Friday, November 28, 2008

CHALLENGE OF THE ROUGH ROAD AROUND THE 'GEOGRAPHICAL CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES'



The area where the Luzon Datum of 1911 lies is attracting visitors who probably hardly know the significance of that area near Balacan & Argao. Soon, an eco-tourism park will be developed there in cooperation with the barangay residents. Recent visitor is a group of motorcycle riders from Boac, photo sent in by Douglas Green (click this high resolution photo to enlarge).

From: "Doug Green"
To:
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 6:39 AM
Subject: A picture for you to consider


Last Sunday the BOAC Old ? motorcycle club made an excursion to Argao to enjoy the challenge of the rough road from Balanacan to Argao and other fishing communities. As you can see they got through.
--
Douglas Green BRITISH COMMERCIAL CONSULTANT
Philippines

Friday, November 21, 2008

WHO WAS LONGHINO?


(Early icon of St. Longinus)

Longhino is the central figure in the Moriones Festival celebrated in Marinduque during Lent for over a hundred years now. He was the centurion at the foot of the Cross who proclaimed "Truly this was the Son of God" (Mt. 27:54).

The Longhino story (or Longinus or St. Longinus)has captured the imagination of the Marinduquenos, which goes on record as the original Philippine locale that first made use of masks and colorful garbs on account of folk tradition and cultural history. Tradition says that Longhino was also the centurion who pierced Jesus's side with a spear, and that he was one of those who kept watch over Christ's tomb. He had been bribed to say that the body of Jesus had been stolen, but having come to believe in Jesus, he refused to.

Further research on the life of St. Longinus revealed that he was baptized by the Apostles, and went to preach the Gospel to the Cappadocians. His efforts were so successful that the Jewish authorities persuaded Pilate to have him killed. When the soldiers arrived, they were taken in by him and treated very well. They did not know that he was the man they had been sent to kill, and when they found out they did not want to follow their orders. St. Longinus, who was willing to accept martyrdom told them to carry out the orders they had been given. And so St. Longinus was beheaded.

The Longhino story is set to be presented in Boac on Black Saturday as the final stage presentation covering biblical accounts and the life of Christ (Holy Wednesday and Maundy Thusday evening, and on the streets of Boac with "Via Crucis" on Good Friday afternoon).

Thursday, November 20, 2008

HINULUGAN FALLS, BOAC (accessible via Torrijos)



PA Allan Velasco enjoying Hinulugan Falls (erroneously identified here earlier as Sibuyao Falls). Prof Ir. PM Labay who is from the area describes it as between Brgy. Sabong and Sitio Kitay. He says it has a cave at the side of the raven where water also enters. (I wonder if the tourism group knew that). There are two more falls in the area, Magdumog-dumog Falls and Batingaw Falls in Tumagabok which is also known as Busay. "Busay" is the local term for "falls", thus other falls elsewhere in Marinduque are also called by that name.

GREEN TOURISM FOR MARINDUQUE


(In support of Carrion's Marinduque Green Tourism concept Administrator Lord Allan Velasco has identified prriority projects for community-based tourism development, among them the Sibuyao area in Torrijos. Above photo shows Velasco at Sibuyao falls.)

In a meeting held recently in Sta. Cruz town, with the reactivated and re-organized MARINDUQUE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, Governor Jose Antonio N. Carrion thanked the organization headed by businessman Elmer Tan, for having taken "a big and bold step to advance the interests of Marinduque business, trade and investments". The organization stressed its resolve to prioritize partnership with government in the meeting, called the 1st Marinduque Business Summit.

Carrion stated that the provincial government continues to create an environment conducive to private business growth, which he said has been his overall economic policy. Among the points he stressed were the efforts undertaken by his administration to address the energy and transportation concerns of the province, citing actions to address power outages that have been experienced and have apparently been resolved. He also cited the re-opening of the Cawit Port and the Marinduque airport to boost local tourism.

In his speech, Governor Carrion stressed the concept of bringing together the elements of ecology, cultural, agri-tourism and even sports or adventure travel as that now being pursued in Marinduque. He said that a coherent output of the Southern Tagalog Tourism Council Assembly held here in July is Green Tourism for Marinduque.

There appeared to be many labels that have been used to refer to this concept but the definition remains the same: low impact, environmentally-friendly tourism that cherishes, not destroys. For Marinduque, Green Tourism offers leisure and learning activities where visitors enjoy nature, culture and inter-change with local people in an agricultural, mountain or fishing village setting. The concept encourages enjoyment, environmental education, engagement in hands-on experiences, immersion into local culture and lifestyle, and conservation.

