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MORE AFFORDABLE SOCIAL HOUSING My former boss and mentor, former Vice President and former housing czar Jejomar "Jojo" C. Binay (JCB) once told me in a meeting that housing is a financing problem, and not a technical problem. I recall that he gave an example, that in theory, anyone could buy a Mercedes-Benz, for as long as the car buyer can be given a long term payment plan. I also recall that he also gave the examples of long term house installment plans in Hong Kong and Singapore, wherein the children and grandchildren of the original home buyers could even take over or assume the balance of the housing loans of their parents and grandparents. In that sense, those could be called "trans-generational financing" (TGF) terms. I also recall that my other boss and mentor, the late Jose "Jolly" Conrado Benitez (also JCB) who was the housing czar at that time as the Deputy Minister of Human Settlements, told me that the housing units offered by the Ministry of ...

TOWARDS BUILDING MANGROVE ECOSYSTEMS Many scientists have concluded that mangrove forests could become strong buffers to counter storm surges and rising sea levels, but with a caveat that what should be planted are not just small patches of mangrove trees here and there, but large, very large hectarages of mangrove forests that are here, there and everywhere. I do not mean to split hairs with the DENR, but I think that there are two reasons why the National Greening Program (NGP) failed. Firstly, they were simply "planting" the trees but were not "caring" for them. And secondly, they were not planting enough of the trees to make a largely significant impact. While it is true that mangrove forests could grow in size on its own, it could of course grow faster if more planting is done as part of long term ecosystem development planning. Yes, the entire mangrove forests along with its surroundings should be managed like an ecosystem, and not simply as a cluster of trees...

TYPHOONS AND WIND PATTERNS Just to be clear, the southwest monsoon also known as "Habagat" is not a typhoon but a seasonal wind pattern. Knowing that, I wonder why the mass media is reporting the recent natural disaster as if it is a back-to-back onslaught of two typhoons, namely "Habagat" and Carina. Also to be clear, the southwest monsoon is a recurring pattern therefore it will always be called "Habagat" each time it comes. On the other hand, typhoons always comes and goes, but each time it comes, it carries a different name. According to ScienceDirect, "There is strong scientific consensus that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are causing climate change and that this is contributing to stronger typhoons due to higher sea surface temperatures and higher subsurface sea temperatures, which remove the natural buffer on typhoon strength occasioned when cold water up wells from below the ocean’s surface. These stronger typhoons carry more moisture...

LIMITING UNLIMITED RICE While it may be good for the business of restaurant owners to offer unlimited rice servings because it attracts customers, I believe that it is bad for the health of these same customers. And not only that, it is also bad for our economy, considering that we have a rice shortage, which is the reason why we have to import much of our rice supplies. Rice converts to sugar, and as a general rule, too much sugar is bad for everyone, even for people who are relatively healthy. Perhaps it is just a matter of semantics, but it is seemingly easier for us to admit that "we do not have a rice shortage", compared to admitting that "we have a rice shortage". But of course, common logic will tell us that we do have a rice shortage, otherwise we would already be exporting rice, instead of importing it. As of now, the Philippines is importing about 8% of our rice demands, but I suspect that it could be higher than that. The Philippines measures its "fo...

 MANAGING OUR SARGASSUM RESOURCES There are over seventy species of sargassum in the Philippines, and that could potentially make thousands of seaweed farmers rich, if only the government could learn how to manage the whole process of breeding, harvesting, processing and marketing more efficiently. But due to reports of overharvesting in some areas, the BFAR has chosen to totally ban harvesting in those areas, very much affecting the livelihoods of the seaweed farmers there. As I see it, the banning of sargassum harvesting should be a moving target, based on empirical data that could be gathered in specific time periods in specific areas, using either satellite data or drone data or a combination of both. That should be an easy thing to do by using available technologies, but it seems that the BFAR decided that it was easier to just ban the harvesting absolutely, even if there could be an abundance of it in some places at certain times. That is actually the lazy thing to do, just l...

BETTER DISASTER RESPONSE Many radio and television stations and websites have done a great job in announcing and forwarding information about the Carina typhoon and flood victims who needed help. Most social media networking sites were also very busy receiving and passing on the information, among them were Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tik-Tok. I also noticed that the people who needed help were calling and texting any number that they could find, among them the emergency contacts of DILG, NDRRMC, PNP, BFP and even the Philippine Red Cross (PRC). I have observed however that all throughout the time frame of the disaster, there was no single point of contact (SPOC) that disaster victims could call, regardless of who they are, regardless of where they are, and regardless of the means of communications that they had access to. Conversely, there was no SPOC that could receive and process the incoming information so that these could be relayed to the various government agencies that nee...

