The Elections and Bohol's First Drug Rehab Center

For The Bohol Tribune

In This Our Journey

NESTOR MANIEBO PESTELOS

If more young people will keep listening to politicians during this campaign season, chances are they will be driven to drug addiction as a way out of their confusion and high level of stress. I have not seen in my adult life such low quality in the substance and content of political discourse and the crudeness of behavior that politicians show in a national election.

 I am forever thankful that when I was growing up in my native Quezon, I spent time in political rallies listening to the speeches of distinguished personalities you would not hesitate to call as statesmen. In those days, you could spend hours in the town’s plaza listening to the likes of Claro M. Recto, Jovito Salonga, Lorenzo Tanada, Jose Wright Diokno, to name a few.

Listening to them was to get basic education on the country’s problems and what each one could do to solve them. More importantly, the candidates during that period would clarify their party’s stand about the problems before they would say what each one intended to do taking into account his or her background and experience.

If I were among the young today, what would I learn from these national candidates? During these past few months, I have been treated to quite a spectacle of politicians many of whom could not qualify as role models for the young. I need not enumerate here examples of bad behavior among those aspiring for the country’s top-level leadership posts.

Instead of being inspired to participate in the country’s so-called democratic exercise, I would walk away from these political debates and town hall meetings about to be convinced the country has indeed gone to the dogs because the country’s economic and political elites have coopted as usual the democratic process as a version of the clash of clans and interest groups. And these politicians, except for a few, rival some characters viewed each night for hours in this teleserye nation.

In a sense, it’s fortunate that most young people these days are more preoccupied with how they look in their selfies and are into narcissistic preoccupations to bother about the charade going on around them.

I think most of them are not serious at all about the political circus happening around them but one day, when economic and social problems hit their family and community due to bad policies, and corruption and sheer indifference to the public welfare continue to characterize public governance as an inevitable consequence, some of these young people will seek refuge in the false security provided by illicit drugs. And that’s how bad politics connects to drug addiction among the youth and ultimately to family and social welfare.

It’s almost surreal that politicians talk more about killing pushers and even drug addicts but nobody at national and subnational level talks about rehabilitation especially for the drug abuse victims among the young. The drug abuse problem is practically decimating the so-called hope of the Fatherland and all what the candidates can offer are bullets to address this problem. You would think we have been bombed to the Stone Age by the quality of our response to this modern-day problem!

Most of the current political discourse seems to focus more on killing drug abuse victims and drug pushers rather than intensifying efforts to build drug rehabilitation centers. Perhaps the reason is that it is more dramatic to use the gun and violate human rights than to follow a more Christian and humanistic approach. Quite unbelievable in a Christian country and one reputed to have high literacy rate, which indicates exposure to progressive ideas on how to approach the drug abuse problem now pervasive in practically all the country’s barangays.

Against this grim backdrop, we must appreciate the efforts of some individuals and groups who support the FARM It Works Balay Kahayag (FITWBK) Chemical Dependency Center, which has been dubbed for easy recall as Bohol Drug Rehab Center. As some people know, it has been operating without fanfare in Baclayon, Bohol since last November powered with the technical expertise and the passion to help by our partners – the Family and Recovery Management (FARM) drug rehab center in Minglanilla, Cebu and It Works Chemical Dependency Treatment Center of Ozamis City in Misamis Occidental.    

These facilities are owned and managed respectively by Jimmy Clemente and Rene Francisco who each has had almost more than two decades of experience in this serious business of rehabilitating what they term as “lost souls.” Both are in the Board of Trustees of the SEC-registered entity.  Rene serves as Chief Executive Officer while Jimmy is the Financial Comptroller.

They have pooled their financial and staff resources together to establish the first drug rehabilitation center in a province where 70% of crimes reported are drug-related. Police records and news reports validate this fact supported by media coverage of buy-bust operations and, in some cases, shooting of alleged drug pushers.

Fr. Val Pinlac, head of the Vatican-funded Bohol Rebuilding and Rehabilitation Project (BRRP) based at the Diocese of Tagbilaran, was the first to visit the facility. Against protocol, he was allowed to enter the main building and talked with the clients, who welcomed him warmly. He was so touched by this that he accepted the invitation to serve as spiritual director. Since his first visit, he has been coming regularly to say Mass on Sunday. Last Holy Week, he did the way of the Cross with the clients and even did the ritual washing of Apostles’ feet with them.

On Sunday, after Mass, he finds time to talk with his newly-found flock. He has been given an inventory of what else are needed in the center. He started by donating two tennis tables as part of the athletic program for the clients. He linked us to an international NGO, For a Better Tomorrow (FBT), based in the US and with his endorsement, Bohol Local Development Foundation (BLDF) submitted a proposal to support the Center.

The proposal seeks to increase the facility’s current capacity from 30 to 50 clients to accommodate the growing number of requests for admission. This process will take long because it will involve negotiations with an international donor. Meanwhile, Fr. Val Pinlac, taught of something unique – offering personal gifts to him on sale with the proceeds to go the Center to create a fund that will assist drug abuse victims from confirmed indigent families to have access to the center’s treatment services.

The undertaking was named Souvenirs and Gifts for a cause. The first in what has been planned as a series of fund raising activities was held last Saturday, 23 April, at the Habhaban sa Baluarte area in Poblacion, Baclayon. 

Aside from Fr. Val Pinlac, those who donated gifts to be sold during this activity, which also featured dinner for a cause, were Dr. Carrie Tharan, retired Dean of Miriam College who is a BLDF volunteer, now a Baclayon resident; Tessie Gilay-Jugos, a nurse in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, who sent signature handbags for sale; Rene Francisco and Marit Meier, Dutch volunteer who is project officer of the Hubs and Spokes Community Bikes Rental Project implemented jointly by the Baclayon LGU, the Alternative Learning System-DepEd, and BLDF.

The partial list of those who bought gifts with the cash going to the rehab center includes: Evelyn Buenafe; Telly Ocampo, Adoracion Penales, Fr. Vengie Penales, Fr. Salon Florenosos, Dr. Lilia Hernandez, Dr. Proceso Castil, and Angie Pueblo. Part of the proceeds from sales of tickets for the dinner will be fund of the assistance fund for the center.

