The Republic

Media

Part of The Republic

Title: The Republic
Issue Date: Volume I (Issue No.16) 16-31 August 1976
Year: 1976
Language: English
Rights
extracted text: Inset photo: President Marcos and the First Lady listen to reports during their recent trip to the earthquake-damaged areas. Be self- reliant in times of crisis PRESIDENT Ferdinand E. Marcos has called on ev ery Filipino to “now demonstrate, as they are demonstrating, concern and sympathy” for our coun trymen who suffered great damage in the earthquake that hit our southern backdoor last August 16. At the same time, he reiterated the policy guideline that should be followed when disasters strike: we should depend first on ourselves, on our own resources, in the rehabilitation of the damaged areas. The ethic of self-reliance, in fact, has been followed by the Na tional Disaster Control Council, the government agen cy in charge of coordinating government relief, rescue and rehabilitation efforts in times of disasters. “Let us not look as if we are beggars,” the Pres ident has cautioned. In the past, the gut reaction of administrations had been to first look on outside help. This unconscious policy of dependence had only hindered the rise of a strong national will to imme diately work together first to alleviate the suffering of our people who were affected by the disaster. The effect was that the people became more and more de pendent on outside help, rather than on their own re sources and initiative. The President pointed to the Chinese experience during the recent earthquake that heavily damaged some of their most populous areas. The Chinese did not request for outside assistance, they buckled down to work. The spirit of self-reliance has been the major plank of the national leadership since the proc lamation of the authoritarian rule in 1972. This spirit pervades the organization of the barangays, the sangguniang bayans. Power, but at the same time, respon sibilities, to the people. OUR geography makes us prone to natural disasters like typhoons and earthquakes. Our archipelago has the highest incidence of typhoons in the world. We also lie in the earthquake belt of the Pacific. This is why we should now institutionalize automatic re sponses to natural calamities. As President Marcos has pointed out: “The Filipino has always endured the hardship of a hostile environment. He has continuually sought survival against typhoons, floods, earth quakes, fires and other calamities. Furthermore, the technological advances of the modem world, have ushered in more lethal weaponry not to mention en vironmental pollution, huge aerial and marine disas ters, and flash holocausts.” Thus, the President has created the Office of Civil Defenses in the Depart ment of National Defense. But the creation of agencies is not enough. There must be more support from, and participation by, the people. Perhaps, a good gauge of the renais sance of the bayanihan spirit of our people is the quick reaction of local government organizations— particularly the barangays—in alleviating the sufferings of the people affected by the earthquake. 'T’HE President himself, together with the First i Lady, Mrs. Imelda Romualdez Marcos, made an , on-the-spot inspection trip of the damaged areas. He told the people there that: “Our visit here is for the purpose of clearly demonstrating to you the concern and affection of the rest of the Filipinos for their Muslim brothers. Your Christian brothers grieved over your suffering and stand ready to help.” The First Lady, in her capacity as .governor of Metropoli tan Manila, distributed a total of about P5 00,000 as housing aid to the most seriously damaged areas. The aftermath of the earthquake disaster show ed the great capability of the government to mobilize resources and people to aid those who have suffered. It also showed resurgence of the cooperative spirit among Filipinos. But there is still much we can do. Natural calamities will be part of our lives. Institu tions not only in form of agencies or organizations, but more so of the spirit, should be built and nour ished. The government managers should be the first to observe the ethic of self-reliance which should guide the building up of these institutions. Right now, they should prepare for the eventuality of an other disaster. Instructions must be given to their men on what to do to prepare for the calamities, and what they should do in the aftermath of a di saster. Earthquake, typhoon and fire drills should now be conducted. Briefings on the nature of calami ties should also be held. □ 2 16-31 August 1976 The Nation THE REPUBLIC ESSAY □ Marcos Agayo We can be the best in the world DEVELOPMENT, in its modern con text, has come to connote not just economic growth—it has come to en compass the various structures affect ing the life of man and his family. It does not mean a mere*increase in pay— but opportunities to own comfortable housing and enjoy leisure time among others. It does not just mean an incre ment in the gross national product-but equitable distribution of opportunities and the rise of the general well-being of the people. The resources of the Philippinesits natural and human potentials—por tend its rise as one of the most progres sive and powerful nation in this part of the world. The crucial steps toward this end are being undertaken by the govern ment, now unencumbered by the pol itics of self-interest that ruled the old society. Being at the frontline of the development “war,” we in the govern ment must be more than ever resolute and dynamic in fulfilling our duties. At the same time, the goal of development must be emphasized-the upliftment of the welfare of all our people. Some of our countrymen fear the reform programs of the government aimed at the equalization of opportuni ties for all Filipinos. But reforms and economic growth can go forward, to gether. Gunnar Myrdal, Nobel-prize win ner in economics, has said: “It is possible to cite a number of conditions in South east Asia which suggests that an in crease in equality would help rather .than hinder development” ases_of_Grt Ih^Jhere qje reasons to believe that the Philippines can be a very progressive country. We have abundant natural resources, respon sive leaders, and able planners. And bar ring chance factors like international, political and economic turmoils, what may be crucial is the character of our will as a nation. Natural Resources. Underdevelop ment is usually attributed to geographic or climactic causes. But while hot cli mates for instance have adverse effects, many hot areas, like the Queensland areas of Australia, have shown progres sive economies. Denmark, Switzerland, and Japan became very progressive des pite scarce natural resources. The Philippines with its abundant natural resources should, therefore, have a substantial comparative advantage. A survey done some years ago by the Eco nomic Commission for Assistance to the Far East (now the Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific) showed that the Philippines has the rich est mineral deposits (excluding oil) in Asia. At the time of the survey, the Philippines had the largest hoard pf cop per and was the third largest copper producer; it was the seventh top pro ducer of gold and fourth of chromite. Another study, this time by a Fili pino, showed that most of the coveted agricultural products in the world mar ket are produced here cheaply and abun dantly. We are, however, behind Taiwan in exporting agricultural food products. And yet our territory is eight times that of Taiwan’s. Furthermore, much of Tai wan’s soil is niggardly and the climate is harsh. Considering the amount and variety of our natural resources, we are underproducing. Industrialization. While our econ omy is considerably above subsistence level, primary products remain our prin cipal exports. We therefore need more processing (through industrialization) to increase the value and the variety of our exports. What makes processing develop ment urgent is that world trade in proc essed goods has increased, since the late 1920s, than world trade in primary commodities. Besides the need to be on par on trading with developed countries, the need to gainfully employ the annual labor force increase of 500,000, which the agricultural sector cannot absorb, requires industrialization at a rate faster than the developed countries had to in dustrialize. The labor may be growing too rapidly. Furthermore, as Myrdal says: “the employment effects of indus trialization cannot be expected to be very large for several decades ahead . . . until a conducive level of industrializa tion is reached”; this means that we should industrialize as fast as we can. Population Control. An uncontrol led population growth spreads too thinly the benefits of development. It also gen erates massive and widespread rural poverty. A part of our “race” for devel opment is, consequently, a deceleration of population growth. The Philippines’ fast-growing pop ulation is a big factor that reduces its per capita GNP. Against the average Asian density of 76 persons per square kilometer, the Philippines has a density of 126 persons per square kilometer. We have not yet reached a “satura tion point” since we have abundant and balanced resources to meet the needs of more than 80 million Filipinos in the year 2000. But we still need population control programs. In this way, we can in dustrialize faster. Pre-industrial western countries, for example, had population growths slower than Southeast Asia’s now. The western countries then, com paratively speaking, found it easier to 'Successful economic planning requires a stable and effective r government But at the same time, planning becomes a principal means of reaching national consolidation.' —Gunnar Myrdal Fusing initiative and resources is the key to full development. channel resources toward capital build ing activities. Thus, our government can, if freed from excessive population pres sure, use more funds for infrastructure rather than for, say, welfare. Or perhaps entrepreneurs can use more profits for expanding activities rather than for sup porting unemployed relatives. Social Discipline. Development in Southeast Asia means having to alter anti-development behavior. Or, it means spreading technology-consciousness es pecially among farmers, and orienting businessmen to production rather than to trading. In our society, farmers tend to cling. to traditional practices. Insecticides and fertilizers are feared; initial failures with advanced technology caused by lack of experience further augment traditional fears. Among the educated classes, there is mostly scorn for business or produc tion-oriented careers. UNESCO once re ported that of the many students from underdeveloped countries studying in the United States, only four percent study agriculture which is the funda mental problem sector in their nations. Social discipline in the Philippines is perhaps a special problem. Farmers have been known to take advantage of the character credits given them by the government for idle purposes. Corrup tion, in the lower levels especially, has taken ,the edge from central government dicta. Government technicians have been known to be regarded as threats by “up per class” villagers and as mere government agents, and therefore to be feared by the other villagers. Labor discipline and efficiency also are perhaps a bigger problem in the Phil ippines than, say, Japan. The Japanese economy at the end of World War II was shattered. And yet, it was able’ to industrialize leaving natural resource-rich Philippines behind. Myrdal attributes Japan’s success largely to its labor disci pline and efficiency. The need for social discipline is un derlined by Myrdal: “Rapid develop ment will be exceedingly difficult to engender without an increase in social discipline in all strata and even in the villages.” In the Philippines, the job of disciplining people must go beyond pol ice monitoring, monetary incentives, or, in, the case of farmers, peer-pressure which in some cases is negative. Disci plining society must be done by govern ment people who must serve as “shining examples”, by technocrats who must humanize their policies, and by the teachers who are most in contact with the young. Institutional Reform. In the Philip pines the main thrust of institutional reform is the liberation of farmer tenants from “feudal” chains. Farmers’ owner ship of the land they till would promote their dignity and, even better, incite more production. Masagana 99 has al ready achieved production rates seldom, if ever, achieved by landlord-tenant sys tems. The initial risk of lessened produc tion through the parceling out of land into small pieces has been offset by the organization of farmers into cooperative#like the Samahang Nayons. Government Planning. Martial law has released in grand fashion the produc tive possibilities of the people by elim inating power politics. It has given full play to technocratic planning and im plementation. The government’s policy of central planning is supported by this statement of Myrdal: “Successful economic planning re quires a stable and effective government. But at the same time, planning itself be comes a principal means of reaching na tional consolidation: first, because it will create an institutional structure to articulate government policies; secondly, because the result, when planning is suc cessful, will be higher economic levels, greater opportunities for the people, and a symbol of national achievement” There is one catch to government planned economic operations, however. The government’s responsibility to the people becomes double that of a gov ernment in a “freer” economic process. And government managers must then make sure that well studied policies and plans will not ,bog down in the imple mentation level. Development, in the Philippine con text, requires social, political, as well as economic reform: farmers cooperatives, barangays, research on small-scale indus tries, and the rest of government pro grams, all constitute the totality of re form. Each is vital. Government performance, too, is un der test in the eyes of the world. At pre sent, the Philippines is midway up the South Asian development scale—number 14 in terms of per capita GNP among 25 independent states-and among the world’s 195 countries and territories, it is 136th—near rock-bottom. But the performance of our econ omy, under central planning, has aston ished the world. From a previous average rate of 4 percent, real growth rose in 1973 by 9.2 percent. In 1974, when most of the world had to make do with “zerogrowth”, the Philippines registered a real growth of 5.0 percent. And in 1975, the Philippines was one of the five (out of fourteen) ADB members which registered positive real growth rates. □ 16-31 August 1976 3 THE REPUBLIC STUDIES □ Dr. Raul P. de Guzman But are we development-oriented? SINCE the attainment of political independence, the Philippines has accepted the commitment to achieve development goals and objectives, i.e., eco nomic and social progress and the general improve ment of the quality of life of the people. These goals and objectives have guided the efforts of the Philip pine government and served as the bases for the formulation and implementation of development programs and projects to eliminate or minimize problems of malnutrition, unemployment, poverty and inequality in the country. It was in this context that the Four-Year Development Plan (FY 1974FY 1977) of the Philippine government was for mulated. The objectives of the plan include: 1) the promotion of social development; 2) the expansion of employment opportunities; 3) the attainment of a more equitable distribution of income and wealth; 4) the acceleration of economic growth; 5) the promotion of regional development and industrializa tion; and 6) the maintenance of price stability. It may be pointed out, in this connection, that goal determination, plan formulation, and plan im plementation are done through the political and administrative system in the country. It is through this system that demands and interests are expressed and combined in the form of alternative courses of action which later are transformed into authoritative decisions and are implemented. Concomitantly, a number of questions are raised. Who determines these goals, objectives, priorities? How are they translated into plans and programs? How are they implemented? What motivates the policy-makers 2nd administrators in arriving at these decisions? Are these officials indeed committed to the development goals of the country? Are they committed to change, economic growth, social justice, and . popular participation? These nagging questions prompted this re search-knowing that at this point in our history, our country is in dire need of policy-makers, adminis trators and technical personnel who are deeply com mitted to the ideology of development. We need government leaders and workers who are not only knowledgeable and skilled in certain technical fields but who have a sense of mission to promote and translate into reality the development goals and ob jectives of the country. This study is an inquiry into the dynamics of de velopment. Development is a complex process, involv ing the interplay of various forces. From these different forces, this study concentrates on the value commit tments of the administrator, operationalizes the con cept, and analyzes its role in the development process. The rationale of a study of value commitments is Spengler’s contention that “the state of a people’s politico-economic development together with its rate and direction depends largely upon what is in the mind of its members....” Furthermore, as Simon argued, decision-making involves not only facts but also values. A DEVELOPMENT MODEL TO define the relationship between value commit ments and development, the study works out the following model that incorporates these variables— socialization experiences, value commitments, en vironment and development. Value Commitments Behavior Development MODEL OF SELECTED VARIABLES IN RELATION TO DEVELOPMENT The above model makes the following proposi tions: 1. The socialization experiences of adminis trators influence their value commitments. 2. The value commitments of administrators influence their behavior. 3. The behavior of administrators influence development The linkage between value commitments and development is analyzed in terms of developmentorientedness defined as a set of value commitments. This set classified into four categories is composed of the following: I. Acceptability of Change Decision-making involves not only facts but also values. 1. Change orientation or the acceptance of newer ways and desirability of new ways regardless of their contributions; 2. Action propensity^ or acceptance of risk taking. II. Economic Values: Objective (Goals) for Change 1. Commitment to economic development or working for a rising standard of living and the role of economic development in progress; 2. Concern for economic equality or working for income and salary limiting measures. III. Process Values: Leader—Group Interactions 1. Concern for public participation or Working for participation of the people pitted against expert participation; 2. ’ Concern for conflict avoidance or espousal of implementation of programs in spite of conflicts introduced. IV. Identification Values: Object of Commitment and Loyalty 1. Concern for the nation or working for na tional over local interests; 2. Selflessness or espousal of the value as a quality of leaders and the value’s role in community development HOW THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED , DEVELOPMENT-ORIENTEDNESS is operationalized in terms of value commitment scales. The inter view schedule constructed for this study was adminis tered to a non-probability sample of Filipino adminis trators at the national and local levels—national ad ministrators, local administral from two Central Luzon provinces and leaders in Lanao del Sur. Case studies on selected administrators were also conducted. The focus of the case studies was on the effect of administrators’ value commitments on their behavior and, consequently, on their contribu tion to development defined as role effectiveness. FINDINGS THE concept of development-orientedness is not found to be applicable. Its temporary nature is demonstrated in how the value commitments are per ceived as dimensions, as objects of acceptance or re jection and as interrelationships. It is also demons trated as the different aspects of value commitments are explored. The following findings support the ob servation that a concept of development-orientedness as a fixed set of value commitments does not obtain in reality. When viewed in the perspective of averages, res pondents in their commitments can be described in terms of the following: 1) Are the administrators development-or iented in terms of the value commitments on the ac ceptability of change? The Central Luzon and the Muslim samples accept newer ways of doing things to old ways even if these two conflict The Central Luzon sample, however, scores higher than the Mus lim sample. Both samples are not risk-takers; they are not also action prone. Their position with regard to accepting change regardless of its contribution is not clear. The national group is committed to change but this is not accompanied by the same enthusiasm for action propensity. 