DIGESTS OF NOMINATIONS FOR SEVERAL AWARDS
Jess Trinidad
UNDP Integrated Area Development Specialist
and Consultant - Maldives, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands
Dr. Nestor Pestelos is a champion of the common man. For all the years that I worked with him, I witnessed his principled and consistent pro-common tao manners, attitudes and dealings. Whether home or abroad, Nestor is at ease with the masses, easily becoming one of them despite race, religious, social and cultural barriers.
All these years, his work has been centered on total human development with maximum people participation. This approach has gained for Nestor countless adherents among development practitioners and local government leaders including many of us who have had the privilege of working with him.
In the various programs and projects under Nestor that I had the opportunity to be part of, poverty alleviation has been the central focus. The promotion of social justice is a built-in objective in all the development programs that he has undertaken. This was evident in his dealings with the marginalized farmers and fisherfolks of Bohol as early as the 80s; with the ethnic peoples of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean; the tribal aborigines and islanders of the South Pacific Small-Island States of Tuvalu, Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomons, Kiribati, Palau, Marshall Islands, Tokelau, Samoa, Cook Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.
In all these countries, Nestor always puts high premium on the aspects of social justice, peace and equality. His project team’s slogan is always: PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST.
Joel Uichico
Manager, Baclayon Recreational and Aquatic Activities for Bohol (BRAABO)
I had been working in Baclayon with sustainable community-based eco tourism programs for four years before I learned of the Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS). I was totally convinced that this was needed for my company’s programs. We have used one for Pamilacan Island.
He has unselfishly conducted a report using PDMS through interview of the community and officials regarding the BRAABO programs in Baclayon.
Nestor continues to help in our programs pillared on the three Es - Education, Environment, Entrepreneurship. Now he has risen to the occasion with our program ‘Bikes for the Philippines.’ He is helping me bring bikes from the USA to the Philippines for public school children of Baclayon. He’s acting as my representative pro bono because he believes that this will help not only the public school children of Baclayon but other places in the Philippines as well.
Mohamed Hilmy
Undersecretary for Communication
Office of the President
Maldives
I worked with Dr. Nestor Pestelos during the 80s when Maldives faced many political constraints and development challenges as a small island state. He was in a UNDP project where I was recruited as a member of the national core team of trainers. He accompanied the team to remote project sites to conduct participatory planning workshops for the local councils and representatives of the people.
Dr. Nestor and our team of locaI trainers from various Government agencies were all part of the UNDP-assisted Integrated Atoll Development Project or IADP for short. In my view, this project laid the foundation for the new democratic system we have installed. At that time, Maldivian people were in an infant stage in understanding the role of the citizens, their strengths, their rights and also how they could achieve their goal more effectively by planning for the future.
I consider Dr. Nestor as one of the key people who sowed the seed of Participatory Development in our island nation. We saw how dedicated and passionate Dr. Pestelos was in his mission to serve our people which inspired us to work harder. Now we have democracy in our country.
I visited Bohol recently and was fortunate to see the effort taken by the government towards development and empowering the people. I was also delighted to see Dr. Nestor still at his best in helping local communities through his Foundation.
Josefina Cimene
Coordinator of the Center for Local Governance (CLG)
Holy Name University, Tagbilaran City
I have had the privilege of working closely with Dr. Pestelos on several projects:
1. August 2009 to March 2010: Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED) Bohol funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
2. April 2006 – March 2007: Strengthening Local Governance for Sustainable Economic Growth and Effective Service Delivery. This project was funded by the UK Economic Governance Facility
3. 01 Jul 2004 to 01 March 2005: Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office, Provincial Government of Bohol, Tagbilaran City
I have observed in him a great faith in humanity and an intense dream to make society better. These, I believe, are the greatest motivations for his untiring involvement in development work.
His untiring dedication and creativity led to the production of the PDMS, Bohol's Poverty Database Monitoring System which is a very important tool in aiding LGUs and NGOs to design responsive programs to alleviate poverty.
Dr. Remigio D. Torres
Retired economist of the Asian Development Bank
In his desire to help the poor not only in his country but throughout the Pacific islands, Nestor has worked hard to develop a data base that will allow development workers to identify communities in need of assistance and channel aid to this sector. The data base that he has developed has proven effective such that it has now been applied in a number of countries. He has devoted practically his entire life to the promotion of poverty alleviation and economic development.
