pdap propeace book on mindanao
TRANSCRIPT
CONTENTS COONTENTS
Chapter 1 The Mindanao Context
Chapter 2 Promoters of Peace
Chapter 3 Tools and Instrument for Advancing Human Security
Livelihood and Enterprises – Jerry E. Pacturan
War in Mindanao – Froilan Gallardo & Bencyrus Ellorin
Relief and Rehabilitation – Karl Vincent Queipo
San Pedro Muscovado Cooperative - Hector Tuburan Jr.
Wahida: Bearing the Torch of Peace - Amy Cabusao
Matinka: A new kind of War - Amy Cabusao
Supporting Local Peace and Development Efforts: The Case of Pagangan Women Association
Working Animal Project of an IP Community - Froilan Gallardo
The Beautiful Women of Al Jamelah - Fanny Divino
Building Peaceful Homes - Amy Cabusao
Seaweeds Project of Tarakan - Froilan Gallardo
Livelihood and Enterprises in support of Peace and Development: The Daguma Range Tri-People Federation
Partners Capacity Index - Ma. Victoria Z. Maglana
Performance of the PDAP PROPEACE Partners
02
23
38
44
49
55
62
67
71
74
81
85
98
106
Preface
This Publication is made possiblewith the funding support fromCanadian International Development Agency (CIDA)Philippines Canada Development Fund (PCDF)
Editor:MindanewsGrace SantosJing Pacturan
Project Coordinator:Karl Vincent QueipoProject Officer, PDAP
Layout Artist:MindanewsMertz Certifico
Copyright 2006Philippine Development Assistance Programme (PDAP, Inc.)78-B Dr. Lazcano St., Brgy. Laginghanda, Quezon City, PhilippinesTelephone Numbers: (+632) 374-8214, 373-0556Fax Number: (+632) 374-8216Email Address: [email protected]; [email protected]: www.pdap.net; www.organicrice.org
Preface
Poverty is the biggest challenge facing the country today, where almost a third of the popu-lation sleeps with an empty stomach. But poverty is not just the failure to meet income requirements. It is the presence of factors undermining the capacity of communities and individuals to reach their full potentials.
Human security articulates that development is achieving protection of one’s dignity, livelihood and life. It also presupposes that an individual has abounding potential which can be unveiled given the right environment conducive for growth. Mitigating vulnerability and enhancing potentials are key features in realizing this.
Mindanao is vital in reducing poverty in the country. According to the Philippine National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) Census of 2002, Mindanao has the 2nd largest total land area with 120.8 thousand sq. km and accounts for 24 percent of the entire country’s population (18 million people). Touted to be the “Island of Promise”, industry, agribusiness and tourism can thrive here providing livelihoods to the majority of the population.
But with the fragile peace environment, nothing much can be achieved. There is a need to intensify assistance to post-conflict areas and to marginalized and poverty-stricken commu-nities.
Inherent in its vision, PDAP had focused its efforts in rebuilding conflict-affected and post-conflict communities in Mindanao and Palawan. Immediately after the signing of the final peace agreement in 1996 between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), two waves of interventions were imple-mented by PDAP. The First wave through the Program for Peace and Development in the SZOPAD Ares (PPDSA, 1997-2000) complimented the capacity-building needs, provision of technical assistance, organizing among war-torn communities and livelihood development.
The Second wave, through the Mindanao Program for Peace and Development (ProPeace, 2000-2004), centered on livelihood and enterprise development, promotion of agriculture-based livelihoods, and advocacy to enhance networking and partnership building. Muslim communities and marginalized sectors such as indigenous people and poor Christians in surrounding areas benefited in these undertakings. Both PPDSA and ProPeace have benefited a total of 180 community-based organizations involving 10,000 households.