2) Are the administrators development-or iented in terms of the value commitments on the objectives of change? The Central Luzon and Muslim samples decisively endorse Economic Priority, Stand ard of Living, and Economic Role in that order. Ac cepting salary-reducing measures, they, however, re ject income-limiting measures. In contrast with the local group, the national group displays a more intense concern for economic equality than economic development The difference may be explained by the fact that national executives are more economically well-off than the local ad ministrators. The local group seems to be preoccupied not so much with reducing income gaps but with being mobile in the social ladder. Increasing incomes seem to be an indicator for success in achieving the social mobility goal. 3) Are the administrators development-orient ed in terms of the process values? The Muslim and Central Luzon samples are ambivalent with regard to CP and CA. Likewise, CA only elicits ambivalence from national administrators. It is in this value com mitment that the national administrators score the lowest Thus, administrators, whether local or na tional, do not have a decisive position on an issue such as implementing programs that disrupt com munity harmony or that introduce conflicts. 4) Are the administrators development-or iented in terms of the identification values? The Central Luzon and Muslim samples are locally rather than nationally oriented, the Muslims being less na tionally oriented than the Christian administrators. The Muslims are ambivalent with regard to selflessness, a value that incorporates the role of the value in community development and stipulates it as quality of leaders. For the Central Luzon sample where self lessness is two-dimensional, selflessness is endorsed as necessary in community development but insofar as requiring political leaders to be selfless, the CL sample’s position is not as decisive. Even national administrators are not decisive on working for national rather than local interests in cases where these conflict. The score is only little above the upper limit for ambivalent scores. They have a more intense commitment to selflessness. The results show that the respondents do not have a con stant mean score on the value commitments. This suggests that the value commitments are not con sidered equally important; while some are endorsed, others are rejected or only elicit ambivalence. Fur thermore, for those endorsed, the degrees of endorse ment are not constant. So with those rejected and those that elicit ambivalence. The mean scores of responses on the dimen sions show that while some dirriensions are endorsed, others are rejected and still others elicit only am bivalence. This implies that value commitments are not equally important. As shown in the intercorrela tions of the dimensions, there are value commitments that operate together, suggesting that in one situation, these come to bfrgr as decision premises, Not all sitiu tions require an unvarying set of value commitments as frames of reference. Another reason why a fixed set of value com mitments does not obtain lies in the fact that adminis trators have different demographic and career back grounds. With different backgrounds, administrators in their role as development agents do not employ a set of constant “modern,” equally important and consistent value commitments. CONCLUSION THESE findings constitute empirical support to the thesis that the development process is multi dimensional They also support the observation that there are no fixed value commitments which administrators use as frames of reference or decision premises in effecting the development process. Given develop ment goals set by the authoritative structures of their society, a sample of Filipino administrators employ value commitments that differ from those conceived in other societies as promoting the ef fectiveness of administrators. The concept of develop ment-orientedness based largely on a Western model of development is not applicable to the sample of Filipino administrators. The case reports also show that the concept of development-orientedness is not applicable. So-called “development-oriented” value commitments do not coincide with behavior. Behavior is affected by the opportunities offered and constraints imposed by the environment. A behavioral equivalence of a value com mitment is modified, altered or changed in response to environmental pressures. These environmental factors include other individuals who may serve as superiors or subordinates of the administrator, the administrative and legal framework within which he operates, the quality of his personnel and the adequacy of fiscal resources available to him. From this exploratory study of the dynamics of development, we can identify the variables affect ing the rate and direction of the development process. There is a mixture of value commitments and en vironment Which of these is the more critical can be more systematically examined by future researches. This is a strategic area of research. Its policy implica - tions with regard to scarce resource allocation to such development needs as training programs to inculcate “appropriate” value commitments and administrative reforms are very important □ This is a condensed version of the restarch paper entitled “Develapment-Orientedness of Filipino Administrators"by Raul P. de Guzman, Professor and Dean, College of Public Administration, University of the Philippines, and Aurora A. Carbonell, Research Associate/Instructor of the same College. THE REPUBLIC 4 16-31 Augurt 1976 On leaves o£ absence ISSUE: Whether an employee who has been enjoying permanent status but whose promotional appointment has been approved by the Civil Service Commission as temporary under Section 24 (c) Re public Act No. 2260, as amended (now Section 25 (b), Presidential Decree No. 807), may be granted mater nity leave of absence with full pay. FACTS: Mrs. X started her services with the government on February 2, 1970, under permanent status until September 14, 1975; that on September 15, 1975, she was promoted to Statistician I, an ap pointment which was attested by this Commission as temporary; that while under such temporary status of appointment, she filed her application for maternity leave. RULING: The Commission ruled that the mater nity Leave Law (C.A. 647, as amended, Section 12, Civil Service Rule XVI) is essentially a social legisla tion and recognizes the very important function of motherhood, so that it gives to married woman em ployee early possible protection and assistance relative to her delivery by way of maternity leave benefits. Such being the case, it must be so interpreted as to effectuate the purposes for which it was enacted and to insure that the benefits granted therein are not unjustly denied. It will be observed that the pertinent provision therein which reads: “XX XX XX (a) Permanent or regular employees who have rendered two or more years of continuous service shall be entitled to 60 days with full pay. The two or more years service should be under regular and permanent appointment exclusive of^rvice under provisibhaT 65" temporary status.” x does not clearly indicate the relation of time between the two years mandatory period of service under permanent status and the moment of delivery. How ever, it explicitly provides that the period of service up to the time the benefit is availed of must be con tinuous and uninterrupted. As it appears that the services of Mrs. X have been continuous from the time of her original appoint ment to the present and she has held a permanent appointment for more than two years, she satisfies the requirement of the law to be entitled to maternity leave with full pay. Query was, therefore, answered in the affir mative. SOURCE: CSC Letter dated January 14, 1976 to the Executive Director, Dangerous Drugs Board, Manila On cultural minorities ISSUE: Whether a member of a cultural minor ity who is not a civil service eligible may be granted permanent status in appointment. RULING: The Commission ruled that the priv ilege granted to cultural minorities under the provi sions of Section 23 of Republic Act No. 2260, as amended, is not a grant of civil service eligibility but is an exception to the constitutional provision that appointment shall be through merit and fitness to be determined as far as practicable by competitive ex amination. The said constitutional provision must always prevail and in keeping with this mandate, only persons who have qualified in an appropriate exam ination should be given permanent status of appoint ment Accordingly, if a person has not qualified in an appropriate examination, even if he is a member of the cultural minorities, he should be extended only a “temporary” employment To do otherwise would be to disregard the fundamental requirement that ap pointments shall be made only according to merit and fitness. Moreover, the provision contained in Section 23, R.A. 2260, as amended, pertaining to cultural minorities, being an exception to the general rule requiring qualification in an appropriate examination for appointment in the competitive service, should be construed strictly. Hence, when the law provides that the examination requirements may be dispensed with “whenever the appointment of persons belonging to said cultural minorities is called for in the interest of the service as determined by the appointing author ity,” with the concurrence of the Commissioner of Civil Service, “there must be a showing that a deter mination to that effect by the appointing authority has been made with the concurrence of the Commissioner.” The provision that the examination require ments are dispensed with only “when not practicable”, means that no examination was given in the place where the cultural minority is proposed to be ap pointed. In case there were examinations given in the place, then the examination requirements are deemed “practicable” and the eligibles in that locality shall have preference over non-eligible members of the cultural minorities. This was the interpretation given to the provisions of RA 2260 on the matter. If under Republic Act No. 2260, before its amendment by Republic Act No. 6040, a non-eligible member of the cultural minorities is extended only a temporary appointment in the competitive service, this Contmission cannot find any reason why he should be extended a permanent appointment under RA 6040 when the same provision was copied vervatim in the amendatory provision of Republic Act No. 6040. For in accordance with well-settled rule on statutory construction: “Where a statute, or provision thereof, has been reenacted by the legislature in the same or substantial ly the same language, the lawmakers are presumed to have adopted the previous authoritative construc tion, whether judicial, legislative or administrative, which has been placed upon such statute or provi sions, unless the statute reenacted clearly indicates a different intention.” (Gonzaga, Statutes and Their Construction, 1st Ed. p. 235) (Emphasis supplied). Moreover, attention is invited to the provisions of Section 23, Article VIII of Presidential Decree No. 807 which states: “Section 23. Cultural Communities-In line with the national policy to facilitate the integration of the members of cultural communities and accele rate the development of the areas occupied by them, the Commission shall give special civil service exam inations to qualify them for appointment in the civil service.” SOURCE: CSC 2nd Indorsement dated April 8, 1976 to the Chairman, Commission on Audit On contractual* s leaves QUERY: Whether personnel employee on con tractual basis whose contracts are renewable every month and whose services are continuous, fall within the coverage of Section 14, Rule XVI of the Civil Rules which grants vacation and sick leave benefits to casual or emergency employees. RULING: Contractual personnel or persons on contract basis belong to the noncareer service as de fined in Section 6(4), Article IV of Presidential De cree No. 807, dated October 6, 1975, which reads: “(4) Contractual personnel are those whose em ployment in the government is in accordance with a special contract to undertake a, specific work or job, requiring special or technical skills not available in the employing agency, to be accomplished within a specific period, which in no case shall exceed one year, and performs or accomplishes the specific work or job, under his own responsibility with a minimum of direction and supervision from the hiring agency.” In view of the nature of their employment, contractual personnel undertake to do a piece of work for the government under their own responsibil ity with minimum interference, on the part of the government agency in the performance or accomplish ment thereof. As such they do not enjoy privileges accorded ordinary employees such as vacation, sick, and maternity leaves, retirement benefits and gratui ties in as much as the contract itself is the law that governs such personnel and the contracting agency. Since the personnel thereat are hired on contractual basis, they are not, therefore, within the coverage of Section 14, Rule XVI of the Civil Service Rules. The benefits accruing to said personnel will depend upon the terms of the respective contracts. In connection with contracts of employment, attention is invited to Resolution No. 117-A, s 1975 of this Commission, pertinent portion of which states: 1. The contractual employee shall undertake a specific work or project to be completed within a limited period, not to exceed one year; 2. The contractual employee shall have special or technical skills not available in the employing agency; 3. The contractual employee shall perform or accomplish his work under his own responsibility with minimum direction and supervision from the hiring agency; and 4. In the case of aliens, a contractual appoint ment shall be extended only if it can be shown that the expertise possessed by the alien is not available locally. Also pertinent is the Civil Service Memorandum Circular No. 15, series of 1963, which reads: “In view of the above-cited provisions of theCivil Service Law and the Revised Civil Service Rules, and in the exercise of the power of this Office to enforce, execute and carry out the Constitutional and statutory provisions on the merit system, it is hereby enjoined that proposals to employ persons on contract basis under Section 6 of Republic Act 2260 should first be submitted by the appointing officers to the Commissioner of Civil Service for the purpose of determining whether or not the proposed employment is properly a contract within the meaning of the pertinent provision of the Civil Service Law and Rules.” SOURCE: CSC 1st Indorsement dated January 20, 1976 to the Office of the President. On maximum salaries ISSUE: Information was requested on which provi sion should prevail-Section 9 of Republic Act No. 2260, as amended, or Section 16, Rule III on the New Rule on Personnel Actions and Policies promulgated to implement certain provisions of Presidential Decree No. 807. RULING: The Commission ruled that Section 9 of Republic Act No. 1260, as amended provided for maximum salary allowable to civil service eligibilities. On the other hand, Presidential Decree No. 807 which took effect on October 6, 1975, does not contain a similar limitation of maximum salary for civil service eligibilities. This becomes more apparent when we consider that the same expressly provides for the classification of positions in the Career Service into different levels on the basis of the required educa tional qualifications for the positions, namely: First, second, and third levels (Sec. 7), and accordingly, prescribes the appropriate eligibilities for the said dif ferent levels of positions, thereby rendering the im position of salary limitation not legally tenable be cause under this system of leveling of positions, the salary should attach not to eligibilities but to the positions, corresponding to the levels to which these positions belong. Hence, the provision of Section 16, Rule III in the New Rule on Personnel Actions and Policies reads as follows: “A salary ceiling shall not be attached to any civil service eligibility. The appropriateness of an eligibility for a position, therefore, shall not be af fected by any increase in the salary of such positions.” The query for which opinion is sought is thus answered accordingly. SOURCE: CSC 1st Indorsement dated March 16, 1976, to the Secretary of Finance, Manila. □ What the GSIS can do for you THE Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS) offers a wide array of benefits to its members. These benefits, aimed at promoting the welfare of government officials and employees, include retirement and pension annuities to retired civil servants, disability benefits, life insurance benefits to the heirs of the deceased government workers, medicare benefits to the sick, employment com pensation to those injured at work and the protection of properties. The GSIS also pays dividends semi-annually to its members. A large chunk of its resources is reserved for small loans of GSIS members for such purposes as housing, education, supplementary medical needs and other daily needs. Our national planners formulated these various benefits on the theory that government officials and employees must be given peace of mind. They must be made to feel that upon their retirement, they would be rewarded by the gov ernment. Also, the government wants to assure them that in case unforeseen contingencies of life befall on them, the government which have benefited from their productive effort will not abandon them. It is in this light that the state workers become effective and efficient factors in the task of nation-building. To make government officials and employees fully aware of their benefits and privileges, Antonio Ordinario, GSIS Senior Field Insurance Representative, lectured recently on these benefits before the employees of the Bureau of Na tional and Foreign Information at the Tuazon Bldg., Intramuros, Manila. Temporary Appointment. Among the first benefits discussed by Ordinario was the life insurance benefit. He said that under the Civil Service Law, there are * two kinds of appointments-temporary and permanent. If the appointment of an employee is temporary, the GSIS will issue either term renewable (TR) or option al membership policy (M-policy). TR is issued if the employee elects to Pay Pl2 a year as premium with the government counterpart of P12. If the employee is willing to pay six percent of his monthly salary as his life insurance premium, the GSIS will issue optional membership policy with physical and medical examina tion. This means that an employee is covered by the insurance policy as if he is holding a permanent appointment. In offices where there are about 50 or more applicants, the GSIS will issue group policy (G-policy) without physical and medical examination. Permanent Appointment. If the appointment is permanent, the GSIS will issue compulsory life insurance to the employed. Ordinario enumerated the benefits that will accrue to the members under the compulsory or optional membership life insurance policy: 1. Maturity proceeds. This is the total amount of insurance the insured will receive when the insurance policy matures. In order to claim this, the insured must submit the policy contract, or if not available, an affidavit of loss, and an updated service record to the Life Insurance Claims Department. 2. Cash Surrender Value (CSV). This is the amount the insured will receive from the GSIS if he surrenders his policy contract before its maturity. However, as long as an employee is working in the government, he is not allowed to sur render his insurance policy. But if the employee is separated from government service, he is given the option of either to continue paying both the personal and government shares, or if he cannot afford to pay, he should surrender his policy to get the cash surrender value of the insurance. The CSV is computed by adding all the premiums paid minus the cost of insurance and the administrative expenses. The GSIS representative stated the requirements in the settlement of the CSV of the policy as follows: a. policy contract, b. an updated service record from the office concerned, c. clearance on money and property accountabilities and the certificate of surrender of the policy. 3. Total and permanent disability. An employee is said to be totally dis abled if he can no longer pursue his regular work due to mental and/or physical infirmities. A disabled member will no longer pay the premiums from the date of approval of his disability by the GSIS medical director and will receive a yearly check equivalent to 20 percent of his total amount of insurance for five years or until his total amount of insurance is exhausted. To receive the benefit, a member must submit the policy contract, up-to-date service record from the office concerned, clearance on money and property accountabilities and the proof of disability. 4. Death claim. When a GSIS member dies, the total amount of insurance will be paid to the designated beneficiaries. The papers required to claim the death benefit are: policy contract, up-to-date service record from the office concerned, clearance on money and property accountabilities, proof of death and death certificate of the insured. 