Baclayon Mayor Alvin Uy authorized the use of the LGU’s sound system, tables and chairs. Additional tables were provided by residents Jessie and Tessie Pagdato. Some deacons and students from the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary, as well as Rene Francisco, his wife Shandy and the Baclayon rehab team, joined hands to provide logistics and administrative support to ensure the success of the activity.

During this activity, we had interesting discussion with some guests such as Dr. Hernandez, Lourdes Aparicio, Maita Magdoza, a clinical psychologist, and other friends of Fr. Val on how they could get involved in activities aimed at supporting Bohol’s first drug rehabilitation venture.

We continue to receive pledges from friends both outside and inside our Facebook network. Someone says he will donate a sack of rice. A donor who prefers to be anonymous will give Php 10,000 in two installments. Another donor says she will give USD 50 dollars for each donation we receive. A friend of my son, Gabe, pledged he would give Php 25,000 equivalent to the monthly fee of a client.

Al Palomar, a co-alumnus at the Quezon Provincial High School in Lucena City who lives in Oklahoma, USA, sent USD 1,000 through Alumni Association President, General Charlemagne Alejandrino, for administrative support to our NGO, Bohol Local Development Foundation, in advocacy activities related to supporting the drug rehab center.

Our classmate, Milwida Sevilla-Reyes, is selling copies of the book we co-authored, Old Warrior’s Poems and the Bohol Quake Assistance Story, with proceeds to support the center. A colleague from the now defunct UNICEF-assisted Ilaw International Center (IIC) in Bool, Tagbilararan donated USD 800 for the use of the successor NGO, BLDF, in continuing advocacy for the drug rehab center and livelihood.

My close relatives, Tita Eden Mante and Tito Marc Melo, who are based in New Jersey, gave money as support to the center during Tita Eden’s recent visit. Tita Eden is married to Tito Jun of Tubion. Small world indeed!

We are profoundly touched by these concrete expressions of support for a project that friends used to say, prior to November last year, it would be impossible to do. Now it’s there, still a facility limited in scope and may have only a negligible impact vis-à-vis the monster of a problem we are trying to address, taking into account the growing number of drug abuse victims that seem to increase by leaps and bound from month to month. But it’s there which now takes care of around 28 clients, almost at full capacity, and we must prove that indeed it’s better to rehab them than to spray them with bullets.

Kindly pray that we succeed in this mission with your continuing support.

All of us who have become part of this project have seen the sacrifices of the young but experienced staff who guide the healing process, the pain and sufferings of parents who ride in tricycles to bring their afflicted family members and who visit the center to bring clothes and other provisions, the transformation of young people from a state of pained helplessness on the initial days and the glow in their faces as hope is regained and recovery is getting assured from day to day and the joy that glimmers on a mother’s face as the saving of souls is sure to happen, as sure as the sunset when a new day begins.

We next think about our politicians, how most of them behave and how they remain quiet about the need for drug rehabilitation centers, and how they will shoot drug abuse victims as though they are wild boars – and we weep for our country and people. But we will persevere in this journey.

You are welcome to be part of this journey. For queries, call or text Ms. Daidee Padron – Mobile: 0915  794  1175; 0908 860 1018.  Or Email: daideepadron@gmail.com

NMP/28 April 2016/6.08 p.m.

For A Better Tomorrow

For The Bohol Tribune

In This Our Journey

NESTOR MANIEBO PESTELOS

It’s election time in our country, a time for politicians to promise a better tomorrow for us and the generations to come.  During the past few weeks, we have been bombarded with slogans, media ads, public speeches on familiar topics such as peace and order, corruption-free governance, employment, poverty reduction, climate change mitigation and other key concerns.

As in previous elections, however, we hear promises from individual politicians, not from their respective parties. It’s the same old batman-versus-superman story all over again. Nothing has changed much from those days of our youth when even school kids were taught to sing “Our democracy will die, kung wala si Magsaysay (if Magsaysay is not here).” Well, so many Magsaysays have come and gone but problems such as poverty, unemployment, corruption, crimes  still persist  and will do so probably well into the next millennium.

What is true at the national level is also true at sub-national or local level. The focus is on the almost superhuman qualities of the political leader not on a well-thought of strategy and program of a political party distinct from the others by its analysis of the current situation (economic, social, cultural, institutional, etc.) and a comprehensive program of action, consisting of plans and projects, to address specific problems identified by the situation analysis.

The net objective effect is that we seem forever to be looking for heroes who will bring us to the promised land. The reality is that no single political leader can be successful to do major reforms without the support of a political party or a network of individuals deeply committed to a worthy cause. Charisma is not enough to bring about massive social reforms but our political behavior is based largely on this illusion.

Our politics is personality-centered rather than based on a party’s principled stand on how to bring about national progress and unity. Each political party seems beholden to a candidate who is perceived to be a sure winner, not on his or her commitment to the party platform. The role of the political party seems to be the conveyor of largesse and patronage to interest groups which have been able to bring the number of votes to ensure a candidate’s victory.

The Philippines is probably the only democracy in the world where a party can have several candidates for Vice President, each one joining on their own free will another party or declaring themselves independent. It is probably the only country where a candidate can announce policies while still running for office sans consultation with his or her own political party; where members of a political party can support and campaign for a Presidential candidate from another party; where political parties at local level can decide to form collaborative arrangements at the expense of the process for democratic choices.

Meanwhile, we go around in circles, going along with this charade from election to election. The unorganized millions of Filipinos remain a willing participant to this expensive and entertaining charade. Worst, we ourselves validate the absurdity of the political exercise by participating mindlessly in the entire process, unaware it bears the potential for breeding demagogues or, at its worst, would-be dictators.

In this corruption of the electoral process, we all end up victims of marketing, the winners being those who can buy more media time and so-called local coordinators who organize would-be supporters and recruit agents to distribute pamphlets and provide tarps and posters to ensure that the remotest village is penetrated by the candidate’s propaganda materials – and, most likely, cold cash for votes!  

But let me not give you toxic thoughts. I still believe meaningful changes are still possible if we produce the critical mass who will be united around the idea that real democratic elections are still possible in a country where oligarchs and economic elites rule. In this monumental task, we need heroes not to challenge the windmills that only produce frustrations, but painstaking efforts to address the root causes of poverty and inequality.

