NOTE FOR THE RECORD, 07 Sept 2021

Nestor Maniebo Pestelos

tS3pmohnsonrfed  · 

Shared with Public

This is to acknowledge the donation amounting to Php 24,877.10 in honor of Cesar Rivera Reyes, who passed away recently in Sydney, Australia. Cesar is husband of Milwida Sevilla-Reyes, our former classmate at the Quezon National High School in Lucena City.

The fund will support the Young Agripreneurs Kahayag Association Project (YAKAP) an initiative of the Kahayag Farm and Social Action Center to promote entrepreneurship among young people in the all-important agriculture sector which has been affected adversely by aging farming population and lack of interest among the young.

The YAKAP initiative was inspired by the lifelong advocacy of the late Zacarias B. Sarian to make farmers entrepreneurs to get them out of poverty.

Previous donors to the initiative included the late Zac Sarian himself; close friend Milwida Sevilla-Reyes; Lyda Jara-Canson; and Lanita Pamaran Klainatorn. Gen. Charlie Alejandrino, Mil's former student, facilitated earlier donations shortly after the start of the pandemic.

In-kind donors included the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) of Bohol who donated and planted 80 fruit tree seedlings. #YoungAgripreneurs #SurvivingTogether #SurvivingThePandemic

5Frank A Hilario, Cora Latorre and 3 others

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 HIGHLIGHTS OF LIFE AND CAREER

1.   NAME :  Nestor Maniebo Pestelos

              (a)    Date and Place of Birth: 14 April 1942 Nationality: Filipino ; Tiaong, Quezon Province

(b)    Civil Status:       (  ) Single        ( X ) Married         (  ) Separated         (  ) Widowed

If married, name of spouse:  Florencia Gilay-Pestelos

Nationality: Filipino

Occupation: Entrepreneur

Home Address:  Upper Laya, Baclayon, Bohol

Telephone: (038) 540 9327 Mobile: (0917 304 1450}

Email Address: npestelos@gmail.com

 (c)     Occupation/profession:

Community Development Specialist;

Consultant on Poverty Reduction and Local Governance

(d)    Current Position:

Owner/Manager

Kahayag Learning Site and Social Action Center

Upper Laya, Baclayon, Bohol 6301

 (e)   Other positions/affiliations:

   Member, Upsilon Sigma Phi Fraternity, Batch 1963

                Member, University of the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA)

                Member, UP Los Banos Alumni Association – Bohol Chapter

                Member, Asian Institute of Management Alumni Association

Head, Advocacy Ministry, Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals (BCBP), Tagbilaran City East Chapter

Member, Quezon Medalya ng Karangalan Foundation

Member, Association of Filipino International Civil Servants (APICS)  

Trustee, Bohol Social Action Foundation, Inc. (BoSAFI)

 

2.            ACADEMIC BACKAGROUND/TRAINING

 PhD in Educational Management             

University of Bohol                                          

March, 1989

Master in Management

Asian Institute  of Management               

March, 1987

 University of the Philippines: Degree(s)/Year(s) of Graduation

 Note: Although he earned units more than the number required, he was not given the formal Bachelor’s degree due to a technicality. He was however given the Outstanding Alumnus Award for Community Service and Local Governance on 09 Oct 2015 in recognition of his services in the Philippines and 17 other countries as UNDP Chief Technical Adviser and in projects funded by international donor agencies.

 On May 28, 2019, he was given a Life Membership Certificate by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association “with all rights, honors, privileges and responsibilitites appertaining thereto.”

 Training Programs/Scholarships

 a.       Local Social Development Planning UNCRD Nagoya, Japan (1985)

b.      Evaluation of Community-based Projects Jakarta and Bandung, Indonesia Sponsored by UNICEF (1985)

c.       Planning and Appraisal of Rural Development Projects University of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England Fellowship sponsored by UNICEF (1982)

d.      Integrated Rural Development Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development, Comilla, Bangladesh Internship sponsored by UNICEF (1981)

e.  Planning and programming, management, monitoring and evaluation of child-based programme conducted by UNICEF New York and Regional (Bangkok) Staff (1979)

 3.  AWARDS

 2021       Outstanding and Noble Award (UNO)

              Awarded 20 February 2021 by Upsilon Sigma Phi, Asia’s oldest fraternity founded 1918 at the

              University of the Philippines. Cited as community development guru in the Philippines and 17

              other countries mostly in the Asia-Pacific region  in his work with UNDP, UNICEF and Habitat for

              Humanity International.

 

2019       UPAA Distinguished Alumnus Award in Poverty Alleviation and Human  Development               

Awarded 24 August 2019 for advocating community empowerment through

Non-goverment organizations in Bohol, one of which developed the Poverty Database

Monitoring System now replicated in Asia-Pacific region.

 

2017       Gawad Kadakilaan

Awarded 23 September 2017 on the occasion of the Sixth Philippine I Transform! Young Leaders Convention in Baguio City and on the 2^nd year of the adoption of the United Nations global development agenda, Sustainable Development Goals

Citation reads: “In deep appreciation for the exemplary effort and noble commitment to the work of community develoment, reaching out to the poorest of the poor, creating local opportunities with their interest as the paramount concern, and for being an inspiration to the Filipino youth.”

