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 MOVING AHEAD WITH PROJECT INNOCENTS The Innocence Project Philippines Network (IPPN) was organized by Dr. Maria Corazon De Ungria and her husband, Atty. Jose M. Jose, for the purposes of 1. Providing free coordinated assistance to persons who were wrongly convicted, 2. Advocating for better laws, rules, education, investigative procedures and evidence handling, 3. Enhancing the capabilities of judges, prosecutors, lawyers, forensic investigators and students, and 4. Establishing an independent and accurate DNA or wrongful conviction database. They work with volunteer lawyers which include Atty. Paul Heherson Balite. I have contacted Dr. De Ungria, Atty. Jose, and Atty. Balite. I have invited them to join the chat group FREE THE INNOCENTS PH that I have created in Facebook Messenger. According to Dr. De Ungria, they have been running short-term internships for those who want to learn more about their advocacies and purposes. They will also be conducting online meetings wherein the...

INTERNATIONAL FOOD ABUNDANCE RESEARCH AND MARKETING SCHOOL Is anyone aware of a school that combines agriculture, fisheries, forestry, business administration, economics, engineering, information technology and other disciplines together towards the common goal of food sufficiency and food security? To put it in another way, is there a school that aims to solve the problem of extreme hunger and food scarcity? In other words, a school that would champion the cause of food abundance? As a case in point, the University of the Philippines (UP)System has all of the above mentioned schools and colleges that are scattered in several campuses, but there is no single location or facility where these could all converge for research, product development, training, packaging, marketing, networking and other related activities.  As I understand it, there could be a piece of land inside UP Diliman that could be used as the site for this school, which we could tentatively call the International F...

 TELEMEDICINE AT THE GRASSROOTS LEVEL Marinduque Governor Presby Velasco has a wonderful plan to make telemedicine available to all the 218 Barangay Health Units (BHUs) in his island province, and I am very happy to help him with the project as his Information and Communications Technology (ICT) consultant.  Although the technology for telemedicine is already available in the market, it appears that no province has yet implemented a province wide telemedicine project that could connect patients from the grassroots level to the doctors at the municipal halls and the provincial capitol. By doing that, Governor Velasco will be able to achieve the goal of providing universal access to healthcare to everyone in his province. Although the project might appear to be complex, it is actually designed with a simple plan that would make it easy to implement. The one part of the plan is to install internet connectivity in each of the BHUs, using satellite or fiber, depending on what is av...

 THE TAMING OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The United States Congress is already conducting hearings about how to develop and harness artificial intelligence (AI) towards the goal of using it as a tool for business, science, governance, agriculture and defense, among other productive purposes. Meanwhile, it has not entered the agenda of either of the two houses of our own Congress. I have used the word "taming" as a title of this essay, because that is exactly how I look at AI, that it is like a wild animal that has to be "tamed", otherwise it could go on a rampage that could cause damage or even death to humans. As a wild animal, it also has to be domesticated, otherwise it could just become feral, with no economic value or contribution to society. Microsoft Copilot defines AI as the "ability of digital computers or computer-controlled robots to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings". According to Copilot, among these tasks are reasoning, ...

 PLANTING THE WRONG TREES About ten years ago, the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) convinced many farmers in the La Trinidad and Benguet areas to plant tobacco. NTA even invested in a large warehouse and office in La Union for storage and logistics purposes. Eventually, it was discovered that the lands were not suitable for tobacco. Because of that, the farmers went bankrupt, and the warehouse became a white elephant. About six years ago, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) implemented a National Greening Program (NGP) with the goal of planting millions of trees in selected mountainous areas. Sad to say, the program failed, and the DENR lost millions of government funds. Some say that corruption was the cause of the failure, but other than that, I say that the cause could be planting the wrong species in the wrong places. Even up to now, the DENR appears to be planting the Bakhawan variety of mangroves everywhere, thinking perhaps that this variety coul...

CATHOLIC LIFE ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT PROGRAM In order for a seed to grow into a seed and eventually into a seedling, it has to be watered and nourished before it becomes a mature plant or a tree. I think that that analogy could also be used to describe the journey of becoming a Christian. Planting a seed into the soil is very much like planting the word of God into a person. That person could be converted or baptized, but it would be difficult for him or her to grow into a real Christian, not unless his faith in God is watered and nourished. Statistics show that more Filipino Catholics could be classified as "nominal", while the rest could be classified as "active" or "practicing. In other words, those who are classified as "nominal" are only Catholics in name only, but not in actual practice. It is also possible that many Filipino Catholics merely go through the functions of participating in some religious rituals, without really "practicing...

PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENT PARTIES AND ORGANIZATIONS LEAGUE  I noticed that there are many independent political parties and organizations that are outside the mainstream of the political arena. Because of that, their voices are hardly heard in the mainstream news media, probably because they do not possess the critical mass that could attract the attention of the news reporters and the editors. But what if they could consolidate all their voices into one bigger voice? Would that not make a difference? As much as possible, I have been avoiding political topics in my essays. Recently however, I have noticed that the bigger mainstream parties have been focusing more on their political agendas, and they have not been paying too much attention to their scientific and economic agendas. And even if they are doing that to some extent, it appears to be shallow and lacking. When I say economic agendas, I also mean the environmental, social and governance (ESG) components. ESG is a buzz word in ...

 PUBLIC DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORIES Privately owned diagnostic clinics are necessary services and it is good to have them around. I am a regular customer in one of those facilities, and I am quite happy about the quality of their services. What makes me sad however is that it seems that only the middle class could afford to pay for their services, thus leaving out a huge segment of the population that have no access to medical laboratory services at all. As it is supposed to be, private customers could avail of the services of private medical laboratories, no matter how expensive these are, as long as they could afford to pay. On the other hand, low income people do not have the luxury of that choice, because as far as I know, there are no public medical laboratory services that they could avail of for free, if you know what I mean. For sure, there are many public health centers that are offering their services for free, but how well could the doctors in these centers diagnose their pa...

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT It could be said that I strayed into the science and technology advocacy and policy field by accident. I had just taken my oath as a Foreign Service Officer (FSO) at the DFA, when I was recruited by then DFA Undersecretary Poch Macaranas to become his Special Assistant for Science and Technology. In that capacity, I became the Director of the UNDP Transfer of Knowledge Thru Expatriates (TOKTEN) program, the Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC) and the Return of Knowledge (ROK) program of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). I also became the DFA representative to the DOST Balik-Scientist Program, the Science and Technology Coordinating Council (STCC), the UNDP Technological Trade and Information Promotion System (TIPS) and the National Information Technology Council (NITC). When I was the Director General of the National Computer Center (NCC), my agency was transferred to the DOST, and so I automatically ...

 PHILIPPINE INCLUSIVE SYSTEM FOR COLLEGE ENTRY OF STUDENTS My advocacy partner Mr. Roi Baluyot and I have created the Philippine Inclusive System for College Entry of Students (PISCES), for the purpose of making it easier for prospective students from the marginalized sectors to enter any of the State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) that are located all over the Philippines. Although tuition is free in these SUCs, many prospective students find it difficult to proceed, because of possible expenses that they could not afford, such as books, learning materials, snacks, board and lodging, specifically for dormitory fees if they are from out of town. This idea started when Mr. Baluyot informed me that there are some UP alumni groups in the United States who are concerned about the fact that the the majority of the students who are presently enrolled in the UP campuses right now are mostly coming from the upper classes. That reality defeats the purpose of UP becoming a "university of ...

FILIPINO EMERGENCY RESPONSE NOTIFICATION SYSTEM Together with my business partner Mr. Ferdz Sabado, we have developed the Filipino Emergency Response Notification System (FERNS) so that the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) could be immediately notified by any Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) whenever he or she is in an emergency situation, for whatever reason. Mr. Sabado and I came up with the idea for the software after we noticed that presently, the DMW does not have a system wherein they could find out right away, in real time, whenever an OFW is in trouble or in distress somewhere and would need immediate attention. More often than not, the DMW Secretary and his or her staff is one of the last ones to know whenever there is an active case. Simply by using a mobile app, any OFW can send a distress signal that could immediately be received by the DMW Secretary and his or her staff. That way, they will be the first to know whenever there is an active case. At the same time, also in r...