Because these elections are basically more for and by the elites and their minions, hardly anyone talks about agrarian reform and the need to support the agriculture sector to which most of the poor belong. Most of the candidates are talking about supporting OFWs, who are relatively better off than the majority of us, and giving benefits to government employees.

Nobody has found the courage and the wisdom to bring in millions of farmers and fisher folk from the edge to integrate them more fully in the formal economy before the products from well-funded farm groups from other countries, as well as natural disasters from climate change, drive them to extinction.

It is time that the youth be liberated from counterproductive use of their gadgets so that these can be better put to better use in the service of pro-poor development. Who will do that and how will it be done remains a big question.

Perhaps someone or a group from the youth themselves will emerge who will see clearly the need to turn the status quo into something better, into something substantial, a sound basis to dream and act for a better tomorrow.

All I can give is some advice rather than a plan of action. Hopefully, like the proverbial seeds in the Bible, these will fall on fertile soil. Here, then, are some lessons I always impart to youth groups when they invite me to speak. The focus is on self-transformation while engaged in a program of planned change.

These are excerpts from talks I have made in a commencement exercise in a college in Bohol and in the more recent national conference of youth leaders held here a week ago -

First, learn to reflect each day on your experiences and see what can be done better in the way you have carried out the day’s activities and improve similar activities in the future.

Philosophers call this introspection, while religious people call it meditation.

It’s actually the act of going deeper into ourselves despite the possible noise around us to rediscover our inner self and find the humility to accept mistakes and, more importantly, the resolve to do better next time.

It’s also a moment to appreciate the things we have done right, to be grateful to gestures of thoughtfulness done to us by family members and others.

Introspection or meditation is in a way like a self-cleansing process so that we can start fresh with each new day given to us.

Second, learn early in life to plan the details of each activity that you want to do. Always pay attention to details. Never leave anything to chance. Aside from planning for each activity, plan in the long term so that you and your family are in control of what will happen to you.

I have learned that a person with a plan and a strategy will succeed in life. Otherwise, other people will plan for you and you will not be able to achieve what you want to do.

It pays to know the simple steps in strategic or long-term planning by asking ourselves these key questions:

• Where am I now?
• Where do I want to go?
• How do I get there?
• How do I know I have arrived? 

Third, implement your plan, taking into account the need to be flexible, if there are too many problems that are met in carrying out plans. Be resolute in putting your plan into action.

Calmly analyze each problem and tackle those easiest to solve first to gain confidence and to proceed solving the other problems in a systematic manner.

As we have learned from our teachers – Do not put off for tomorrow what we can do today. Act, act, act. Otherwise your dreams will remain plans, good on paper but not of value to ourselves, our families, and our work places, and the communities where we live.

Fourth, uphold the values imparted to you in school, at home and the places of worship in whatever faith you believe in as long as these values are in accord with enduring human values to preserve life and ensure prosperity for all.

Find fulfillment not only in the pursuit of personal goals but also in causes that benefit society as a whole, such as those related to poverty reduction, protection and preservation of the environment, gender equality and social justice.

Here is the key lesson I have learned from working in twenty five projects over the last 40 years in a total of 17 countries, with local governments, NGOs, civil society organizations, religious groups, the United Nations and its agencies, and all sorts of advocacies and movements:

All the people of the world, whether they are Christians or non-Christians, pagans or otherwise, believe in a better life. Those who believe in extremism to pursue their aims are in the minority in any country, race or religion. Hence, unity in common goals is possible as shown by all nations signing a global development agenda such as the Millennium Development Goals 2000 to 2015 which seeks to cut by half the number of people who are considered poor.

Now all the nations of the world have signed  a new Global Development Agenda for the next 15 years, composed of 17 Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. Hence whether we are in Cooperatives or not, we are bound by the same Agreement to hopefully create a better world.

Fifth, read, read, read. And think, think, think. But it’s worth remembering what the Irish poet William Butler Yeat says: “Education is not the filling of a pail. but the lighting of a fire.”

Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is not enough. We must use it to light a fire within us, to discover our passion for without it we cannot aspire to transform ourselves, our families, our neighborhood and our society as a whole.

Knowledge is however not enough. We need it to change things for the better.  In College, I used to keep in my wallet a quotation from a thinker who says: “Philosophers have interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” This is to remind me that inert knowledge is useless.

Sixth, follow your heart, as the great digital age guru, Steve Jobs, put it a commencement address at Stanford University several years before he died. This is also the final lesson that I am going to tell you.

Let me repeat it here so you may find it in your heart to reflect on it when you reach home: 

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

That is assuming you have a heart and that you know where it is leading you and that, more importantly, that it beats in accord with the overall goal to achieve prosperity and peace for all peoples of the world. ###

NMP/22 April 2016/11.45 a.m.

SOME LESSONS FOR DEVELOPMENT WORKERS

SOME LESSONS FOR DEVELOPMENT WORKERS IN RELATION TO PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION AS CHANGE AGENTS  (Excerpts from the speech, Cooperatives and the Youth, given by Nestor Maniebo Pestelos on 14 April 2016 at the National Cooperative Youth Congress)

Today, as I turn 74, the best gift I can give to myself is to feel that by sharing these lessons to you I can also be part of your journey towards defining your role in making Cooperatives sturdy and sustainable building blocks of a more stable world order.

I have shared these lessons with other young people involved in their respective advocacies. whether they are in the Cooperatives movement, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, Gender Equality, Sustainable Livelihood, Human Rights, and others. We all believe that as change agents we ourselves are targets for change. I have found these useful in defining my path in each journey I have taken in this life and, particularly, in my development work:

First, learn to reflect each day on your experiences and see what can be done better in the way you have carried out the day’s activities and improve similar activities in the future.

Philosophers call this introspection, while religious people call it meditation.

It’s actually the act of going deeper into ourselves despite the possible noise around us to rediscover our inner self and find the humility to accept mistakes and, more importantly, the resolve to do better next time.

It’s also a moment to appreciate the things we have done right, to be grateful to gestures of thoughtfulness done to us by family members and others.