After almost a decade of work in Southern Philippines, PDAP takes stock on the pertinent
learnings from these projects. This publication intends to document and disseminate infor-mation on some effective strategies, human capital and resource requirements to make peace-building initiatives work on the ground. It celebrates the little victories and small steps towards poverty alleviation hoping to share the message and urgency of focusing efforts where they are direly needed. This book also highlights the role and importance of the differ-ent stakeholders in achieving peace and development. New tools in measuring project impact such as the partners capacity index have been included as PDAP’s contribution to the human security framework.
As we move the torch of peace forward, PDAP would like to acknowledge the assistance of our valued partners who made this publication possible. Our sincere appreciation to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Philippine-Canada Development Fund (PCDF) for the guidance and funding support both to the PPDSA and ProPeace programs. We also thank the government agencies especially NEDA, the MNLF leadership, and non-government organizations in the area who have been our constant partners in extending technical assistance to the target communities. Our gratitude also to the writers and partners who documented notable cases published in this book.
And lastly, special thanks to the ProPeace staff: Mr. Winston Camarinas, Ms. Linda Ibay, Mr. Agustin Zerrudo, Mr. Hector Tuburan Jr., Ms. Epifania Divino and Mr. Genes Castillare -- who were involved in the program implementation and worked tirelessly to alleviate the condi-tions of our brothers and sisters in the conflict areas of Mindanao. The final copy of this book was made possible through the efforts also of PDAP staff Mr. Karl Vincent Queipo, Ms. Grace Santos and Mr. Mertz Certifico for the final editing and layout of this book.
Jerry E. Pacturan PDAP Executive Director October 2006
“It would be unthinkable to consider peace as a condition characterized simply by worldwide absence of conflict when millions of people die yearly from starva-tion, disease and poverty.” – Statement from Bahai International Community, UN International Year of Peace Seminar, 1985.
i ii
01
TheMindanao
ContextChapter 1Chapter 1
02 03
RURAL ENTERPRISES FOR POVERTY REDUCTION AND HUMAN SECURITY By Jerry E. Pacturan
I. Historical Background and Context of the PDAP Development Work in Mindanao
The Mindanao Colonial Context
Mindanao was once called the land of promise due to its vast agricultural lands, rich natural resources and the vibrant economy that was established resulting from the island’s strategic trading links mainly with China as early as 982 A.D. prior to the coming of Islam in the late 14th century. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Sulu, Cotabato in Southcentral Mindanao and Butuan/Caraga, at the northeastern portion, were the flourishing trading centers in Mindanao linked with Europe and China¹ .
In the face of the determined efforts of Spain to colonize the entire Philippines for three hundred years, from the middle of the 15th century to the latter part of the 18th century, most portions of Southern and Central Mind-anao remained free, governed by the Sultanate system (e.g, the Sultanate of Sulu, the Sultanate of Maguindanao and other smaller sultanates). It was this freedom from the Span-ish colonizers that the Muslims have been asserting was a historical fact that proved they were never part of the struggle against Spain, hence not part of the Philippine nation when the Filipino revolutionary leaders, mostly from Luzon and Visayas, led and almost won the Philippine Revolution against Spain in the late 1800s.
The Americans, who came at the turn of the 19th century as a result of the Spanish-American War in 1898 and “liberated” the Philippines from Spain in a mock battle in Manila Bay, pursued the same pacification campaign to subjugate the entire country including the Muslim-governed areas in Mindanao. The Americans utilized a divide-and-rule strategy against the Muslims. They entered into an agreement with the Moro leaders, through the Bates-Kiram Treaty of 1899² while at the same time fought a cruel war against them. The U.S. gained military victories but has never been totally successful in transforming the
socio-cultural and political landscape of the Muslim communities. “The struggle has been costly. From 1903 until 1939, the U.S. initiated ‘land-grabbing’ laws that systematically took away land from the indigenous inhabitants. During this time it was estimated that 15,000-20,000 Muslims were killed. Despite these losses, Moro and Lumad³ resistance against colonial rule continued”4.