2016 – Pride and Recognition Award

 

Given 20 August 2016 by Class 1958 of Quezon Provincial High School, Lucena City

Citation reads: “For outstanding contribution and indefatigable devotion to community service and development ...”

 

2016       Quezon Medalya ng Karangalan (for Public Service – Community Development)

 Awarded 19 August 2016; 138^th birth anniversary, President Manuel L. Quezon

Citation reads: “Umikot ang buhay ni G. Nestor Pestelos sa pagsulong sa kanyang adbokasya sa pagpapaunlad ng komunidad. Sa mahigit na apatnapung taon s nasabing larangan, nakapagtrabaho siya sa ilalim ng Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas, United Nations, mga internationasyonal na ahensya, at mga NGOs. Naging kasangkapan ng kaniyang huwarang husay at sipag upang mapataas ang antas ng pamumuhay ng napakaraming tao hindi lamang sa Quezon o Pilipinas, kundi maging sa mga bansa ng Fiji, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Palau, Samoa, Marshall Islands, Maldives, Cook Islands, Micronesia, Thailand, Indonesia, Timor Leste, Malaysia, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India at Cambodia.

 

2015       Outstanding Alumnus Award (for Community Service and Local Governance), University of the

                Philippines, Los Banos

                Awarded 09 October 2015 by the UPLB Alumni Association

 Citation reads: “For 40 years of continuing, dedicated and outstanding track record in promoting community development and local governance, his expertise and innovative ideas in addressing urgent issues critical to sustainable community development and effective local governance that benefitted his nation and other developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region; and for his excellence and passion as advocacy leader for community development and local governance through two NGOs, the Ilaw International Center (IIC) which he helped establish and manage in Bohol in the 1980s with the country’s pioneers in community development; and the successor NGO, the Bohol Local Development Foundation, Inc. (BLDF), which he founded in 2003 to continue the role of IIC as resource institution for both local governments and community organizations in their partnership towards participatory development.”

2015 Rappler Enterprise Award 

             Given on 26 September 2015 during the Rappler Mover Awards Ceremony

 Citation reads:  “ A person who has successfully channeled passion and drive into a thriving social enterprise that uplifts and empowers a marginalized sector.”

 Note: Rappler.com is a social news network where stories inspire community engagement and digitally fuelled actions for social change

 2012 Most Outstanding Community Builder, 2012 Dangal ng Quezon High Award

 Given October 2, 2012 during the 110^th Anniversary of the Quezon Provincial High School, Lucena City

 Citation reads: “For selfless dedication to local and International development over 40 years.”

 2009 Habitat for Humanity International

 Given on 29 April 2009

 Citation reads: “For your contribution from March 2005 to April 2009 as Regional Program Manager for Habitat for Humanity’s program in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Timor Leste and, latterly, Malaysia, as well as your expertise in developing program monitoring and evaluation and project-based finance initiatives thereby ensuring proper stewardship of the resources needed to deliver their vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to call home.”

 2003 International Human Development Award,

             Class 1958, Quezon Provincial High School,

Lucena City. Given 28 December 2003

2002  Outstanding Quezon National High School Alumni Award

 Given on 20 Oct 2002.

Citation reads: “ in deep appreciation of the exemplary intellectual breed, multiple skills

and benevolent heart devoted selflessly for the welfare of the field of endeavor

where he has made a name for himself for the honor and glory of his beloved Alma Mater, the Quezon National High School in particular and the global community in general.”

 

4. EMPLOYMENT (Position and name of employer):

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

November 2020 to the present

Manager, Kahayag Farm and Social Action Center

Works with the Agricultural Traing Instituce – Central Visasyas to convert the family-own Balay Kahayag Training and Retreat Center as a Learning Site for Agriculture (LSA) and eventually a Farm School in five years’ time.

 

August 2003 to November, 2017              

Founder and President, Bohol Local Development Foundation, Inc. (BLDF)

 

Provides technical assistance to Government agencies. LGUs, donors and NGOs in the development and promotion of a household poverty database system using a survey methodology and software for poverty tracking and monitoring interventions and evaluating their impact to specific households and disadvantaged groups, such as women, children, out-of-school youth and the elderly.

 

February 2015 to June 2018

Columnist, Bohol Tribune

 

Wrote the weekly column “In This Our Journey” as vehicle for discussing development issues and events related to poverty reduction strengthening local governance; mobilizing citizen participation in promoting environmental sustainability; and in seeking more effective approaches to drug addiction. The compiled articles are now being edited to be published as two books, Unfortunate Choice and Eating Projects for Breakfast.

 

July 2010 to July 2014

Member, Board of Directors, AlcanzConsult, Inc. (Composed of retired UN staff)

 

Provided technical and management services in planning, programme development and management in the social sector with focus on child rights and welfare and in emergency preparedness to government agencies, bilateral agencies, United Nations  and Bretton Wood Institutions, Non-Government Organizations and private institutions guided by corporate social responsibility.