Introspection or meditation is in a way like a self-cleansing process so that we can start fresh with each new day given to us.

Second, learn early in life to plan the details of each activity that you want to do. Always pay attention to details. Never leave anything to chance. Aside from planning for each activity, plan in the long term so that you and your family are in control of what will happen to you.

I have learned that a person with a plan and a strategy will succeed in life. Otherwise, other people will plan for you and you will not be able to achieve what you want to do.

It pays to know the simple steps in strategic or long-term planning by asking ourselves these key questions:

• Where am I now?
• Where do I want to go?
• How do I get there?
• How do I know I have arrived

Third, implement your plan, taking into account the need to be flexible, if there are too many problems that are met in carrying out plans. Be resolute in putting your plan into action.

Calmly analyze each problem and tackle those easiest to solve first to gain confidence and to proceed solving the other problems in a systematic manner.

As we have learned from our teachers – Do not put off for tomorrow what we can do today. Act, act, act. Otherwise your dreams will remain plans, good on paper but not of value to ourselves, our families, and our work places, and the communities where we live.

Fourth, uphold the values imparted to you in school, at home and the places of worship in whatever faith you believe in as long as these values are in accord with enduring human values to preserve life and ensure prosperity for all.

Find fulfillment not only in the pursuit of personal goals but also in causes that benefit society as a whole, such as those related to poverty reduction, protection and preservation of the environment, gender equality and social justice.

Here is the key lesson I have learned from working in twenty five projects over the last 40 years in a total of 17 countries, with local governments, NGOs, civil society organizations, religious groups, the United Nations and its agencies, and all sorts of advocacies and movements:

All the people of the world, whether they are Christians or non-Christians, pagans or otherwise, believe in a better life. Those who believe in extremism to pursue their aims are in the minority in any country, race or religion. Hence, unity in common goals is possible as shown by all nations signing a global development agenda such as the Millennium Development Goals 2000 to 2015 which seeks to cut by half the number of people who are considered poor.

Now all the nations of the world have signed  a new Global Development Agenda for the next 15 years, composed of 17 Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. Hence whether we are in Cooperatives or not, we are bound by the same Agreement to hopefully create a better world.

Fifth, read, read, read. And think, think, think. But it’s worth remembering what the Irish poet William Butler Yeat says: “Education is not the filling of a pail. but the lighting of a fire.”

Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is not enough. We must use it to light a fire within us, to discover our passion for without it we cannot aspire to transform ourselves, our families, our neighborhood and our society as a whole.

Knowledge is however not enough. We need it to change things for the better.  In College, I used to keep in my wallet a quotation from a thinker who says: “Philosophers have interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” This is to remind me that inert knowledge is useless.

Sixth, follow your heart, as the great digital age guru, Steve Jobs, put it a commencement address at Stanford University several years before he died. This is also the final lesson that I am going to tell you.

Let me repeat it here so you may find it in your heart to reflect on it when you reach home: 

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

That is assuming you have a heart and that you know where it is leading you and that, more importantly, that it beats in accord with the overall goal to achieve prosperity and peace for all peoples of the world.

Let us all transform ourselves in this journey to help create a better world – and if I must say so, through our Cooperatives. NMP/12 April 2016/4.51 p.m.

REFERENCES:

1. Consultations with: Antonieta Ignacia Ebias Zabian, former head, Research Department, Ilaw International Center; Dr. Nepomucena Buot, Vice President, Bohol Local Development Foundation, Inc. and Chair, Tagbilaran Federation of Women’s Coops; Niza Cagulada, Cooperative Development Specialist II, CDA; Jancel Barajan, Manager, CEV Credit Coop; Virgilia Perficio, chair of the Bohol Heritage Conservation Marketing Cooperation; Leon Perficio, Liaison Officer, Bohol Heritage Conservation Marketing Cooperative; Jancel Barajan, Manager, CEV Credit Cooperative.

 NATCCO Website: http://www.natcco.coop.

2. CDA Website: www.cda.gov.ph
3. 2012 International Year of Cooperatives – ILO Website
4. “The Role of Cooperatives in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals - the economic dimension” - A Contribution to the UN DESA Expert Group Meeting and Workshop on The Role of Cooperatives in Sustainable Development for All: Contributions, Challenges and Strategies  8 – 10 December 2014 Nairobi,  Kenya  by Jürgen Schwettmann, PARDEV, ILO.
5. Commencement Address By Dr. Nestor Maniebo Pestelos; Founder and President, Bohol Local Development Foundation, Inc.  (BLDF); 19^th Commencement Exercises, BATUAN COLLEGES, Batuan, Bohol

COOPERATIVES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

For The Bohol Tribune

In This Our Journey

NESTOR MANIEBO PESTELOS

Let me share with you some notes and insights I have gathered In preparing for my talk at the National Cooperatives Youth Congress last Thursday, 14 April. The talk was originally for a two-hour session, but it was reduced to thirty minutes a day before the scheduled activity. Hence, I had to cut drastically my 19-page draft speech.

Fortunately, a close friend and colleague, Daydee Padron, helped redesigned my hastily-done powerpoint presentation to fit the new time frame without losing the focus on youth involvement in cooperatives. Specifically, I was able to  inform the delegates about what is being done  in Bohol regarding this important aspect of mobilizing the youth for savings and eventual livelihood activities.

As I said in the previous column, I myself was inspired after interviewing managers of two outstanding coops, Jancel Barajan,  from the CEV Marketing Cooperative and Virgilia Perficio, of the recently-registered Bohol Heritage Conservation Marketing Cooperative.

I was also able to inform the delegates about specific recommendations from Niza Cagulada, Coop Development Specialist II, who has been with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) for 20 years. For the presentation, I was also able to interview Dr. Pomie Buot, president of the Tagbilaran Federation of Women’s Coops (TFWC), and also Vice President  of our NGO, Bohol Local Development Foundation (BLDF).

Prior to these interviews, I was also able to get some observations from Tonette Zablan, an accomplished researcher, newspaper columnist and a retired Sangguniang Bayan Secretary in Samboan, Cebu.  She used to head the research department in the now defunct Ilaw International Center established in Bool, Tagbilaran City through assistance in the 1980s.