BATTLING A MENTAL HEALTH EPIDEMIC It is already a well-established fact that the Covid-19 pandemic also triggered what could be called a mental health pandemic. It does not mean however that since the Covid-19 pandemic has practically slowed down, that the mental health pandemic has also slowed down. For the record, no one has officially declared the mental health problem is already a pandemic, but I suggest that we already make that declaration, so that we could respond to the problem with the attention that it needs. As far as I know, no one has declared that the Covid-19 pandemic is officially over, with most governments merely saying that it is now reduced to being a manageable epidemic, whatever that means. What is clear however, is that no one has also declared that the mental health pandemic is also over, in fact many governments would even hesitate to call it an epidemic. The fact remains however that globally, 1 out of 8 are affected according to the WHO, and locally, at least...

 WHAT IS THE REAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE? According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the unemployment rate in our country as of May 2024 is 4.1%. Can you believe that? By the way, it is also the PSA that reports the poverty incidence in our country, and they said that as of the first semester of 2023, the poverty incidence is 22.4%. How can that be? Somehow the numbers do not compute, and the PSA owes it to us to reconcile them. Although I am not an economist, I am able to conjecture that if the unemployment rate is lower, then the poverty incidence should also be lower. In layman terms, I could explain that the more people are employed, then there are more people who could afford the imaginary basket of goods, therefore there should be more people who could rise above the poverty line. I do not know how the PSA does its computation, but as a UP graduate with six units of statistics, I understand well enough that somehow, the minimum wage should have something to do with th...

 METRO MANILA DEVELOPMENT PLANNING The five functions of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) are 1. development planning, 2. transport and traffic management, 3. solid waste disposal and management, 4. flood control and sewerage management and 5. urban renewal, zoning and land use planning.  When I interviewed an MMDA official some years ago and asked him what are the functions of his agency, he only mentioned items 2, 3 and 4, perhaps forgetting 1 and 5. I could not explain how he could forget the first and the last functions, but if at all, it could be an indication of how the MMDA officials interpret their functions and priorities. Perhaps, the MMDA is the only region in the Philippines that also has the legal status of being a government agency at the same time. Because of that duality, it has a separate budget allocation under the General Appropriations Act (GAA), a benefit that the other regions do not enjoy. Although it is required to submit its own Regional D...

 BANTAY GOBYERNO 004-2024 (For August 9. 2024) GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT OUR SUSTAINABLE GOALS I might have missed it after two searches, but it appears that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are being promoted by the United Nations (UN) are not mentioned in the medium term Philippine Development Plan (PDP) for 2023 to 2028. It could just be a simple oversight, but it could also be a sign that our government is not at all serious in our meeting these goals by 2030. And what is the basis of my observation? I recall very clearly that our government at that time was not able to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were also proposed by the UN at that time, to end by 2015. I also recall that the government at that time was not even embarrassed that they failed to meet the goals, maybe because they were not serious in meeting them in the first place. But why were the MDGs before and the SDGs now very important, and why should our government get serious about it? The...

MICROCREDITS FOR PERSONAL ASSISTANTS While it's good for many employees to have lots of microcredits to their name, what is even better is for them to have a career plan that would put their multiple skills to good use, regardless of whether they stay in the country or go abroad to look for greener pastures. In a very competitive job market, I think that anyone who has more skills or qualifications would have an edge over those who have lesser skills. Generally speaking, I would say that those who have more language skills and more technical skills would be more hirable than others, especially if they could speak many languages and if they could perform many skills. In this context, I am reminded of the employees of "Singing Cooks and Waiters Restaurant", where everyone could either cook and serve food, aside from being able to sing and dance. In the existing job market as we know it, workers are hired for specific skills such as cooks, waiters, nannies, butlers, maids, d...

