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 YES TO SEA AMBULANCES I have received a lot of good feedback about my essay promoting sea ambulances. Among them is Dr. Bernardo Gochoco, a senior manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). As everyone knows, PCSO is one of the biggest donors of ambulance units in the Philippines, giving those to Local Government Units (LGUs) nationwide. Dr. Gochoco wrote to say that it says so in Republic Act 10121 that LGUs can use 5% of their Internal Revenue Allocations (IRAs) for the preemptive purchases of necessary goods and equipment. He also said that if these allocations are unused after a certain period these would revert to the LGU "Social Fund". I think that there could be a "conflict of interest" here because by simply not using their IRA allocations for necessary goods and equipment, they would have a ready source for their other projects which may have nothing to do with ambulances and other emergency equipment. Since this appears to be a classic c...

NEW TEXTILES FROM BANANA STALKS I always get excited whenever I "discover" a new product that could be produced out of waste, in turn creating new sources for our poor people, especially our marginalized farmers. That is the feeling I had when I "discovered" that Bananatex, a new product that was using banana stalks. . I have been exchanging emails with Mr. Hannes Schoenegger, the Chairman and President of the company that makes it. Wikipedia describes Bananatex as "a natural cellulosic biodegradable "technical" canvas fabric made of Abacá banana plant fibres (also known as Manila hemp). The plants are grown in the Philippines as part of a sustainable forestry project in Catanduanes. Bananatex was developed and is distributed by the Swiss canvas goods company QWSTION and is used in the company's own products as well as in other companies' manufactured goods. Bananatex was developed to have better wear characteristics than cotton while being mo...

WHAT IS A FOOD POOR PERSON? Pardon me if I make some mistakes in my analysis here, because I graduated from the University of the Philippines with a degree in political science, and not economics. As a matter of fact, I only have six units of economics. Because of that, I have to get out of my way to make additional research, before I touch on economic topics in my essays. As far as I can recall, the conventional method of measuring poverty was whether or not a person would fall below the poverty line or not, based on his or her ability to afford the so-called "imaginary basket of goods", meaning all the contents of that "imaginary basket". As I understand it, that "basket" includes not only food, but many other non-food items, including housing costs. Very recently, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) issued a statement that "spending only P64 on food per day does not classify one as food poor". If multiplied by an index of five, that woul...

NUMBERING OF PLASTIC PACKAGING Out of the seven plastic categories, the first two, namely Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) and High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) are the easiest to recycle, and therefore these are the most in demand in the recyclable market. Never mind the five others, because those are the most difficult to recycle if ever, and therefore those would have the least problem in the recyclable market. The problem is, most of the people in the supply chain from the manufacturing side, to the consumer side, to the disposal side to the recycling side are not familiar with the system of numbering plastic packaging. That problem is compounded by the fact that generally speaking, the majority of plastic packaging that goes out into the market do not even contain the numbers as they should. I think that in theory, many responsible consumers would not even want to buy consumer products that are packaged in plastics that are neither numbered as 1 or 2. Of course that would be premis...

WE NEED SEA AMBULANCES Considering the number of island barangays in our country, I have no doubt in my mind that we should already introduce a system of sea ambulances all over the country, wherever these are needed. I am saying that it should be a "system", because these sea ambulances would be practically useless, not unless it will be supported by an emergency dispatching system, and an "army" of Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). I will never subscribe to the argument that some LGUs do not have ambulances because they have no money to buy these. I think that is a rotten reasoning, and it is just proof to show that the LGU officials who say that do not have their priorities in order. I understand that the LGUs may have other priorities, but who can say that saving lives is not a priority? When I was a Director at the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), I was happy to be part of the Board of Directors that approved the request of LGUs for ambulance u...

FIBER OPTIC CABLES ALONG THE RAILWAYS When I was in Japan many years ago as a guest of the Japanese government to observe their advanced Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), I learned that over there, all railroad operators including Japan Railways (JR) were required to lay down fiber optic cables along all of their railroads. What that means is that all over Japan, there are always fiber optic networks where there are railroad networks.  When I was in the United States as a Press Attaché in the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC and as a Consular Assistant at the Philippine Consulate General in New York, I also observed that all railroad operators over there were also required to lay down fiber optic cables along all of their railroads. Aside from that, new telecom players were allowed to install their own fiber optic cables anywhere, anytime. Aside from the fact that there are no right of way (ROW) problems if the fiber optic cables are laid down along the railways...

RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION I could not understand why the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems are failing in our Metro Manila tollway systems. The RFID system is not rocket science, and it is already a very stable technology. At the risk of oversimplifying it, all it really takes to operate an RFID system are four elements namely tags or chips, antennas, readers and backend software. In theory, the RFID system is more expensive and more sophisticated than Quick Response (QR) codes, but their functions are very much similar. As I see it, the probable reason why an RFID system could fail is if one of the elements could fail. For example, the tags or chips could get eroded, the antennas could be broken, the readers could malfunction, and the backend software could be affected by viruses or malware. But considering that the RFID systems that were deployed were supposedly high end, it is unlikely that these would easily fail. Pardon me for saying so, but sometimes I think that...

DATA MIRRORING FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS During my term as Director General of the National Computer Center (NCC), our agency became one of the biggest providers of transactional software applications to the Local Government Units (LGUs), simply because we were giving away the software for free. That was the good news, but the bad news is that many of the LGUs installed the software applications on stand-alone personal computers (PCs), and not on data servers. As a result, many of the PCs crashed, and the stored data was lost. As a matter of fact, some LGUs blamed me when their systems crashed, even if it was clearly their fault. Supposedly, those LGUs should have stored their data in high-capacity servers, and not in small capacity stand-alone PCs. Of course, the better alternative even at that time was to build local data centers in their own premises, but most of the LGUs could not afford to build data centers even at that time. As far as I know, many LGUs are only using PCs that a...

ONLINE MEDICAL CONSULTATION It's good to notice that more and more private doctors are now going into the practice of online medical consultation, also known as telemedicine or telehealth. Some Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) are also starting to use the technology, but it seems that many National Government Agencies (NGAs) and Local Government Units (LGUs) are still unable to adopt it. I say unable because I am just giving them the benefit of the doubt, but it could also be that they are even unwilling to use it for some reason or the other. It is also possible that some of them would not know how to adopt the technology, and are not even attempting to use it. Perhaps the problem could be money, but is it not that public health is supposed to be a top priority of government? It is a known fact that most Barangay Health Units (BHUs) do not have medical doctors on duty. That is really a big problem, because how could sick people get proper medical attention if there are no medic...

REDEFINING BLENDED LEARNING Every time that there is a disaster or a national emergency, classes in the public schools supposedly shifts to the "modular" method. I have always wondered about that, because in my understanding, the term "modular" refers to the learning "modules" that were printed during the Covid pandemic and were manually distributed to the students as an alternative to "face-to-face" instructions. Somehow, the term "modular" stuck, and it is still being used today to refer to "offline learning" or "learning at home". As it is already happening now, our public schools are implementing what is now being referred to a "blended learning", meaning to say that it is a blend of "offline learning" (meaning face-to-face) and "online learning" (meaning via the internet). As I understand it, some school districts may still distribute printed modules to those who have no internet ac...

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES I think that so far, It is only the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that is successfully operating a purely online electronic commerce platform in the Philippines to "sell" a physical product in the form of paper documents. Right now, anyone can order birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates and Certificates of No Marriage Records (CENOMAR) from the PSA, without the need for a personal appearance. Perhaps wanting to provide the next best thing, DFA, PNP and LTO are offering online applications, but they would still require personal appearances.  Apparently, some Local Government Units (LGUs) are offering the purely online issuance of products in the form of paper documents, but it is difficult to find out which of them are doing so, and there appears to be no national standards that govern the conduct of these processes. Ideally, any citizen of any LGU should be able to "order" a physical product...