5. Double Indemnity. If the death is accidental, the GSIS will pay double the amount of insurance. The requirements for the settlement of the claims are similar to the death claim. In addition, a report of the investigation of any police agency is required. 6. Burial aid. The amount of P75O will be given to the designated bene ficiaries of the deceased member upon receipt of the notice of death, either by mail or wire. Salary Loans. The GSIS official also dwelt on the privileges under the life insurance contract. If the insurance policy has been in force for 20 to 39 months, a member can apply for one month salary loan; 40 to 59 months, two months salary loan; 60 months or more, three months salary loan. The GSIS charges five-percent interest from the gross loan and another five percent from the ba lance of the loan after one year, deductible when a member renews his loan or after the last installment if he does not. Ordinario also said that if the insurance policy has been in force for at least one year, a member can apply for policy loan. Under the compulsory insurance policy, a member is entitled to only 50 percent of the cash value; whereas, under the optional membership, a member can borrow up to 90 percent of ttje value of the policy. The interest is only six percent compounded annually. Real estate loan or the housing loan. This is temporarily suspended. But just the same, Ordinario gave the employees an idea of what the real estate loan is all about. He said that if the compulsory insurance coverage has been in force for at least three years and a member has a lot and sufficient capacity to pay he can avail himself of this loan. The amount of loan depends on the appraised value of the collateral and the paying capacity of the applicant. But the loan will not exceed the actual needs of the applicant as determined by the GSIS. The interest for the first P30,000 is only six percent and in excess of P30.000 up to P70,000, the interest is nine percent. Retirement. On the annuity benefits, the GSIS representative said that if the retiree is living, he must submit the application for retirement, an up-to-date service record from the office concerned, clearance on money and property accountabilities and a certificate that the applicant has no pending criminal or administrative charges. If the retirement is under the disability category, the applicant must sub mit the above-mentioned requirements. In addition, the-'fcllowingar- jequireo.' proof of disability, affidavit of guardianship for minor beneficiaries and/or retiree if mentally incompetent, bond of indemnity to be executed by guardian for the retiree, if mentally incompetent, or by any minor beneficiary if guardian is other than the natural parents. It was also pointed out that a prospective retiree may avail himself of the benefits provided under RA 660 known as Annuity Retirement Plan or under the provisions of RA 1616 known as the Gratuity Retirement Plan. Under RA 660, the requirements are age and the number of years in the government service. An illustration of this follows: REQUIREMENTS BENEFITS Age Service 65 15 Five years lump sum and monthly pension for life after five years 64 16 from the date of retirement. 63 18 62 20 Three years lump sum and the balance of two years lump sum will be 61 22 paid to the retiree when he is 63 60 24 59 26 Monthly pension guaranteed for five years, meaning that if a retiree 58 28 dies within five years from the date of retirement, the legal heirs shall 57 30 receive the balance of the five years pension. If the retiree is still 56 31 alive after the guaranteed period, he will receive a monthly pension 55 32 for life. 54 33 53 34 52 35■ Medicare. The medicare benefits extended to the GSIS members are: hospitalization expense of 45 days a year. The hospital room and board must be at the rate of Pl2 per day and the total amount of which should not exceed Pl 50 per confinement. The medical expense is P10 per day but in no case, will the amount exceed Pl00 per confinement. The surgical expense benefit as illustrated by Ordinario follows: Surgical fee Anaesthesiologist’s fee Operating room fee TYPE OF OPERATION Major Medium Minor P35O P150 P50 P100 P50 P25 P60 P40 P20 The following are not compensable under the medicare benefits: cosmetic surgery, dental services, except major dental surgery, optometric services, chronic psychiatric illness, services which are purely diagnostic and normal obs tetrical services. The GSIS members are also entitled to the benefits under the Employees’ Compensation Program. The purpose of this program is to give meaningful and adequate income benefits, medical or related services and rehabilitation services to the employees and the immediate members of their families in the event of employment-connected injuries, sickness and disability or death. To be entitled to these benefits, the injury must have been sustained at the place of work, in the performance of oi "cial duty and during working hours. A member is not qualified to receive compensation under this program if his injury is due to intoxication, or there was willful intention to injure or to kill himself, or if the injury was due to negligence. , □ 6 16-31 August 1976 The Government L THE REPUBLIC Hospitality is a major asset THE national policy on tourism de velopment is: “To make the tour ism industry a positive instrument to ward an accelerated national develop ment through which more people from other lands may visit and better appre ciate the Philippines and through which Filipinos may learn more about their own country—its beauty, history and culture-thus developing a greater sense of pride and commitment ,to their na tion.” This was contained in Presidential Decree No. 189 issued on May 11, 1973. The PD also expanded and integrated government efforts in tourism develop ment through the creation of the Dethe development of tourist attractions, and provided financial assistance to local investors. Still, the DOT faces several problems in promoting our country as the top tourism destination in South east Asia. Problems. The most glaring prob lem is the lack of suitable hotel accom modations for the growing number of tourists. The completion of some 14 hotels in time for the October IMFWorld Bank meeting will add 6,256 rooms to the existing 7,419 interna tional-standardrooms. The DOT has also acquired a number of accommodation facilities from the defunct Board of TravTOURIST RECEIPTS (IN MILLION US$) partment of Tourism (DOT). For so long, the Philippines had been at the tail-end of the lucrative tourist traffic in Southeast Asia. While Hongkong, Bangkok and Singapore have been quick to exploit the booming tour ist trade, particularly from the Japanese, Manila continued to experience minis cule gains in tourist arrivals. The primary reason for this was the international reputation of Manila then as a city of guns and violence. The declaration of martial law has drastically improved the peace and order conditions in the country-to a point where the Philippines has become one of the safest tourist destinations in the region. Since 1972, tourist arrivals in our country has grown at an unprecedented pace. Income from tourism has more than doubled in just three years—from US$67.8 million in 1973 to $155.2 million last year. Tourism, indeed, has become one of our top dollar-earning industries. Aside from improved peace and order conditions, another factor in the f a ‘ .rivird growth of"ihe industry is the liberal incentives package the gov ernment, through the DOT, has offered to local and foreign investors in tourism projects. Under the Tourism Priorities Plan, the government has pinpointed the following as priority tourism areas: the Manila Bay region, including Metro politan Manila; the northern Luzon provinces including Baguio; the CebuBohol-Leyte provinces; the Zamboanga area; the Bicol region; the Lake Lanao area; the Iloilo-Negros complex; and the Davao area. The boom in hotel construction has been accelerated by the preparations for the joint meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bankthe largest ministerial conference in the world today-in Manila this October. The meeting is expected to showcase the ideal setting of Manila for international conventions. The convention drive is expected not only to boost the number of “quality tourists” but also to sustain the tourism promotional campaign of our country. Administration. The DOT has ab sorbed the disparate tourism agencies of the government before its creation. Its implementing arm is the Philippine Tour ism Authority (PTA). PTA administers the government’s incentives package to investors in the tourism industry. Two bureaus are under the DOT: the Bureau of Tourism Promotion (BTP) and the Bureau of Special Services (BSS). The BTP is the principal marketing and pro motional arm of the DOT, while the BSS is charged with the task of providing hospitable reception to domestic and foreign visitors and the regulation and supervision of the operations of all tourist facilities and tourism-related ser vices. Programs. During its first three years of existence, the DOT was pri marily concerned with the improvement and expansion of tourism facilities in order to cope with the increasing influx of tourists. Providing direction and lead ership within the tourist industry, the DOT strove to acquire much-needed in frastructure support for the various tour ism development projects, supported el and Tourism, including the Mt. Data Lodge in Benguet, the Banaue Hotel and Youth Hostel in Ifugao. Another problem is the underde veloped state of many of our country’s tourist attractions. The DOT is harnes sing the cooperation of local govern ments in developing their tourist attrac tions. It is encouraging cleanliness and beautification drives in the rural areas as well as initiating the restoration of historical buildings. The DOT, in coope ration with the private sector and other government agencies, has launched the following tQurism development projects: the cleaning and beautification of the Pasig River, the construction of the Philippine Pavilion in Nayong Pilipino, the setting up of the Mt. Samat Guest house in Bataan, and the restoration and beautification of Manila’s Chinatown. DOT is also encouraging the holding of local eve'nts such as the Ati-Atihan, the Moriones Festival and the Christmas Lantern Festival. Another stumbling block to the full development of tourism is the lack of good infrastructure like roads and bridges going to the tourist attractions. The DOT is giving emphasis to tourism development in the rural areas in order to help bridge the gap in economic progress between our urban and rural areas. Tourism has been relegated to a lower priority compared to agriculture and industry in the infrastructure pro gram of our government. Nevertheless, the overall results have been generally supportive of the tourism projects; Guided by the Tourism Priorities Plan, the DOT is working closely with the De partment of Public Highways and the De partment of Public Works, Transporta tion and Communications to define what tourism projects are to be given top pridrity in infrastructure. Primary con sideration is.now being given to the expansion of the Manila International Airport and the improvement of alter nate international airports in Mactan and Zamboanga. Other targets include service roads linking major tourist at tractions to the main highways, bridges, improved communications facilities, im proved feeder airports and domestic seaports. The DOT is also getting help from foreign financial institutions. The World Bank consultants have finished feasibili ty studies on the development of the Looc Tourism Estate. The Asian Devel opment Bank, on the other hand, is un dertaking a feasibility study on a road project that would link Look with Manila. Regulation. To protect tourists as well as the local industry from sub standard accommodations and services, the DOT through the BSS is maintaining a strict guard on the operations of hotels and tourism services. Tourismoriented enterprises may not operate without clearance from the DOT. Tourism-related establishments are inspected and classified in accordance with set standards prior to being issued licenses to operate. The BSS also conducts onthe-spot checks to make sure tourism regulations are being followed. The initial concern of the DOT has been on hotels, travel agencies, restaurants and tour operators. The DOT is now ex panding coverage to include souvenir shops, handicrafts stores and entertain ment presentations in hotels and res taurants. The DOT has also organized aTour-v ist Assistance Unit (TAU) to ensure adequate protection and security to tourists for the duration of their stay. The TAU investigates tourists’ complaints including those against tour operators and tourist guides who demand exh or bitant fees as well as taxi companies with reckless drivers and fast meters. TAU also conducts regular patrol of the Tourist Belt section in Manila. Information and Promotions. The DOT maintains three tourist service units -at the Manila International Airport, at Nayong Pilipino and at the DOT head quarters in Agrifina Circle. They pro vide information and tour guiding help. The BTP is undertaking a vigorous ad vertising and promotional campaign abroad to “sell” the Philippines. The major market targets are Japan, the United States, Australia, West Germany and the ASEAN region. The BTP lays the groundwork for our participation in in ternational exhibits and conferences. One example was our booth in the 9th International Tourism Exchange held in Berlin, West Germany early last year. The BTP also handles the Balikbayan or HoihecomingProgram for Overseas Fili pinos which has become one of the most successful projects initiated by the DOT. □ Fulfilling the promise of the land THE Southern Philippines is at once the richest although the least devel oped area in our archipelago. Populated by only ten million people, a quarter of which are national cultural communities, it covers 30 percent of our land area and 40 percent of the national territory. Stretching on a crescent from the Pacific Ocean coast of Mindanao to the Sulu Archipelago then to Palawan, the area covers 22 provinces and 7 chartered cities. The national government is invest ing an unprecedented number of pro jects to develop the region. It views the secessionist threat in a part of the Southern Philippines as the product of many decades of indifference of past administrations to the potentials and unique problems of the region. To speed up the development of the area, President Ferdinand E. Marcos created through Presidential Decree No. 690 (April 22, 1975) the Southern Phil ippines Development Authority (SPDA). The new agency absorbed the functions of the four defunct agencies: the Com mission on National Integration, the Mindanao Development Authority, the Presidential Task Force for the Recon struction and Development of Mindanao and the Special Program of Assistance for the Rehabilitation of Evacuees. The new agency not only integrates govern ment development programs for the area, but reinforces the objective of accelerat ing the “socio-economic development of its population by helping preserve, pro mote and enhance their cultural tradi tions. ” Operational Concept. The SPDA has embarked on the novel idea of tying up profit-oriented activities with social and economic reforms. It sets up profitoriented corporations and ventures to provide income to its social-oriented, noncorporate projects. This innovative system assures the long-term viability of the Authority, and at the same time, it helps in the economic development of the region through the creation of em ployment opportunities. The SPDA sees itself fulfilling the following development roles: □ Resource development — which involves the utilization of the area’s natural resources to provide a basis for the profit-oriented enterprises of the Authority. These ventures are being pur sued in partnership with public and pri vate entities. However, the SPDA em phasizes that it does not seek to compete with private companies, but rather its purpose is to complement them. □ Social-oriented activities — these are projects in education, health, land reform, human settlements and the like in cooperation with the various special ized agencies of the government in volved in the development program of the area. □ Financial and technical assis tance - becomes operable when the SPDA enters into pioneering ventures, equity positions and joint ventures with either public or private institutions. Organization. The policy-making body of the SPDA is a board of directors. Management is entrusted to an adminis trator assisted by two deputy administrators-one heading the development management department and the other supervising the financial management department The board of directors and the administrator are appointed by the President. The Board of Directors is headed by Brig. Gen. Antonio N. Venadas as chair man with the following as members: Farouk A. Carpizo, Michael O. Mastura, Sergio O. Morales and Nombraan M. Pangcoga. Abdul Karim Sidri is adminis trator, assisted by Romeo D. Reyes, deputy administrator for development management, and Ali M. AFRaschid, deputy administrator for financial man agement Projects. The diverse activities of the agencies SPDA has absorbed have involved the Authority in a wide range of projects, spanning such fields as in dustry, agri-business, marine resources, human settlements, relief and rehabilita tion, tourism and community services. To check up on the relevance and pro gress of the projects it has “inherited,” the SPDA has set up project evaluation teams. Their reports on the major pro jects of the SPDA are as follows: □ SPARE. This stands for the spe cial program of assistance for the rehabil itation of evacuees. To help those af fected by the damage inflicted by the Muslim rebels, the program provides food, clothing, shelter, agricultural loans and resettlement opportunities to help the victims start life anew. From July 1975 to March 1976, SPARE had ex tended a total of P2.6 million to the evacuees. During the same period, SPARE built a total of 42 bunkhouses and 1,147 individual shelters. Evacuee farm ers are also being provided with loans amounting to P 1,200 per hectare of riceland. So far, P5.1 million worth of credit has been extended to the evacuee farmers. SPARE has also set up several income-generating projects, including a pilot fishing project in Bongao, TawiTawi, a vegetable gardening project in Lanao del Norte and Zamboanga City, and a smoked-fish project in three evac uation centers in Zamboanga City. It has also undertaken the survey of alienable and disposable public lands to serve as resettlement projects for landless evac uees. This is being done in coordination with the Bureau of Lands. Resettlement projects have been set up in the follow ing places: Kidam Labay, General San tos City; Datu Paglas, Maguindanao; Upper Sepaka, Surallah, South Cotabato; and Saboy, Dayao del Sur. □ FMEP. Farm Machinery Equip ment Pools were established to modern ize the farming technology of several areas in Mindanao through the renting out of tractors and farm implements to the farmers. Pools have been established in Don Carlos, Bukidnon; Lala, Lanao del Norte; Sinawilan, Davao del Sur; Libungan, North Cotabato; and Maganoy, Maguindanao. □ REAP. The Rural Economic Ad vancement Program was designed to in crease agricultural productivity levels of small farmers through cooperative irriga tion projects. Pilot areas have been estab lished in Tanglaw, Panabo and TuboTubo, Monkayo in Davao del Norte. □ MCCI. The Mindeva Coco-Coir In dustry Project was a pioneer effort in supplying the world demand for coir. Its factory was set up in Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental at a cost of P3.152 million. The project is expected to help obtain maximum utilization of coconut production in the region. □ CHRDP. Taking over from the Mindanao Development Authority, the SPDA is completing the facilities of the Cotabato Human Resettlement and De velopment Program in Dinaig, Maguinda nao. The 575-hectare project area is being developed for communal farming, an industrial estate, low-cost housing, an evacuee relocation center and a reset tlement project Subsidiaries. Again inheriting from the MDA, the SPDA administers three subsidiary corporations. One is the Min deva Agro-Industrial (MAID) which used to operate a feedmill plant in General Santos but had to sell it later after several years of unprofitable operations. The SPDA is reviving the MAID to in tegrate other agro-industrial projects it has absorbed from the defunct MDA. Another subsidiary is the Mindeva Re frigeration Industries, Inc. (MR1I) which sold its ice storage facilities for marine products in Zamboanga, Basilan and Sulu to private parties after a public bidding. The SPDA is negotiating for the reacquisition of the plant The Palawan Cannery and Fishing Development Cor poration, another SPDA subsidiary, is working toward the harnessing of the The land is rich and virginal. What development programs are all about. POPULACE LOCAL GOV’T. TAX BASE MULTIPLIER EFFECTS LOCAL ECONOMY PROFIT-ORIENTED GENERATE PROVIDE SOCIAL-ORIENTED ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES PROFITS FUNDS PROJECTS PROVIDE INVESTIBLE FUNDS SPDA -7— rich marine resources of the Southern Philippines. Equity Investments. The SPDA has assumed MDA’s equity subscription of P2 million to the Marawi Resort, Incor porated. The Resort will provide hotel facilities to the increasing number of tourists visiting Marawi, Lanao del Sur. The SPDA also has equity holdings in Pacific Cement Co., Inc. and the Davao Sugar Center Co., Incorporated. Initiated Projects. The SPDA is not content to manage the considerable re sourcesand projects it has absorbed from other agencies. Thus, it has launched several projects on its own. One of them is its human settlements project in Dina ig, Maguindanao and Zamboanga City. SPDA’s human settlement programs are addressed’ to the following priorities: rationalizing complex social interrela tionships, meeting the expanding popula tion pressure, identifying and optimizing land-use patterns, meeting cost standards for mass housing projects and maintain ing the quality of human life. The final criteria in any develop mental effort is whether the goods and services produced are effective and cor responding to the needs of the greatest number of people. This can only be the result of an integrated approach which is dependent on cooperation among pub lic and private agencies. This cooperation is being achieved in the Southern Phil ippines through the catalyzing force of the SPDA. The SPDA’s role is to ensure that its development plans are useful to the area’s population. Moreover, the SPDA cannot afford to go forward merely in tune with the other development pro grams in the archipelago, for the special situation in the Southern Philippines requires growth and social reform in the quickest time possible. As such, its rec ord, in just a little over a year of opera tions, shows SPDA can do the job. □ PRIMER ONEDA Guidelines on development planning Sectoral Development THE objectives and some policy issues in each sector are identified to guide line agencies in their planning activities. Some of these are indicated to shed more light on some questions which may arise in each sector in the process of development For simplicity and to highlight intersectoral linkages, the relation of certain issues affecting subsectors belonging to the major pro ductive, social services, and support sec tors are presented. Industry TO move rapidly toward industrial de velopment, industrialization should grow faster than before. This under scores the need to rationalize and set growth directions among the types of industries promising strong potentials, and at the same time to provide the ingredients needed for growth. The type of industries to be promoted shall be those which have the best potential to remain viable under changing economic conditions and those identified with the greatest linkage within the economy and crucial to an industrial take-off. □ Regional Emphasis. Dispersing Industries. Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon regions should take formidable steps in providing more for the basic needs of their population as well as in dustrial demand. Only mainly light in dustries with linkages to small enter prises shall be emphasized as these areas are expected to become more and more urbanized and large human settlement sites. Spillover benefits will then be ploughed into the rest of Luzp.n-.naU withstanding Cagayan Valley, the Bicol and the IIocos Regions holding, their own and creating their much needed industrial nuclei. Special mention is made of the Bicol region Which, while showing signs of potent growth, has not appreciably har nessed its resources to the utmost Des erving similar concern is the Cagayan Valley which, like Bicol, has remained prostrate as an underdeveloped area. These two regions should be uplifted from their present state. The fermenta tion of industries in these regions may yet find realization if the industrial strategy for Luzon will forge a balancing scheme of industrial prioritization among the regions. The growth setters in Visayas will be Central and Western Visayas. Eastern Visayas, however, will need special atten tion so that it can cope with the more de veloped ones. Government and private intervention in terms of more invest POPULATION PROJECTIONS (In Thouundl) 1970 1976 1980 188S 1890 1995 2000 FY 1975 FY1980 Total Expenditures: P13.3 billion Total Expenditures: P26.4 billion FY 1985 Total Expenditures: P52.6 billion ments, incentives, and other packages of strategies will be needed for the entire Visayas area. In Mindanao, the northern and southwestern regions will become the more industrially-developed regions. The development of the western and south western regions on the other hand, will be slow, and as such, they will need intensive development efforts. Mindanao’s vast mineral resources may become a latent base for further ex ploration. Likewise, massive explorations of the mineral potentials of Luzon and Visayas will be necessary. Growth Expectations. All these translates into an annual growth rate of 9.3 percent for Luzon until 2000 with Metropolitan Manila growing at 13.0 percent and the Cagayan Valley at 15.5 percent Visayas will hit 8.6 percent per annum during the same stretch and Min danao, 11.3 percent Eastern Visayas should be made to grow at 11.0, Central Visayas at 9.5 and Western Visayas at 7.0 percent. Mindanao’s northern and southwestern regions should reach 13.6 percent and 11.9 percent respectively. □ Policy Issues. 1. Sectoral Plans. Major industries will require rationalization programs through an orderly allocation of capac ities, markets and linkages with smallscale industries. Regional projects cov ered by the ASEAN industrialization scheme will have to be evaluated to determine complementary national pro jects requiring coordinative arrangements taking into account the most appropriate financing schemes and related considera tions. 2. Government Investments. The huge investment requirements and risks involved in certain critical and largescale industries necessitate the planning of full government involvement on a turn-key basis or through joint-venture arrangements. In this regard, the extent of participation of transnational cor porations in industry and the other sec tors could be clearly defined within the framework of existing regional arrange ments and investment laws. 3. Development of Small-Scale In dustries. The impact of small and med ium-scale industries on the country’s de velopment is substantial in terms of their employment generation capability partic ularly in the rural areas. They also re quire relatively low amounts of capital and can tie up easily with large indus tries through sub-contracting and other similar arrangements. Strategies and pol icies should therefore be addressed to the stimulation of these industries through more positive programs and incentives which heretofore are applied only in some large industries. For ins tance, the coverage of the present in stitutional support for the development of small-scale industries may have to be reviewed in the next years in order to implement a more selective approach, either by industry or by area especially in identified priority areas. Any smallscale industry program will have to be related and tied up to other industrial sectoral and rationalization programs. 4. Industrial Estates. The industrial estate has been a relatively successful instrument toward the effective organi zation and development of industries. The main reason for establishing'indus trial estates is to circumvent the in adequacies imposed by limited support ing structure and incentives by means of effective and comprehensive area devel opment that takes into account among others, appropriate land use and envi ronmental protection principles. Thus, a nationwide industrial estate program Our budget priorities PRESIDENT Marcos approved last August 6 budget priorities and ceilings to guide the preparation of the national government budget for calendar year 1977. Government revenues for CY 1977 are estimated to be P24.1 billion and current operating expenditures, Pl8.8 billion. A current surplus of P5.3 billion is accordingly expected. At the same time, capital outlays for infrastructure and other investment activities are es timated to amount to P7.8 billion. This will be financed by the current surplus and new borrowings, which are accor dingly estimated at P2.5 billion. The President explained that re venue and expenditure targets have been determined so as to achieve a growth rate in real gross national product of 7 percent and to limit possible price level increases to a maximum of 7 percent, while continuing to safeguard the bal ance of payment position. Priorities. The following new and emerging priorities were also identified by the President as guidelines in the preparation of the CY 1977 budget: 1. The need to strengthen national integrity and to solidify international re lationships, particularly with the Asso should be formulated with -a view of early implementation. 5. Pacing the Extraction and Ex portation of Mineral Ores. The pace at which the extraction and exportation of mineral ores is proceeding needs review in the light of depletion and the long term need of the economy for foreign exchange, ecological balance and en hancing domestic value-added. 6. Credit Coverage. Existing credit schemes may have to be reviewed in the light of peculiar needs of small-scale industries. Alternative possibilities for financing small industries through var ious modern ararngements will have to be established to offset limitations of small industries. 7. Permanent Technology Transfer Unit. While certain government agencies have been involved in varying degrees in some aspects of technology transfer and adaptation, the creation of a permanent transfer of technology unit which will look closer and more deeply intcjhe technology requirements of industry is worth exploring. Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery A MAJOR goal is the improvement of our capability to eventually pro duce the country’s needs for food and other agricultural raw materials and to maintain a stable food supply. More specifically, the objectives are to: (1) intensify and improve the efficiency 6f production; (2) accelerate the develop ment of fisheries and aquatic resources; (3) expand production and utilization of products from carabaos and other ruminants; (4) develop appropriate farming systems for rainfed areas; (5) ciation of Southeast Asian Nations and the Third World. This indicates conti nued development of national self-rel iance in the security and foreign rela tions fields. 2. Giving meaning to national aspi rations for self-reliance in the areas of agricultural and industrial capability. Budgetary provision will be made to sup port major projects intended to strength en the framework of economic activity. 3. Integrated and purposive imple mentation of reforestation, water im pounding, waterworks, hydroelectric, and irrigation programs, as a means of natural resources conservation and re gional development. 4. Acceleration of the energy pro gram, implemented through geothermal, nuclear and other power projects, and increased support of oil exploration. 5. The balance of trade situation has motivated an assessment of the Philip pine export program. The government involvement in fostering exports will be considered in the development of bud get ceilings. 6. Accelerated financial support to the agrarian reform program is called for to cover the cash flow scheduling of fanner amortization and bond re Section G THE REPUBLIC 9 expand and improve irrigation and drain age facilities; (6) improve the efficiency of postharvest and marketing opera tions; and (7) satisfy raw material re quirements for the local housing and construction industry. Social Equity and Agrarian Reform. The thrust for the development of the countryside and the concern for a more equitable distribution of income and wealth underscore the continuing rel evance of this major goal to the agricul tural sector. The objectives are to: (1) accelerate the completion of land trans fer; (2) ensure the stability of land tenure for farmers; (3) accelerate land valuation and compensation; (4) strengthen and expand the settlement program; (5) increase real income of small producers; (6) strengthen rural development-oriented and people-based institutions; and (7) generate more em ployment opportunities for the rural population. Expansion of Export and Import Substitutes. Traditional agricultural raw material exports have been a major source of the country’s foreign exchange. In the ensuing years, the objectives are to: (1) expand output of export prod ucts, particularly by intensifying and effecting efficiency in production rather for 1977 demption requirements. 7. Programs for population control, health, nutrition, and social welfare will be given added emphasis, particularly in tertiary hospital care. 8. Maintenance of employment in the construction industry through pro grams in housing, construction of na tional government buildings and other infrastructure, as a means of continuing the thrust began during the past year through hotel and condominium cons truction, now about to be completed. Budget Hearings. In the meantime, Budget Commissioner Jaime C. Laya an nounced that CY 1977 budget hearings are scheduled on August 16-31. In addition to a review of the bud get requirements of agency programs and projects within the ceilings and priorities approved by the President, Commissioner Laya stated that specific attention will also be given to the eval uation of the regional profile of agency budget estimates, the budgetary impli cations of multi-agency expenditures in the context of regional development projects, and budgetary counterpart re quirements of major development proj ects, such as the nuclear power and the copper smelter projects. □ than by expanding the area; (2) pro mote the development and exportation of processed products; (3) promote the development of selected import sub stitutes; and (4) develop the interna tional marketing capability. Policy Issues. 1. Shift in Food Production. Major emphasis is laid on rice production and land-based sources of food which are easily affected by weather conditions. A shift in emphasis on the production of substitute crops that are more nutritive and adaptive to adverse conditions needs serious considerations. 2. Review of Consumption Pattern. The population pressure and limited land resources call for a review of the basic consumption pattern of the pop ulace as a long-term solution to our rice problem. A shift to a rice-corn mixture as a basic staple food as well as greater intake of vegetables and other foods should be stressed. 3. Developing Irrigation Facilities. Palay farms are generally characterized by low productivity due to the lack of irrigation facilities. In this regard, ac celerating the development of irrigation and drainage facilities is in order by giving priority to government outlays for communal irrigation and drainage systems. 4. Reviewing the Fertilizer Sub sidy Program. Subsidizing fertilizer use has been costly to the government aside from spawning problems like black mar keting. Its eventual phase-out may be seriously considered once a higher level of fertilizer production at more reason able costs is achieved. 5. Reorganizing Extension Work ers. Extension services supportive of agricultural programs are weak and some times ineffective. To solve these, the following options may be considered: the retraining and integration of all ag ricultural extension workers; the utiliza tion of farmer-leaders to complement government extension work; and the phase-out of extension work by the government in favor of farmers’ organ izations or industry groups. 6. Upgrading Postharvest and Mar keting Operations. Significant crop los ses due to inefficient postharvest and marketing operations have been observed in the past years. A need to improve efficiency in this regard should be given full support 7. Reviewing Incentives for Agri cultural Production. Incentives available to investors in selected agricultural ac tivities appear to have failed to elicit the desired response for firms to engage in basic agricultural activities. The In vestment Incentives Act and the Export Incentives Act should be updated and their coverage expanded to include pri mary agricultural production. 8. Reviewing the Food Inventory Policy. The present food inventory policy should be reviewed to maximize benefits derived from an adequate level of food stocks and meet the other needs of the economy. This must consider, among others, the desirable level of domestic requirements, foreign exchange fore gone, and cost of inventory. 9. Research on Crop Varieties. Ac celerated research in the planting of the most suitable crop varieties, harvesting and processing techniques, equipment required, and the appropriate farm or ganization will have to be undertaken. Infrastructure and Utilities PLANNING for the development of infrastructure facilities and utilities must strongly emphasize the policy of enhancing regional balance in terms of considering the implication of urban growth centers and industrial estates via the area integrated development pack ages. The increase in population and anticipated growth of labor supply im plies a thorough consideration on the possibility of optimum use of laborintensive methods of construction. Pro viding for adequate transport services is an important determinant of the pace and locational pattern of development and augurs well for a successful and dynamic tourism program. The objective of the transport sec tor is to support the country’s socio economic development programs. Spe cifically, the present objective is to provide a well-integrated, efficient, ade quate and public service-oriented intermodal transport service encompassing the static and dynamic aspects that will effectively facilitate the movement of people, goods, and services among pro duction, consumption and population centers. Programs and Regional Emphases. Implicit in the above objective are broad policy measures and guidelines which have to be observed in formulat ing long-term agency plans and programs. □ Public investment for transport development should be concentrated in priority areas with intensive productive activities as well as planned and estab lished settlement patterns to optimize the use of scarce financial resources. □ To maximize economic returns and levels of public service, a program on coordination and integration across and within all modes is necessary to arrive at the proper choice of modes and modal combinations. □ The development of the carrier fleet or dynamic components of trans portation must be compatible with the infrastructural elements in terms of de sign, operations, and degree of servicibility. □ Based on comprehensive phys ical planning studies, transport plans and programs should consider the pro jection of the optimal major land uses and its manner of development for specific purposes taking into account existing and future needs as related to programs of economic development. □ Pricing of transport services should be set to attain the socially and economically optimum distribution of traffic among modes to be within the reach of the general public especially the lower income brackets, and to cover the marginal operating and social costs. Policy Issues. 1. Construction. The choice be tween capital-intensive and labor-inten sive methods of construction still persists, calling for constant balancing between the benefits a particular method brings to the sector and to the economy as a whole. The availability of capital equip ment, location of projects and other social considerations also determine the choice of construction techniques. 2. Government Control of Transport Facilities. It seems that the private sec tor alone cannot meet the increasing demand for transport services. It is of utmost importance, therefore, to con sider the proposal for increased if not total government control of certain transport utilities to provide continuous, responsive, and adequate services. 3. Integrated Transport Plan. An in tegrated transport plan indicating the extent of the need and the role of land, sea and air transport in the country’s development will have to be prepared wherein thf responsibilities of agencies related wittr transpt5rt-dev<4o;’.''..Et-&r€ delineated. 