 

September 2014 to June 2015

Member of 3^rd Party Monitoring Team, Emergency Unconditional Cash Transfer for families affected by Haiyan/Yolanda in Guian, Samar. Project under UNICEF Manila.

 

October 2013 to August 2014

Convenor, Bohol Quake Assistance Fund Drive

in support of the Community-Based Shelter Assistance Project (for families whose houses were totally destroyed during the 15 Oct 2013 earthquake)

An initiative of Bohol Local Development Foundation in partnership with Miriam College, Habitat for Humanity Philippines, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD} and Peacock Garden Spa and Resort

 

January 2010 to October 2013    

Project Manager, Realizing DReAMS (Development of Resources and Access to Municipal Resources) Project. Funded by European Union (EU), implemented in the Philippines, India, Bangladesh,and

Bhutan  in partnership with the International Council of Environmental Initiatives

(ICLEI)

 

August 2009 to March, 2010       

Partnership Adviser (Part-time), LGSP-LED (Local Governance Support Programme for Local Economic Development) Bohol  funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)  

 

Provided technical advice to Local Government Units (LGUs) and their partners in

the planning, implementation and monitoring of  activities related to enterprise

development among disadvantaged groups in eight municipalities in Bohol within the

context of Bohol Integrated Area Development (BIAD)

March to July 2009

Project Director, Community-Managed Eco-Cultural Tourism (CoMET) Project funded by

AusAID PACAP (Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Project)

Provided technical advice to LGUs and their development partners in the promotion of organic food production and community-based tourism in four target municipalities

 

February 2007 – March 2009      

Regional Programme Adviser, Habitat for Humanity International 

 

Provided technical support to Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines and other

Programme countries in the region 

 

Served concurrently as Interim National Director for Habitat for Humanity Malaysia

 

August 2007 – December 2007  

Interim National Director, Habitat for Humanity Fiji

 

April, 2006 – December 2006     

Interim National Director, Habitat for Humanity Timor Leste

 

April 2006 – March 2007                               

Project Director, Strengthening Local Governance

for Sustainable Economic Growth and Effective

Service Delivery Project funded by UK Economic              

Governance Facility

 

Provided technical advice to inter-disciplinary teams (trainer/planner, IT specialist, institution building specialist, monitoring and evaluation teams) in working with Local Government Units and organized communities in ensuring sound economic governance and effective service delivery to target households in priority communities with insurgency problems.

 

15 March  2005 – 15 February 2007          

Regional Programme Manager (Southeast Asia)

Habitat for Humanity International

 

Provided supervision and technical support to the staff and volunteers of Habitat National Organizations, as well as Habitat partner agencies primarily in the Philippines, Timor Leste, Indonesia and Malaysia.

 

Note: Served in this post during post-tsunami relief and rehabilitation operations in Bandah Aceh, Indonesia

 

01 July 2004 to 01 March 2005                    

Head, Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office (BPRMO)

Provincial Government of Bohol, Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines 

 

Supervised technical staff and field workers involved in implementing projects of the Provincial Poverty Reduction Programme particularly those by Municipal Local Government Units and local communities in insurgency-influenced areas. Designed, implemented and evaluated training and capability-building activities for government officers, local political leaders and volunteers planning and implementing these projects.

 

01 April 2002 to 30 June 2004                     

Consultant on Rural Development and Governance

Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO), Bohol Province

 

Provided technical assistance in the formulation of a common framework for poverty reduction and sustainable development as guide to LGUs, provincial and national government agencies, civil society institutions and private sector entities in identifying projects for disadvantaged communities and groups.

 

September 1997 to December 2001                        

Chief Technical Adviser

Solomon Islands                                                                              

Development Administration and Participatory                                 

Planning Programme (SIDAPP) –UNDP Fiji Islands

 

Provided technical assistance for the organization, training and establishment of the Rural Development Division of the Ministry. Supervised the field-testing of training modules to improve capacities at provincial government levels within a decentralisation context.  Designed the training and social preparation activities to bring about closer collaboration of LGUs and local communities in project identification and development, as well as improve capacities for decentralised governance.

 

February 1994 to June  1997                                       

Participatory Development Specialist

Pacific Regional Integrated Atoll Development Project                                                                  

(IADP) – UNDP  Fiji Islands; UNDP Maldives

 

Provided technical inputs for training, advocacy activities and practical approaches to participatory planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in 10 South Pacific atoll countries and the Republic of Maldives in the Indian Ocean.

 

September 1989 to January 1994                                             

Community Development Specialist/Trainer

Pacific Regional Equitable and Sustainable Human                                                           

Development Programme (ESHDP)

– UNDP Fiji Islands; UNDP Maldives

 

Provided technical assistance to LGUs on how to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate community development programmes in the various atoll countries both in the Pacific and Indian Oceans

 

April 1988 to January 1989                                          

Project Coordinator

Social Mobilisation Project for Child Survival and Development

UNICEF Manila

 

Coordinated the nationwide implementation by government agencies and NGOs of several component subprojects (policy research and advocacy; community participation and training; public information and media support; program monitoring and evaluation) with focus on the country’s 8 poorest provinces.