To further counter this resistance, the Americans brought to Mindanao large numbers of Filipino Christians from Luzon and Visayas in 1912. This continued through the 1950s, completely changing the demographic makeup of the island. In 1918, the Moros and Lumads made up approximately 75 percent of the total population in Cotabato Province. By 1970, they made up only about 34.5% while Christians made up 62.2%5. Alongside with the massive migration of Christians was the entry of American firms that capitalized on the region's economic potential. Between 1900 to 1920, about 46 US firms were established in Zamboanga and Sulu. Agricultural colonies were also said to have been established in Cotabato, Davao, Lanao and Agusan by 19306.
The Philippine Government, which was given autonomy by the U.S. in 1935 under the Philip-pine Commonwealth and full independence in 1946, continues to uphold, up to this day, its sovereign authority in this part of the archipelago, a legacy which most of the Muslim popu-lation took with contempt arguing that their “Bangsamoro territory” have been illegally annexed by the Americans as part of the Philippine state in the Treaty of Paris of 18987 .
The communist insurgency in Central Luzon set off by the Hukbong Magpapalaya ng Bayan (HMB) in the 1950s led the Philippine government to offer an amnesty program for its mem-bers by sending the HMB members and their sympathizers to Mindanao, and granted them the privilege to own and cultivate agricultural lands. Consequently, the influx of more migrants, mostly Christians, from other provinces in Luzon and Visayas followed suit.
Around this time the overall relations among the Muslims, Christians and Lumads were generally commendable despite the centuries-old derision of the Muslims against the various invaders, foreign and local, of their homeland.
In the early 1970s, para-military groups (some attached to Christian politicians, some with Muslim politicians and others with the loggers) proliferated. At this time, land conflicts between Muslims and Christians escalated triggering into armed clashes. The military (then the Philippine Constabulary) took control of many towns and pave the way for the involve-ment of a para-military group called ILAGA8 . The group was responsible for attacking a mosque killing scores of civilians, and driving out Muslims from their communities9.
This event produced a chain reaction in various parts of Mindanao triggering more violent retaliation from both sides. Since then the conflict between Muslims and Christians has been at the center stage of the socio-cultural and politico-economic dynamics in Mindanao.
¹ Sources: Regional Economic Zone Authority/REZA: The Economic Growth Booster, by DTI-ARMM Regional Secretary Ishak V. Mastura; Unpublished Historical Accounts of Mindanao by Greg Hontiveros, Butuan City; Philippine History & Government by Gregorio F. Zaide and Sonia M. Zaide, 5th Edition.² Installation of a separate U.S. military administration for the Moro lands and signature of the so-called Bates-Kiram Treaty that provided for a regime of indirect rule, the Americans being only concerned with the maintenance of order and peace. The treaty didn't however prevent frictions and soon revolts broke out. They would last until 1905 in Mindanao and until 1913 in Sulu. (Source: http://www.geocities.com /CapitolHill/Rotunda/2209/Moro.html)
3 Lumad – the local terms used for the indigenous peoples (IPs) in Mindanao.4 The Struggle in Mindanao, Documentation for Action Groups in Asia, September 2001. (Source: www.daga.org/dd/d2001/d109ph.pdf)5 Same with no. 4 above.6 Source: Dr. Samuel K. Tan of the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP-CIDS).7 On April 25, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. As a result Spain lost its control over the remains of its overseas empire -- Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippine islands, Guam, and other islands.8 ILAGA stands for “Ilongo Land Grabbers Association”. The Ilongos is a Visayan ethnic group originating from the islands of Panay and Negros. The Ilongos is one of the dominant non-Mindanao ethnic groups which migrated to South and North Cotabato.9 “Overview of the Moro Struggle” by Professor Datu Amilusin A. Jumaani.
04 05
The Modernday Muslim Rebellion Against the Philippine Government
The seeds of the Muslim rebellion began in the 1950’s with the creation of secessionist movements initiated by Muslim politicians, Senator Pendatun, a Maguindanao10, of the MINSUPALA (Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan) movement and Congressman Lucman, a Maranao, of the Mindanao Independent Movement (MIM).