Nestor spearheaded the organization of ‘Ilaw ng Buhay’ to bring to the grassroots the models of rural development particularly in Bohol by harnessing the participation of the rural youth, farmers and fisherfolk in improving their economic condition. Subsequently he joined the Provincial Government of Bohol as Consultant on Governance and Poverty Reduction and eventually, as head of the Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office. In both these posts, he laid down the groundwork for a number of development projects for the disadvantaged sectors of society.
Dirtje Derksen
BLDF Volunteer
German student living and studying in Tagbilaran City:
I met Nestor during my internship in Baclayon and later as a volunteer with BLDF. I am a student from Germany and I love the Philippines. Living and studying in Tagbilaran City, I note that generally, Filipinos don’t seem to be proud of their country but Nestor is different. He works with young people like me who don’t feel that the Philippines is a country one can be proud of. Being German, nationalism is a difficult topic for me because of World War 2. Nestor has helped me become more proud of my own country.
I feel enriched working with Nestor because he appreciates his country so much. He is calm yet convincing, patient and kind and is passionate about his work. He is passionate because he does it for the development of the Philippines.
Development work means empowering the people and empowering the poor. This is not easy if people lack self-confidence and don't feel proud of who they are. It is difficult to make nationalism work for the individual, to motivate one to move towards a better life. Nationalism can be something to hide behind.
Observing Nestor at work makes me realize that community development can be frustrating and exhausting but it is worth the patience and the fight. He has made me learn that loving one’s country can be a source of endless motivation and power to fight for the good.
Charlie Ayco
Director Program Development & Support
Habitat for Humanity Int’l Asia-Pacific
Bangkok, Thailand
I was Nestor’s supervisor while he was with Habitat for Humanity. He was always looking for ways to make development work more effective. In fact, he was instrumental in introducing the poverty database in East Timor as a means to use an equitable method to prioritize families in need of decent shelter. Our concern was how to determine who should receive assistance first considering that practically all the people there were in need of assistance.
The tool was introduced with minimal cost to Habitat since it was intended to help our program become more responsive. His concern for fairness was not only an esoteric idea but rather translated into practical terms by introducing a tool which enabled us to objectively prioritize the families to receive assistance.
As a regional staff of Habitat, Nestor had to make frequent travels to a number of countries in Asia Pacific. We covered his costs based on actual expense. In all the years that I supervised him, there was not a single instance that he took advantage of the office. In fact, he always made sure that he stayed in reasonably priced hotels to save on travel costs. This shows his personal integrity and strong commitment towards stewardship of donor funds. (N.B. I am from Bohol and he is truly our gain.)
Ellen Grace Zosa-Gallares
Executive Director,
PADAYON Bohol Marine Triangle Management
Dauis Municipal Hall, Dauis, Bohol
In 2004 when I was managing a project on integrated population, health and environment, I sought Nestor’s assistance to use the Poverty Database Monitoring System with our project. He readily made himself available. His goal, it seems, is to share knowledge and wisdom and he does so relentlessly.
He is a man filled with wisdom which comes from the heart to help others grow. In 2009 our path crossed again as he helped Local Government Units conserve their cultural and marine heritage. His heart to reach out to others was once again evident.
Being much younger and a novice in development work, I consider Nestor my coach. He helps me and others find strength in what we do. He is a team player, respecting other people’s ideas. He works well with people of all ages regardless of their standing in life. He is also a Boy Scout, laging handa. He never holds a meeting or an activity unprepared.
METODIO B. MARAGUINOT JR.
Deputy Project Manager
DReAMS (Development of Resources for Access to Services)
Dr. Nes always has a heart for the common tao. Since I started working with Dr. Nes as his Deputy in the Realising DReAMS Project, I have always been captivated by his passion in identifying where the poor and the deprived are through the Poverty Database Monitoring System or PDMS so they can be given adequate assistance. The success of Bohol in combating poverty was partly due to the use of PDMS in tracking the most disadvantaged households and communities.
Dr. Nes' passion for the poor is beyond question. This for me sums up his integrity as a social worker devoted to helping communities grow. These qualities of Dr. Nes continue to touch young people's hearts and minds.
Samuel J. Gulayan PhD
Chairperson, Extension and Training Division
Bohol Island State University
Cogtong, Candijay, Bohol
Dr. Pestelos serves as Chairman of the Bohol Local Development Foundation (BLDF), which owns the copyright to Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS) software. The system is currently used in the Philippines and in several municipalities and cities in other countries (Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh).