For this column, I will report on some information I gathered from documents provided to me by friends and from my own internet-based research on the subject. This I will do to convince you that cooperatives deserve a second look in renewed efforts under the new global development agenda to seek ways and means to achieve what have been called the SDGs or Sustainable Development Goals, a subject I dealt with in previous columns.

I will proceed from macro to micro in giving you chunks of information which were not included in my presentation at the National Cooperative Youth Congress. From the paper, Cooperatives and Sustainable Development Goals, prepared by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), I learned the following:

“In total, about one billion people are involved in cooperatives in some way, either as members/

customers, as employees/participants, or both. Cooperatives employ at least 100 million people

worldwide.

“ It has been estimated that the livelihoods of nearly half the world’s population are secured by cooperative enterprises.

The world’s 300 largest cooperative enterprises have collective revenues of USD 1.6 trillion, which are comparable to the GDP of the world’s ninth largest economy-Spain.” [Paragraphing ours].

Cooperatives are considered as “value-based and principle driven organizations.”  By nature, cooperative enterprises are supposed to be sustainable and participatory form of business.

The paper says Cooperatives emphasize “job security and improved working conditions, pay competitive wages, promote additional income through profit-sharing and distribution of dividends, and support community facilities and services such as health clinics and schools. Cooperatives foster democratic knowledge and practices and social inclusion.”

Moreover, Cooperatives show resilience in the face of adverse economic and financial conditions.

“Hence, cooperatives are well-placed to contribute to sustainable development’s triple bottom line of

economic, social and environmental objectives plus the governance agenda, not least because they are

enterprises that endeavour to meet the economic progress of members while satisfying their sociocultural interests and protecting the environment.

“They offer an alternative model for social enterprise, with contributions to sustainable development well beyond job creation. Since cooperatives’ share in GDP and total enterprises is currently relatively small in most countries, their promotion and expansion could be an important instrument for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

The paper proceeds to show how Cooperatives play a key role in areas related to the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally:

-Food security and nutrition

-Access to water and sanitation

-Sustainable energy

-Employment creation,

livelihoods and equitable

growth

-Sustainable natural resource

management

-Good governance

-Promotion of stable and

peaceful societies

r

On Financial Cooperatives, the ILO-ICA notes:

“Financial cooperatives can provide some of the best means for financial deepening,and the financial basis for other kinds of development activities in many parts of the world. In many cases, they are the only formal financial organizations available, particularly in remote rural areas, where members can save and borrow money to develop their own businesses. Cooperatives also provide micro-insurance in

different forms contributing to financial stability.”

In my presentation to the National Congress of Cooperaive Youth leaders, I cited the challenges to mobilizing cooperatives in the pursuit of the SDGs in each country, as discussed in another paper, “The Role of Cooperatives in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals - the economic dimension” , prepared by Jürgen Schwettmann, of the ILO.

The ability of cooperatives to effectively contribute to the achievement of the SDGs is limited by five factors, none of which seems insurmountable: 

The challenge of the [task] environment: in some countries, cooperative policies, cooperative laws and cooperative support institutions are still not fully conducive to the emergence and proper functioning of genuine, democratically controlled and economically viable cooperatives. Substantial progress has been made in the areas since the mid-1990s, but in some cases, liberalization may have gone too far, and expose members to fraud. 

The challenge of size: cooperatives must be big enough to reach the economic break-even point, and small enough to allow individual members to meaningfully participate. The optimal size of a cooperative is therefore dictated by economic factors (financial coops may reach the break-even point earlier than, for instance, marketing coops) and social and societal factors; the latter also explain why cooperatives are more successful in certain African communities than in others.

The challenge of management: cooperative members are consumers, farmers, workers, fishers, informal economy operators, artisans – they are not necessarily managers. Smaller cooperatives cannot afford to hire professional managers and must therefore rely on the skills of elected leaders, who may excel in their trade but have never seen a balance sheet. This is the reverse of the medal of “democratic management”, which needs to be addressed through training, education, and appropriate advisory and support services. 

The challenge of innovation: cooperatives are more prevalent in traditional sectors of national economies, such as commercial agriculture, retail distribution and finance. The modern economy, which is largely Internet-based, requires new forms of cooperatives. On the other hand, cooperative-type open source ventures such as Wikipedia, Mozilla and Linux, have been very successful; new form of cooperatives have emerged in the environmental sphere, such as green energy generating or waste recycling cooperatives.

The challenge of flexibility: the SDGs require cooperation, but not necessarily formal, registered, fully-fledged cooperatives. The present paper cited many interesting examples of applying cooperative principles in labour contracting, provision of business services, electricity distribution, software programming, waste management, crop processing and exporting, micro-insurance etc. which are carried out by organizations that are not necessarily called cooperatives. Cooperatives must stay true to their values while adjusting to the realities of a changing world.

In my presentation, I took note of the fact that the focus on involving children and youth in embracing the values and ways of the Cooperatives movement is difficult to do but it is on the right track.

Despite all the constraints encountered at the provincial and sub-provincial level on the key issue of involving the youth in the cooperative movement, the fact is that some initiatives have been undertaken by both the Government, through the CDA, NATCCO and the Coops themselves which can be studied for enhancement, rectification, and more importantly, for replication, to enable the youth sector to achieve critical mass in its involvement in cooperatives.

All we need to do is to analyze systematically and objectively each of the constraints and proceed to knock them down. You will say it’s easier said than done. We agree, but unless someone acts, we will forever look for inspiration before all the rest of those concerned can act.

Here is the dismal situation that we need to address:

Poverty is one of the reasons why the majority of the children worldwide are deprived of many of their rights.  In the Philippines approximately 31% of the population, or 27 million) are aged 7 to 17 years.

• 4 million are engaged in economic activity, and three fourths of these working children are in rural areas
• Of the 4 million working children, 1.5 million had stopped/dropped out of school because of insufficient family/household income
• 2.6 million are laborers and unskilled workers
• Of the 4 million, more than half work for one to four hours per day, and 37.7% work for five to eight hours per day.  Six out of ten children make less than $US10 per week.