 COMMUNITY HEALTH ELECTRONIC EXAMINATION AND REPORTING SYSTEM Together with my business partner Mr. Jorge Malig, we have designed a Community Health Electronic Examination and Reporting System (CHEERS) that will be housed in a converted shipping container van. The idea for CHEERS originally came from Mr. Malig, who wants to make available to all Filipinos several simple and affordable procedures such as urine and blood tests.  Based on our research, we found out that a simple urine test might be good enough to measure the blood sugar count of a patient, although his or her doctor might still want the patient to get a blood test, to get more accurate data. Aside from urine and blood tests, more services will be added to CHEERS. According to Mr. Malig, he wants CHEERS to have solar panels so that it could have its own source of electric power. He also wants to install a water condenser and or a rainwater collection, so that CHEERS could be partly independent of the local water s...

 VILLAGE INTEGRATED COMMUNITY SQUARE Together with my business partner Mr. Jorge Malig, we have designed a four-in-one facility that we have named the Village Integrated Community Square (VICS). It is composed of four shipping container vans that will be formed into a square, hence the name. The middle of the square shall have a food garden that shall also double as a mini community park. One of the container vans will function as a police outpost, another as a convenience store, another as an internet cafe, and another as a public toilet. All the four vans are supposed to complement each other in terms of their individual functions. The police outpost will protect the internet cafe and the convenience store. The public toilet will draw the customers for the internet cafe and the convenience store.  As it has been conceptualized, the owner of the convenience store and the internet cafe will share the rent for all the four vans, meaning that the police outpost and the public to...

OFW DIGITAL INFORMATION NETWORK Together with my partner Ferdz Sabado who is a Microsoft certified software programmer, I am developing an OFW Digital Information Network (ODIN) project. Unlike other job information sites wherein the job applicants will be the one to search, ODIN will be a site where recruitment agencies will be the ones who will search for qualified candidates for overseas jobs. To be clear, Ferdz and I are not in the recruitment business, therefore we do not need a recruitment license. Instead, we are in the information business. Ferdz and I both agree that we will be providing a much needed service not only to the recruitment agencies, but also to the job applicants themselves. That is so, because the recruitment agencies could save a lot of money by not spending money on their "help wanted" advertising placement. On the other hand, the job applicants need not spend too much money anymore just to go around applying at each and every agency. For that matter...

 ALTERNATIVES TO ANCESTRAL DOMAINS There is a social dilemma in many places that needs an immediate solution. I am here to offer a solution, and I hope that the civil society will listen. The problem is that not all indigenous communities are able to qualify for Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADTs) and because of that, they do not have places that they could occupy to live on, and to derive their livelihoods from. In the meantime, there are plenty of vacant lands around them that are owned by the government, but they could not apply for titles to these lands, because they do not have the proper historical claims to these areas. The solution is right there underneath our noses, but we have not thought of it, because it simply did not occur to us. According to the laws, any natural or juridical person for an Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA), or any other similar government program under the DENR. What that means is that any indigenous community that has regist...

CONTROLLING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE I have always said that technology is neutral, and whether it is used for good or for bad depends on who is using it. The basic truth is that artificial intelligence (AI)  is run by a computer software program that will do what it is programmed to do, depending on the command that the programmer gives it. So, if the programmer has bad intentions, the would of course perform bad or damaging actions. However, the truth is that the real instructions may not come from the programmer himself or herself, but whoever is paying him or her to do the programming. We have observed in so many dystopian and superhero movies that there is always a mastermind who is the evil mind behind the robots and the androids who are fighting the forces of good. Therefore, these masterminds are the ones who have instructed the programmers to write the instructions that are making the robots and androids obey the evil commands that have been issued to them. Generally speaki...

RECYCLING VERSUS UPCYCLING What is the difference between recycling and upcycling? It seems that not too many people know the difference between the two. It would also seem that the government has not come out with an official differentiation either. In the absence of that, please allow me to offer my own definitions. Although my definitions might sound like common knowledge, let me just bring it out for the record, for whatever purpose it might serve. I  think that recycling should mean the reuse of a recyclable material back to the same purpose. For example, a used plastic packaging could be recycled into another form or shape of plastic packaging, or even the same form or shape. Another example is to recycle aluminum cans back to aluminum cans again, also for packaging purposes. On the other hand, I think that upcycling should mean turning a used material into another useful product that is completely different from its original design or purpose. For example, used plastic packa...

