ikeseneres

GOVERNMENT AS FIRST ADAPTER OF ALL LAWS I have a new movement in mind. For lack of a better term, I call it “Government As First Adapter” or GAFA. At its core is a very simple idea: practice what you preach . It sounds almost childish—like “show and tell” in kindergarten—but perhaps that is exactly what our governance needs today: simplicity, clarity, and sincerity. It has always puzzled me why governments are very good at crafting laws, yet often lukewarm in enforcing them—especially on themselves. Passion in enforcement cannot be faked. It must be demonstrated. And the most convincing demonstration is leadership by example. Take biofuels. We keep hearing about mandates for higher biodiesel blends, cleaner transport, and reduced emissions. My question is: why not start with all government vehicles? If every agency—from national departments down to barangay units—shifted to biofuels, the message would be unmistakable: “We believe in this enough to do it first.” Or consider waste segreg...

REVIVING DEAD SOIL USING BLACK EARTH I used to think that once soil becomes “dead,” it is gone for good—just like a depleted mine or a dried-up well. But I was wrong. Soil, unlike many other resources, can actually come back to life. And the solution, interestingly enough, is something ancient, almost forgotten: Black Earth. Scientists today call it biochar or humic substances, but long before modern agriculture existed, indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest were already producing what is now known as Terra Preta. These were not naturally fertile soils—they were created by people. That alone should make us pause and rethink how we treat our own farmlands. So yes, dead soil can live again. The technology is already here. In fact, it has always been here. The problem is not just technical—it is cultural. We have become too dependent on chemical fertilizers, forgetting that fertilizers are supposed to supplement fertility, not replace it. Now, with global supply disruptions and...

  LOCAL EMPLOYMENT AND DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM (LEADS) Everybody seems to mention it, to a point that almost everyone seems to believe that it is true. I am talking about the so-called “mismatch” in local employment, which is supposedly the reason why the unemployment rate is rather high in many places. Is this so-called “mismatch” true? Or is it just an urban legend? Could it be that there are really not enough job openings to apply for, so much so that there are many people who end up being unemployed? I do not know the answer to that myself, but I think that it is possible that there could be enough jobs there for everybody, except that there is no good venue or platform for the prospective employees to meet their prospective employers. That is the reason why I decided to partner with Mr. Ferdz Ibraheem Sabado of Yaramay Software to build such a good venue or platform where prospective employees could meet their prospective employers. For all intents and purposes, we could call it a “...

FILIPINO OVERSEAS REPORTING AND MONITORING SYSTEM (FORMS) The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has required all Philippine Recruitment Agencies (PRAs) to build and maintain their own databases that would enable them to monitor the locations of their clients in case of emergencies abroad, regardless of where these clients are. I am purposely using the term “client” here to highlight the fact that these Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are the employees of the foreign employers, and not the employees of the PRAs. In other words, the PRAs are merely acting as the service providers to the OFWs, so that they could work abroad under the employ of the foreign employers. Although these PRAs are practically acting as the “agents” of the foreign employers, I think it is better for them to be called “service providers” because they are performing the very important service “connecting” the job applicants with their prospective foreign employers. I commend the DMW for coming up with this requir...

WATER BANKRUPTCY VERSUS WATER CRISIS I used to think that a water crisis was already the worst-case scenario for any country. It turns out, I was wrong. There is something far more alarming now being discussed globally—and that is water bankruptcy . According to Kaveh Madani of United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, a crisis is temporary. Bankruptcy is permanent—or at least, very difficult to reverse. A water crisis is like having money in the bank but not in your wallet. You wait for the next paycheck—in this case, rainfall. A water bankruptcy , however, means you have spent not only your income but also your savings. In water terms, we are no longer living on annual rainfall (the “interest”), but are now depleting aquifers and watersheds (the “principal”). That distinction is crucial. In a crisis, government responses are predictable: water rationing, tankering, and emergency measures. But in a bankruptcy, the response must be structural—limits on ex...

HOW TO CONVERT PENAL COLONIES INTO FARM SCHOOLS This idea is not new—but perhaps what it needs is not reinvention, but rebranding and resolve. What if we simply stopped calling them penal colonies and started calling them farm schools ? Words matter. Names shape mindsets. A “penal colony” suggests punishment. A “farm school” suggests purpose. At its core, this proposal is about shifting from punishment to productivity, from confinement to correction. After all, the very mandate of the Bureau of Corrections is not just to detain, but to correct. And correction, by any reasonable definition, means rehabilitation. That same philosophy should extend to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, because whether we admit it or not, almost all Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) will eventually return to society. The real question is: in what condition? Right now, many are released with stigma but without skills. And although the law discourages employers from asking about incarceration hist...