In the early 1970s, a revolutionary Muslim movement whose following was across the broad socio-economic classes of the Muslim population was established in Mindanao led by then University of the Philippines (UP) Professor Nur Misuari11. Both the MINSUPALA and MIM joined this new movement. This became as th Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF) which waged a secessionist war against the Philippine government under the administration of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos who was elected in 1965. President Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972 and presided an authoritarian regime for almost 14 years.
In 1976, President Marcos concluded an agreement with the MNLF in Tripoli, Libya with the facilitation of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), granting autonomy in 14 provinces, together with its component cities, in Southern Philippines, including the predominantly Christian provinces of North and South Cotabato. This agreement was never implemented prompting the MNLF to continue its struggle for secession against the Philip-pine government.
In 1978, a breakaway faction of the MNLF led by its Vice-Chair Ustadz Hashim Salamat12 asserted itself as the “New MNLF Leadership” primarily due to differences in positions vis-à-vis the Tripoli Agreement. From this faction, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was formally organized in 1982 and eventually separated from the MNLF13. The MILF established
10 In Southern Philippines, there are at least 13 known Muslim ethno-linguistic groups, three of which are dominant in terms of population and political prominence: the Maguindanaos situated in the south-central Mindanao area, the Maranaos in the central-western area and the Tausogs of Sulu.11 Nur Misuari comes from the Muslim Tausug ethnic group. While a student in UP, Nur Misuari was a member of the Kabataang Makabayan (KM), the youth faction of the National Democrats. His prominent contemporary while teaching in UP was Jose Ma. Sison, founder and former Chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).12 Salamat, a Maguindanao himself, was the chair of the MILF until his demise in July 2003. He was succeeded by another Maguindanao, Ibrahim Murad. The MILF and the Philippine government resumed the peace negotiation in August 2003 under the facilitation of the Malaysian Government and the backing of the U.S. Government.13 From an interview with a former chair of the MILF Peace Panel of 2000 which negotiated with the Government of the Philippines.
List of autonomy areas identified in the Tripoli Agreement of 1976
1. Basilan
2. Sulu 3. Tawitawi
4. Zamboanga del Sur
5. Zamboanga del Norte
6. North Cotabato
7. Maguindanao
8. Lanao del Norte
9. Lanao del Sur
10. Davao del Sur
11. South Cotabato
12. Palawan
13. Sultan Kudarat
All the cities and villages in the above mentioned areas
Table 1 - List of autonomous areas identified in the ripoli Agreement of 1976
itself in Central Mindanao with mostly Maguindanaoan following. Its forces scattered in the hinterlands of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and North Cotabato. Aside from the conflicting positions of the Misuari and the Salamat factions on the Tripoli agreement, the MILF separated with the MNLF owing to ideological and leadership differences, the former being more Islamic in character while the latter being secular in its outlook. The war between the MNLF and the Philippine government was very costly in terms of both lives and economic destruction. Data from the AFP showed that from 1970 to 1996, more than 100,000 persons (e.g., soldiers, rebels and civilians) have been killed in this conflict and P73 billion was spent in the 26-year period, or an average of 40 per cent of the AFP’s annual budget14.
The Peace Agreement of 1996 and Changes in Leadership in ARMM
Upon the assumption of then President Corazon C. Aquino, after the fall of the Marcos Dicta-torship through the People Power Revolution of 1986, peace negotiations were initiated with the MNLF which finally culminated in the Peace Agreement of 1996 between the Philippine government under the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos and the MNLF under the chairmanship of Nur Misuari. In September 1996, Nur Misuari was elected regional governor of ARMM (Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao).
This Peace Agreement led to the amendment and the restructuring of the ARMM15 through the passing of the Republic Act 9054 in February 2001. At the ensuing referendum mandated by RA 9054, the ARMM region is now composed of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawitawi and the City of Marawi, while t he province of North Cotabato and the city of Cotabato16 chose to be under Region 1217.