 HOLD DEPARTURE ORDERS According to the law, only a judge could issue a "Hold Departure Order" (HDO), but first, a case must be filed in court, before an HDO could be issued. What that means is that not even the Senate could issue an HDO, even if it has the power to issue a warrant of arrest. That said, who is to blame for the alleged departure of Alice Gou from the Philippines? If in reality, the Senate has issued a warrant, then it could not be blamed. Moreover, the court system could neither be blamed for not issuing an HDO, because apparently, not a single case has been filed against Gou, at least not yet, as far as I know. Despite all the time and efforts that have been spent on the hearings surrounding POGOs in general and Gou in particular, we are now reminded that the Senate is not a court of law, therefore it could not sentence anyone to go to jail, and neither could it issue HDOs. Of course, the Senate could detain anyone for contempt, but that is not the same as se...

PRODUCING BIOGAS FROM SEWAGE Can our engineers and inventors design a system that can convert sewage to biogas? Or is there a system already and all we have to do is to find it? The following information is provided by Co-Pilot, the AI engine of Microsoft (Quoted verbatim as follows with attribution): Let’s explore the fascinating process of converting sewage to biogas. It’s like turning waste into a renewable superhero—green, efficient, and ready to power our world!  The Sewage Saga Begins: Imagine a bustling wastewater treatment plant—the backstage of our cities. Here’s where sewage sludge (the leftover gunk) accumulates. But wait! We’re about to give this sludge a makeover. The Pretreatment Twist: Our heroes—the researchers at Washington State University—introduced a new player: pretreatment technology. This extra step involves using oxygen-containing high-pressure steam to break down sewage sludge. Think of it as a spa day for waste. The Biogas Transformation: The magic happens...

LOCAL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS In theory, any LGU can enter into any joint venture project with any company, as long as the agreement does not violate any national law, and as long as the city, municipal and provincial councils officially approve the project with an official resolution. If and when appropriate or required, the approvals should be backed up with citizen surveys or public referendums or both. I am mentioning this subject in relation to the fact that Public and Private Partnership (PPP) projects are already prevalent in the national level. Since this subject matter is very new to me, I could not be very sure yet about what are allowed and what are not. And I will not even try to make an impression that I am an expert in this subject matter, because I am not. As a matter of fact, I am hoping that there could be experts about PPP and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) projects out there who will contact me and teach me what to do. I have decided to explore the PPP and BOT ...

BANTAY GOBYERNO 2024-006 IMPROVING EMERGENCY SERVICES It is welcome news that the DILG has announced their new 911 emergency system, together with the PNP. I wonder however whether they have already solved the integration and compatibility issues with other local emergency short code numbers such such as 168 and 117. Despite the fact that PRRD issued an Executive Order (EO) requiring all LGUs to integrate with the national 911 system, some LGUs stood their ground and stuck to their local numbers. In my desire to implement a nationally integrated 911 number, I had suggested a simple technical solution that could have solved the integration issues, but my suggestion had fallen into deaf ears. I wish the DILG and the PNP all the luck in implementing their new 911 system, but if they run into integration issues, they are still welcome to revisit my technical solution. My solution does not really require rocket science. All it requires is a basic knowledge of telephony, something that any e...

BEYOND LOCAL BUSINESS PERMITS I am now developing a web application that will enable owners of business enterprises to apply for their business permits and licenses online, without the need to go to the municipal hall or city hall to do it in person. By the way, if you know of a Local Government Unit (LGU) that is already doing this, please let me know because I might be able to learn from their experience. To be clear however, I am looking for Business Permit and Licensing System (BPLS) software that are 100% deployed in the cloud, and not in the Local Area Networks (LANs) of the LGUs. Pardon me for saying so, but it seems that the prevalent culture in many LGUs now is to give business permit applicants "a hard time", as if they are going through a gauntlet just to get their permits and licenses. Instead of a customer service orientation, some LGU officials behave as if they are giving favors to the applicants, when in fact it is their duty to serve the applicants. Somehow, ...

ONLINE REAL PROPERTY TAX PAYMENTS Does anyone know of any Local Government Unit (LGU) that is already offering their citizens the service of being able to pay their real property taxes online without going to the municipal hall of the city hall? I ask this question because I have been involved in providing Real Property Tax Systems (RPTS) for LGUs for more than three decades and up to now, I have not heard of any LGU that has successfully deployed an RPTS online and I mean fully at 100%, and not just partially. I was one of the consultants to the senators who sponsored the E-Commerce Act (ECA) in the year 2000, and that is why I am somehow familiar with the law. As I recall, something went wrong when the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) were issued, because most LGUs at that time interpreted the term "online" to mean being deployed in a Local Area Network (LAN). I have been managing LANs for about three decades now, and I know for a fact that "online" means ...