4. Long-Term Energy Plan. Con sidering the mixed trend in the econ omics of energy production through different methods, e. g., geothermal, hydroelectric, nuclear, and thermal, al ternative strategies on energy develop ment beyond 1985 will have to be evolved. Water Resources THE country is endowed with abun dant water resources that can suf ficiently provide the basic requirements for domestic, industrial, agricultural and recreational usages. The objective, there fore, for water resources development is to fully harness these resources through an efficient water resources program coupled by sound water man agement policies. The four main areas where development efforts should be intensified are in: (a) the provision of irrigation facilities to boost agricultural productivity and attain food self-suf ficiency; (b) provision of an adequate water supply and sewerage system es pecially to major growth urban areas to promote public health and sanitation; (c) construction of adequate flood con trol systems for protection of urban areas and agricultural basins; and (d) provision of power systems to generate cheap and dependable hydropower. Policy Issues. A comprehensive stra tegy for water resources development to optimize efficiency in water resources management should be adopted. Studies should be vigorously pursued to serve as bases for the formulation of policy guidelines, plans, research programs, tak ing into consideration the implication of science and technology applications, and regulatory measures aimed at defining the functions, linkages, interrelation ships, priorities and optimum utilization of water resources. The integrated river basin concept of development should be emphasized through the setting up of priorities among river basin projects to com plement agricultural development (To be concluded) 10 16-31 August 1976 The Nation THE REPUBLIC BMI RESEARCH □ Maripi Leynes Local inventors: we must encourage them INTERMEDIATE technology com bines the modern qualities of for eign technology and the limitations of a semi-industrialized society such as the Philippines. In this connec tion, one Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) project aims to identify, describe and develop intermediate/appropriate technology and community innovations. It pro poses to study the Philippine inven tion system primarily focusing on the identification and description of local inventions and indigenous technology, the attendant processes of development and technology transfer, the instrument/vehicle of technology change, and identifica tion of some research and develop ment indicators through consulta tion and case study investigation. In relation to this, a research group headed by Dr. Ruben SantosCuyugan, sociologist and chancellor of the Philippine Center for Ad vanced Studies, seeks to identify elements of Filipino innovativeness. Once these elements are known, the government can easily harness the potentials of people possessing such traits. The two studies complement the search for an intermediate tech nology and for the Filipino tech nocrats to introduce it. Most Filipino inventions, DAP researchers found out, are merely “paper inventions”. Of the thou sands listed by the Philippine Patent Office, only ten percent have been produced in actual (not model) size; the rest most probably have rotted in the realm of imagination and pigeon holes. - Possibly,SOrhe^oTthT inventors are just “patent collectors” as one PPO staffer claims. They content themselves with mere ownership of patents and claims to being inven tors, feeling leery of the correspond ing monetary rewards. Others may have been delimited by production costs, for even the manufacture and Jeepneys: Filipinos are ingenious. marketing of models already require capitalization. The Filipino inventor, to com pound his woes, also has to compete with the multinationals who have the resources to produce and sell equipment in commercial quantity. Hence, to earn money, an inventor is forced to surrender, at modest returns', his patent to a businessman or a multinational corporation. He then remains incognito. Problem of Originality. A wrench in the machine, so to speak, is that most Filipino inventions are not originaL They are mainly varia tions of already existing products or processes, utilizing either new or a combination of raw materials or changing a particular stage in the manufacturing process. It could also __ be a new design of an old product It is however, a totally different story in the advanced countries, where innovations, in the true sense of the word, continually take place in research laboratories which are backed by a company’s millions. Heavily-funded inventor-researchers, however, are not recognized individ ually; and the products, as an offshoot of the laissez-faire dictum, do not necessarily accrue to national development. The products nyjst serve multinational interests; the rest is incidental As to why the Filipino inventor cannot be original, Dr. Cuyugan and his staff, after analyzing the data gathered from a hundred respond ents whose names were taken from the list of patent applicants in the PPO, found put that Filipino inven tors are “creatures of circumstance”, or they invent what they perceive to be a felt need. The reason is more in kinship to engineering contin gencies, and nothing else. The trial-and-error factor plays a lead role. Most Filipino inventors start tinkering with basic materials to create a substitute for the doublyexpensiveWestern prototypes. They eventually discover that the scrap metals and iron found in junk shops and other reject materials can be recycled and magically transformed into peso-saving, peso-earning and time-saving devices. Improvisation is the key, keep ing much to the original design and scientific principles employed in the original Though simple it may ap pear, there are few, indeed, who can sit down and invent without any specific problem in mind—an ap proach frowned upon in modern research. Simple Solutions. Simple prob lems, it is said, need simple solu tions; and the Philippines is not so technologically advanced as to get derailed, as it were, by problems beyond pragmatic solutions, beyond the scope of common sense. Exper tise has its reason, but so does native enterprise. Filipino inventors are not what scientific movies are wont to depict; they are people from all walks of life, and trained for some other en deavors—lawyers, teachers, clerks, mechanics, engineers, etc. One, in short, doesn’t have to be freaky to be “creative,” inventive. The average Filipino inventor is usually in his late thirties or early forties, a col lege graduate, without scholastic and academic honors. He starts inventing at the age of 38, and gets recognized as an inven tor at the ripe old age of 5 2. He is, therefore, a “late bloomer”, com pared to his American counterpart who supposedly is already estab lished at 24. At 55, an American inventor is lamented as past his creative peak. The Filipino inventor is usually male. Of the one hundred inventors sampled by Dr. Cuyugan’s group, only one is female. Dr. Cuyugan’s survey also shows that not one of the inventors included in the sample has written scientific articles on the theoretical or practical level. Neither have they demonstrated an interest in the more theoretical or advanced scientific journals. Their interest is concentrated on the applied sciences and mechanics. Theirs apparently is on the level of mechanics, of practicum that evolves its own theore tical structure. From Breakthrough of DAP □ Lessons HOW adequately a manager pre pares to lead, motivate and inspire his staff to concerted action determines to a large extent how quickly and well work will be done. In the Memorandum of Agreement executed on May 15, 1976 between the Civil Service Commission and the Depart ment of Local Government and Com munity Development, Programmed Ins truction Course on Supervision through Self-Instructional Materials (SIM) was implemented. This basic supervisory course is a joint project of the two agencies through the Office of Career and Employee Development and regional offices of the Civil Service Commission and the Bureau of Local Government, and regional and field offices of the DLGCD. The purpose was to reach some 1,650 local government first-line super visors assigned in the rural areas, and thus have few opportunities to attend formal training activities. Programmed instruction offers a solution to the problem of how to bring training to these supervisors. It is a train ing technique by which participants learn by working through SIM. The materials are prepared in such a way that each participant is required to active ly respond to the materials. He is provi ded afterwards with feedbacks and rein forcements. Workers need not be pulled out from their stations and brought to training centers for assembled training because the method calls for participants to work individually on the materials by mail and to proceed at individual rates of speed and convenience. The initial phase of the program, covering the period from October 1975 to June 1976, has drawn a total of 867 participants from all over the country, with 792 passing the course. The 75 who failed can repeat the course in the second phase of the program implementation. Here is the distribution of participants by region: Region 1 46 passed 6 failed Region 2 7 passed 8 failed Region 3 30 passed 0 failed Region 4 209 passed 27 failed Region 5 62 passed 2 failed Region 6 42 passed 2 failed Region 7 125 passed 4 failed Region 8 66 passed 17 failed Region 9 Region 10 Region 11 Region 12 95 passed 45 passed 54 passed 11 passed 1 failed 0 failed 8 failed 0 failed Total 792 passed 75 failed Participants in the 12 regions were composed of municipal and assistant municipal treasurers, division chiefs, sec tion chiefs, and supervising clerks from the various local government offices, high ranking personnel from the police force and from the fire department, ex ecutive assistants (provincial level), as sistant provincial treasurers, postmas ters, market superintendents and muni cipal planning and development officers. Criteria for Selection. 1. Participant should be at least a first-line supervisor of any office in the provincial/city/ municipal government; 2. Participant should be at least a high school grad uate; 3. Participant should not be less than twenty-one nor more than sixty years of age; priority, however, should be given to those who are not retiring within the next two years; 4. Participant should have no pending criminal or administrative charges; 5. Participants from offices wliich have problems in supervision should be given preference along with those who have not undergone any type of training; and 6. A potential supervisor may also be considered upon certification of his immediate chief. Formal training covers the unas sembled stage and the assembled stage. The unassembled stage lasts for a month during wliich the participants have to read in their homes the three volumes of Introduction to Supervision sent to them earlier by the DLGCD through the Bureau of Local Government (BLG). and the regional and field offices of the DLGCD. The three volumes contain 15 learning blocks covering 8 areas of supervision. The eight areas of super vision are: basic organization, communi ty and human interaction, human moti vation, leadership, training and develop ment, work methods improvement, per formance evaluation, and planning, or ganizing, directing and controlling. The assembled stage is for three days. On the first day, participants undergo the first validation. The test papers are immediately corrected and the errors tabulated to determine the weak areas of the participants. The four weakest areas would then be the subject mat ter for the remedial session which fol lows the next day. The activities include lecturettes, games for experiential learn ing and open forums. On the third day, another validation follows, this time to determine who among the participants will pass the course and receive the training certificate. Seventy is the passing score. The self-instructional materials alone do not guarantee the user the ac quisition of the skills of a model super visor. These materials are intended to provide the participant with an “informa tion and awareness base.” Provided this base, the participant may be able to selectively apply gained ideas and knowl edge to carry out his daily work of supervision more effectively and effi ciently. No supervisor need start on his job without at least some information on what supervision is all about. □ - Alma Diputado The'Government 16-31 August 1976 11 REPORT □ Jane Bayion Our strategy against criminality ONE of the reasons why martial law was declared in 1972 was the alarming upsurge of criminality in the country. President Marcos saw the urgent need for reform. In his Notes on the New Society, he pinpointed the old society as “the perfect target for dissident agitation and activity, a society that was the fertile ground for revolutionary enterprise.” The wisdom of the President’s decision is supported by statistics compiled by the various crime control agencies such as the National Police Com mission (NAPOLCOM) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). For 1971, the year before martial law was proclaimed, NAPOLCOM recorded 298,991 cases of crimes or a rate of 720 per 100,000 individuals. It was in the year 1969 when crime was at its highest during the 1965-1975 decade. For that year 365,475 cases of crimes were recorded or a rate of 983 per 100,000 individuals. Stringent measures recently en acted, however, have not deterred criminal elements. The NAPOLCOM alone recorded a total of 148,953 crimes, excluding ordinance violations, in 1975, or a crime rate of 356 offenses per 100,000 individuals. NAPOLCOM calculates that a murder is committed every 5 hours and 48 minutes. Theft is committed every 16 minutes. These figures, however, exclude those from such agencies as the NBI, INP, and the local police agencies. How crimes can be curbed was the subject of a national conference conducted recently by the Inte grated National Police (INP) and the NAPOLCOM, agencies attached to the Department of National Defense (DND). Participants of the conference agreed it is time to seriously consider the managerial aspect of crime prevention. They agreed it is not enough that heavy and even drastic penalties are meted but to offenders. The implementation of social rehabilita tion programs will not suffice either. As crimes have become more and more sophisticated, they recom mended that its preventive and control management must be even more so. Several experts in criminal justice read papers and presided over plenary sessions during the three'—day conference held at Camp Aguinaldo. They in cluded DND Secretary Juan Ponce-Enrile, Chief Justice Fred Ruiz Castro, PC Chief Fidel Ramos, Justice Undersecretary Catalino Macaraig, and Social Welfare Secretary Estefania Aldaba-Lim. President Marcos spoke at the closing ceremonies during which he challenged the participants to formulate a national strategy to reduce crime. The formulation of this strategy Was among the objectives of the conference. The other objectives were: 1. To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas on the various aspects of criminal justice system and its relation to national development; 2. To foster better understanding, cooperation and comprehension of the roles of the agencies or organizations involved in the criminal justice system; 3. To identify problem areas on the various components of the system; and 4. To specify planning guidelines and ap proaches for the formulation and implementation of a national crime prevention program. The strategy recommended by the conferees is now being studied by the President. It stresses that crime prevention is still the most effective means of crime control. It advises the upgrading of qualifica tions for persons involved in the criminal justice system including policemen, fiscals, judges, lawyers, jail wardens, and social workers. The conferees were quite disturbed by the recent trend toward so-called “white-collar” and “business” crimes, subtle forms of criminalities that governmental units and employees could easily be trapped into committing. As population grows and urbanization expands, man’s needs and desires tend to be more complex. In his attempt to level up with his peers, he may be tempted to deceive, commit fraud or embezzle. Findings of police agencies show that dishonesty of corporate employees account for two-thirds of busi ness failures, and that white-collar crimes retard the nation’s economic growth. In many countries, the techniques of committing crimes are becoming more sophisticated, and criminals are getting more organ ized as well. As a consequence, the efforts of the government to raise the level of living and improve the standards of social services have been greatly hampered. White-collar crimes are characterized by guile, deceit and concealment and may be committed individually or in conspiracy with another person or organization. What is crime? Since the incidence of crime is a social phenomenon and people are affected by its consequence, experts define it as any act or occur rence that affects the quality of life; anything that results in negative economic and social impact. In a democratic society such as ours, crimes are han dled by a criminal justice system which has four components: police, prosecution, the courts, and corrections. Unless these four units work in harmony, the complete rehabilitation of an offender and his useful return to society may not be achieved. But, as the experts pointed out, offenders themselves are not the only problem in the matter of crime control. Bureaucratic red tape, the very nature of democratic justice (that it is necessarily slow because it seeks to be impartial) and the utter lack of expertise and managerials skills of agepts of criminal justice-such as policemen—exacerbate the problem. There is a growing concern over delays in ad judicating court cases and the overloading of courts and correctional institutions. The community, it was suggested, could help in the solution of this problem. Cases such as littering and loitering can be handled by the community through its barangays. One question raised was whether the Philippines should now re orient its penal system by immediate rehabilitation of offenders instead of bringing them to jail first and then slowly paving the way toward their rehabilita tion. There was also an issue raised whether some crimes such as minor traffic violations ought to be decriminalized. Jailing offenders with minor infrao-, tions clog jails and drain taxpayers’ money without immediate social result. In fact, one of the controver sial questions raised during the conference was whether the death penalty negate or not the objective Drug trafficker: crime does not pay. of raising the quality of life. A participant noted that one dead man is one resource less. Participants did not recommend the quixotic quest for the elimination of criminality; rather, its reduction to such a level safely acceptable to society. Knowing that the police should be ready to meet the new forms and dimensions of criminality resulting from socio-economic changes, the group underscored the immediate need for better trained agents and adequate police facilities. Law enforcement agencies have been greatly hampered by the lack of qualified personnel. Until the Police Act of 1966, which created the NAPOLCOM, our policemen were mostly underqualified—a signi ficant percen tage were only elementary or high school graduates. Among the first thing the NAPOLCOM did was to give examinations to law enforcers; those who did not pass were weeded out. The Commission gives several examinations every year. A high priority was placed on police training—a policy dictated largely by the sad finding that in 1966, two-thirds of all police men did not have any relevant training. Courses and training subjects included criminal investigation and detection; narcotics and dangerous drugs control in vestigation; police supervision and intelligence; and jail management To further upgrade the quality of our police men, NAPOLCOM is maintaining rigid discipline. Where before policemen lord it over towns and cities, now measures have been adopted so that those who are victims of police harassment need not fear. These measures include separation from service if the charge against a policeman is grave, or administrative sus pension without pay if the charge is light Graft and corruption are also forms of white collar crimes. Since honesty and uprightness are demanded of government workers in the New Society, such issues concern him directly. Graft and corruption ’ are associated with a wide range of company opera tions such as purchasing, sales, employment, etc. The objective of those offering bribes and payoffs are varied and include intentions to cover up short deliveries or inferior products, to secure information on competing bids, and to secure approval of false financial statements. Some government employees, while initially honest, resort to various forms of dishonesty when subjected to such outside pressures as emergency family expenses, unsuccessful stock market specula tions, gambling losses, problems with a side-business, and drug or alcohol problem. Others-become corrupt because of low and inadequate wage or salary, resentment against alleged unfair or inconsistent com pany policies, inordinately severe disciplinary actions, substandard working conditions, or deep-seated feel ing against their superiors. 