In April 2001, ARMM Governor and concurrent MNLF Chair Nur Misuari was ousted as Chair of the MNLF by the other MNLF top-ranking leaders identified as the “Committee of 15”. In the ARMM election of November 2001, Dr. Parouk Hussin, one of the leaders of the Commit-tee of 15, was elected as regional governor of ARMM18. In 2002, Misuari’s loyal forces hold-out and hostage hundreds of civilians and fought-out the AFP in a military camp in Zambo-anga City. As a consequence, he fled to Malaysia but was later on deported by the Malaysian government back to the Philippines. He has been incarcerated since then in a government jail in Laguna, Luzon.
While the Peace Agreement still holds and is being respected by the MNLF, much needs to be done to complete the devolution process. As claimed by its leaders, out of the 60 executive orders that should have been issued by the President of the Philippines as part of the devolu-tion process, only a handful have been put out to date19.
Despite the devolution being incomplete, the peace agreement paved the way for the imple-
14 From the privilege speech delivered in Congress by then Rep. Eduardo Ermita who was formerly the Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process and currently the Executive Secretary of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.15 The Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was created on November 6, 1990 through Republic Act 6734 during the administration of then Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino.16 The center of the regional government of ARMM is situated in Cotabato City, despite not being part of ARMM. This was because in the predecessor RA 6734 of RA 9054, Cotabato was still part of ARMM.17 The Philippines is composed of 15 regional subdivisions including ARMM and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in Northern Luzon. Except for ARMM which is autonomous and has its own regional government structure and Regional Governor, the rest of the 14 regions including CAR doesn’t have a regional government.18 Governor Hussin’s term will last until mid-2005 afterwhich regional elections will be conducted in ARMM. 19 From an interview with the interim chair of the MNLF, who replaced Chairman Nur Misuari.
06 07
mentation of donor-initiated development projects in Mindanao by different donor agencies.
Currently operating in a tight budget deficit, the Philippine government is unable to finance the rehabilitation and development of Mindanao. The donor community has somehow filled
in the gap of providing the much needed resources to rehabilitate, reconstruct and develop the region.
Poverty and Underdevelop-ment in Mindanao and the ARMM
Mindanao is the second largest island of the Philip-pines comprising 94,630 square kilometers and with a population of 18 million or about 23% of the country’s total population of about 80 million. It contributes substantial amount to the total GNP of the Philippines. It is blessed with diverse and rich mineral and forestry reserve, as well as abundant agricultural and fishery resources.
Decades of highly central-ized governance, economic neglect and military pacification campaigns by the Manila central government mainly in response to the Muslim rebellion and communist insurgency in the 1970s and the 1980s have somehow been largely responsible for the state of underdevelopment and poverty in Mindanao which is most pronounced in conflict-affected areas, including the eastern (chiefly Surigao and Agusan provinces) and western regions of the island (Lanao and Zambo-anga provinces). It is this poignant state of underdevelopment and poverty that breeds conflict, political instability and unrest. Indeed, poverty and conflict are twin evils.
The poverty situation and underdevelopment in conflict affected-areas in ARMM and other provinces in Mindanao is quite disturbing as recent figures would show. In one of its publi-cations, the World Bank confirmed that the island provinces of ARMM have highest poverty levels in the entire country. Even non-ARMM provinces have distressing figures as well.
20 Poverty line is the level of income below (income below? Is this really the right term? Or “Below poverty line”?) where a household is unable to procure sufficient food and other minimum necessities of life. The poverty measurement methodology used by the Philippine Human Development Report is consistent with that used in the World Bank’s two-volume Philippine Poverty Assessment published in May 2001.21 Poverty depth measures how far below the poverty line the poor are. It measures the poor’s average income shortfall (expressed in proportion to the poverty line) relative to the non-poor. Thus, the data shows that the average income of the poor in Lanao del Sur is 10 percent below the poverty line. The poor in Sulu have average incomes that are more than the 30 percent short of the poverty line. In other words, the income of the poor in Sulu has to rise by an average of 30 percent in order for them to rise above the poverty line.