BLDF has made PDMS available to all 47 municipalities and 1 city of Bohol province to guide the implementation of projects for poverty reduction. The use of the household poverty database minimizes political interventions in the selection of project beneficiaries.
Raul Sarceda
Habitat for Humanity colleague (Kuala Lumpur 2008)
When we were in Kuala Lumpur, Nestor was very emphatic with the local staff about the right family selection. He was concerned not only because serving the poor was the reason for Habitat for Humanity's existence, but from his personal commitment to serve them through the provision of a decent home. He shared this concern with the public officials we encountered when we visited potential communities for the project.
Nestor’s commitment to community development is both practical and concrete. He used his retirement benefits to build in his Upper Laya property, a center with facilities for seminars and training and a dormitory to accommodate participants. In the same compound he raises Baboy na walang amoy to help families have a source of additional income.
Zenaida D. Darunday
Executive Director, Bohol Nature Conservation Society; Chair, Bohol Federation of Women Cooperatives; Past President, Bohol Initiators for Sustainable Agriculture & Development
My acquaintance with Nestor started in 2004 when he headed Bohol's Poverty Reduction Management Office. I came to know him more when he came out with his brainchild - the Poverty Database System software for Bohol. Because of its very detailed scope dealing with 20 indicators, this program was able to pinpoint why they are poor and where they are. This database is now widely used by all local government units in Bohol as a tool to target the poorest of the poor and provide them with relevant services.
He was not satisfied in just developing that software. When it comes to poverty alleviation programs implemented either by the government or private agencies, Nestor is always out there either taking the lead or being part of the technical working group to implement such programs.
A very generous person and a loving husband and father, Nestor would literally give the shirt off his back to help others. He equally shares his time and talent to junior community development workers.
LUTGARDO L. LABAD
Head, National Committee on Dramatic Arts
National Commission for Culture and the Arts
Artistic Director , TEATRO ABATAN
I have worked in Bohol since 1997 in the field of arts and culture for sustainable development after two decades of theater work with the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). Having spent so many years in this endeavor, I felt there was a need for establishing indicators of the impact our group has had. How could we establish that the cultural intervention we have launched really does make a difference in the lives of those with whom we share our cultural methodologies?
This is where the work of Nestor Pestelos is crucial.
His work with BLDF and with the Provincial Government of Bohol using the Poverty Data Base Monitoring System establishes indicators of poverty in all the municipalities of Bohol from the smallest sitio or purok to the provincial government. We have adopted this monitoring system for our cultural work particularly in the formation of various cultural collectives in the Abatan River Community Life Tour. With the help of the BLDF PDMS team, we have quantified factors of poverty for these groups. We have also installed aspects of heritage and culture in the area. With this more encompassing system, we have identified deficiencies and more importantly, assets.
Our group is very thankful to Mr. Pestelos for his vision and passion for development work, specifically for his ingenuity in introducing a new method for sustainable development. He and his team at the BLDF have achieved a milestone not just for Bohol but for the entire country. #
Cecilio Adorna
Retired Senior UNICEF UN/Official
Nestor embodies the virtues of a genuine development worker. He has the passion for the betterment of the disadvantaged sections of the country and he possesses a strategic mind and approach to solve the problems that afflict them. He has the energy and the steadfastness to stay on course with any of his missions, despite obstacles.
After completing his work with the UNDP in the Pacific in 2002, he had alternatives of continuing work with institutions that pay handsomely but he chose to be with people he wanted to serve closely - the poor. The best way to do it, he thought, was to set up a foundation. He founded the Bohol Local Development Foundation and pioneered an approach on local development, with a focus on reducing poverty. This gave birth to the Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS).
Nestor faced enormous financial difficulties bankrolling the PDMS software but he did not mind this personal hardship. He proceeded to continue developing the system to the point where it is now recognized by the European Union, the Canadian International Development Agency and many other aid agencies. PDMS is currently used in many places in the country and worldwide. In Bohol province, the system has benefited many municipalities in improving the lives of the poor.
Through the PDMS, Nestor's strategic mind has made connections which are otherwise invisible to the uninterested, to those insensitive to the plight of the poor and to those who have given up on the frustrating bureaucracy of public institutions. His PDMS is user friendly and affordable, apt and relevant to public institutions. ###
Jess Trinidad
UNDP Integrated Area Development Specialist
and Consultant - Maldives, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands
Dr. Nestor Pestelos is a champion of the common man. For all the years that I worked with him, I witnessed his principled and consistent pro-common tao manners, attitudes and dealings. Whether home or abroad, Nestor is at ease with the masses, easily becoming one of them despite race, religious, social and cultural barriers.