 IMPROVING FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICES What is the required response rate of fire departments in the Philippines? There appears to be none. An international organization, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has set a global standard of nine minutes, but our own Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) has apparently not set a standard at all. Because of that, there is no way of measuring the standards of fire departments in the Philippines at all. In reality, there are really no fire departments in the Philippines, in the true sense of the word. What we have instead are local detachments of the BFP, and not the fire departments that are supposedly under the Local Government Units (LGUs). Because of the fact that they are not functionally under the mayors, there is no way that we could blame them for their lack of performance. Neither could we measure their performance if we really want to, because there are not standards as far as I know. It is sad to know that there are still hund...

 REPLY TO THE MATH OF SUPPLYING WATER Hereunder is the reply of DPWH National Building Code Development Office OIC-Executive Director Atty. John Alexander S. Belderol dated August 8, 2024 as regards the concern: "This has reference to the letter received by this Office on July 08, 2024 relative to the electronic mail sent by Mr. Ramon Ike V. Seneres dated July 07, 2024 regarding his article entitled "The Mathematics of Supplying Water". The document proposes a method addressing the challenges in meeting the rising demand for potable water in the Philippines and outlines various methods for water collection and filtration systems. Given the nature and scope of the topics discussed, the National Building Code Development Office (NBCDO), which specializes in building standards regulation, is not in a position to provide a detailed feedback on the issues presented, if any. Moreover, the aforementioned letter did not specify the intended purpose or objectives clearly, which a...

 HONESTY ABOUT POVERTY Ibon Foundation, a local think tank is questioning the data presented by PBBM in his SONA last July 22, 2024. PBBM in that SONA reported that the poverty incidence in our country fell from 18.1 percent in 2021 before he assumed office, to 15. 5 percent in 2023, implying that it went down because of his executive actions. However, the foundation appears to be questioning the basis for the President's report, seemingly hinting that it was dishonest. Eventually, the foundation somehow explained that they have no reason to doubt the poverty numbers that were submitted to PBBM by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), but they clarified what they really meant, by saying that what the PSA data really says is that "the number of Filipinos reported as poor has fallen". They then added that their statement is not the same as saying that "there are now fewer poor Filipinos". If you could not fathom the complexity of that explanation, imagine how...

DEFINING UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE According to Microsoft Co-Pilot, "Universal Health Coverage (UHC) means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship". In case you have not noticed, the more popular term in the Philippines is "Universal Healthcare", and not "Universal Health Coverage". What is the difference between the two? As for me, I like UHC better because it is more measurable and countable. What I mean is that it is easier to count who are covered, and who are not. In theory, everyone in the Philippines is covered by health insurance, because of a law requiring PHILHEALTH to provide that service. In reality however, not everyone is actually covered yet, because everyone has to enroll first before they could be covered, and apparently, not everyone has enrolled yet. PHILHEALTH is actually the equalizing factor in this equation, because it provides coverage ...

THE ECONOMICS OF MILK PRODUCTION According to reliable sources, the Philippines imports about 99% of its dairy requirements. At first, I found that hard to believe, fully knowing that we are an agricultural country with plenty of sources for silage and other feed stocks for cows, carabaos and goats. What is happening to our country? Or to put it another way, what is not happening to our dairy industry that should actually happen?  When I was working for San Miguel Corporation (SMC)about five decades ago, doing advertising and promotions support for the Magnolia line of dairy products, I remember that SMC at that time had its own dairy farm in Tagaytay. Even at that time, SMC might have been importing some of its dairy needs, but it surely had its own source of milk for its own requirements. What happened? Did SMC give up 100% of its own milk production in favor of 100% milk importation? After passing the Foreign Service Officer (FSO) qualifying examinations many years ago, I was re...