Table 2 - Population, Poverty20 Incidence and Depth (1997, 2000)
Population (Census 2000)Poverty Incidence Poverty Depth21
1997 2000 1997 2000
Philippines
Metro Manila
Lanao del Sur
Maguindanao
Sulu
Tawi-tawi
Basilan
North Cotabato
Sultan Kudarat
Davao del Norte
76,498,735
9,932,560
669,072
801,102
619,668
322,317
332,828
958,643
586,505
743,811
25.1
3.5
40.8
24.0
87.5
52.1
30.2
42.7
21.6
26.2
27.5
5.6
48.1
36.2
92.0
75.3
63.0
34.8
35.3
27.3
6.4
0.6
10.4
4.0
33.1
13.4
5.9
13.4
3.2
6.4
7.2
0.9
9.7
9.2
37.3
25.8
16.7
8.8
5.8
7.1
Source: Social Assessment of Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao, A World Bank Publication, March 2003
Indicators on health are also not encouraging. ARMM has only 29% of its population having access to potable water supply. The following figure illustrates that among the bottom 5 provinces in the Philippines which has low access to safe drinking water, three of them are from the ARMM namely Tawi-tawi, Lanao del Sur and Sulu.
Graph 1
08 09
In terms of access to sanitary toilets, Sulu (20.8%) and Tawitawi (11.6%), both from ARMM, reported the least percentage of families with sanitary toilets.
The state of education is also lamentable. Cohort survival22 rate at elementary education level for School Year 2001-2002 especially in Western (45.51%)and Central Mindanao (56.45%) regions and the ARMM (33.96%) are very low as shown in the following table.
With these conditions, the imperative for economic development and provision of basic social and health services is critical and necessary. It is in this context that development projects for residents affected by conflict, which help ensure their food security requirements, improve agricultural productivity and increase livelihood options, hence augmenting house-hold income, becomes very vital. The PDAP program in Southern Philippines is a response towards this development challenge.
II. PDAP in Mindanao and Palawan
The Philippine Development Assistance Programme, Inc. (PDAP)23 program on peace and development in the conflict areas of Southern Philippines began in 1997 immediately after the signing of the peace accord between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1996. The “Program for Peace and Development in the Southern Zone of Peace and Development/SZOPAD Areas (PPDSA)”, a three year program implemented from 1997 to 2000 and funded by the Canadian Interna-tional Development Agency (CIDA) through the Philippines-Canada Development Fund (PCDF), assisted 84 cooperatives and peoples organizations of former MNLF combatants involving more than 4,000 individuals. The program consisted of capacity building through organizing and technical assistance work and provision of capital for livelihood and enter-prise.
22 Cohort Survival Rate is defined as the proportion of enrolles at the beginning grade or year which reach the final grade or year. Philippine Statistical Yearbook 2000.
23 The Philippine Development Assistance Programme (PDAP), Inc. is a non-government organization established in 1986 composed of 6 NGO networks with more than 300 community-based members or affiliates in the Philippines. PDAP works to reduce poverty and inequity in the Philippines. For the last 16 years, PDAP has supported more than 400 community-based projects for the benefit of close to 2 million Filipinos. It has successfully implemented three major development projects amounting to almost US$ 20 million over three phases of NGO funding support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). In Southern Philippines, PDAP is currently implementing a 3-year project called Mindanaw Program for Peace and Development (PROPEACE) and a relief and rehabilitation project in Damulog, Bukidnon and Mapun, Tawitawi.
Access to family planning services is also very low among the ARMM provinces. The bottom 5 provinces in the country in terms of low family planning access are all in ARMM comprising of Tawitawi, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan and Maguindanao.
