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  OPEN GOVERNMENT APPROACH   The Philippines is a member of Open Government Partnership (OGP), an international organ ization of 7 5 countries that is dedicated to transform how government serves its citizens. It is a partnersh ip of government leaders and civil society advocates. It a ims to combine the forces of these two sides to promote transparent, participatory , inclusive and accountable governance.   OGP Philippines claims that “the country has remained steadfast in its commitment in energizing civic spaces and public participation, enhancing in clusive digital revolution, amplifying discourses on anti-corruption , and strengthening transparency and accountability reforms ” . From the time that it was founded in 2011 however, it seems to be lagging in implementi ng its goals.   My idea of “open governance” is inspired by the way that President Magsaysay opened Malacañang to all cit izens, such that they could enter the Palace grounds even if they are j...

  LOCAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT   It seems that what is normal now is to have a disaster, and what is not normal is not to have a disaster. Since that is now the new reality, the government agencies concerned should have a change of paradigm, such that these a gencies should always be ready all the time, on the assumption that disasters could always happen all the time .   In the case of natural and manmade disasters, it should be mandatory for all LGUs to have their ow n geographic information system (GIS) that could also be used as a hazard map. Although GIS software for tax mapping is flexible enough to also be used for hazard mapping, some agencies are not aware of this.   Although the terms are somehow synonymous, “ disaster management ” is broader than “ disaster coordination ”. In general, however, most of “disaster management” is focused on “disaster coordination ”. And that means coordinating not only the public sector, but also the private sector.   ...

  LOCAL ENERGY INDEPENDENCE   Energy independence is a concept that has seemingly not achieved popularity in the Philippines. Most everyone is familiar with either political independence or economic independence or both, but not with energy independence. At the national level, only a few countries have achieved energy independence, meaning that they are no longer importing energy. As a matter of fact , a few countries are already net exporters of energy.   I have not heard of examples of local or municipal energy independence, but there are already some pockets of success in the case of some farms or factories that are producing their own renewable energy from at least one sou rce such as solar panels or biogas digesters.   Is it possible for a city, municipality or province to achieve local energy independence? The answer is yes, and it is a big yes, based on technologies that are already available. And mind you, I am talking about simple sciences and not rocke...

  DEMOCRACY AND CAPITALISM   In communist countries, the political systems and the economic systems are combined into one system of government. In non-communist countries, the political systems and the economic s ystems are separate from each other. In monarchial countries, there is a semblance of democracy because the Prime Minister is the “head of government ”, even if the monarc h is still the “head of state ”.   At least in theory, the political system should prevail over the economic system, in such a way that the politicians hold the political power, while the businessmen hold the economic power. The politicians would tend to be the members of the political dynasties, while the businessmen would tend to be the economic oligarchs, at least generally speaking.   While it is easy for communist countries to control the state-owned companies, it is not so easy in democratic countries, because the economic oligarchs hav e a lot of influence, even if the politi...

  HOW TO MAKE COCONUT FARMERS RICH   M aking coconut farmers rich is a dream that has eluded us fo r many generations. What is ironic is that even if these farmers have enough   coconut trees to make them rich, they are still poor after farming for so many years. It should be common sense to think that if they have so many coconut fruits to harvest, they sh ould have so much money. But is it that that has not happened? That is because they have missed the other common sense of avoiding the usual practice of making copra.   Making copra from coconuts is a bad habit that has become a way of life among our coconut farmers. As a way of life, it seems difficult for them to get out of the habit, but I think they could still do it, if they are convinced that mo re money can be made by avoiding the production of copra. They should realize that by making copra, they not only lose money by losing the oil content, but they also lose money by not being able to make more p...

 RECOGNIZING THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES What are the requirements for a certain population to be recognized as indigenous peoples (IPs)? Do they need to have ancestral lands? Is a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) needed to be classified as an IP community? Are these two legal frameworks interrelated? To cite an example, let us discuss the case of the Butuanon people. They are said to be descended from the ancient Lapaknon people of the old Butuan kingdom. The Lapaknon are known to be the “people of the marsh”, closely related to the Tausug people who are known to be the “people of the current”. By now, the old ancestral lands of the Lapaknon have all become private lands, and there is no more land left that could be issued a CADT. Howevert, their old language survived, now known as Binutuanon. Because of new laws allowing indigenous languages to be used as the medium of instruction in IP communities, Binutuanon could be used as a medium of instruction, except for the fact t...

  SAVING MORIBUND FILIPINO LANGUAGES   The Merriam-Webster dictionary says that “moribund” is an adjective that  being in a state of dying or being in a state of inactivity or  obsolescence .  Other dictionaries define it as “being in a state of death ”,  or “b eing in terminal decline ”,  or “lacking in vitality or vigor ”.   All told, the dictionaries all say that “moribund” does not necessarily mean dead, at le ast not yet.   Going back to my days as a student of political science, I was taught that a  “ state ”  has four elements, namely  territory, population ,  government  and sovereignty.  To that, I will now add culture, which of course includes language or  languages .  I think that a “state” that does not have its own culture has no backbone at all.   There are about 120 to 195 languages in the Philippines, depending on who is counting, and what their criteria are. At any gi ven time, no ...