'A manager can easily prevent his subordinates from committing white-collar crimes by being responsible, understanding and ap proachable. He must not only know how to manage a person but also his feelings. The NAPOLCOM recom mends the following solutions in case irregularity occurs: 1. Improve key management policies, controls, procedures and methods; 2. Promote greater participation of sharehold ers in the affairs of corporations or of workers in public offices; 3. Create an ombudsman body which would investigate corruption and graft cases in government offices; 4. Initiate special studies on corruption. One special study that could be undertaken is crime forecasting. Such project could serve as a guide of the government in crime prevention. Since martial law was declared, most government agencies now have Security Information Units (SIU) or similar task forces charged with “police work.” As a result of their in dependently sustained policing, many possible ir regularities in government offices have been averted. The idea of pre-auditing and post-auditing are also forms of crime controL Crime forecasting, however, remains a tedious job because systematic and reliable techniques are yet to be set up. □ 12 16-31 August 1976 The Government THE REPUBLIC Your land reform primer What is “Operation Land Trans fer? “ Operation Land Transfer (OLT) is the orderly and systematic transfer of tenanted rice and corn lands to the tenant-tillers in pursuance of PD No. 27. What are the criteria required be fore a land is covered by Operation Land Transfer? There are four criteria required be fore a land is covered by OLT. The ab sence of one of the criteria exempts the land from coverage. The criteria are: □ The land is private agricultural land; □ The land is tenanted; □ The land is primarily devoted to rice and/or corn; and □ The area of the tenanted land is more than seven hectares. What are the steps taken to transfer the land to tenant-tillers? □ The first step is the identification of the tenants, landowners and the land covered by OLT. □ The second step is to sketch the actual cultivation of the tenants by title. □ The third step is the issuance of the certificate of land transfer (CLT). □ The fourth step is the land val uation of the land covered. □ The final step is the issuance of the Emancipation Patent to the tenant upon compliance with government re quirements. What is the maximum area that can' be transferred to the tenants? The maximum area that a tenant may get under PD 27 is 3 hectares for irrigated rice/corn land and 5 hectares for unirrigated rice/corn land. Under OLT, what is the actual area transferred to the tenant? In order not to cause any social dis~'-^Kfcation and promote conflicts in the rural areas, only the actual cultivation of the tenant is transferred to him pro vided his total landholding does not ex ceed 3 hectares for irrigated and 5 hec tares for unirrigated lands, the maximum area provided by PD 27. In the determination of the area of tenanted rice and/or corn area covered by OLT owned by a landowner, do we cover by parcel or by the aggregate of all parcels? OLT covers the aggregate area of all tenanted parcels owned by a single landowner, not parcel by parcel. For ex ample, a landowner owns three parcels with three separate titles in his name with areas of 5 hectares, 6 hectares and 3 hectares. Inasmuch as the total area of all parcels is 14 hectares, all the par cels are covered by Operation Land Transfer even if each parcel is less than 7 hectares. Can tenanted rice and corn lands inherited before Oct. 21, 1972 be sub divided among the heirs? If a landowner dies before Oct. 21, 1972, all the heirs are supposed to have succeeded in his place and hence they can subdivide the property among them. However,they cannot eject their tenants. Suppose a landowner wants to sub divide his tenanted rice and com lands after Oct. 21, 1972, can he do it? PD No. 27 states that “the tenants are deemed owners of the land they till” as of Oct 21, 1972, the date the PD was issued. Suppose a landowner dies after Oct. 21, 1972, can the heirs subdivide the landholding among themselves? No. After Oct. 21, 1972, the tenants are deemed owners of the land they till hence the heirs of the landowner can not subdivide the land.They can, how ever, divide the proceeds of sale of the land. What is the relation between the tenants and the landowner in the re tained area? The relation between the tenants and the landowner in the retained area is leasehold. The landowner cannot eject the tenants in order that he can till the retained area himself. When is a tenant issued a Certificate of Land Transfer (CLT)? When the tenant has been listed and identified as the actual tiller and his cultivation is sketched by the Bureau of Lands, then the CLT is generated by the National Computer Center (NCC) from the data submitted by the Depart ment of Agrarian Reform (DAR). The CLT generated is registered by the LRC and issued to the tenant-tiller if he is a member of a Samahang Nayon; other wise the CLT is held by DAR until the tenant-tiller becomes a member of an SN. What is a Certificate of Land Trans fer (CLT)? A Certificate of Land Transfer is an evidence that the tenant whose name appears in the CLT has been listed and identified by the DAR and his cultivation has been sketched by the Bureau of Lands. Upon compliance with govern ment requirements he may be issued an emancipation patent. A CLT is not a title, but it can be used as a collateral in getting production loan. Can a farmer who acquired his landhqlding under PD 27 sell his land to anybody? No. Pursuant to PD 27, lands ac quired under PD 27 cannot be sold to anybody except by hereditary’succession or to the government. The farmer can hand it down to his heirs or if there is no heir he can sell it back to the government. Can a farmer who was identified as entitled to a land under PD 27 refuse to accept the land? The farmer who refuses to accept the land under PD 27 may be deprived of the land when a qualified farmer is found who is willing to take over , the land. The farmer who surrendered his right to the land forever loses his right to any land from the government. LAND VALUATION What is the value of the land trans ferred to the tenants in pursuance of PD No. 27? The value of the land transferred to the tenants in pursuance of PD No. 27 is equal to two and one-half times the average normal annual harvest for three normal crop years before October 21. This amount is in cavans of palay 50 kilos net. To convert this value into pesos you multiply the number of ca vans by P35.OO which is the NGA sup port price on Oct. 21, 1972. EXAMPLE: The normal crop years and the corresponding production per hectare for a piece of land is as follows: 1968 — 60 cavans/ha., 1970 — 70 cavans and 1971 - 80 cavans. The average pro duction is 70 cavans. The value of the land is two and one-half times 70 equals 175 cavans per hectare, which is equi valent to 175 x P35 or P6125 per hectare. Can the landowner negotiate with his tenants and agree on the price of the land? Initially, this was allowed, as a gest ure of accommodation to the clamor of some landowners. However, after a series of deadlines, many landowners failed to agree with their tenants so that on March 31,1975, DAR discontinued with this arrangement. Landowners who started to negotiate with their tenants but failed to complete the requirements on March 31, 1975 were allowed to continue the negotiation. In the event that there is no prospect of agreement, the land valuation is done under a new system. What is the new system of land valuation? The new system of land valuation is to have the same price for each land class within a barangay. This means that within the barangay, lands belong ing to the same class will have the same price because it is assumed that they have the same production. Do tenants have to continue to pay their lease rentals even after October 21, 1972? Yes, tenants are to continue paying their lease rentals. However, whatever they pay after Oct. 21, -1972 is con sidered as amortization and hence de ducted from the computed value of the land. How long will the tenants have to pay for the land transferred to them? The tenants are supposed to pay for the land transferred to them in fifteen (15)- equal annual amortization at 6% interest per annum. - How about the landowners, how much are they paid? The tenants are supposed to pay the landowners in fifteen (15) equal annual amortization at 6%. However, due to the clamor of landowners, new modes of payment through the Land Bank have been provided. What are these modes of payment? The modes of payment are provided by the Land Bank. The Land Bank pays the landowner and the tenants pay the Land Bank. The modes of payment are: □ Ten percent cash and 90% bonds for 25 years at 6% per annum, tax-free, payable semi-annually. □ Thirty percent in preferred shares of stock and the balance in 25 years, tax-free 6% per annum Land Bank bonds. □. Land Bank guarantees payment of the 15 equal annual amortization to be paid by the tenant-farmers. □ The small landowner is assured of yearly annuities of pension and insurance. □ Land value could be exchanged for stock in government-owned or con trolled corporation or private corpora tion where the government has holdings. What are the incentives given to small landowners—those owning less than 24 hectares when their lands are covered by OLT? Small landowners, those owning less than 24 hectares, who are covered by the OLT or who would voluntarily sell their lands are given certain special conditions as incentives. These are: □ Small landowners are paid 20% cash and 80%Land Bank bonds, 25 years tax-free at 6% interest per annum. In terest is payable semi-annually. □ Reduction of the present in terest rate from 12% to 10% on loans if he borrows or obtains loans from the Land Bank. □ An additional cash payment of 10% for the education of his children. □ An additional cash payment of not more than 10% for the security of the future of the children such as insurance. □ An additional cash payment of not more than 10% for housing purposes for the family. In all cases the total cash payment to the small landowner cannot be more than 30%. □ Payments are exempt from cap ital gains tax and income tax. What are the uses of the Land Bank bonds? Land Bank bonds may be used for the following: □ Payment for government agri cultural lands; □ Payment for government real properties; □ Payment for shares of stock or assets in government-owned or con trolled corporations; □ Surety, bail bonds for the prov isional release of accused persons; □ Performance bonds where- the government may require or accept real property as bonds; □ Security for loans withrPNB, DBP, GS1S, SSS and other government financial institutions; and □ Payment for reparation goods. RETENTION OPTIONS What is the area of land a land owner may retain under OLT? The area a landowner may retain under certain conditions is about 7 hectares. What are the conditions required before a landowner may retain about 7 hectares? If the landowner owns in addition to his less than 24 and more than 7 hectares of tenanted rice and corn land, other lands planted to other crops with an area of less than 7 hectares or properties with value less than Pl00,000 where he derives income then he may retain about 7 hectares of tenanted rice and com land. However, if the landowner owns other lands planted to other crops with an area of more than 7 hectares or properties worth Pl00,000 or more where he derives an income, then he can not retain a portion of the tenanted rice and com land. Landowners owning 24 hectares or more of tenanted rice and/or corn lands are not entitled to retention. Seven (7) hectares or less of ten anted rice and corn lands are not covered by OLT. Lands without tenants are not cov ered by OLT. What is the relation between the landowner and the tenants in the re tained area? The relation between the landown ers and the tenants in the retained areais leasehold and the leasehold contract must be written. Can the landowner eject the tenants in the retained area so he can cultivate it himself? No. When can the landowner eject the tenants? The landowner can eject the tenants only upon court order if they deliberate ly fail to pay lease rentals for two consecutive crop years. Who selects the area to be retained in case the landowner has the option to retain ? The landowner has the option to choose the area to be retained provided the area must be contiguous parcels cul tivated by tenants of about 7 hectares and parcels cultivated by tenants must not be broken up to complete the 7 hectares. □ People 16-31 August 1976 13 Developing sports OUR athletes almost did not make it to the Olympic Summer Games in Montreal. Gilberto Duavit, Presidential Assistant and Undersecretary of the De partment of Youth and Sports Develop ment told The Republic that: “Initially, the President did not believe in sending a delegation. So we had to convince him, and with the assurance, of course, that our participation would not entail expen ditures on the part of the government” Fortunately, Duavit said, “the pri vate sector came forward, including two big corporations which donated more than a thousand pesos each to finance the trip.” \ The reluctance of the President \ stems from the dismal performance re\cords of our athletes in international competitions. By sending big delegations in the past, we only wasted precious for eign exchange and suffered the embarassment of placing at the bottom Of the competition. Today, our government through the DYSD, is preparing the ground for a comprehensive youth and sports development program. The DYSD wgs created by President Marcos in December 1974. Under Presi dential Decree No. 604, the government “recognizes the 'need for the develop ment of youth as integral part of the national development policy, the vital role of physical fitness and amateur sports programs in the development of a healthy and alert citizenry for national progress, and that there is an urgent need to intensify a physical fitness and recreational program for the population at all ages and at all levels of the com munity in order to serve as a strong foundation for the inculcation of na tional discipline.” The President, a noted athlete in his student days, and still an active sportsman, himself heads the depart ment. Assisting him are two undersecre taries; Presidential Assistant Gilberto Duavit and Elpidio S. Dorotheo. On the shoulders of Duavit, 42, rests the responsibility of planning, organizing and implementing the overall programs of the DYSD, concurrent with his duties as Presidential Assistant. Duavit, a law yer, was elected delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention. His sports background includes directorship in the Sec. Duavit: "We will professionalize. ” Republic of the Philippines Golf Asso ciation and chairmanship of the legal committee of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation. In an interview with The Republic, Duavit stressed that the DYSD is still in its initial stage of planning and organ ization, and that the DYSD actually func tions under the Office of the President with a task force committee as staff, aided by personnel in the Presidential Assistant’s office. Organization. Duavit outlined his plans for the organization of the depart ment. He said that the organizational framework would be tailored to its basic coordinative and economic functions. • “Coordinative,” he explained, “means that the relatively young de partment coordinates with other govern ment departments, bureaus and agencies in carrying out the various allied youth and sports activities currently going on. Economics, on the other hand, would mean fiscal restraint in terms of dis bursements and effecting cost-saving measures.” Funding, obviously, is a critical need of sports and youth development program. Recently, the department launched promotional and fund-saving campaigns to send our athletes to the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He further revealed that sports, ex cept for basketball, has not fully come of age in the Philippines. Proof of this, he said, is that Filipino athletes lag be hind in international competitions, and there’s the apparent apathy on the part of the people to support other sports, if it’s not basketball. How then does the DYSD intend to solve the problem? “We will professionalize our ap proach,” he said, “by embarking into a national comprehensive sports program which will involve practically all people concerned with sports and its develop ment. Also, we plan to expand the Na tional College for Physical Education, which is being run by the DYSD, through the hiring of foreign sports experts who can teach and train our athletes.” Two bureaus. When the DYSD be comes fully operational, it shall have two bureaus: the Bureau of Youth Develop ment and the Bureau of Physical Fitness and Sports. —J. G. Trinidad □, PORTRAITS □ Manuel H. Ces Coming back to the fold i.1 ’ HEY had fought as rebel soldiers, 1 these brave young men to whom death was sweet if for an honorable cause. But up there in the hills dreams crumbled and fervor grew cold in the face of the truth that slowly dawned on them, bringing with it the pain of disil lusionment And so they had turned their backs on the men they ;had believed were their leaders and comrades, their broth ers in a common struggle. In groups, or alone, after final realization came, they left their jungle lairs to cross over to the side of the government. They came from different places— Cotabato, Lanao, Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi—at different times, but each and everyone burned with de sire to take part in the efforts to better the lot of his people. The 54 returnees (or Balikbayans, as they are popularly called in Minda nao), all former officers in the Moro Na tional Liberation Front (MNLF), went through a screening by SOUTHCOM (Southern Command, under Rear Ad miral Romulo Espaldon) and then were flown to Manila to undergo military training for commisionship as 2nd Lieu tenants in the regular army. Back To School. They entered the School for Combat Arms (SCA) of the Philippine Army School Center (which, besides the SCA, also has other training schools such as those for logistics, en gineering, signal, etc.). Established on August 1, 1971, the army school center has been the training ground for civilians who want to go into the army as of ficers, including would-be officers of the Women’s Auxiliary Corps. “Conducive” (to serious studying) is the word for the army school center, for it is located in the sprawling, rolling grounds of Fort Bonifacio in semi-rural Taguig, RizaL Before they went down to the brass tacks of their Probationary Officer’s Course, the returnees first had to go through about three weeks of orienta tion. This was necessary considering their unique background as former rebel officers. They had to be prepared for the officers course to rid them of any men tal reservations and emotional kinks that could get in the way of their training. After the orientation period the for merrebels found themselves in the hands of army instructors intent on shaping them into officers of a different mould from what they had been before. They would take on a changed look that went deeper than the new uniforms they wore. Under the tutelage of their instructors the returnees learned how to read maps; all about military tactics, leader ship, courtesy and discipline; intelligence, operations and logistics functions, to mention only a few of the subjects they had to master. The trainees also had in the AFP is “the answer to complex gether when they led 200 of their men their communication training augmented problems in Muslim Mindanao,” Espal- (now members of the paramilitary forces with a special seminar on Pilipino con- don said. ducted by the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa. All the time they were under going training the returnees received as probationary lieutenants the regular base pay of P319 monthly and allowances for clothing (P220), laundry (P10) and sub sistence (P6 daily). Graduation. Four months after they entered the Philippine Army School Cen ter’s School for Combat Arms on August 1 last year, the former rebels passed through its portals prepared for CAD (Call to Active Duty), proud holders of certificates of graduation from a course that was to them a step into a new life and direction. The returnees received their com missionship from Brig. Gen. Fortunato U. Abat, then commander of the now defunct Central Mindanao Command (CEMCOM), who represented then army chief Maj. Gen. Rafael Zagala, at formal graduation rites last January 9. Policy of Attraction. Before getting their certificates, the 54 new second lieutenants listened to Rear Adm. Romulo M. Espaldon, AFP Deputy Chief Staff and SOUTHCOM commander, speak on the government’s policy of attraction in Mindanao. The guest speaker said that the government intended to train 1,000 former rebels who will be integrated into the armed forces. The continuing program to train qualified and deserving Muslims to serve This writer talked with some of the new lieutenants a few days after their graduation and found them eager to prove themselves equal to Espaldon’s exhortation. They were still waiting for their CAD and assignment to the army units to which their qualifications fit them. “Yes, I’m very willing to be assigned in Mindanao,” 2nd Lt Abubakar Loong readily answered this writer’s question. “I want to help in the development of my place and improvement of my people’s situation.” With him in that training was his “brother” (hot by consanguinity but in spirit he explained) and school chum 2nd Lt Abdulmannan Imran of Jolo, Sulu. Neither he nor Lieutenant Loong could say where the foreign place was. They were brought there by a Volvopowered boat at night, they said. They were