 FASTER INTERNET I will never forget the late Louie Casambre. He was one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. Before he died, he was one of my successors at the now defunct National Computer Center (NCC). Louie was Undersecretary of the now also defunct Information and Communications Office (ICTO). I was formerly Undersecretary of NCC. Both NCC and ICTO were the forerunners of what is now the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).  Shortly before he died, I got to talk to Louie at one of the board meetings of the Philippine Information and Communications Technology Organization (PICTO). PICTO is the trade association of the ICT industry, and both of us where board members at that time. During our conversation, I asked Louie what he thought about the problem of slow internet. I was surprised at what he said, and I could never forget what he said. He said that in truth, fast internet is available in the Philippines, except that it is very expe...

 BANTAY GOBYERNO 005-2024 (For August 16, 2024) A COALITION AGAINST POLITICAL DYNASTIES AND CORRUPTION A new coalition called Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan (ANIM), was recently formed, according to Atty. Alex Lacson. Among the founders of ANIM are retired generals, including former AFP and PNP chiefs. Bishop Coleen Bagaforo, the president of Caritas Philippines, and Bishop Gerry Alminaza are also among the founders of ANIM. Aside from campaigning against against political dynasties and corruption, ANIM will also be advocating for electoral reforms. Atty. Lacson said that ANIM plans to hold a press conference on August 23, 2024 at 10 AM at Club Filipino. They are inviting like minded organization to join them in the press conference. I remember that it was the late Mr. Lauro Vizconde who founded Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), believing that the two advocacies would blend very well together. As a tribute to him, I can now say that he ways correct, because either ...

CHEAPER MEDICINES FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE I do not know what other writers have to say, but I think that cheaper medicines have a direct correlation to universal healthcare. What I mean to say actually is that not unless medicines will become cheaper, universal healthcare will never happen. At the risk of stating the obvious, without medicines, there could hardly be a cure, not unless we count diet and exercise. In reality, cheaper medicines are already available, but in the form of generic or unbranded options. Ironically, most of these generic or unbranded options would have the same or mostly the same ingredients as the branded options, except that the latter are better known or are better trusted, so to speak. It is but normal that since people are afraid of getting sick or not getting well, they are willing to spend more, even if much more. In theory, people would be buying more of the generic or unbranded options if only they could learn to trust these products more, but that is...

 CHEAPER RICE FOR SALE Although it is still a long shot from the campaign promise of PBBM that he will make rice available at 20 pesos per kilo, the present offer of the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) to sell at 29 pesos per kilo is already remarkable, even if the NIA rice is only available in a few Kadiwa outlets. Clearly, NIA Administrator Mr. Eduardo "Eddie" G. Guillen knows what he is doing, and the government should support him more, so that he could bring rice prices even lower. It appears that Mr. Guillen is a rare breed. He started as a a practicing engineer until he turned to politics, being elected as municipal mayor of Piddig, Ilocos Norte. In 2022, Piddig won an award as one of the top ten performing LGUs in the Philippines. Now away from politics but still a public servant, Guiillen managed to perform the "miracle" of lowering the price of rice at practically half the prevailing price. What is interesting is that despite the fact that NIA's man...

BANNING DISPOSABLE BALLPENS AND SIGN PENS It is ironic that despite being one of the smallest countries in the world, we are the biggest contributor of plastic wastes to the world's oceans. Why is it that we are at the bottom of positive rankings, and we are at the top of negative rankings? When it comes to plastic wastes in the oceans, Filipino scientist Dr. Hernando Bacosa of Mindanao State University (MSU) explains that the reason why we contribute the most, is that we are unable to collect the wastes before it goes into the oceans. What he means is that the bigger countries are actually producing more plastic wastes than we are, but they are able to collect most of it, thus preventing their ending up in the oceans. Most probably, they are able to recycle the plastic wastes, at least most of it, and that reduces the volume of what goes into the oceans. Dr. Bacosa's scientific findings should teach us two lessons. One, we should collect more of our plastic wastes, to lessen t...

