Money is not everything

Title

Identifier

At home

Language

English

Source

The Republic (2) 31 March 1973

Year

1973

Subject

Volunteer workers

Philippines -- Foreign relations

Japan Overseas Corporation Volunteers (JOCV)

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

cAt ^Home VOLUNTEERS is not everything Early last month, 12 Dutch and nine Japanese technicians started a two-year work stint in various govern ment offices under a rare kind of con tract: no mention is made of mone tary remuneration. In place of the usual compensation clause, the agree ment contains two strikingly simple “guarantees”: 1) safety for their per sons and personal effects; and 2) enough work to keep them busy for the duration of their stay. They were not the first ones to work here under such a contract, but in a country where technical talent is at a premium, the terms seem unheard of and, indeed, can cause no little amount of mystification. What, for in stance, can they expect to subsist on while working here? They do have something to fall back on. Depending on his place of assignment, a tech ban gets from $80 to $150 (P540 to y,000) as monthly allowance from /us own government. Back home, a ■ comparable job would command a monthly salary of at least $350 (P2.370). Not all things, however, can be re duced to that popular common deno minator — money. At least not for these lfoung men, for they are volun^,'In its essence, volunteer service re gains some romantic undertones: a self less giving without thought of what one would be receiving in return. As one appreciative Philippine official puts it, “Volunteer service is lay mis sionary work minus the promise of Yven-” Admittedly, adventure proJes an added motivation for some of *'fffem; for others, it is the prospect of knowing better another country and her people; but for most, it is living out the credo that “a man’s greatest reward is his sense of accomplish ment.” And accomplishments they already have in great variety. In barely six years since the arrival of their first team in the country, members of the Japan Overseas Corporation Volun teers (JOCV) can point to several suc cessful projects where their services proved invaluable. Among them: the Guimaras (Iloilo) mango plantation which produces export-quality man goes in commercial quantities and the fish sausage plant in Mercedes, Camarines Norte, the product of which is now the subject of a market feasibil ity study. On the other hand, representatives of the Organization of Netherlands Volunteers (ONV), working under the auspices of Bishop Cornelius de Witt in the southern province of Antique, helped organize cooperatives for small-scale, self-help community pro jects like fishing and cattle raising. In another project that has drawn na tional attention, some Dutch volun teers collaborated with the Philippine Printing Technical Foundation in set ting up a general printing course ifi offset press, plate-making, binding and related skills — perhaps, the only course of its kind in the country to day. Foreign volunteers: a chance to work with the people. It would take a long list to enu merate all the projects initiated or as signed by these volunteers. Working in various parts of the country today are 106 volunteers from the JOCV, 41 from the ONV, 6 from Britain’s Vo lunteer Service Overseas (VSO) and 5 from the Stanford University-based Volunteers in Asia (VIA). They cover a broad range of technical specializa tions: from irrigation to artificial in semination, from fish culture to seri culture (raising of silkworms for the production of raw milk), to ceramics, electronics, cooperatives and even landscaping. Working on projects like these gratis et amore is, without doubt, praiseworthy. But it has often been a cause of understandable concern that foreign technical aid tends to create a dependent attitude on the part of the people of the recipient country. On this score, the agreements entered into by the Philippine government and foreign volunteer organizations (or their governments) usually contain a proviso that Filipino counterparts be assigned to the volunteers. The intent is clear: to enable Filipinos to learn the rudiments, if not the refinements, of their technical know-how so that no gaps are left when the volunteers leave. The intensification of foreign vo lunteer programs here almost coin cided with the phasing out of certain forms of foreign technical assistance and the first moves toward redirecting Philippine education along the lines of technical and vocational training. For these reasons, the role of volunteers in helping develop much-needed, mid dle-level manpower gains added signi ficance. Their working here could not have been more timely. But their role could have been un derstated, as the dearth in publicity seems to indicate. To some extent, this low profile could have resulted from the self-effacing nature of most volunteers themselves as well as their organizations, thus their reluctance to play the celebrity game. If these foreign volunteer organiza tions have shied away from the lime light, so has the agency that plays a key role in the whole scheme. But then matchmakers are quite wellknown for remaining unknown. The Philippine National Volunteer Service (PNVSC) is no exception. The PNVSC was created on Decem ber 17, 1964 as the national liaison with foreign volunteer organizations. It found itself hamstrung at the start by the absence of a permanent staff and lack of authority to implement its policies and programs. Executive Order No. 105 issued by President Marcos on December 11, 1967 sought to correct that inadequacy by es tablishing a secretariat, charged with the actual implementation of the com mittee’s functions. The same order ex panded the committee membership to include representatives from the bet ter-known local volunteer organiza tions. The committee at present is chairmanned by the secretary of the De partment of Local Government and Community Development (DLGCD). Other than the DLGCD secretary and the PNVSC executive secretary, the committee is composed of one rep resentative each from the following departments: Foreign Affairs, Labor, Health, Education and Culture, Agri culture and Natural Resources, Public Works, Transportation and Commu nications, and National Defense. Also represented are the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, Operation Brotherhood International, Medical Aid for Rural Indigent Areas, WorkA-Year, and the School Volunteer Program of the Philippines, “Every day is a busy day for the PNVSC,” says Executive Secretary Elizabeth Z. Barbero. The task re volves mainly around its clearing house function. “We receive numerous requests for volunteers from both gov ernment and private agencies,” she says as she explains the process of foreign volunteer recruitment. “We have to carefully evaluate the project proposals and then make the requisite representation with the foreign or ganization concerned.” In the course of negotiations, the foreign volunteer organization may seek an on-the-spot survey of the pro posed project. The PNVSC makes the necessary arrangements, sometimes in cluding accommodations for the sur vey party. Once the project is ap proved and volunteers are sent here. The PNVSC conducts an in-country program — a four-week crash course in English, Philippine history, political science, sociology and economics, plus other subjects designed to familiarize them with local conditions. The PNVSC receives periodic pro gress reports from volunteers already in the field. Complaints of volunteers are also coursed through it. Curiously, the most common complaint is that the volunteers do not have much to do. A likely solution in cases like this is immediate transfer to another place oflSssignment. Giving ample support to the PNVSC are the country representa tives of the two largest volunteer or ganizations operating here —Ichiro Toyoshima, for big JOCV, and Johannus J. Liethoff. for the ONV. Obviously, even such a good thing as foreign volunteer service will come to an end. The PNVSC prepares for such an eventuality by helping devel op domestic volunteer organizations. In the main, its contribution consists of technical support in the form of briefings, orientation courses and sem inars for youth volunteers. Two or ganizations which have received such support are the Democratic Youth Movement and the Far Eastern Uni versity Students Volunteer Organiza tion. In coordination with the defunct PACD (which has been absorbed by the Department of Local Government and Community Development), the PNVSC has organized and supervised the w’ork of the Volunteers for the Improvement of the Philippines (VIP), made up of college students who had dropped out for financial reasons. As a form of encouragement, VIP mem bers get some financial assistance to enable them to continue their studies. Another incentive for local volun teers in PNVSC-assisted projects is the prospect of being chosen to serve in foreign countries under the United Nations Volunteer Program. To date, the PNVSC has arranged the trip of 10 Filipino youths to the Yemen, the United Arab Republic, Iran, Jamaica and Liberia. The inducements are far from sub stantial, but it is perhaps a measure of the appeal of volunteer service itself that several volunteer programs are going on in the country today. THE REPUBLIC 31 March 1973 Page 3

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