 

November 1982 to March 1988                                 

Resident Director

Ilaw International Training Center

Tagbilaran City, Bohol Province

 

Supervised  20 senior staff involved in training, organising and research activities for community development projects assisted by UNICEF, USAID, World Bank, AUSAID, UNFPA, and other donors

 

May 1980 to October 1982;                         

Chief, Division of Planning, Research and Communication, Project Compassion

 

May 1977 to April 1980                                 

Special Assistant to the President

Project Compassion

Designed the planning, monitoring and evaluation system,  research and communication programmes of the NGO assisted by UNICEF and USAID in support of integrated basic services delivery to target households

 

December 1976 to April 1977                                     

Planning Officer, Environmental Center of the Philippines;

Information Officer, National Green Revolution Programme

Responsible for the formulation of local action plans and public information campaigns related to environmental conservation and protection and backyard food production.

 

1964 to 1974

Editor, Monthly Bulletin, a publication for the alumni of UP Los Banos

Teacher, Literature and Journalism, Pedro Guevarra Provincial High School, Sta. Cruz, Laguna

Editor, Aras News, a publication of the Sanvictores Group of Companies

Editor, Farms and Gardens, a publication of the Manila Chronicle

Executive Assistant to the Editor, Farms and Forests, a publication of the Permanent Association of Permanent Forests

Publicity Chief, RR Public Relations, Inc.

 

Other Project Experiences:

 

Team Leader, UN Country Team for preparing the Isabel Province Development Project in line with the UNDAF (2002, UNDP South Pacific); Coordinator, Provincial Government Review and Strengthening Project for Solomon Islands (1997, ADB);

Training Manager, Local Resource Management Project (1985, USAID);

First International Course on Appropriate Community Development (1985, UNICEF);

Training Director, Central Visayas Regional Project (1984, World Bank); Team Leader, Social Preparation Project, Urban Poor Project (1984, UNFPA); Coordinator and Chief Trainer, Regional Programming Workshops for Child-based Programmes (1981, UNICEF).

 

COUNTRIES OF WORK EXPERIENCE

 

Fiji, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Palau, Samoa, Marshall Islands, Maldives, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Thailand, Indonesia, Timor Leste, Malaysia, Bhutan, Bangladesh,  India, Cambodia, Philippines

 

KEY CONSULTANCIES

 

Consultant, "Mid-term Evaluation of AECID Regional Program to Promote Gender Equality in Political Participation in Five countries” Funded by Agencia Española de CooperaciónInternacionalpara el Desarrollo (AECID)with the aim of providing technical assistance to Paz y Desarrollo (PyD).

(May – July 2013)

 

Consultant, Evaluation of Presidential Awards for Child-Friendly Governance Funded by UNICEF and the Commission for the Welfare of Children (August to September 2013)

 

Consultant on Rural Development and Governance Provincial Planning and Development Office Bohol Provincial Government (01 April 02 to 01 March 04)

 

Project Formulation and IRD Consultant

Isabel Province Development Project (IPDP), Solomon Islands

UNDP Suva (Nov-Dec 02)

 

Consultant on technical content and design

Experts Group Meeting on the Post-Conflict Situation in Solomon Islands

University of Queensland, Brisbane Australia (Oct 01)

 

Evaluator, Palau National Integrated Rural Development Programme

Palau Community Action Agency

Koror, Palau (Oct 00)

 

Evaluator, Vanuatu Sustainable Human Development Programme

Ministry of National Planning

Port Vila, Vanuatu (Jun 00)

 

Consultant on Community Organising

4th Regional Workshop on Health Education

 South Pacific Commission

 Noumea, New Caledonia (December 1990)

 

 Consultant on Community Development and Institution Building Training

  Programme Formulation

 

  UNDP-OPS Integrated Atoll Development Project

  Suva, Fiji (February - June 1989)

 

Consultant on Philippine History and Participatory Development  

International  Course on Regional Planning

Sponsored by NEDA and the Human Settlements Centre of Israel (December 1988)

 

UNICEF Consultant on Social Mobilisation

Formulated the Project Plan of Action on Social Mobilisation for the 1988-1992     

Philippine Country Programme (November - December 1987)

 

Consultant on Community Participation

Combined Expert Group Meeting on Social Development Alternatives and Second  

Training Seminar in Local Social Development Planning

UNCRD Nagoya, Japan (October 1985)

 

Consultant on Community Mobilisation

Central Visayas Resource Management Project

 (November - December 1984) World Bank

 

Consultant on Community Participation

ASEAN Training Centre for Primary Health Care Development

Bangkok, Thailand Assisted by WHO and UNICEF (October 1984)

 

Consultant on Community Participation

UN ACC Subcommittee on Nutrition and FAO

Conference on Nutrition and Community Participation

Bangkok, Thailand (March 1982)

      

Consultant  on Community Participation

Learning Exercise on Community Participation

Sponsored by UNICEF and attended by participants from India, Thailand, Pakistan.