DATABASE OF PROSPECTIVE OLYMPIANS Two-time Paris Olympics gold medalist Carlos Yulo was discovered by Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya who took him to Japan and  trained him in gymnastics. What that means is that it took a foreigner to discover him and to invest in him. What that also means is that aside from his own father and a Filipino named Lope Lim, no one else cared to help him, not even the government.  However, it is now coming out that a successful businesswoman, Cynthia Carrion has been helping Yulo ever since, providing for his needs so that he could pursue his dreams of becoming a top athlete. Thanks to Kugimiya, Lim and Carrion, Yulo is where he is now, practically a national hero who is being showered with gifts and rewards by so many new supporters. Among so many others, Yulo now has Andrew Tan and Manny Pangilinan as his new patrons. While I am very happy that Yulo never has to worry about funding, perhaps for his future Olympic ambitions, I feel sad that his s...

 DRINKING WATER FROM THE FLOODS Perhaps you have heard the quotation "Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink?" According to Copilot, "the phrase originates from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In this poem, a sailor recounts his experiences during a sea voyage. The line reflects the irony of being surrounded by water (in the vast ocean) but unable to benefit from it due to its undrinkable nature. It’s a powerful reminder of how abundance doesn’t always lead to fulfillment". I think that we could all sympathize with that ancient mariner every time that there is a flood, because we are surrounded by water, and yet we could not even drink a drop of it. That really sounds ironic, but how much more ironic could it be, if we are hit by droughts, and yet we are surrounded by sea water, being in an archipelago? Could it be that an abundance of flood water and sea water could actually be the solution to our water shortages? In reality...

LIMIT UNLIMITED SERVICE WATER Just as it is hard to believe that very strong floods could be caused by a strong typhoon with heavy rainfall like Carina, you may find it hard to believe that the lack of rainfall could cause droughts and water shortages that could result in a natural disaster. Since we could no longer freely pump ground water and since it is still very costly to convert sea water into fresh water by way of desalination, the government should really become more strict in enforcing water conservation measures, and we can start that by limiting the delivery of service water to restaurant costumers. I understand that it is customary for restaurants to their customers, but why serve them water if they are not even asking for it? For that matter, why serve all the customers water when only one of them is asking for it? You might say that this is a trivial matter that is not even worth writing about, but what if I tell you that the threat of a water shortage in Metro Manila is ...

 FLOOD CONTROL AND LAND USE PLANNING How is the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) prepared? Is it a national plan that is a combination of municipal, provincial plans? If derived from a combination of local plans, then it would be a product of a "bottom to top" planning process. However, if it follows the "top to bottom" planning process, then the LGUs would be obligated to prepare their own local development plans by basing it on the MTPDP. But what if the local plans are based on neither of the two approaches? What if the local plans have nothing to do with the national plans and vice versa? As it is supposed to be, the Barangay Development Councils (BDCs) are supposed to prepare their own Barangay Development Plans (BDPs), and they are supposed to submit these plans to thier own Municipal Development Councils (MDCs) , for integration into the Municipal Development Plans (MDPs). As it goes up the staircase, the MDCs are supposed to submit their MDPs ...

 FLOOD CONTROL MASTER PLAN In so many words, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan effectively said that the government does not have a flood control master plan yet, but they are already planning to make such a plan, by way of some feasibility studies. I think that we have to credit Secretary Bonoan for being honest about the truth, but it is really disturbing to know that after being an independent country for more than a hundred years, we still have not developed the infrastructure to control floods. While I am very sure that the DPWH might have all the bright engineers who could design and build the infra to control the perennial floods in Metro Manila and elsewhere, I believe that the best way to start the planning process is to manage the data, by way of data collection, data analytics and data integration among others. All that data should eventually be subjected to other processes such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning,...

MANDATORY REPRESENTATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES According to the law, indigenous peoples (IPs) who reside in ancestral domains (ADs) deserve the right to be represented in local legislative councils at the provincial, municipal and barangay levels through an appointed Indigenous People's Mandatory Representative (IPMR). As I understand it, the IPMR has to be appointed by the Governor, Mayor or Barangay Chairman, as the case may be. That is the reason why these appointments would always appear to be politically motivated. In theory, IPs who reside in the ADs would not have solid claims to their land ownerships not unless they are already awarded their Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADTs). I think that that is the crux of the problem why everything becomes politically motivated, because without having CADTs, IPs do not the security of tenure where they are presently residing. That could possibly become merely a play of words, because many IPs are still victimized even if th...