All these years, his work has been centered on total human development with maximum people participation. This approach has gained for Nestor countless adherents among development practitioners and local government leaders including many of us who have had the privilege of working with him.
In the various programs and projects under Nestor that I had the opportunity to be part of, poverty alleviation has been the central focus. The promotion of social justice is a built-in objective in all the development programs that he has undertaken. This was evident in his dealings with the marginalized farmers and fisherfolks of Bohol as early as the 80s; with the ethnic peoples of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean; the tribal aborigines and islanders of the South Pacific Small-Island States of Tuvalu, Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomons, Kiribati, Palau, Marshall Islands, Tokelau, Samoa, Cook Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.
In all these countries, Nestor always puts high premium on the aspects of social justice, peace and equality. His project team’s slogan is always: PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST.
Joel Uichico
Manager, Baclayon Recreational and Aquatic Activities for Bohol (BRAABO)
I had been working in Baclayon with sustainable community-based eco tourism programs for four years before I learned of the Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS). I was totally convinced that this was needed for my company’s programs. We have used one for Pamilacan Island.
He has unselfishly conducted a report using PDMS through interview of the community and officials regarding the BRAABO programs in Baclayon.
Nestor continues to help in our programs pillared on the three Es - Education, Environment, Entrepreneurship. Now he has risen to the occasion with our program ‘Bikes for the Philippines.’ He is helping me bring bikes from the USA to the Philippines for public school children of Baclayon. He’s acting as my representative pro bono because he believes that this will help not only the public school children of Baclayon but other places in the Philippines as well.
Mohamed Hilmy
Undersecretary for Communication
Office of the President
Maldives
I worked with Dr. Nestor Pestelos during the 80s when Maldives faced many political constraints and development challenges as a small island state. He was in a UNDP project where I was recruited as a member of the national core team of trainers. He accompanied the team to remote project sites to conduct participatory planning workshops for the local councils and representatives of the people.
Dr. Nestor and our team of locaI trainers from various Government agencies were all part of the UNDP-assisted Integrated Atoll Development Project or IADP for short. In my view, this project laid the foundation for the new democratic system we have installed. At that time, Maldivian people were in an infant stage in understanding the role of the citizens, their strengths, their rights and also how they could achieve their goal more effectively by planning for the future.
I consider Dr. Nestor as one of the key people who sowed the seed of Participatory Development in our island nation. We saw how dedicated and passionate Dr. Pestelos was in his mission to serve our people which inspired us to work harder. Now we have democracy in our country.
I visited Bohol recently and was fortunate to see the effort taken by the government towards development and empowering the people. I was also delighted to see Dr. Nestor still at his best in helping local communities through his Foundation.
Josefina Cimene
Coordinator of the Center for Local Governance (CLG)
Holy Name University, Tagbilaran City
I have had the privilege of working closely with Dr. Pestelos on several projects:
1. August 2009 to March 2010: Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED) Bohol funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
2. April 2006 – March 2007: Strengthening Local Governance for Sustainable Economic Growth and Effective Service Delivery. This project was funded by the UK Economic Governance Facility
3. 01 Jul 2004 to 01 March 2005: Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office, Provincial Government of Bohol, Tagbilaran City
I have observed in him a great faith in humanity and an intense dream to make society better. These, I believe, are the greatest motivations for his untiring involvement in development work.
His untiring dedication and creativity led to the production of the PDMS, Bohol's Poverty Database Monitoring System which is a very important tool in aiding LGUs and NGOs to design responsive programs to alleviate poverty.
Dr. Remigio D. Torres
Retired economist of the Asian Development Bank
In his desire to help the poor not only in his country but throughout the Pacific islands, Nestor has worked hard to develop a data base that will allow development workers to identify communities in need of assistance and channel aid to this sector. The data base that he has developed has proven effective such that it has now been applied in a number of countries. He has devoted practically his entire life to the promotion of poverty alleviation and economic development.
Nestor spearheaded the organization of ‘Ilaw ng Buhay’ to bring to the grassroots the models of rural development particularly in Bohol by harnessing the participation of the rural youth, farmers and fisherfolk in improving their economic condition. Subsequently he joined the Provincial Government of Bohol as Consultant on Governance and Poverty Reduction and eventually, as head of the Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office. In both these posts, he laid down the groundwork for a number of development projects for the disadvantaged sectors of society.