 ADAPTIVE USE OF HERITAGE BUILDINGS The law prohibits owners of owners of buildings that are fifty years old or older from demolishing them, for any reason, because of heritage protection laws. Since the law is very clear about that, and there is no way around it, these owners have to a solution that would still enable them to make money from their assets, and yet still remain compliant with the law. I think that the bottom line requirement of heritage conservation is to make sure that the appearance of the heritage buildings should still look generally the same, even if there would be allowable modifications here and there, meaning that there should be no serious departure from the original "look and feel". Although this subjective requirement falls under a the category of a "grey area", I think that keeping the "look" would be easier than keeping the feel". Keeping the "look and feel" is the general idea behind the concept of "adaptiv...

BANTAY GOBYERNO 003-2024 OFFICE OF THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVISER Have you ever wondered how the United States government is able to function without a Department of Science and Technology (DOST)? By logical reasoning, is it not that we should be doing better than them science wise, since we have a DOST and they do not? But without a DOST, how are they able to manage their overall science concerns? The answer to that is two-pronged. On one hand, they have a National Science Foundation (NSF), and on the other hand, they have an Office of the Science and Technology Adviser (OSTA) at the White House, who is reporting directly to the President of the United States (POTUS), but does not have cabinet rank. The Director and Deputy Director of NSF are appointed by the POTUS, but still have to be confirmed by the United States Senate. Although it bears the name "Foundation", it is actually an independent agency of the United States government, presumably reporting to no one except...

 RETHINKING THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCILS According to the law, there are supposed to be Local Development Councils (LDCs) at the barangay, municipal, city, provincial and regional levels. According to that same law, these councils are supposed to publish their meeting agendas and their meeting minutes, for everyone to access and read. If I am not mistaken, access to these documents are covered by the Executive Order (EO) about Freedom of Information (FOI). As far as I know however, there are many LDCs that are not meeting at all, and some of them are even fabricating their meeting agendas and meeting minutes to make it appear that they conducted their meetings, even if they did not. It is ironic, but they are actually breaking the law, in order to comply with the law. Also as far as I know, the Barangay Development Councils (BDCs) are supposed to submit their reports to the Municipal Development Councils (MDCs), and in turn, the MDCs are supposed to submit their reports to the Pr...

DEVELOPING A PRO-CITIZEN APP It has been many years since I left the DFA as a Foreign Service Officer (FSO), but up to now, I am still getting many calls from friends and friends of friends, asking for my help in applying for passports and in the authentication of documents for transmission abroad. The same with PCSO, I left that agency as a director many months ago, but up to now I still get many calls to ask for my help in getting financial assistance for hospitalization and other medical services. Why is it that many Filipinos would always look for someone who knows somebody at a government agency for them to approach and ask to for help? Why can't they just approach those agencies on their own? Is it not that anybody should be able to approach these government agencies at any time for any request for assistance? Is it not that these government agencies are supposed to provide them with good and fast services because of their being citizens, taxpayers and voters?  The answer is ...

THE POLITICS OF WASTE MANAGEMENT It has been many years since the advocacy for the environment was started. Many of my friends in the movement have already died, and I am afraid that those who are still alive might also pass away without our environment becoming cleaner and safer, among other goals. I have studied the reasons why we are still failing, and I have concluded that the problem is the politics behind waste management. It is no secret that some mayors are making money from the hauling fees and the tipping fees that are part of the waste management process. The commissions or kickbacks from the hauling fees and the tipping fees are computed on a per trip basis, meaning that the more trips there are, the more commissions will be paid. That is clearly the reason why Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) are not succeeding in many LGUs, because there is a conflict of interests. The reason for the conflict of interests is very simple. The more materials are recovered from the MRFs,...

GREY AREAS IN GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS Dear Mr. President: May I ask who is going to be the arbiter or referee whenever there are overlaps in functions between two or more government agencies? I imagine that there would be no problem if these agencies would just cooperate and collaborate with each other, but what if they are unable to settle their differences and they would just end up throwing blame at each other or finger pointing at each other? Allow me to cite some examples. Who is supposed to take the lead in waste to energy projects? Is it supposed to be the DENR that is supposed to handle waste? Or is it supposed to be the DOE that is supposed to handle energy generation? Or is it supposed to be the DILG since it is the one that could direct or influence the waste to energy projects of LGUs? Who is supposed to take the lead in producing and promoting the use of biofuels? Is it supposed to be the DA, since the production of biofuels is supposed to be all about planting biofuel ...