Carrion said that as a market strategy, Green Tourism which is most ideal for Marinduque's island setting makes eminent sense for the long term. He says it taps into what is a growing demand for holidays and that concern for the environment and global warming grows daily, thus the Green environmentally-aware tourist can only increase in number.

In line with this Carrion is set to issue an Executive Order declaring Green Tourism as the provincial OTOP (One Town One Product)of Marinduque. OTOP is a DTI development strategy to encourage trade and investments in a particular local government unit.

ENCOURAGING DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN CAPITAL

Carrion also said that the entry of domestic and foreign capital to establish enterprises that would utilize local labor and raw materials available in the province are welcome and fully encouraged. Consequently, the promotion and enhancement of strong private sector collaboration would be indispensable.

For his part Carrion devulged the existence of a Provincial Ordinance that established the Marinduque Development and Investment Code. Approved in 2001, by the Office of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, he said the Ordinance was aimed “to generate investment in the province to stimulate economic activities that would contribute to its full development”. Carrion, however said that the ordinance "apparently slept in the floorboards and was never implemented for whatever reason". His administration now supports its full implementatin, he said.

The said Ordinance provides tax exemptions, fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to enterprises that would engage in preferred areas of development and investment which includes, among others, investment in the development of agricultural resources aimed to improve agricultural technology and productivity, and investment in the development of tourism as major industries of the province, investment in property development, transportation and communication facilities, efficient and affordable power supply generation and distribution; water supply system and sewerage system and investment in export oriented business activities.

Carrion quoted the Resolution approving the said 2001 Ordinance begins which reads thus: "For so many years Marinduque has not gained substantial economic growth and this can be attributed to the lack of proper programming and of a clearly declared vision and a defined mission”. He cited that the government of Marinduque has a clearly declared vision and a defined mission now. "Government and private sector engagement to propel growth in Marinduque will be strengthened as we have paved the way and continue to create the setting conducive to this partnership", he said.

YOOK FINDS HOPE

YOOK FINDS HOPE

NORWEGIAN AMBASSADOR VISITS MARINDUQUE


There are large numbers of organizations, projects and programs that attempt through action to uplift the living standards of poor communities. Barangay Yook in Buenavista, is one of the many communities in Marinduque faced with several tough challenges. Many spirited organizations have provided support to the barangay through various programs during the last decade. Yet, the programs adopted were apparently unsustainable. The same challenges have remained and there’s so much gnashing of teeth afterwards, even up to the present, at the complexity of the situation.

Recently, Ambassador Stale Torstein Risa, the first Norwegian Ambassador to set foot on Marinduque soil, had a look at Yook. Yook is one of the most picturesque barangays south of Marinduque but also one of the most deprived. Risa was to lend moral support to the challenges taken up by the Norwegian Mission Alliance (NMA), the Mission that refuses to accept that Yook is devoid of hope.

The Norwegian Mission Alliance, is a ‘diaconal’ mission, a role in the Christian Church generally associated with service to others to pursue a vision. NMA took notice of Yook a year ago in an effort to identify barangays in Marinduque, the province listed as the poorest in the MIMAROPA region.

Consultations with the municipal and provincial government, national and local social welfare offices and barangay officials were immediately undertaken. By July the NMA was ready to initiate a strategic plan focused but not limited to the development of children and youth of this pilot community.

The NMA approach is unique for it involved the creation of a Participatory Action Research (PAR) Team composed of community members who have the potential to facilitate interventions for the community. Selected from a cross-section of farmers, fisherfolks, women and youth, the team received training from the NMA’s program development team after which their thorough research began which lasted for four months (October 2007 to February 2008).

House to house visits, focus group discussions with all sectors of the community which, through active sharing that elicited much information were conducted. The ins and outs of their community life were examined, problems identified and solutions were recommended by the people themselves. Rain or shine the PAR Team worked hard, armed only with the strong determination to make a change in their community. They worked hard, and the wise were appalled and could hardly believe it when they found out – the team took their tasks voluntarily and without financial remuneration.

Community validation of the research work conducted by the PAR Team was undertaken, after which, collation of the research and its revalidation that included the primary issues and concerns affecting the various sectors in the community were identified.

Some of the issues identified were the lack of livelihood opportunities, non-ownership of their sources of income (land (80% are privately owned, 10% government-owned and only 10% are owned by residents), crops, livestock, banca), depleted soil and marine catch.