Dirtje Derksen
BLDF Volunteer
German student living and studying in Tagbilaran City:
I met Nestor during my internship in Baclayon and later as a volunteer with BLDF. I am a student from Germany and I love the Philippines. Living and studying in Tagbilaran City, I note that generally, Filipinos don’t seem to be proud of their country but Nestor is different. He works with young people like me who don’t feel that the Philippines is a country one can be proud of. Being German, nationalism is a difficult topic for me because of World War 2. Nestor has helped me become more proud of my own country.
I feel enriched working with Nestor because he appreciates his country so much. He is calm yet convincing, patient and kind and is passionate about his work. He is passionate because he does it for the development of the Philippines.
Development work means empowering the people and empowering the poor. This is not easy if people lack self-confidence and don't feel proud of who they are. It is difficult to make nationalism work for the individual, to motivate one to move towards a better life. Nationalism can be something to hide behind.
Observing Nestor at work makes me realize that community development can be frustrating and exhausting but it is worth the patience and the fight. He has made me learn that loving one’s country can be a source of endless motivation and power to fight for the good.
Charlie Ayco
Director Program Development & Support
Habitat for Humanity Int’l Asia-Pacific
Bangkok, Thailand
I was Nestor’s supervisor while he was with Habitat for Humanity. He was always looking for ways to make development work more effective. In fact, he was instrumental in introducing the poverty database in East Timor as a means to use an equitable method to prioritize families in need of decent shelter. Our concern was how to determine who should receive assistance first considering that practically all the people there were in need of assistance.
The tool was introduced with minimal cost to Habitat since it was intended to help our program become more responsive. His concern for fairness was not only an esoteric idea but rather translated into practical terms by introducing a tool which enabled us to objectively prioritize the families to receive assistance.
As a regional staff of Habitat, Nestor had to make frequent travels to a number of countries in Asia Pacific. We covered his costs based on actual expense. In all the years that I supervised him, there was not a single instance that he took advantage of the office. In fact, he always made sure that he stayed in reasonably priced hotels to save on travel costs. This shows his personal integrity and strong commitment towards stewardship of donor funds. (N.B. I am from Bohol and he is truly our gain.)
Ellen Grace Zosa-Gallares
Executive Director,
PADAYON Bohol Marine Triangle Management
Dauis Municipal Hall, Dauis, Bohol
In 2004 when I was managing a project on integrated population, health and environment, I sought Nestor’s assistance to use the Poverty Database Monitoring System with our project. He readily made himself available. His goal, it seems, is to share knowledge and wisdom and he does so relentlessly.
He is a man filled with wisdom which comes from the heart to help others grow. In 2009 our path crossed again as he helped Local Government Units conserve their cultural and marine heritage. His heart to reach out to others was once again evident.
Being much younger and a novice in development work, I consider Nestor my coach. He helps me and others find strength in what we do. He is a team player, respecting other people’s ideas. He works well with people of all ages regardless of their standing in life. He is also a Boy Scout, laging handa. He never holds a meeting or an activity unprepared.
METODIO B. MARAGUINOT JR.
Deputy Project Manager
DReAMS (Development of Resources for Access to Services)
Dr. Nes always has a heart for the common tao. Since I started working with Dr. Nes as his Deputy in the Realising DReAMS Project, I have always been captivated by his passion in identifying where the poor and the deprived are through the Poverty Database Monitoring System or PDMS so they can be given adequate assistance. The success of Bohol in combating poverty was partly due to the use of PDMS in tracking the most disadvantaged households and communities.
Dr. Nes' passion for the poor is beyond question. This for me sums up his integrity as a social worker devoted to helping communities grow. These qualities of Dr. Nes continue to touch young people's hearts and minds.
Samuel J. Gulayan PhD
Chairperson, Extension and Training Division
Bohol Island State University
Cogtong, Candijay, Bohol
Dr. Pestelos serves as Chairman of the Bohol Local Development Foundation (BLDF), which owns the copyright to Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS) software. The system is currently used in the Philippines and in several municipalities and cities in other countries (Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh).
BLDF has made PDMS available to all 47 municipalities and 1 city of Bohol province to guide the implementation of projects for poverty reduction. The use of the household poverty database minimizes political interventions in the selection of project beneficiaries.