Held in Cebu and Bohol. (September 1981)

        

Consultant on Community Participation

International Workshop on Rural Water Supply and Sanitation

Sponsored by UNICEF and held in Ubol Ratchathanee, Thailand (March 1981)

 

RESEARCHES AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS

                       

Unfortunate Choice – Published July 2019

Old Warrior’s Poems and the Bohol Quake Assistance Story – Published June 2015; Co-authored with Milwida Reyes-Sevilla

Old Warrior and Other Poems – Published April, 2014

Eating Projects for Breakfast – To be published

Real Virus and Other Poems – To be published

Medium-rise buildings in urban slums: Bringing Habitat for Humanity to the next level in the Philippines

2008: Vol. 15 No. 1, The Forum, Habitat for Humanity International

Strategic Planning Leads to Sound Organizational Health: the Philippines Experience

2006 Vol. 13 No. 1, The Forum, Habitat for Humanity International

Developing an Integrated MDG Database in Habitat Communities

2006 Vol. 13 No. 4, The Forum, Habitat for Humanity International  

Bohol Program Framework on Poverty Reduction

June 2003, Provincial Planning and Development Office

Constituency Profiles and Action Plans (Solomon Islands)

September 2001, Ministry of Provincial Government and Rural Development 

Manual on Participatory Profiling, Planning and Project   Development

December 2000, Ministry of Provincial Government and Rural Development

Solomon Islands

Participation for Human Development

Published as Chapter 4, Pacific Human Development Report

July 1994

Human Security and Community Aspirations in the Lolihor Watershed Area

UNDP/ESHDP Paper

July 1994

Practical Lessons from the Successes and Failures of Revolving Fund Schemes

IADP Occasional Paper #11

March 1992

Community Organising in the Context of Social Mobilisation

IADP Occasional Paper #4

January 1991

Outer Island Capability Enhancement Process (OICEP) - An Institutional Development Strategy

for Small Islands

(Co-written with Jeff Liew)

IADP Occasional Paper #6

January 1991

Approaches to Enhancing Rural Capability

(Written for Hubert H. Humphrey Foundation)

UNICEF Manila; January 1989

Lessons from the Ilaw ng Buhay (Light of Life) Movement in the Province of Bohol

University of Bohol

UNICEF Manila; June 1988

Popular Participation in Local Social Development Planning  and Implementation

Asian Institute of Management

UNICEF Manila; May 1987

Focus on the Eskaya, a Hillyland Tribe

Asian Institute of Management

UNICEF Manila, April 1986

NGOs  as a Mechanism for Building Grassroots Participation  in Local Development: the Ilaw Approach

UNCRD Nagoya

October 1985

Community Organising Alternatives for Primary Health Care

ASEAN Training Centre for PHC Development

UNICEF Bangkok, Thailand

February 1984

Reflections on Community Participation and Project Development

Central Visayas Regional Project

World Bank; April 1983

Community Initiatives in the Nutrition Sector

FAO Bangkok

February 1982

Community Participation in the Context of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation

UNICEF Bangkok

December 1981

Some Problems in Strengthening Local Structures: Lessons from the Comilla Approach

Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development

UNICEF Bangkok; March 1981

Social Preparation Strategies and their Implications to Country Programming

UNICEF Manila February 1979

Lessons from Project Compassion: Towards a New Approach to Community Development Project Compassion Manila

UNICEF Manila

April 1978

 

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

 

His early professional experiences, for the period 1967 to 1989, included the following: Editor, UP Los Banos Monthly Bulletin, the alumni paper; teacher on Journalism and Literature, Pedro Guevarra Memorial High School, Sta. Cruz, Laguna; public relations officer for fund-raising causes, RR Public Relations; editor, Forests and Farms, publication of the Permanent Forests Association of the Philippines; information officer, Sanvictores Group of Companies and concurrently Editor, Aras News; Acting Editor, Farms and Gardens, agriculture publication of the Manila Chronicle; and Special Assistant on Planning and Operations to Atty. Ramon P. Binamira, considered as the country’s Father of Community Development.

 

Community development

 

In this latter position, he worked with some of the pioneers of the country’s community development program, known as Presidential Assistant on Community Development (PACD) of the early 1950s, under President Ramon Magsaysay, who were by this time all retired; some of them had been working in community development  programs in other Asian countries, such as Vietnam and Laos. They were recruited to serve as trainers and field operations staff of Project Compassion, a pilot project on the integration of services from private sector entities created to complement similar government efforts, under the then First Lady, Imelda R. Marcos, primarily with her agency, the  Ministry of Human Settlements.

 

The initiative, carried out in several provinces and cities, pilot-tested an approach to the delivery of services from four non-government entities (Nutrition Center of the Philippines, Population Center of the Philippines; Environmental Center of the Philippines; Green Revolution or ) utilizing 20-family units trained to serve as single-delivery system for such services under a local volunteer leader. Atty. Binamira was appointed Executive Director of Project Compassion to oversee the implementation of the pilot program on integrated services. 