I hope to return to this vital issue in future columns as I gather more information from colleagues in the Cooperatives movement. #Cooperativesanddevelopment

NMP/15 April 2016/5.01

COOPERATIVES AND THE YOUTH

For The Bohol Tribune

In This Our Journey

NESTOR MANIEBO PESTELOS

For this column, let me share with you some notes I have gathered about cooperatives and the youth. The National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATTCO) has invited me to talk at the National Cooperative Youth Congress to be held in Bohol next week. The letter from the CEO, Sylvia O. Paraguya, states in part: “We strongly believe in your ability to inspire young cooperative leaders across the country through your experience, passion and advocacy. It would also be a great opportunity to find areas of collaboration with youth groups. Solidarity and collective development can best be achieved through a mindset of integration and inclusion.”

My first impulse was to turn down the invitation. I felt I might not be equal to do the task of inspiring young people at this time because for some reasons related to the current political scene, I myself feel uninspired. The more I listen to the so-called political debates, the more I find wisdom in what a writer-friend often said before: “In some other countries, political leaders worry about people and their problems, while here we worry about politicians who are themselves the bigger problems.”

With some hesitation, I accepted the invitation because the occasion falls on my 74^th birthday, and it would be a shame if I would have nothing inspiring to say to the young, having spent more than fifty percent of a lifetime working among them and other population groups described in development plans and programs as marginalized, disadvantaged, or disenfranchised.

I decided to consult some people and see if I could learn something inspiring about youth involvement in cooperatives – or if they could give me some tips on how best to involve the youth in cooperatives.

 I called up Tonette Zablan, who lives in Samboan, Cebu where she just retired as SB Secretary. She was head of our research department at the UNICEF-assisted Ilaw International Center (IIC) years ago and had an impeccable record as researcher and faculty member at the University of San Carlos, where she graduated, Ateneo de Manila and other academic institutions.  Sometimes she does research for us as volunteer with the successor NGO, the Bohol Local Development Foundation (BLDF).

She responded to me via Facebook on my request for her to do a case study on one or two cooperatives in her town: “Can't do a case study of any sort. No material that is available nearby… A PO [People’s Organization] in Samboan is running the barangay food terminal enterprise. Not a cooperative but acting like one. The members, being farmers are far from young, ranging from 30 to 86. Seems like they are doing well but one problem is the lack of comparably capable members to run the enterprise after the term of present officials expires.”

Before I could reply, she added this message: “Start them young seems to be the order of the day. Look at the school curricula. The Makabayan subject talks about working for the common good but there is no specific module on cooperative development. Values and virtues that will lead to and sustain cooperativism must be instilled in the young, whether in formal and informal venues of learning.”

Before I could thank her, she sent this important advice: “Possible ways youth in school can venture into as a coop will be the sale of school supplies or running a school canteen.”

She is typical of friends from the development network: she identified a problem and presented options on how to address them. Now thanks to her I have some concrete ideas on how to get the young involved in Coop work. And thanks to Facebook I was able to consult her without paying for transportation and other meeting expenses.

Now I turn for help as usual to our BLDF Vice President, Dr. Pomie Buot, our development colleague of more than 30 years. She leads, along with another BLDF Trustee, Jean Darunday, the Tagbilaran Federation of Women’s Coops founded in the early 1990s.

I asked her about the status of the membership in the Federation. She said they used to have 15 member coops, but now the active members are down to 5, two new member coops and three old ones. She cited the following as reasons for getting out of the Federation: the member coops or their members could not pay back their loans and they opted to be inactive; and the Coops find the reporting requirement too difficult to comply with.

Dr. Pomie was able to arrange a meeting with Niza Cagulada, Coop Development Specialist II, who has been with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) for 20 years. I asked her about the reporting constraint. She validated the earlier observation that Coops are finding it hard to submit five (5) reports annually.

Niza said these reports are as follows: 1) Cooperative Annual Progress Report (CAPAR); 2) Audited Financial Statement for the year done by auditors accredited by CDA, BIR, and Board of Accountants; 3) Social Audit Report; 4) Performance Report prepared by the Audit Committee; 5) List of officers who have undertaken training under Republic Act No. 9520

Each officer has to undergo 14 training programs valid for five years. Niza says this has been reduced to only two starting this year.

She says that each Coop has to pay a fine of Php 100 per day of delay in submitting each report! Hence, Coops choose to opt out rather than pay the fine or meet the deadlines for reporting. The other constraint identified with regard to reporting is the requirement that member Coops submit their reports online.

Coops in remote locations find it difficult to comply with this requirement due to lack of internet connectivity. Those in areas with internet access either lack the computers or the skills to operate them. It has been observed that most members in existing Coops are in their 50s or 60s who generally find it difficult to use digital tools. Hence, it can be said, if the situation is not rectified, Coops will be extinct in the Digital Age.

It is apparent that Coops need technical assistance or guidance from the Government through the CDA. The problem is that there are only five Field Officers to link up to around 300 Coops in Bohol. Each Field Officer like Niza is responsible to liaise with around 100 Coops in around or more than 10 municipalities. Aside from lacking the time to do regular monitoring visits, she has no logistical support (translation: transport and food allowance,or possibly accommodation) for this vital management function.

It looks like before we tackle the issue of youth involvement in Coops, we need to look closely at the entire Coop community, internally as well as externally with their linkages to the broader task environment, to arrive at workable reform measures to ensure a facilitative mechanism to carry out vital tasks.

I asked her what could be done to solve these specific obstacles. Without batting an eyelash, she cited the following measures:

·       -  Create the Provincial Cooperative Development Office (PCDO). Niza recalls this was recommended by the CDA Administrator for the Visayas, Benjie Oliva, in a regional meeting. In this way, there will be regular budgetary allocation for administration and program implementation. The Provincial Government will then become a key stakeholder in formulating policy and program support to facilitate more systematic involvement of the youth in the Cooperatives movement.

·         -Change categorization of Coops from  Assets to Capitalization for practical purposes. This will be a more realistic assessment of a Coop’s financial status.

·       -  Merge relatively smaller Coops into bigger organization and allow individual Coops to expand beyond a single barangay to support business growth and attract more qualified and committed leaders.