Raul Sarceda
Habitat for Humanity colleague (Kuala Lumpur 2008)
When we were in Kuala Lumpur, Nestor was very emphatic with the local staff about the right family selection. He was concerned not only because serving the poor was the reason for Habitat for Humanity's existence, but from his personal commitment to serve them through the provision of a decent home. He shared this concern with the public officials we encountered when we visited potential communities for the project.
Nestor’s commitment to community development is both practical and concrete. He used his retirement benefits to build in his Upper Laya property, a center with facilities for seminars and training and a dormitory to accommodate participants. In the same compound he raises Baboy na walang amoy to help families have a source of additional income.
Zenaida D. Darunday
Executive Director, Bohol Nature Conservation Society; Chair, Bohol Federation of Women Cooperatives; Past President, Bohol Initiators for Sustainable Agriculture & Development
My acquaintance with Nestor started in 2004 when he headed Bohol's Poverty Reduction Management Office. I came to know him more when he came out with his brainchild - the Poverty Database System software for Bohol. Because of its very detailed scope dealing with 20 indicators, this program was able to pinpoint why they are poor and where they are. This database is now widely used by all local government units in Bohol as a tool to target the poorest of the poor and provide them with relevant services.
He was not satisfied in just developing that software. When it comes to poverty alleviation programs implemented either by the government or private agencies, Nestor is always out there either taking the lead or being part of the technical working group to implement such programs.
A very generous person and a loving husband and father, Nestor would literally give the shirt off his back to help others. He equally shares his time and talent to junior community development workers.
LUTGARDO L. LABAD
Head, National Committee on Dramatic Arts
National Commission for Culture and the Arts
Artistic Director , TEATRO ABATAN
I have worked in Bohol since 1997 in the field of arts and culture for sustainable development after two decades of theater work with the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). Having spent so many years in this endeavor, I felt there was a need for establishing indicators of the impact our group has had. How could we establish that the cultural intervention we have launched really does make a difference in the lives of those with whom we share our cultural methodologies?
This is where the work of Nestor Pestelos is crucial.
His work with BLDF and with the Provincial Government of Bohol using the Poverty Data Base Monitoring System establishes indicators of poverty in all the municipalities of Bohol from the smallest sitio or purok to the provincial government. We have adopted this monitoring system for our cultural work particularly in the formation of various cultural collectives in the Abatan River Community Life Tour. With the help of the BLDF PDMS team, we have quantified factors of poverty for these groups. We have also installed aspects of heritage and culture in the area. With this more encompassing system, we have identified deficiencies and more importantly, assets.
Our group is very thankful to Mr. Pestelos for his vision and passion for development work, specifically for his ingenuity in introducing a new method for sustainable development. He and his team at the BLDF have achieved a milestone not just for Bohol but for the entire country. #
Cecilio Adorna
Retired Senior UNICEF UN/Official
Nestor embodies the virtues of a genuine development worker. He has the passion for the betterment of the disadvantaged sections of the country and he possesses a strategic mind and approach to solve the problems that afflict them. He has the energy and the steadfastness to stay on course with any of his missions, despite obstacles.
After completing his work with the UNDP in the Pacific in 2002, he had alternatives of continuing work with institutions that pay handsomely but he chose to be with people he wanted to serve closely - the poor. The best way to do it, he thought, was to set up a foundation. He founded the Bohol Local Development Foundation and pioneered an approach on local development, with a focus on reducing poverty. This gave birth to the Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS).
Nestor faced enormous financial difficulties bankrolling the PDMS software but he did not mind this personal hardship. He proceeded to continue developing the system to the point where it is now recognized by the European Union, the Canadian International Development Agency and many other aid agencies. PDMS is currently used in many places in the country and worldwide. In Bohol province, the system has benefited many municipalities in improving the lives of the poor.
Through the PDMS, Nestor's strategic mind has made connections which are otherwise invisible to the uninterested, to those insensitive to the plight of the poor and to those who have given up on the frustrating bureaucracy of public institutions. His PDMS is user friendly and affordable, apt and relevant to public institutions. ###
Nepomucena D. Buot,
MD
Vice President, Bohol Local
Development Foundation
I came to know Dr.
Nestor Pestelos when I joined the Ilaw
International Center (IIC) in Bool, Tagbilaran City, Bohol in 1983. He was the Resident Director, I was the
assistant.