 

As assistant to the Executive Director, he served concurrently as Chief, Planning and Communication Division and Head, Operations Review Center. He coordinated the assessment of community development approaches in the country; the analyis of lessons learned; and formulation of a new approach to community development which came to be known as the “Ilaw ng Buhay (Light of Life)” or the upper jaw-lower jaw or jawbone approach which features the collaboration of local governments and organized community groups at each step of the planning, implementation and monitoring process.

 

The UNICEF International Board recognized Project Compassion and the Ilaw approach as a valid application of the global Basic Services Strategy advocated by the UN to catalyze community-local collaboration in development work with focus on child-based services. His proposal to establish the Ilaw International Center in Bohol as the institution to replicate it was approved by UNICEF in 1982. Subsequently, he was appointed as Resident Director of this independent non-government entity separate from Project Compassion under the office of the First Lady.

 

The IIC staff carried out a nation-wide fundraising campaign to pay for the construction of the IIC, while UNICEF funded the training expenses. For almost a decade, the UNICEF-assisted facility trained volunteers and project staff who, in turn, trained government workers, project staff and community volunteers at village level on how to implement the approach.

 

The IIC staff  themselves implemented projects in specific villages to demonstrate how to organize neighborhood associations to be partners of local governments at municipal and village level in the planning, implementation and monitoring of projects with focus on the welfare of children and other disadvantaged groups. UNICEF sponsored the training of participants not only from the Philippines but also from other countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Indonesia  and Pakistan.

 

For the period 1989 to 2017, a total of 28 years, he served in 14 countries either as technical staff or consultant in various poverty reduction and local governance projects funded by international organizations, such as UNDP, World Bank, UNICEF, EU, Habitat for Humanity International, CIDA, USAID and AusAID. Soon after retirement from UNDP South Pacific in December 2001, where he worked for 13 years in relatively disadvantaged island or atoll countries as community development specialist and eventually Chief Technical Adviser (CTA) in Solomon Islands, he founded Bohol Local Development Foundation (BLDF) which conceptualized, pilot-tested and developed several versions over a ten-year period, a pro-poor targeting tool known as the Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS).

 

Poverty Reduction and Local Governance

 

With technical assistance from a British volunteer, Tony Irving and his local IT counterparts, PDMS was pilot-tested and used in Bohol and replicated in several municipalities and cities in the Philippines, Timor Leste, Solomon Islands, Bangladesh, India, and Bhutan with funding assistance by EU, UNDP, the British Embassy and Habitat for Humanity International. PDMS was one of the tools used by the Provincial Government and its partner organizations in helping Bohol get out of the list of the country’s 20 poorest provinces during this period.

 

He pioneered the application of the Asset-Based Community Development or ABCD approach in Bohol first developed in Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and promoted its use in community livelihood projects starting in 2007 in several municipalities in Bohol. Rather than consider the two approaches as mutually exclusive strategies in poverty reduction, he and BLDF promoted PDMS and ABCD as complementary methodologies in efforts to reach disadvantaged local communities and households to identify specific target groups and their needs and mobilize their skills and other local assets to address constraints brought about by poverty and severe underdevelopment.

 

Localizing development

 

In Bohol, he has been involved in more than 15 donor-assisted projects which represent efforts to engage local communities and households in the overall development framework of poverty reduction and sustainable development promoted by the provincial and local government units. Each project has evolved eventually to yield lessons in linking entrepreneurship to community development and local capacity-building initiatives with focus on child rights and welfare and improving collaborative project planning and implementation processes among other disadvantaged groups, such as out-of-school youth.

 

The most recent involvement of Bohol Local Development Foundation, Inc. (BLDF) under his leadership included the following:

 

-planning and implementation of the Community-Based Shelter Assistance Project which succeeded to demonstrate how to build 150 core transition houses to move vulnerable family members (the elderly, women, disabled or sick family members, children) from insecure tents,  built in the aftermath of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake which hit the province on 15 October 20115, using public contributions and the expertise of local carpenters; 

 

-preparation and implementation of livelihood projects under the framework of Informal Employment and Sustainable Livelihood (IESL) which identifies local assets and skills in entrepreneural activities;

 

-coalition building to generate local resources which led eventually to the establishment of the first drug rehabilitation center in the province in cooperation with two similar facilities in Cebu City and Ozamis City in response to an urgent social need in the wake of the government-led campaign against illegal drug use;

 

-pilot-testing in a municipality, Baclayon, Bohol, a systematic and humane approach to the situation of surrenderees through the Database Plus Interventions Project for Surrenderees (DIPS); and, based on this approach,

 

-preparation of a project proposal voted as choice number 1 in barangay polls conducted in May 2017 to determine which deserves funding support as part of the I-Budget Natin Project, an initiative under the auspices of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability-East Asia and the Pacific (ANSA-EAP), the International Center for Innovation, Transformation, and Excellence (INCITEGov), Making All Voices Count (MAVC) and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP).