never told where they were going and it remained a question mark to them during and even after their training con ducted by English speaking, Malay-1 ook ing instructors. Both Loong and Imran became unit commanders when they came back from that training. Their duties included orga nizing cadres and training new members. Loong and Imran worked together during their two years with the MNLF, coope rating closely with Staff Commander Jeny Matba from Tawi-Tawi, one of the more well-known top-ranking officers of the rebels. The two officers joined the MNLF the same year (1971) and, as if proof of their strong friendship, they were tounder SOUTHCOM) out of the hills to return to the government fold. Disillusionment. But in fact it had taken more than their personal relation ship to tear them away from the MNLF: they had seen the truth about the organ ization and felt they could not stay part of it for long. “We found out that the MNLF was Communist-oriented and they were only using us to further the ideological causes of the organization,” Imran said. The other lieutenants nodded in agreement The longer they stayed with the MNLF the more their suspicions grew. The rebel leaders had impressed them with their concern for their people, but as time passed, events and the actions of the ranking officers slowly wore thin their facades. They would not, for ex ample, take in the old, religious leaders their subalterns respected. They wanted only fresh, open minds they could easily indoctrinate. They used religion as they did other common denominators like the economic plight of the people to win their sympathy, to gain support, more members. That was their main reason for leav ing the rebel movement, articulate Imran said with the rest’s vocal agreement Another was the series of moves of President Marcos to bring justice and improve the social and economic condi tions of the Muslims. The President means business, the lieutenants said, and they all wanted to share the difficult task of putting Mindanao and its long-neglect ed Muslim populace on the road to progress and better life. □ Peopl< 16-31 August 1976 13 Developing sports OUR athletes almost did not make it to the Olympic Summer Games in Montreal. Gilberto Duavit, Presidential Assistant and Undersecretary of the De partment of Youth and Sports Develop ment told The Republic that: “Initially, the President did not believe in sending a delegation. So we had to convince him, and with the assurance, of course, that our participation would not entail expen ditures on the part of the government” Fortunately, Duavit said, “the pri vate sector came forward, including two big corporations which donated more than a thousand pesos each to finance the trip.” The reluctance of the President stems from the dismal performance re cords of our athletes in international competitions. By sending big delegations in the past, we only wasted precious for eign exchange and suffered the embarassment of placing at the bottom of the competition. Today, our government through the DYSD, is preparing the ground for a comprehensive youth and sports development program. The DYSD wgs created by President Marcos in December 1974. Under Presi dential Decree No. 604, the government “recognizes the heed for the develop ment of youth as integral part of the national development policy, the vital role of physical fitness and amateur sports programs in the development of a healthy and alert citizenry for national progress, and that there is an urgent need to intensify a physical fitness and recreational program for the population at all ages and at all levels of the com munity in order to serve as a strong foundation for the inculcation of na tional discipline.” The President, a noted athlete in his student days, and still an active sportsman, himself heads the depart ment. Assisting him are two undersecre taries; Presidential Assistant Gilberto Duavit and Elpidio S. Dorotheo. On the shoulders of Duavit, 42, rests the responsibility of planning, organizing and implementing the overall programs of the DYSD, concurrent with his duties as Presidential Assistant. Duavit, a law yer, was elected delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention. His sports background includes directorship in the Sec. Duavit: "We will professionalize." Republic of the Philippines Golf Asso ciation and chairmanship of the legal committee of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation. In an interview with The Republic, Duavit stressed that the DYSD is still in its initial stage of planning and organ ization, and that the DYSD actually func tions under the Office of the President with a task force committee as staff, aided by personnel in the Presidential Assistant’s office. Organization. Duavit outlined his plans for the organization of the depart ment. He said that the organizational framework would be tailored to its basic coordinative and economic functions. * “Coordinative,” he explained, “means that the relatively young de partment coordinates with other govern ment departments, bureaus and agencies in carrying out the various allied youth and sports activities currently going on. Economics, on the other hand, would mean fiscal restraint in terms of dis bursements and effecting cost-saving measures.” Funding, obviously, is a critical need of sports and youth development program. Recently, the department launched promotional and fund-saving campaigns to send our athletes to the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He further revealed that sports, ex cept for basketball, has not fully come of age in the Philippines. Proof of this, he said, is that Filipino athletes lag be hind in international competitions, and there’s the apparent apathy on the part of the people to support other sports, if it’s not basketball. How then does the DYSD intend 'to solve the problem? “We will professionalize our ap proach,” he said, “by embarking into a national comprehensive sports program which will involve practically all people concerned with sports and its develop ment. Also, we plan to expand the Na tional College for Physical Education, which is being run by the DYSD, through the hiring of foreign sports experts who can teach and train our athletes.” Two bureaus. When the DYSD be comes fully operational, it shall have two bureaus: the Bureau of Youth Develop ment and the Bureau of Physical Fitness and Sports. —J. G. Trinidad □ PORTRAITS □ Manuel H. Ces Coming bach to the fold HEY had fought as rebel soldiers, these brave young men to whom death was sweet if for an honorable cause. But up there in the hills dreams crumbled and fervor grew cold in the face of the truth that slowly dawned on them, bringing with it the pain of disil lusionment And so they had turned their backs on the men they (had believed were their leaders and comrades, their broth ers in a common struggle. In groups, or alone, after final realization came, they left their jungle lairs to cross over to the side of the government. They came from different placesCotabato, Lanao, Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi-at different times, but each and everyone burned with de sire to take part in the efforts to better the lot of his people. The 54 returnees (or Balikbayans, as they are popularly called in Minda nao), all former officers in the Moro Na tional Liberation Front (MNLF), went through a screening by SOUTHCOM (Southern Command, under Rear Ad miral Romulo Espaldon) and then were flown to Manila to undergo military training for commisionship as 2nd Lieu tenants in the regular army. Back To School. They entered the School for Combat Arms (SCA) of the Philippine Army School Center (which, besides the SCA, also has other training schools such as those for logistics, en gineering, signal, etc.). Established on August 1, 1971, the army school center has been the training ground for civilians who want to go into the army as of ficers, including would-be officers of the Women’s Auxiliary Corps. “Conducive” (to serious studying) is the word for the army school center, for it is located in the sprawling, rolling grounds of Fort Bonifacio in semi-rural Taguig, RizaL Before they went down to the brass tacks of their Probationary Officer’s Course, the returnees first had to go through about three weeks of orienta tion. This was necessary considering their unique background as former rebel officers. They had to be prepared for the officers course to rid them of any men tal reservations and emotional kinks that could get in the way of their training. After the orientation period the for mer rebels found themselves in the hands of army instructors intent on shaping them into officers of a different mould from what they had been before. They would take on a changed look that went deeper than the new uniforms they wore. Under the tutelage of their instruc tors the returnees learned how to read maps; all about military tactics, leader ship, courtesy and discipline; intelligence, operations and logistics functions, to mention only a few of the subjects they had to master. The trainees also had their communication training augmented with a special seminar on Pilipino con- don said. ducted by the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa. All the time they were under going training the returnees received as probationary lieutenants the regular base pay of P319 monthly and allowances for clothing (P220), laundry (P10) and sub sistence (P6 daily). Graduation. Four months after they entered the Philippine Army School Cen ter’s School for Combat Arms on August 1 last year, the former rebels passed through its portals prepared for CAD (Call to Active Duty), proud holders of certificates of graduation from a course that was to them a step into a new life and direction. The returnees received their com missionship from Brig. Gen. Fortunato U. Abat, then commander of the now defunct Central Mindanao Command (CEMCOM), who represented then army chief Maj. Gen. Rafael Zagala, at formal graduation rites last January 9. Policy of Attraction. Before getting their certificates, the 54 new second lieutenants listened to Rear Adm. Romulo M. Espaldon, AFP Deputy Chief Staff and SOUTHCOM commander, speak on the government’s policy of attraction in Mindanao. The guest speaker said that the gov ernment intended to train 1,000 former rebels who will be integrated into the armed forces. The continuing program to train qualified and deserving Muslims to serve in the AFP is “the answer to complex problems in Muslim Mindanao,” EspalThis writer talked with some of the new lieutenants a few days after their graduation and found them eager to prove themselves equal to Espaldon’s exhortation. They were still waiting for their CAD and assignment to the army units to which their qualifications fit them. “Yes, I’m very willing to be assigned in Mindanao,” 2nd Lt. Abubakar Loong readily answered this writer’s question. “I want to help in the development of my place and improvement of my people’s situation.” With him in that training was his “brother” (hot by consanguinity but in spirit, he explained) and school chum 2nd Lt. Abdulmannan Imran of Jolo, Sulu. Neither he nor Lieutenant Loong could say where the foreign place was. They were brought there by a Volvopowered boat at night, they said. They were never told where they were going and it remained a question mark to them during and even after their training con ducted by English speaking, Malay-1 ook ing instructors. Both Loong and Imran became unit commanders when they came back from that training. Their duties included orga nizing cadres and training new members. Loong and Imran worked together during their two years with the MNLF, cooperating closely with Staff Commander Jerry Matba from Tawi-Tawi, one of the more well-known top-ranking officers of the rebels. The two officers joined the MNLF the same year (1971) and, as if proof of their strong friendship, they were to gether when they led 200 of their men (now members of the paramilitary forces under SOUTHCOM) out of the hills to return to the government fold. Disillusionment. But in fact it had taken more than their personal relation ship to tear them away from the MNLF: they had seen the truth about the organ ization and felt they could not stay part of it for long. “We found out that the MNLF was Communist-oriented and they were only using us to further the ideological causes of the organization,” Imran said. The other lieutenants nodded in agreement The longer they stayed with the MNLF the more their suspicions grew. The rebel leaders had impressed them with their concern for their people, but as time passed, events and the actions of the ranking officers slowly wore thin their facades. They would not, for ex ample, take in the old, religious leaders their subalterns respected. They wanted only fresh, open minds they could easily indoctrinate. They used religion as they did other common denominators like the economic plight of the people to win their sympathy, to gain support, more members. That was their main reason for leav ing the rebel movement, articulate Imran said with the rest’s vocal agreement Another was the series of moves of President Marcos to bring justice and improve the sdcial and economic condi tions of the Muslims. The President means business, the lieutenants said, and they all wanted to share the difficult task of putting Mindanao and its long-neglect ed Muslim populace on the road to progress and better life. □ 14 16-31 August 1976 Viewpoints THE REPUBLIC PAPERS □ Sec. Estefania Aldaba Lim x The social dimensions of crimes THE social development dimension of any program for crime reduction has to do with (1) identification and dynamic use of factors with high causal significance to crime; (2) the imperatives of institutional restructuring for devel opmental change; (3) the need to find a workable level of discipline or freedom consistent with a well-ordered but com passionate society; and (4) the innova tive and cooperative roles to be played by the welfare, both government and private services, in the criminal justice system. Understanding the Young Offender THE area of crime and delinquency is a field I have been deeply interested in for many years, both as a professional psychologist and for many years as an avid student of mental health. This in terest led me to pursue an in-depth re - search which produced the volume en titled Toward Understanding the Fil ipino Juvenile Delinquent completed and published in 1969. The research team assumed that a clear knowledge of the causes or related causes of juvenile de linquency can naturally lead to a bet - ter understanding of how to control and prevent delinquency. For delinquen cy, like other forms of behavior, is re sponsive to psychological temperament al disharmonies, social and economic conditions; as well as to other dominant features of a particular society or sub culture in that society' Keeping this in mind we set out to study the problems of juvenile delinquency at various levels of the personality: the intellectual level, -the emotional temperamental level and the socio-cultural level using the clas sical technique of comparing an experi mental group of juvenile delinquents who The youth: how do you instill discipline? were matchec^with a control group of nondelinquents. In this in-depth study of the Fil ipino juvenile delinquent, my colleagues and I in the research team identified a number of factors with significant cau sal relationship to delinquency includ ing a personality profile characterized by feelings of insecurity, anxiety, infer iority, resentment, suspiciousness, and defensiveness; unfavorable family rela tionships (lack of discipline—overstrict or loose), including broken homes, be ing very young at the time of the separa tion from the mother, being born in an urban setting, having illegitimate par ents, etc. and of course, poverty. Development Emphasis I MENTIONED these factors because the Department of Social Welfare in its program for the disadvantaged youth is now emphasizing preventive, habilitative, and interceptive services as a thrust more in accord with the de velopment efforts of our compassionate society. Preventive Services are those intend ed to curtail the onset of delinquency by identification and dynamic utiliza tion of factors proven to be conducive to wholesome family life and strengthen ing of moral character or by avoiding and offsetting the harmful effects of factors identified to have significant causal relationship to the commission of anti-social acts. When a youth offender is rehabil itated, a vital first step to his normaliza tion is the breaking down of his values, attitudes, and ego-structures which sup port his psychological disorganization and negativistic response to environmen tal and societal conditions. Only after Sec. Lim: ‘‘Emphasis on prevention. ’’ these have been “broken down” can you now rebuild a young offender’s" ego strengths and reestablish reality contact points (hat presage the young offender’s turning point to normalization. The welfare field seeks to provide habilitative measures by consciously bringing about conditions which max imize possibilities and opportunities for the enjoyment of a satisfactory quality of 'life before the formation of undesir able attitudes and values or the habits associated *with anti-social behavior. Interceptive services intervene be tween the young offender and what his life might become as a hardened adult criminal by breaking the cycle or chain of conditions most conducive to more acts of delinquency and hardened crimiminality and preventing his entry in to the penal system. The procedures embodied in PD 603 are essentially in-, terceptive in direction. When the youth offender, despite efforts to prevent, habilitate, or inter cept the occurrence of delinquency nonetheless enters the criminal justice system, then rehabilitative services are provided to restore the youth offender to the fullest possible physical, mental, social, and economic usefulness of which the youth offender is capable within his limitations. Rehabilitation is essentially more complex and difficult than habilitation and prevention, for it involves the dual process of breaking down built-in val ues and negativistic. attitudes and build ing up and restructuring positive values and ego-strengths. We need to also bear in mind that the trauma of having com mitted an essentially violent and unna tural act is now imprinted in the mind of the young offender and must be slowly erased by the healing of mind and body. Restructuring of Institutions HIS brings me to the second point, that is the imperative of restructur ing of institutions for developmental change. A major'obstacle to the success of services for the welfare of children are the attitudes and values notably pre vailing in the home and the school first, and other established institutions which need to be changed before major inroads into crime prevention and control can be achieved. This was clearly evident in the profile of the Filipino juvenile de linquent study. In the words of the Pres ident, “Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina and kailangan.” Institutional forms of group life, like the family, law enforcement and judicial agencies, and the church con serve values from interactions between and within groups and handed down from the traditions of the past. With socio-economic and environmental changes, the institution in order to sur vive must now give up, modify, or re structure both forms and values to be responsive to evolutionary or revolution ary changes, that is if we are to survive. How does one instill discipline in the people? This is a complex task which the New Society deliberately embarked upon the very first day martial law was declared. The obvious changes in the at titude discipline of the people which we feel and see around us are the results of institutional changes. In a series of pres idential decrees, proclamations, general orders, and letters of instructions these institutional changes are assiduously im plemented by all the institutions con cerned. However, I still see gaps in the chain of measures taken thus far in achieving the personal discipline notably for the young to insure the continuity of insti tutional restructuring for developmental changes. We must fully implement value inculcation, internalization of discipline in the education of the young. No longer through the old fashioned direct pres cription method characterized by “a good manners and right conduct course”; but via a psychodynamic strategy of re educating and educating for values. Every teacher in our educational system must be a viable instrument for value-teaching first and a mathematics, science or lan guage teacher next Looking at the innovative provisions of PD 603 on youth offenders, we find a sharp departure from the punitive— “Save Society from Criminals”-philosophy to a developmental, interceptive approach where every effort is exerted to promote his welfare by the society against which he has committed an act of violence. What about judges who favor “easier ways out” by sentencing a youth offen der for a misdemeanor rather than reha bilitating him for a year or more which takes longer? Is time the dimension to consider? Presidential Decree 603 suspends judgment for those below 21 and wipes out criminal liability even to the destruc