa ang sama ng loob nating mga filipino… Ang napocor, ayon sa batas ay kinakailangan mag imbak ng supply ng coal na tatagal ng 5 taon.. pero ano ginagawa ng napocor… sasairin nila yung supply nila ng coal upang tumagal lamang ng isang taon, at
dahil paubos na, mapipilitan silang mag conduct ng emergency purchase na di na dadaan sa bidding.. or kung dumaan man, dahil sa ikli ng time table, walang makakapag bid

SO si napocor bibili ng coal, hindi sa lowest bidder, kundi sa kanilang preferred suplier.. ang masaya pa neto, anlaki na ng patong.. higit pa sa doble ng actual price ng coal sa market..
idagdag pa jan ang arkila ng mga barko na gagamitin sa pag ta transport ng coal… na shempre muling pagkakakitaan ng mga napocor executives.. .

Sobra na nga pinapataw na tax sa atin ninanakawan pa tayo ng gobyerno natin..:( ansaya ng buhay sa pilipinas no?

But, of course!

 

Make your data move mountains

Advocacy researches just love to saturate their audiences with tables and numbers. I do get it: the more numbers, the more evidence there is and the more the chances of getting the audiences convinced. But that’s not how it always work.

You’ve invited a legislator to your forum. You did see him come and that’s a great achievement in itself. But alas! Just a few display of slides  — he hurries like a pregnant woman on the way to delivery. Maybe there’s a committee hearing. Maybe there’s a payola waiting. Maybe he got bored by all the numbers!

Whatever it is, only one truth is evident. Your message has not been heard. And he may not even remember one important message from your event. Gory!

When it happens, forgive yourself and learn from your experience. Stop boring your audience with lots of senseless numbers and learn to tell the story through them. Did you notice how Al Gore used the “moving powerpoint slides” to make powerful messages in the documentary Inconvenient Truth? Just one slide and the message is complete and compelling. The way we design our pictures, graphs, tables to add seeing to reading is called information advocacy. The Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Research Desk has, among other things, good work on this aspect.

I happen to stumble on a good read on information advocacy. The book entitled, “Visualizing Information for Advocacy” provides useful samples and tips to make those powerful stories out of your data. The next time you have that opportunity to present your data to legislators, you better scan a copy through this link.

 

Where to find development jobs

During the martial law years, it would be rare to find jobs as a community organizer. Most jobs in the field of social work were done by priests, nuns, or activists. In this sense, they accomplish their work like missionaries. But after the fall of the Marcos regime, an outpour of grants were chanelled to the Philippines to supposedly help the young democracy support its economic and political needs. Development work slowly opened opportunities for paid jobs. Surprisingly, some even offered salaries that are higher than corporate rates. Because activists had the expertise, network, passion and experience required to implement the development projects in their communities, activsts have been the most qualified candidates for the newly-opened jobs.

Today, there is no doubt that the development profession is becoming competitive. Like any other career, some institutions also require a masteral degree which would, a few years ago, could have been compensated for experience.

Indeed, the market is thinning. But there’s a market for our talents. You just have to ask yourself what advocacy you wish to pursue and how you would want to pursue so you could narrow down your target in the jungle. Websites like devnetjobs.org, jobngos.blogspot.com and eldis.org may just have the job posting you’ve been looking for. Mainstream jobhunting sites like Inquirer Jobmarket, and Jobstreet.com now include non-profits n their list of industries, making their sites a goldmine for development professionals.

In my experience, however, the easiest way to find a job, like in any other industry, is by word-of-mouth. Look for jobs in your network. Ask your friends. Don’t be shy. They’d like to work with people they trust.

 

Panlilio brings advocacy to the blogosphere

Hndi lang pala matapat na opisyal si Ed Panlilio kundi siya rin ay maparaang kampanyador. Hamakin ninyong dalhin ni Ka Ed ang kanyang kampanya laban sa korapsyon sa world wide web? Kailangan ninyong bisitahin ang kanyang blog.

Bihira na ngayon ang mga gaya ni Ka Ed. Matapang, matapat at may prinsipyo. Kaya’t nang nilantad niya ang mga milagrong nagaganap sa palasyo noong 2007, hindi ko napigilang ipahayag ang aking respeto sa kanya:

At first, I thought that a priest in public office would not bring new politics in the country. I was wrong. I laud religious and public servant Eddie Panlilio for exposing the depths of Malacañang’s corruption and for proving that he has a sound, logical outlook on governance, even after the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) had issued statements that the mysterious money bags that were distributed in a meeting at the Palace came from the organization; and that it was given as a gesture of goodwill to needy, neophyte governors.
Inquirer First Posted 02:43am (Mla time) 11/06/2007

 

Technocrati claimed me!

<a href=”http://technorati.com/claim/kvwus3n89y” rel=”me”>Technorati Profile</a>

 

Philippine debt swaps

IN 2006, I had been tasked to write about the feasiblity of converting our debts to development projects. The bright idea was proposed by then House Speaker Jose De Venecia. PLCPD then distributed this paper to various congressmen. When a UN representative visited the Philippines to discuss with legislators the viability of such a project, I was asked to discuss the paper to a representative who was invited to participate in the meeting. As a young policy analyst back then, I considered it a great privelege to be helping in the creation of a sound policy-decision making.

I have yet to thank my friend-activist, Mong Palatino for sharing his thoughts on this  in a UP Online Asia article.