Environmental concerns raised were the lack of toilets (70% of households are without toilets), poor waste management, depleted forest, and use of wrong methods in fishing. Issues on children include malnutrition (5-10 cases per sitio), and diseases (including tuberculosis), physical and emotional abuse, dropping out of school for lack of money, (The CBMS Report of 2004-2005 revealed that only 58% or 531(from a total of 903 children aged 6-16 go to school), and lack of playground.

Youth issues included lack of opportunities for out-of-school youths, and lack of spiritual development and discipline among others. Women issues spelled out were: lack of income sources, did not finish schooling, physical abuse and separation from the family and children (some mothers work as domestic help in Boac, Quezon, Batangas and Manila ).

Yook Profile

Yook is located in the southern part of the province of Marinduque , one of 15 barangays in the municipality of Buenavista . It is 7.5 kilometers away from Buenavista and 38.5 kilometers from Boac.

Yook has a population of 3,600 (in 2005). 50.9% are males and 49.1% are females. There are 600 households with an average of 6-7 members per family. It has eight sitios (Banabang Munti, Estancia, Madre Cacaowan, Gala-Gala, Banabang Malaki, Balikot, Yook Proper and Binunga), with Binunga as the most populated with 230 households.

432 (70.6%) out of 612 children aged 6-12 are studying in elementary schools, while only 34% of 291 children aged 13-16 are studying in high school.

The main economic activities in Yook are farming (39%), livestock raising (33%) and fishing (28%). In agriculture 44% are engaged in copra-making, corn production (30%), banana (5%), cassava (5%), vines (5%), vegetable (5%), monggo (5%), and rice (1%).

Six community organizations are active in the barangay. These include the Parents-Teachers Community Association (PTCA), Small Coconut Farmers Organization, Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (MACEC), Samahan ng mga Kabataan, CARD members and Barangay Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Council (BFARMC). There are no linkages with one another among these organizations with the exception of the heads of the PTCA, Barangay Council, Barangay Nutrition Scholars and Barangay Health Workers who coordinate their work-related tasks.

Cognizant of the fact that the Norwegian Missionary Alliance could not alone take the initiative in developing a child and youth friendly community, the need to partner with other organizations with similar concerns to sustain programs in health, education livelihood, water-supply, emergency shelter, spiritual development and the like, is a continuing program.

Ericson Lazarte, Area Manager of the NMA Marinduque Cluster, stressed the hope that cooperation in these various aspects with the Social Welfare and Development Offices, Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD), Provincial Health Office (PHO), Department of Trade (DTI), Technology, Eduation & Science Development (TESDA), Department of Education (DepEd). Provincial Planning & Development Office (PPDO), Marinduque State College (MSC), the municipal government of Buenavista, the provincial government, as well as the various church organizations and community organizations in Yook would be strengthened.

The integration of existing projects to new ones where NMA support is needed and the implementation of programs resulting from the rich and lively focus group discussions will be next undertaken.

Lending support to the program is no less than Ambassador Stale Torstein Risa of the Royal Norwegian Embassy who was accompanied by NMA Director Petter Buer and other Norwegian representatives from the Norwegian Missionary Alliance in Oslo .

In his remarks during the presentation of the PAR research to partners, the Ambassador stressed “the importance in this type of work where the collaboration aspect is so stressed, after the practical things have been done”. Risa added that he has no doubt that seeing the beauty of the island of Marinduque and noting the challenges faced by its friendly people and their positive attitude, that Marinduque “will have a good future”.

Aside from visiting Yook the Norwegian Ambassador also paid a courtesy visit to Buenavista Mayor Ofelia S. Madrigal and proceeded to Binunga Elementary School and barangays Bagacay and Bagtingon where similar PAR activities are being undertaken.

Risa’s visit was capped with a dinner hosted by Governor Jose Antonio N. Carrion at the latter’s residence where the ambassador’s party was treated to a “putong” welcome ritual by the Marinduque Provincial Capitol Choir.

But perhaps the shower of petals and leaves, the shouts of “Mabuhay” and crowning with flowers the “putong” way should have also been shared with Yook’s PAR Team composed of Enrique Fiedalan, Winnifredo Famadico, Teresita Saez, Linda Reanzares, Helen Fiedalan, Paquito delos Santos, Teresita Reanzares, together with the Punong Barangay, Edgar Perlas. This new expression of community based leadership has strongly spelled big hope for Yook.