The last person I interviewed during the two-day consultations was Jancel Barajan. Her desk was nearest the office entrance so I mistook her as the receptionist. I found out later that this CEV (Community Economic Ventures) Credit Coop is run  by 7-member staff aged 25 to 34 years old.

Jancel, who looks she is  in her late twenties , is the manager. Her team has organized and provides guidance to the following:

-Youth Saver Club; organized 19 June 2014 for those 12 years old and below. As of 30 March 2016, it has 178 members.

-Power Teen Savers Club; organized 19 June 2014  for those 13 to 17 years old. As of 03 Feb 2016,  it has 44 members.

 -Tigum Alang as Kaugmaon (TASK) – for those 18 years old and above; organized 18 December 2014 for those 18 years old and above. As of 04 March 2016, it has 100 members.

All three organizations go through the same process of having initial capital share; savings; policies on deposit, withdrawal, interest rate. At an early age, children and the youth learn to appreciate the discipline of financial planning. For those aged 12 to 17, CEV forms them into clusters of five members each, gives each cluster a Php 500 grant and guides them through a process identifying a money-making activity, implementing it and possibly, scaling them up. Hence, CEV helps them in the journey from being savers to becoming entrepreneurs.

The CEV Coop gives advice on how to invest savings. It also encourages the groups to engage in community activities, such as coastal clean-up. The young manager says all three groups have had only three drop-outs, two because their families had to move residence to outside Bohol, and one due to emergency need for cash in the family.

She further says that the CEV Coop has learned a lot from the Model Cooperation Network of Tagum Coop in Davao and the Aflatoun Child Social and Financial Program, a partnership between NATTCO and the Department of Education which now covers 759 public schools and  now reaching out to 259,000 school children all over the country.

The term Aflatoun baffled me. Frankly I thought it was a typographical error. I went to the NATTCO website and was dumbfounded to read this:

“For starters, the word "aflatoun" is of Arabic origin and refers to "the explorer," a person who thinks, explores, investigates, and acts.  It also refers to Plato, known for his ideas and ethics, citizenship, social justice, respect, conservation, friendship, and love for fellowmen (!).

“NATCCO is implementing the Aflatoun concept in the Philippines in partnership with Aflatoun Child Social and Financial Education Organization, formerly Child Savings International based in Amsterdam.  The Program is being implemented in selected schools in the Philippines in partnership with local cooperatives, the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), and the Department of Education (DepEd).

“We have always been committed to increase young people's participation in cooperatives, whether as member-patrons, savers, and especially, as active participants in cooperative governance.  Through Aflatoun, we aim to produce young and responsible citizens.

“Poverty is one of the reasons why the majority of the children worldwide are deprived of many of their rights.  In the Philippines approximately 31% of the population, or 27 million) are aged 7 to 17 years.

• 4 million are engaged in economic activity, and three fourths of these working children are in rural areas
• Of the 4 million working children, 1.5 million had stopped/dropped out of school because of insufficient family/household income
• 2.6 million are laborers and unskilled workers
• Of the 4 million, more than half work for one to four hours per day, and 37.7% work for five to eight hours per day.  Six out of ten children make less than $US10 per week.

So there, my esteemed readers, I have found the reason to be inspired. Despite all the constraints encountered at the provincial and sub-provincial level on the key issue of involving the youth in the cooperative movement, the fact is that some initiatives have been undertaken by both the Government and the Coops themselves.

All we need to do is to analyze systematically and objectively each of the constraints and proceed to knock them down. You will say it’s easier said than done. We agree, but unless someone acts, we will forever look for inspiration before all the rest of those concerned can act. #Cooperativesandyouth

NMP/08 April 2016/

Connecting the Dots at 74 - a way to celebrate one's birthday

For The Bohol Tribune

In This Our Journey

NESTOR MANIEBO PESTELOS

In a few days, I will turn 74. Let me share with you some thoughts on the way to this personal milestone.

Specifically, let me pass on to you a few things I remember from this journey, seven decades and still counting.

First, on the need to be action-oriented.   It’s great to have a dream and to always talk about it but in the final analysis, it’s what you do that counts. Having action plans and carrying them out are vital for survival. Otherwise, we will end up daydreaming our life away.

In college, I used to carry in my wallet a typewritten quotation from a philosopher who says: “Philosophers have interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” This bit of wisdom served as antidote to a pernicious tendency on my part to intellectualize intent and purposes and to pursue them in seemingly endless talk with friends and relatives.

The inability to act on some critical matters gave me so much remorse in my younger days. Since my Grade 4 teacher, Miss Cruz, gifted me with a Webster dictionary which opened up a whole new vast world for me in what I thought then as the intellectually arid landscape of a copra-making village, I never gave up reading anything. I voraciously read books and magazines , in both English and vernacular,  some of them given by well-off friends. Until now, I see to it that I know the library or book store in places where I live or work as refuge when I am bored or depressed.

While reading had its obvious merits, it could lead to an analytical but passive way of life. Opportunities pass by while you are left on the shore “contemplating your navel,” as the old phrase puts it. While doing so with my navel, I had my girl friend snatched under my watch by an action-oriented engineer while I was focused more on reading and reciting to her the poems of Rilke, T. S. Eliot, Baudelaire  and Rimbaud, for instance, all my favorites in my younger years.

Enough of poetry, I said. I was 19 and for three months, in fact the whole summer term, I refused to touch any book. I joined eventually a college fraternity and lost myself in action, which I interpreted at the time as learning how to drink Tanduay, serenading girls on midnight at the women’s dorm for which we were chased away by the dorm matron and carrying street signs and parading them around the campus while singing the national anthem!

We ended up explaining things at college security and later at the student counsellor’s office where we were given severe tongue lashing. So much for mindless action! The by to maturity is actually to learn to balance life-affirming romanticism with restrained action as the classicists would have it. The reluctant, indecisive Macbeth prepared us to appreciate the contrasts in the character of the intellectual and the man of action, portrayed as lover of life, in the popular movie turned into film, Zorba The Greek, by Nikos Kazantsakis, during the Sixties.