IMPROVING OUR RAILWAY SYSTEMS Not too many people realize that MERALCO was originally an acronym for Manila Electric and Rail Company, meaning that in those days, MERALCO was in the rail car business, powered by the electricity that they were also generating. Some might argue that the rail cars were not "true" trains, but I will also argue that anything that runs on a railway is a train, no matter what. Many years later, we were so fascinated by the "modern" LRT system that was built, not realizing that it is really just a rail car that runs on electricity that is supplied by no other than MERALCO. On closer look, the LRT system (and now the MRT) system is very similar to the subway systems running abroad, but we do not call the LRT a subway because it does not run underground. Actually, the MRT runs underground, but we still do not call it a subway. The good news is, the PNR will finally be modernized with extended rail routes to further destinations. The bad news ...

LOCALIZED FREE AMBULANCE SERVICES As it is supposed to be, anyone in the Philippines should be able to dial 911, and a telephone operator should be able to dispatch fire, rescue, ambulance and police (FRAP) units as soon as possible, based on acceptable response times. I invented the FRAP acronym for easy recall, and I hope it sticks, if there is no other alternative. Unfortunately, due to a mixture of technical and political reasons, the Philippines has not adopted 911 as a national number, because some LGUs would rather use their own three-digit numbers such as 117 and 168. I actually proposed a technical solution to that problem, but it was not adopted either. For whatever it is worth, my solution is to install a call forwarding system that could route all calls to a central operator, regardless of what number is dialed. It is very sad for me to know that up to now, even if our country is already over one hundred years old, there are still many LGUs that do not have fire trucks. it ...

REDUCING THE RATE OF HOMELESSNESS   As far as I know, there is no legal or technical definition of “ homelessness ” here in our country . Along with that idea, it appears that there is also no legal or technical definition of what a “h ome ” is, or what it should be. Given the lack of definition, it would be very difficult to determine who is “homeless” or who is not. I s someone who lives in a shanty “homeless” or not?   Of course, we need not go into discussing the technicality of what is a “home ”, and what is a “house ”. Let us just agree that a “house” is a physical structure upon which we can build a “home ”. Now that we a gree on that, we could also agree that a “homeless” person is someone who does not ha ve a “house” to stay in, regardless of whether he or she is the owner, or he or she is j ust a tenant.   Now that we are done with the definitions, my next question is, how is the government setting its targets for the so-called “housing backlog”? Is...

BUILDING A NATIONAL INFORMATION SUPER HIGHWAY   As it is meant to be, national highways are supposed to b e free. We paid our taxes, and the government built the national highways using the funds deriv ed from our taxes, as appropriated by Congress. The equation changed when tollways came along. Even though we already paid our taxes with the expectation that the government would build national highways that we could use for free, we now must pay additional fees t o the tollway operators, as if we are paying taxes all over again.   My idea of a National Information Super Highway (NISH) is like the free national highways. The government should build it, and everyone could use it for free, including the telecom carriers, in the same way that bus operators could use the national highw ays for free. Of course, there should be a condition that since the telecom carriers are using it for free, their prices should be affordable for everybody, just like the bus fares...

  WHAT IS UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE?   What is universal health care, and what makes it universal? Is it the fact that it is accessible everyw here? Or is it the fact that it should be available to everyone, regardless of who they are, and where they are? I believe that it should be the latter, and that is the reason why I also believe that we should refer to it as “universal access t o healthcare” instead.   In theory, there is really no such thing as “universal healthcare ”, in the sense that healthcare is available to everyone, everywhere at no cost to them. It seems that not a single country has done that, even if Canada and some Scandinavian countries seem to be close to doing it. Here in the Philippines, it seems that the best we could do for now is to give “access” to everyone, even if there are certain costs to them.   In his own way, Dr. Luis Ramon V. Rodriguez has found a way to give make healthcare more accessible to more Filipinos, and to make it more ...

  EXPANDING THE NATIONAL COLD CHAIN NETWORK   Somehow , there appears to be a cold chain network here and th e re, but it does not appear t o b e extensive enough to meet the needs of the logistics industry that is servicing the food and drugs sectors. Contrary to the common belief that the cold chain is only for the food sector, it is also n eeded by the drugs sector.   My idea of a National Cold Chain N etwork (NCCN) is like that of the Internet, which is a “network of networks ”, meaning that it is an aggregate network of many subsidiary networks. That is the reason why in theory, the Internet could not be destroyed as a whole, or it could not totally malfunction, because many of its parts will still function, even if some of its parts are already disabled.   Mr. Jorge Malig is a businessman who builds cold storage warehouses using contai ner vans and prefabricated materials. He uses a blast-in-freeze (BIF) technology that was developed by the late F...