tion of records, whether physical or con structive. Can the same judge, the sameJ police officer easily switch from the punitive to the developmental intercep tive approach, merely by observing an age demarcation line? Are those pro posing a return to Article 80 and below sixteen age for youth offenders to avail of suspended sentence really saying: Let us adopt a developmental approach for youth below 16 and inflict adult punish ment for those above 16? The same ob servations are valid for probation at the proposed age levels of 21—24. Levels of Discipline and Freedom N this connection, our societal values reject the extremes of absolute control or enslavement and absolute freedom or anarchy. But if we are to allow discip line and compassionate freedom to co exist, where is the point of workable social control compatible with social freedom? Agreement as to the workable level of control and freedom would again require an examination of ideals and the restructuring of mechanisms of discipline in our new society. Ideally, the optimum level of co operation would' be the phasing out of the criminal justice system because there would be no offenders nor criminals. This is unlikely for the predictable future. Demographic information supplied us by the Bureau of Census and Statistics indicate that of the total population of 41.8 million as of May 1975; 5,461,000 are ages 10-14 and 4,913,000 are ages 15-19; this means that about 10.4 mil lion youth are within the age range of over 9 and below 21 who are covered by the youth offender provisions of PD 603. Using the minimum estimate of three percent of the youth population as the index for potential delinquency, three per cent of the 10.4 million youth would be 312,000. This implies that if we are to meet the needs of the youth we must be prepared to provide staff, facilities, and logistics for the apprehen sion, processing, and rehabilitation after commitment of about 300,000 youth. The implication is that the community must provide habilitative, preventive, and interceptive services for 97% or 10.1 mil lion youth. Are we equipped to do this? Can we afford not to do this? □ THE REPUBLIC Viewpoi 16-31 August 1976 15 Tulong sa manggagawa MARAMI ang proyektong ipinagagawa ng gobyerno sa panahon ng martial law. Sa kasaysayan ng gobyerno Pilipino ay ngayon lamang nakasaksi ang mga mamamayan ng sabay-sabay na paggawa ng maraming gusali ng pamahalaan, tulay, lansangan, daungan, na ang karamihan ay sa probinsiya at mga sentrong pampanayaman. Nariyan din ang fishing port na titiyak sa mabilis na pagunlad ng industriya ng isda at ng iba pang proyektong pawang sa kapakanan ng madia. Noong mayroon pang Kongreso, na ang naghahari ay kapangyarihan ng pulitiko, ang mga proyek tong ito ay pawang magaganda lamang sa salita. Ngayon, ang maraming proyekto ng gobyerno ay nagbibigay tulong sa mga walang hanapbuhay. Subalit sa sandaling matapos ang mga pagawaing ito ay marami ang mawawalan ng pagkakakitaan. Hindi ito nakaligtas sa pang-unawa ng Presidente. Ipinag-utos niya sa kanyang mga kasangguni na maghanda ng mga bagong proyekto upang maalalayan ang hanap buhay ng ating mga manggagawa. MALAKI ang nagagawang pinsala sa moralidad ng mga kabataan ang mga panoorin at babasahing mahahalay. Kaya ito sinasagkaan ng PD No. 960, na sinususugan ng PD No. 969 at 970. At sinuman ang lumabag sa mga tadhanain nito ay tatanggap ng mabigat na parusa— aarestuhin at idedetine—at sa sandaling mapatunayan ng hukuman ay parurusahan ng presion mayor (bilanggong 6 na taon at isang araw hanggang 12 taon) o multang mula sa P6.000 hanggang Pl 2,000, o kaya ay ang dalawang ito. Kung ang sangkot ay pinuno o empleyado ng gobyerno, pinakamataas na parusa ang tatanggapin. Kaya ang tanggulang bansa at ibang ahensiyang tagapagpatupad ng batas ay muli’t THE REPUBLIC Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa Board of Editors Chairman: Francisco S. Tatad Members : Lorenzo J. Cruz, Florentino S. Dauz Managing Editor: Luis V. Ople Editorial Staff: Juanita G. Trinidad, Marcos D. Agayo, Gloria Jane Bayion, Rosalinda G. Roxas, Rowena M. Lumen, Jake T. Espino, Alma L. Diputado Art Director: Micaelita C. Almendral; Art Con sultant: Larry Z. Alcala; Photo Editor: Wilfredo G. Avila; Production Manager: Marcelino N. Palisoc; Production Assistant: Cesar B. Tablason Circulation Manager: Bruno R. Dabu. THE REPUBLIC is published fortnightly by the Department of Public Information, Malacanang, Manila, for government managers. The Editors welcome contributions of manuscripts and pho tographs which should be sent to THE REPUBLIC, BNFI, UPL Building, Intramuros, Manila. While they will take reasonable care, the Editors as sume no responsibility, for the return of unsoli cited manuscripts. Entered as a second-class mail matter on March 5, 1973 at the Manila Central Post Office. muling nagpapagunita sa madia na talikuran ang pag gawa ng mahahalay na panoorin at ang paglimbag ng mga babasahing ipinagbabawal ng nasabing kautusan upang mapangalagaan ang kinabukasan ng mga kabataang Pilipino. BaTIS ang mga mamamayan ng kailangang gugulin ng gobyerno tungo sa ating pag-unlad, Ang tulong ng bawat isa, tulad ng buwis ay tulong sa pambansang kapakinabangan. Sa dami ng nalilikom na buwis nasasalig ang pagkakaloob ng maraming biyaya sa madia. Sa tinatamasang maraming bagay ng sambayanang Pilipino ay karapatdapat sa pagbati ang Kawanihan ng Rentas Internas at ang iba pang ahensiyang taga-likom ng gobyerno. Sa pagsapit ng ika-72 anibersaryo ng BIR ay iisa ang obsesyon nito— mapalaki pang lalo ang malilikom. Sapagkat sa laki ng malilikom nakasalalay ang paglawak ng serbisyo ng gobyerno sa pormang pagawaimbayan, pangkalusugan, pagpapairal ng kaayusan, pagpapaunlad ng edukasyon at lipunan, at higit sa lahat, ang pagpapanatili ng mataas na moralidad ng sambayanang Pilipino. Habang dumarami ang populasyon ng bansa ay lalo namang dumarami ang obligasyon ng gobyerno sa mga mamamayan. Kung kulang sa gugulin, mahihirapan ang gobyerno. Salamat sa nadarama at nalalasap na mga biyayang pambansa at ang mga mamamayan ay nagiging ulirang tagapagbayad ng buwis. At masasaya sila, kaya naging palagian ang kanilang tungkulin. sa pagbabayad ng buwis. Ang lahat ay salamat sa BIR at sa ibang taga-paningil ng buwis. NAGLUNSAD ang First Lady ng kilusang paglunas sa malnutrisyon sa bansa. At inilunsad ito sa paraang “total approach” sa kalawakang pambansa at samasamang pagsisikap. Ang ibig sabihin, hindi lamang ang mga tauhan ng gobyerno ang dapat na kumilos, kundi pati ang mga mamamayan. Sapagkat ang mga mama mayan na rin ang inililigtas sa bigat ng pinsalang nagagawa ng malnutrisyon. Sa ikapagtatagumpay ng kilusang ito ng First Lady, nagpalabas ang Presidente ng isang Liham Ng Tagubilin na nagsasanig ng pagsisi kap ng lahat ng ahensiyang nasa ilalim ng National Nutrition Council upang mapabisa ang itinataguyod na tungkulin ng MNC. Bukod sa MNC ay may pito pang ahensiya ng gobyerno ang pinatutulong. Subalit magkakaroon lamang ng kaganapan ang kilusan kung hindi magwawalangbahala ang mga mamamayan. Ginagawa ito ng gobyerno para sa kapakinabangan ng lahat ng Pilipino. KUNG iibigin ng isang mamamayan ang tumulong sa pagpapaunlad ng kanyang komunidad, ang gob yerno nasyunal ay nasa kanyang likuran. Nasa pagtutulungan ang tagumpay. Pinatutunayan ito ng isang matapat na lider-Muslim sa Kolambugan, Lanao del Norte, si Alkalde Hadji Benasing Macarambon Sr. Dati, ang kanyang komunidad ay lungga ng itinuturing na mga bandido nang panahong hindi pa umiiral ang martial law. Sa pamamagitan ng kanyang liderato, ang Kolambugan ay naging isang modelong mapayanan—nakapagpagawa ng limang proyekto na ginugulan ng gobyerno nasyunal at malaki pa ang natipid. Paano ito nagawa ni Alkalde Macarambon? Simple lamang. Naging matapat siya sa panunungkulan kaya nakalugdan siya ng mga‘Kristiyano at ng kanyang mga kadugong Muslim. Pantay ang pagtingin niya, kaya kahit na siya’y nakatapos lamang sa ika-3 grado ng primarya ay naging matagumpay ang kanyang pamamahala. Isa siyang magandang halimbawa ng lider sa bagong lipunan pagkat kahit siya mayroong 17 anak, isa ang namatay, ay nagawa niyang mga propesyunal ang mga iyon na ang karamihan ay nagsipagtapos pa sa ibang bansa. Ulirang ama, uliraning punong bayan! DALAWANG kaluwagan ang ipinagkaloob ni Presidente Marcos sa mga tauhan ng Integrated National Police. Matatamo ang mga ito sa bisa ng Presidential Decree No. 971, tulad halimbawa ng libreng serbisyo ng abugado kung may kaso sa hukuman na may kaugnayan sa pagtupad ng tungkulin at ang isa naman ang tungkol sa pabahay na ang pagmamay-ari ay isasalig sa patakaran ng Programa sa Pabahay ng gobyerno. Ipinakikilala ng Presidente sa bago niyang hakbang na ito ang walang kupas na pagmamalasakit niya sa kapa kanan ng mga lingkod-publiko at ng lahat ng sektor ng mamamayan. Inaawtorisahan ng PD No. 971 ang matataas na pinuno ng INP na mag-imbestiga, magpasiya at maglapat ng parusa sa mga tauhang nagkakasala upang mapabilis ang ikot ng katarungan. Tulad ng hangarin ng gobyerno na makatulong sa ibang mama mayan, laluna sa mga iskuwater sa pagkakaloob ng mga pabahay na mababa ang halaga, ang mga pulis ay lalasap din ng ganitong tulong. Naglaan ang Presidente ng P2 milyon para sa proyektong ito. □ A prayer Father of all mankind, WE ask You to look down upon our people and fill our hearts with your spirit, that we may have the grace and the wisdom to look into ourselves, and in so doing, see our weaknesses and our strengths. So many of us have lived in corruption, greed and violence, forgetting that this nation ... or any other nation . .. cannot survive and grow and prosper unless we learn to live as brothers, striving not for selfish ends, but for the common good. Give us stength to rebuild our lives, leaving for ever our selfish, corrupt and derelict ways. Make us see what we are and what we could be, open our eyes, our minds and our hearts to the things that need to be done, and the things we can do to make this rich and beautiful land a joy and comfort to all our people. We have set for ourselves great and never-ending tasks; stand by us in our labors, and teach us not to weary nor to lose faith, neither to seek reward beyond what is just, but rather to see in our work the full measure of our own reward, and to see in it the full expression of ourselves. When the day’s. toil is ended, teach us to look to the morrow’s labor as part of our continuing sacrifice; bring us not the temptation of luxury, ease or privilege, nor the blandishments of power or com fort that corrupt; but make us a sturdy race, selfreliant, cheerful and upright Teach those who lead to act with firmness but with humility, with humility but with wisdom, with wisdom but with justice, and with justice but with compassion, and teach those who follow the true duties of being men and members of a community of men. Cleanse us of our anger, our bitterness, and our recriminations of the past; spare us the doubts and anxieties of the present; and purify us for our sacrifice so that we may raise a people who will be their own Not So Funny — Larry Alcala 16 16-31 August 1976 The Natior THE REPUBLICEarthquakes: guidelines for safety For people residing in the cities and urban areas: 1. Hazards most likely to occur: □ Total or partial collapse of buil dings; □ Injury jlue to falling objects or debris; □ Fjres breaking out; □ Electrocution due to breaking of power lines; and □ Gas explosion from gas lines. 2. Actions to take to minimize risk: □ Open space is the safest loca tion to be at during a strong earth quake. Therefore, if open space is ac cessible within a few seconds, the first reaction should be to go to the open areas. □ If access to the open is impos sible within seconds, the next recom mendation is to seek shelter under strong objects during the initial shaking. Immediately after, people should go to the open space until the seriousness of the destruction can be more complete ly evaluated. □ While on the streets, efforts should be taken to keep away from falling debris or other objects. □ One should avoid being caught in narrow alleys, between tall buildings, underneath electric wires, beneath over ‘To dare is to die’ NOTHING strikes me more than the thought that we should have been more prepared to handle an earthquake of the magnitude that hit Mindanao and Sulu last August 17. We might have sared more lives than we did. But it’s a little late for recriminations. Let’s just prepare for the next one. Nothing less than a nationwide system of preparedness against natural calamities will do. We almost anticipated that killer earthquake and the tidal wave that in evitably followed. But we didn’t think it could happen here. But it did. It was very fortunate that the earthquake hap pened past midnight when the school buildings were empty. Can you imagine how many would have died in those schoolbuildings that collapsed? Those in authority should now in form those living in coastal towns bor dering the ocean that tidal waves usually follow big earthquakes, so that they could evacuate to higher ground in case of another big earthquake . What killed many was the usual wishful thought that hanging structures and steep embank ment. □ Put off electric power and gas lines. □ Extinguish incipient fires that may start before you attempt to save lives. □ Do not use elevators during or after the quake until its safety is as certained. For people along shorelines of seas or lakes: 1. Hazards most likely to occur: □ Tsunami or tidal wave on sea shore; - D Subsidence of land into the water on lakeshore; and □ Other hazards inherent to urban areas which are applicable. 2. Actions to take to minimize risk: □ The violent earthquake should be the tsunami or tidal wave warning itself. Upon the occurrence of a strong earthquake, evacuate to higher ground until it is ascertained that there is no more tsunami danger. Tsunamis may occur a few minutes to a few hours after the quake depending on the dis tance of the epicenter. □ For settlements at the edges of lakes, the danger of subsidence (sliding) of the area into the lake should be after the big shake there was nothing more that could happen. The coastal people were not prepared for tidal waves. Next time around, let every resident in the coastal towns know that it is not safe on the shores of the island after a big earthquake. Let’s make it so that bar rio residents in the coastal towns know where to run to avoid those killer waves. It does not hurt to take cover but to dare is to die. WE are usually caught unprepared by natural calamities like earth quakes, floods, typhoons and cyclones. People are slow to react if they don’t know how. Panic overcomes thought. What we must strive to achieve is almost automatic reaction to the challenge of danger. Otherwise, we are in dan ger of being overwhelmed by the fury of nature. We need to drill whole communities, barrios, neighborhoods. Even relief and the handling of all aspects of national tragedy should come as second natureconsidered. Immediate exit into higher ground should be, therefore, imme diately attempted. □ Other actions for urban areas which are applicable. For people in mountainous areas: 1. Hazards most , likely to occur: □ In addition to other applicable hazards such as collapse of houses or fires, the danger of landslides is to be considered; and □ Destruction of dams or similar structures which may cause flooding. 2. Actions to take to minimize risk: □ Keep away from steep slopes until such time that the danger of af tershocks have subsided. □ In case of the presence of infra structure the failure of which will threaten one’s residence, evacuate to a safer place until condition of infra structure has been determined. □ Other actions for urban areas where applicable. Guidelines for persons responsible for other groups of people: For government managers, ba rangay captains, school authorities and factory and office heads, the following actions are suggested even before the occurrence of an earthquake: □ Persons should be assigned to make sure that electric power and gas lines are cut off immediately upon the occurrence of an earthquake. □ Predetermination should be made of the system to be used in vaca ting a big building where a large num ber of people are involved. □ Predetermination should be made of an open space where people from buildings should be moved to. □ Marshalls and guides should be assigned and trained to conduct pro cedures. □ Hospitals and other services es the way firemen react at the first alarm. For this, we must utilize the schools, the broadcast and print media, the barangays and the families. We need train ed volunteers to lead communities in times of real and imminent danger of death. True, there are many volunteers who try to do the job of extricating those pinned down by debris, willing hands to dig out the dead. But have we trained them to do the job? We need rescue teams with members who know what they’re expected to do and have the tools ready to do the job assigned to them. Of course we have the Philippine National Red Cross, the Department of Social Welfare and the Armed Forces. They quickly moved in to help, to feed and care for the victims. But these are national agencies. Often, instant reaction and quick relief work will be needed at barrio levels or local levels. The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas and the Broadcast Media Council has such a blueprint for action. Almost the minute that tragedy strikes, all radio stations instantly abandon reg ular programming to switch on to pre pared carrying stations-first to give de tails of the tragedy and next, to arouse civic conscience into sending relief goods and money for the victims. This happen ed in the Mindanao-Sulu earthquake. The details were out as early as 4:00 A.M., the morning the earthquake shook Mindanao and Sulu. From then on, it was and still is a continuing job of gen erating relief aid and helping allay the panic that such tragedies spawn. WE can’t stop earthquakes, floods nor typhoons. But we can pre pare for them. We can minimize dam age to property and death by being pre pared, knowing what is expected of us pecially needed during a disaster should have predetermined plans for estab lishment of these services outside of the original building in case of earthquake disasters. □ Drills should be conducted per iodically to check on plans and reac tion in case of earthquake. □ Proper agencies in the locality needed for rescue or relief should be known before hand so that they may be contacted for assistance. □ Keep abreast with the govern ment warnings and instructions (DZCA 830 Khz as well as other mass media gives civil defense and disaster infor mation). General tips for reducing danger in case of earthquake: 1. Exercise care in the use of oil or kerosene lamps. These should be placed where there is no danger of toppling over and starting fire. 2. Do not sleep where hfeavy and tall furnitures such as aparadors would hit you if it topples. Such heavy and tall furnitures should be anchored or tied down. 3. Do not store heavy objects in high shelves where they may fall and cause injury. 4. Keep flashlights handy for use if disaster occurs at night. 5. Keep an adequate supply of water and food for emergency use. 6. In the final analysis, the indi vidual is the final judge as to the action most appropriate for his situation. Each person should have clear in his mind the action plan in case of earthquake for himself and his family covering the nor mal situations applicable to himself. This personal action plan will go far in improving his own and his barangay’s chances of survival 7. Finally, during the actual earth quake keep-your head, react properly and DO NOT PANIC. □ in any given calamity. Those earth quakes, typhoons and floods will come. Nobody can stop them. But we must make sure casualties are at a minimum. Preparedness is the sure antidote to fear, to panic. People should know where to go in the event that relatives or friends are hurt. Those who are saved from such na tural calamities must know to whom to send relief aid—cash or kind. And the collecting agencies must know to whom to channel relief aid collected. And those who receive such aid must know the quickest way to get the goods where they are needed, what to do with the cash to achieve maximum efficiency in the relief work. For all these, there’s need to prepare. The BAHALA NA principle won’t work. It never did. The last big earthquake in Minda nao and for that matter, in the Philip pines, happened in 1955, that one kill ed only 400. In August of 1968 a mqjor quake shook most of Luzon killing 300 in Manila—the ill-fated Ruby Towers apartments collapsed then. In 1970 an other big quake shook Luzon and again in 1975, you remember that one. Yet, we never prepared for the next ones. We need not lose so many lives. Property damage, too, can be avoided by a serious enforcement of the building codes. Supposing we imprisoned the owner of a building that collapses in an earthquake because of poor construc tion or overloading with people and equipment? We need discipline but most of all, we need intelligent preparation to meet disasters. Let the people know all the mistakes of the past, specially the facts. Let them know all the mistakes of the past, specially in the last big killer earthquake. The time to be prepared for the next one is long overdue. What do you say if we start right now? □