BANTAY GOBYERNO 001-2024 POVERTY MAPPING Does anyone know of any Local Government Unit (LGU) that is already doing poverty mapping now? Perhaps some LGU officials are not aware that local poverty rate data are readily available from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and also from Wikipedia? In other words, any barangay chairman, mayor or governor could find out what is the poverty rate in his or her jurisdiction, and set a goal as to how much he or she could lower the poverty rate after his or her term. In my opinion, all heads of LGUs at the barangay, municipal, city and provincial levels should set their own goals, as to how much they "promise" to reduce poverty in their jurisdictions, on or before the end of their terms. By now, we should no longer allow them to "promise" to build more roads and bridges, because that is supposed to be their regular functions anyway. Just to be clear, I am talking about real measurable poverty reduction, and not plain and ...

 JEEPNEYS LOOKING LIKE MINIBUSES Over the years, we have already learned that what walks like a duck and talks like a duck is not necessarily a duck. As a matter of fact, in this time of advanced robotics, what walks like a human and talks like a human is not necessarily a human. Sad to say, there is another saying that if a lie is told so many times over and over again, it might even begin to sound like the truth. For so many times, I tried looking at the so-called "modern jeepney" for so many times, hoping that it could eventually look like the original jeepney as I know it, perhaps in a way hoping that it could turn into a golden carriage just like the giant squash in the fairy tale story of Cinderella. No matter how much I tried to look, the so-called "modern jeepney" always looked like a "minibus" to me, and nothing else. I wonder who it is that concocted this lie and somehow succeeded in convincing the entire nation that it is a "modern jeepney...

 ALTERNATIVES TO ANCESTRAL DOMAIN TITLES There appears to be many indigenous tribes that do not have their own Certificates of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) yet, for one reason or another. One reason is that the tribe members could not claim their rights to own the existing places where they are now residing, again for one reason or another. One reason is that they may not have the right connections, or they may not have the resources to pursue their claims.  Some of the reasons for not having approved CADTs could be political, some could be financial. The political reason could be that the claims of the tribal members could be defeated or overpowered because of the intervention of business interests, some of whom may not even live in the vicinity of the territories in question. The financial reason could be because some local and national government officials could be bribed to rule against the Indigenous Peoples (IPs). As an alternative to the CADTs that may even be beyond t...

 SHUTTLE BUSES FOR HOUSING PROJECTS I remember that it was my mentor, the late Jose Conrado "Joly" Benitez who told me that in many developed countries, the housing programs are always done in tandem with the transportation programs, meaning that these two programs have to work together side by side, or back-to-back, to put it another way. In reality, it does not always happen that housing projects are planned with built-in transportation services, but can you imagine how convenient it would be if housing residents could just hop in and hop out of buses where they live, thus sparing them the inconvenience of looking for bus rides far away from where they live? I remember that I used to enjoy that convenience, when there were airconditioned "Love Buses" that were waiting in my village in the mornings, and then they would also be waiting in parking lots in Makati in the afternoons, to bring me back to my village. Fast forward to today, this bus service has been revive...

 STRATEGIES TO FIGHT MALNUTRITION AND STUNTING Many popular medical associations define a "baby" as the age of a child from birth to four years old. I am inclined to accept that definition, because at the end of four years, the "baby" would be about 1,460 days old, which is close to the window of 1,000 days that is said to be the most vulnerable period when he or she could become a victim of stunting due to malnutrition. In reality, there could still be a "grace" period wherein a baby could still recover from, or get healed from stunting even after his or her first 1,000 days, hence the extra 460 days "allowance" would be convenient, at least the way I see it. The fact is, some experts believe that this countdown could even be as long as five years old, thus giving the "allowance" of an extra 365 days. Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) Health Committee chairperson Ms. Raquel Cagurangan has suggested that the anti-stunting ...

MORE ACTIVE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCILS In fairness to the Regional Development Councils (RDCs), I would rather say that they are not doing enough to publicize what they are doing, instead of saying that they are not doing anything, or they are not doing enough in order to fulfill the mandates that were given to them. Perhaps one reason for this lack of information is because of the fact that their accomplishments are mostly local in nature, and would seldom get the attention of the national press. In theory, the Barangay Development Councils (BDCs) should report to the Municipal Development Councils (MDCs), the MDCs should report to the Provincial Development Councils (PDCs), and ultimately, the PDCs should report to the Regional Development Councils (RDCs). And that should not stop there, because again in theory, the RDCs are supposed to report to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). Also in theory, the NEDA is supposed to report to the Office of the President (OP). ...