 

His project experiences have been documented in various articles and papers in UN publications and other media and in two books, Old Warrior and Other Poems and Old Warrior’s Poems and the Bohol Quake Assistance Story.

 

 

Values formation

 

Recognizing the vital role of values on the part of key participants in the project planning, implementation and monitoring process, including political and informal community leaders, target local communities and households, he is now involved in collaboration with the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI)  in transforming the family-owned Balay Kahayag (Light of Life) Training and Retreat Center, into a

Learning Site for Agriculture and Extension Service Provider (LSA-ESP) as well as a Social Action Center to reach out to marginalized farmers and families to involve them in entrepreneural  activities in ways that will will also preserve the environment as well as reenforce social cohesiveness among those involved in the agriculture center.

 

A SUMMING UP OF HIS DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY

 

Dr. Nestor Maniebo Pestelos has devoted his entire life and career to addressing poverty in ways that ensure sustainable human development and promote social cohesion and community empowerment, as evidenced by the outputs of plans and projects he has been involved in during the past 53 years, 1967 to 2020 of professional work in promoting community development, entrepreneurship and effective local governance.

 

In all these projects, he advocated for the use of community development approaches and tools field-tested, developed and documented under his watch primarily with two NGOs, the Ilaw International Center and the Bohol Local Development Foundation, Inc. during five decades of professional development work in specific municipalities and cities in a total of 15 countries (Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, Marshal Islands, Western Samoa, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, Philippines in the Asia Pacific region; and Maldives in the Indian Ocean.

 

The key milestones in his professional work are as follows:

 

The Ilaw ng Buhay (Light of Life) methodology and approach to community development,  documented in several studies by academic institutions and international donors and recognized globally as  an innovative application of the basic services strategy by the UNICEF Board;

Training modules and community organizing approaches in unique geographic locations as contrasted to areas defined by political boundaries, in the World Bank-funded Central Visayas Regional Project;

Child-based concerns as entry points for community organizing in conflict areas, as in those remote mountain villages under the influence and control of armed anti-government elements in Bohol and other provinces considered as the country’s poorest in the 1980s (Maguindanao, Negros Occidental, Ifugao, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and Camarines Norte . Convergence of Child-Based Services, UNICEF.

Use of local resource base for catalyzing partnership between local government units and target communities in joint planning and collaboration (Catanduanes, Samar, Leyte). Local Resource Management Project funded by USAID:

Localized human development strategies and programs for remote and isolated atoll countries with focus on livelihood and environment-friendly technologies. (Developed and implemented in 10 South Pacific and in the Maldives; UNDP).

Integrated area development approaches for the promotion of MSMEs and Gender Equality. (Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development; LGSP-LED CIDA).

Development of a pro-poor planning tool, Poverty Database and Monitoring System (PDMS) over a ten-year period, and its eventual integration with ecoBUDGET in local-level planning initially in Bohol and replicated in other Asian countries – Rajshahi, Bangladesh; Guntur, India; and Thimphu, Bhutan. An EU-assisted project.

Promotion and application of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) as an alternative to the conventional deficit or problem-oriented planning approach in local-level development. (Pilot-tested in 2007 in several municipalities in Bohol with technical assistance from Boston Colleges).

Mobilizing Support to Address a Crisis Caused by a Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake

Less than a week after the magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit Bohol on 15 October 2013, he organized the Bohol Quake Assistance Fund Drive with BLDF and its key partners Miriam College and Peacock Garden Spa and Resort. Funds were raised from private sector entities, individuals in the Philippines and abroad, including friends and relatives.

 

He used primarily his Facebook page to solicit donations and to report on how the funds were used, which families were assisted and more importantly, what further assistance was received from faith-based organizations, local government units, and other entities to augment the donations initially received. He wrote a book of poems, Old Warrior and Other Poems, with the proceeds earmarked to support the community-based house build project of BLDF.

 

Through the BQA Fund Drive, BLDF was able to provide construction materials to 150 families, and out of this number, directly partnered with 138 families in the building and repair of core houses in  underserved barangays in the municipalities of Antequera, Calape, Maribojoc and Baclayon. In most project sites, it  worked with Oxfam and the Catholic Relief Services to provide families with proper water and sanitation facilities. BLDF focused on families whose houses were totally destroyed and whose vulnerable members, i.e. the elderly, women and children and the disabled needed to be moved out from tents and other makeshift structure. 

 

When the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced in August 2014 that it would release funding to enable Habitat for Humanity Philippines to build more than 6,000 permanent houses, BLDF decided to launch a new program thrust, Informal Employment and Sustainable Livelihood (IESL) to complement the rebuilding efforts.  

 

As their vital contribution to rebuilding efforts in areas devastated by natural calamities, and to address a need to ensure job creation in a situation where economic growth cannot create jobs to match available labor force in formal employment, BLDF and its key partners decided to demonstrate the vital role of IESL to enable families and communities to cope with social problems brought about by poverty, e.g. crimes, prevalent drug addiction among the youth, homelessness, to name a few. 