The onset of Marxism-inspired nationalist movement on the campus ended our flirtation with agnosticism and the lively debate on whether God exists or not with intense discussions on the real history of the Filipino people. The evils of Feudalism, Bureaucrat-Capitalism and Imperialism were laid bare in debates and became the subject of protests and discussions on the campus. Even Art could be judged based on class analysis. You could be accused of being burgis as against the prevailing proletarian politics of the period.

The whole campus became a cauldron of revolutionary politics and art. You have to decide whether to join the Left and if you do so, you need to decide to which faction you would like to belong. An exciting time indeed, but we were growing old fast without getting anywhere in our initial goal of getting a college degree and ended up being editor nonetheless of the alumni paper. My qualification was that I was editor of the college paper for two years, founded the first literary paper, Tangent, and won the much-coveted Creative Writer of the Year Award bestowed by UP Los Banos itself.

Two years of serving as alumni paper editor , we were advised to leave the campus to escape military spies and assume the post of literature teacher in a provincial high school, a job we thoroughly enjoyed because we were given the assignment to teach in both the upper section and the lowest section. I realized that no matter how we screamed about the isms in the State-run university and in the parliaments of the street, a large portion of the student population in public schools, mostly children of the Proletariat, remained largely insulated from the burning issues of the day which could affect their future.

I had a year of that exciting experience and left for Manila to look for a job that would bring me nearer the hospital where my Sister was brought for treatment. With the help of a friend, I landed a job as editor of a company publication. Metro Manila was in turmoil during that period leading to the declaration of Martial Law. I was just in the periphery opting to be adviser to a group of UP students who, while subscribing to the national democratic platform based on the struggle against the triad isms, preferred to use moderate language in their protests.

I was happy with this task among persons sympathetic with the left but choosing to be incognito and engaging in support activities such as running a handicraft shop with part of the proceeds going to  some cultural groups aligned with the protest movement.  Then prior to the declaration of martial law, in 1971, the writ of habeas corpus was suspended which provided a legal basis for the arrest of individuals suspected of being in the underground. My girl friend was among those arrested and jailed during this period. I was advised by my friends to lie low with my DG (discussion group) activities and to make arrangements that I could do my job outside the office in putting out the monthly company publication.

I was advised by friends from the underground to get lost first, resign from my job and started the risky business of hopping from one safe house to another. I spent time in convents, remote islets, garage and stock rooms of offices owned by close friends. Some journalist friends would assign me articles to write while in hiding and got paid for it. This helped tide me over those months jokingly termed NPA days, the acronym meaning No Permanent Address. It was getting to be difficult to be mobile in what was termed “white areas” or places in the city with relative concentration of State institutions and the military.

I was again advised to get lost, but this time to join an armed unit in the Sierra Madre but my task would be to handle discussions on Philippine history. We were all young and it was quite an ordeal having to survive in a small hut with basic provisions procured from the town. Somehow we discovered the weaknesses of having us to be here in the midst of a Revolution for which we were not prepared to participate in terms of warfare or of simple livelihood skills. We saw very clearly during this time the Revolution was bound to fail.

I eventually fell sick and had to move out of this safe area in the mountain. Back to a life of moving from place to place but, finally, the military caught up with me and had to spend three months in solitary confinement in a camp not far away from Manila. I was instructed to go back to my old job at the Green Revolution  office at Nayong Pilipino where my movement was restricted. Only my Grandmother, Mother and Sister were allowed to visit me. I slept on the floor of the Green Revolution cottage and succeeded later to have a temporary house using what used to be the exhibition booth of a province at the Nayong Pilipino complex. I stayed here for eight years!

The most important thing which happened to me while in virtual confinement at the Nayong Pilipino was my being part of the UNICEF-assisted Country Programming for Children , the first exercise done in the country to formulate a four-year child-focused program with the involvement of the Government, NGOs, the private sector and faith-based organizations. Through this exercise, I happened to know young people from NEDA and UNICEF and we became members of the Technical Working Group for what is known as CPC 1.

At this point, I recall what Steve Jobs said in a famous commencement address, that you could only connect the dots at hindsight, that you could only establish the logic of having been in some past events when you look back and see how previous engagements relate to what you do at the moment.

Our establishing the UNICEF-assisted Ilaw International Center in Bool, Tagbilaran City in 1983 could not have been possible without my Green Revolution experience in restricted task environment, my getting involved in CPC 1, and our contributions to determining how community participation could be articulated in a planning process in each program or project. The methodology of having local government-community participation spelled in detail in a social preparation process would not have been possible without our involvement with all efforts by the Church, the NGOs and the Left in defining such a process. Our being recruited to serve as community development specialist in a UNDP project in 12 atoll countries would not have been possible without UNICEF investing in my education which brought me to the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development and the University of Bradford with focus on participatory rural development.

Our work in the country’s 8 poorest provinces under the Area-Based Child Survival and Development (ABCSD) of UNICEF seemed on hindsight as a precursor of what I would be called upon to do among disadvantaged households and communities in 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Under several UNDP-UNOPS projects.  My experiences in all these projects seemed to be a logical development which led to the formulation of the Poverty Database and Monitoring System (PDMS), a pro-poor targeting system and software developed over a ten-year period by our NGO, Bohol Local Development Foundation, with technical assistance from a British IT expert, Tony Irving, and several IT counterparts from Bohol. Without the advance versions developed, there would be nothing to replicate in Timor Leste under Habitat for Humanity International and  in several countries, such as India, Bangladesh and Bhutan under an EU-funded program.

As I approach my 74^th year, I look back and wonder if the past actions I took were all part of deliberate  plans or, as in the case of earlier misadvantures, something that resulted from just following what my heart dictated, a series of emotional involvements that just happened to be consistent in their objectives and seemingly preconceived strategies. Two weeks ago, we were meeting with potential donors to the FARM It Works Balay Kahayag (FITWBK) drug rehab center which our NGO helped establish in Bohol, and I was asked by the representative how could we relate our mission for poverty reduction and sustainable development to the current advocacy of helping rehabilitate drug abuse victims.

I could only mumble a reply aware of what Steve Jobs said of being able to connect the dots only after events happened. It will probably take another 74 years for me to answer that question. Meanwhile, I dare you to l look back and connect the dots in your life, an exciting way to celebrate life during one’s birthday. #

NMP/01 April 2016/2.53 p.m.