He conceptualized a
development program called Ilaw ng Buhay
(INB) which was approved by Atty. Ramon P. Binamira, the father of community
development in the Philippines. This
approach makes use of what we call the ‘upper jaw-lower jaw’ strategy, i.e. the
local government (LG) officials are the upper jaw and the community residents,
the lower jaw. They should work together for the development of the
community.
Sometimes we also
call this the bibingka approach, the
fire above the dough represents the local government officials and the fire
below is the people in the community. There is no development if only the
officials work, neither can there be, if only the community works.
Nestor calls the Ilaw
International Center, the UNICEF-funded training center, the ‘Temple of the Poor’ because the
participants are mainly poor people from remote barangays. However, it has also served as a training
center for delegates from different countries who are sent by UNICEF/USAID to
learn about the Ilaw ng Buhay
approach.
Nestor fits the
description of someone who rubs elbows
with kings but also walks with slaves. His heart is always for the
poor. I remember him giving his white
shirts to a canteen server who could not afford to buy his white uniform.
As a director he is
a workaholic. The IIC staff works until
the wee hours of the morning to cap a night of intense discussion and ensure
fresh outputs for the day’s planning session with the community. After the
training activity, he becomes our ‘father’ who treats us to a picnic on the
beach providing us with sumptuous lunch. We all enjoy ourselves from the
director down to the janitors and the canteen servers.
I still work with
Nestor in his 7-yr old NGO, the Bohol Local Development Foundation which
implements the Poverty Development Monitoring System (PDMS) and and provides Microfinance
services to farmers and fisherfolks and to their wives who have small
enterprises.
A mutual friend
from NEDA, Thelma Cruz, says that with Nestor Pestelos, it’s always ‘walang
katapusang’ development work.
Eulale Albuladora
Executive
Director
Bohol Local
Development Foundation
I came to know NMP since
1985 when I decided to join Ilaw ng Buhay Program, a breakaway initiative from Project
Compassion of the then First Lady Imelda Marcos.Since the establishment of the
Ilaw International Center in Bohol and up to the present, I have always been a
part of his team working for the good of the common people especially those
deprived or marginalized groups.
While he had been to a
lot of places to take on the work of a development planner and community
development specialist, he always finds himself going back to Bohol to continue
working on the concept of how to help local governments and other government
institutions identify/target those who are really in dire need of the basic
services of the government. It was an opportunity for him to carry out his
advocacy when the provincial government of Bohol engaged his services as a
consultant of the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) in 2003.
It was on this
engagement that he was able to pursue his concept of poverty targeting. With
the help of a British volunteer, Mr. Tony Irving, he developed a software for
the establishment of a poverty database in the local communities (from the
purok, barangay, municipal and at the provincial levels). With the community
profile, local governments are able to track down the poorest of the poor as
well as assess and monitor project impacts in a given time.
NMP will always be
remembered as a person who has dedicated his life tracking the poorest of the
poor and facilitating their easy access to services. ###
Milwida Sevilla-Reyes
High School Classmate – Lucena City
26 Jan 2012
Dr Pestelos
and I were in the same class at the Quezon Provincial High School in Lucena
City. He was our school paper editor. He impressed me, many of our classmates
and our teachers, as one who would become a writer or a university professor.
So how did he end up being a development
worker?
I was already
living in Sydney in the mid-70s when I learned that he was information officer
with the National Green Revolution and the Project Compassion, Manila. These
and the Environmental Center of the Philippines introduced him to the world of
development projects.
He came to work
with some 40 people who pioneered community development in this country. They
lived in the barrios of Candelaria, Quezon testing community organising
techniques and training designs for what eventually became known as the Ilaw ng Buhay Movement. UNICEF Manila
supported their people-based approach to development.
What also baffled
me and our high school group about Dr Pestelos’s development work: Why Bohol
and not his native Quezon?
It turned out
that UNICEF, which supported Dr Pestelos to get advanced academic credits from
the University of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England ‘decided’ for him.
Part of his 1982
Bradford fellowship Planning and
Appraisal of Rural Development Projects was to submit a project proposal.
He wrote about establishing two Ilaw
International Centers, one in Quezon and the other in Bohol. UNICEF approved
the one for Bohol. He was recalled from his studies and sent to Tagbilaran to
supervise the construction of the building based on the approved concept.
Later, he was appointed as its first ILAW
Resident Director.
And as the
cliché goes, the rest is history.
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