 

Thus under his leadership, BLDF shifted its program focus from implementing a community-based shelter assistance project  to the promotion of informal employment and sustainable livelihood among the youth, particularly those who are out of school or those in Alternative Learning Systems (ALS). It has partnered with ALS and a private sector entity, Duce Air Conditioning, in implementing projects such as the Mountain Bikes Cultural Tour and the Youth Skills Training projects.

 

Youth Drug Rehabilitation Assistance Program

 

In less than a year of implementing projects for the out-of-school youth, the BLDF President became convinced that the organization could not ignore the drug abuse problem which is causing deaths and injuries to a growing number of people in Bohol. If not addressed effectively, the drug menace would negate the gains made in previous decades of painstaking development work in the province.

 

Since early 2014, Bohol province has become a major transshipment point, as well as  primary destination in the Central Visayas Region for illegal drugs. As a result, drug pushers and their victims have increased quite significantly during the period.

 

Drug-related killings and other heinous crimes, such as rape (in one case, a mother was raped by her own son who is a drug addict); physical assault, theft and robbery have become common reading fare in local papers.  Since 2014, based on the latest count, more than 100  drug pushers have been shot dead or wounded in broad daylight, in busy streets of Tagbilaran City and in the towns, in a province which used to have a reputation as being crime-free and among the country’s most peaceful places.

 

Official figures show 70% of crimes committed in the province are drug-related.  Alcoholism and drug-induced mental health cases are getting to be rampant mostly among the youth.  Most families with members affected with substance abuse and other addictions cannot afford the high costs of treatment, transportation and other associated costs in drug rehabilitation facilities in Cebu, Manila, Cavite, Davao and other cities in Mindanao.

 

If they remain untreated, this increasing number of individuals with drug and other forms of addiction will lead to more crimes in the future.

 

As early as November, 2014, Dr. Pestelos led a team to conduct consultations, as well as actual visits to six (6) rehabilitation centers in the Visayas and Mindanao, where drug abuse victims from Bohol go for treatment. The study team saw the need to establish in Bohol a rehabilitation center which would combine community-based approaches with cost-effective clinical methods and a humanitarian and eclectic strategy to deal with hundreds of drug users who now inhabit practically all the barangays in the province.

 

He negotiated successfully with two of the drug rehabilitation centers the team visited, the Family and Recovery Management (FARM) center in Minglanilla, Cebu and the It Works Chemical Dependency Center in Ozamiz City, that they agreed to combine technical and funding resources to operate Bohol’s first drug rehabilitation center.

 

Known as the FARM It Works Balay Kahayag (FITWBK) Chemical Dependency Treatment Center, it is located at the sprawling BK training facility consisting of a multi-purpose hall good for 100 participants; a dormitory for 38 occupants; a  function room; a kitchen; and a two-storey staff house.It started operating in early November with six (6) clients, employees of a company  who tested positive for drug during required routine tests. In only four months after its opening, the number of clients increased to 23, with requests for admission more than what it could handle.

 

Dr. Pestelos and his NGO teamed up with the Diocese of Tagbilaran to raise funds to enable drug dependents from indigent families to have access to the services of the first drug rehabilitation center in the province. After 18 months of operation, the center was able to treat more than 30 clients, mostly from poor families. It ceased operations because the Center could not be given permanent license since it was made of relatively light and indigenous materials.

 

Livelihood Assistance to Out-of-School Youth

 

Since Novermber, 2017, BLDF resumed its old advocacy to support out-of-school youth with provision of livelihood skills and funding assistance. Plans are being prepared to enable Balay Kahayag to serve both as a training and meditation center dedicated to imparting both skills and values to economically disadvantaged families with focus on women and the youth.

 

Since Novermber, 2017, BLDF resumed its old advocacy to support out-of-school youth with provision of livelihood skills and funding assistance. Plans were prepared to enable Balay Kahayag to serve both as a training and meditation center dedicated to imparting both skills and values to economically disadvantaged families with focus on women and the youth.

 

Kahayag Learning Site for Agriculture and Social Action Center

 

On November 11, 2020, the Central Visayas Regional Office of the  Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Pestelos family to help convert Balay Kahayag as a Learning Site for Agriculture and Social Action Center focused on the promotion of agroforestry and entrepreneurship among disadvantaged groups and communities. 

 

The Center will mobilize out-of-school youth to engage in beekeeping and agroforestry practices aimed to ensure food production in ways that conserve and enhance environmental resources. In promoting entrepreneurship among the youth, the Kahayag Learning Site and Social Action Center will build on the initiative at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to encourage and support unemployed youth to engage in vegetable gardening and and small-scale farming to ensure their survival during and after this pandemic.

 

Indee a new phase has begun in this development journey. ###

 

 

CERTIFIED TRUE AND CORRECT:

 

NESTOR MANIEBO PESTELOS

Barangay Laya, Baclayon, Bohol

13 July 2021/12.12 p.m.