Graph 2
Graph 3
10 11
In 2001, PDAP implemented its second program called “Mindanao Program for Peace and Development (PROPEACE)” still with the support of CIDA and PCDF. With a three-year duration, the program has expanded its assistance to other marginal sectors, the indigenous peoples (IPs) and poor Christian settlers. The program has also included an advocacy compo-nent in answer to the need to engage development stakeholders, especially government, in policy formulation and programs that affect peace and development of the region.
PDAP’s focus on livelihood and enterprise creation for its programs in Southern Philippines is in recognition of the state of poverty and underdevelopment in the region particularly in the conflict-affected areas.
Working in partnership with community-based groups of Muslim, IPs and Christians since 1997, PDAP has already supported about 180 various projects amounting to almost US$ 2 million. These projects range from agricultural/fish/livestock production and agricultural post-harvest facilities for livelihood and food security to enterprise projects on food and handicraft processing, basic commodities merchandising, micro-financing, grains trading (rice and corn) for increasing household/family income.
Objective and Components of the PDAP-PROPEACE Program
The Propeace program’s objective is to improve the socio-economic well-being of 4,000 poor Muslims, Indigenous People (IP) and Christian households in conflict affected areas in Mind-anao and Palawan. This is intended to be achieved mainly through the provision of financing and technical assistance for livelihood and enterprise projects of the partner peoples organi-zations. Included in the component interventions of the program is policy advocacy which is directed at the municipal and regional levels in order to mobilize and operationalize support services from existing policies and programs on livelihood and enterprise promotion. The policy advocacy for the program is also aimed at influencing LGUs and national govern-ment agencies as well as donor agencies in developing and implementing new policies, programs and services that benefit the partner organizations and their communities.
The succeeding diagram is the program implementation framework of Propeace.
Community-based Approach for Livelihood and Enterprise Projects
PDAP, in both PPDSA and PROPEACE programs, has adopted an approach of working directly with community-based peoples organizations (POs) and cooperatives. Selection of communi-ties is done in close collaboration with development stakeholders operating in conflict areas such as local NGOs, federation of POs, MNLF leaders and MNLF-allied organizations, Church-based programs, local government units (LGUs), national line agencies as well as donors whose programs do not include livelihood/enterprise components.
Project identification, development and implementation are accomplished in a participatory manner. In all these stages, PDAP works as a facilitator using the communities’ own indig-enous knowledge, cultural tradition and practices as well as experiences from other commu-nities and projects which are replicable and locally-appropriate.
Financing for livelihood and enterprise projects are made available directly to the participat-ing communities. The fund is treated by the POs as perpetual local revolving capital intended to finance continuously their livelihood and enterprise projects.
POs whose projects need technical assistance in institutional development and strengthen-ing, cooperative formation and development, financial and business management (i.e., production and marketing) are supported by engaging NGOs and BDS (business development service) providers whose expertise satisfies the project’s requirements. In some instances, LGUs and national line agencies with programs and expertise on PO formation and strength-ening are tapped to provide technical assistance.
Basic trainings and educational programs including coaching/mentoring activities to strengthen the POs/coops organizational management capacity are implemented on-site involving the membership while specialized trainings using experiential techniques and exposure programs are provided to the key leaders and management of the community-based organizations.
Institutional networking and linkages geared towards collaborative undertakings at the community and policy levels are initiated by engaging national government agencies, LGUs, NGOs and donor agencies in joint projects and activities.
Using these approaches Propeace since its implementation in 2001 covering mainland Mind-anao, Palawan and Basilan, has accomplished the following at the end of the program :
• Livelihood and enterprise projects have reached 90 compared to the original program target of 80 projects. Of the total 90 projects, 22 are managed by all- women POs while 68 are led and managed by males. Projects managed by Muslim POs ccomprise 44 or 49% of the total projects.
12 13
24 Tri-people POs are those with membership from Muslims, IPs and Christians.
Table 4 – Livelihood & Enterprise Projects by Sector
Livelihood & Enterprise Projects
Participating Sector Male Female Total
Total Program Target
Total Actual
Muslims Christians IPs Tri-people24
Total
30
13
22
3
68
14
7
1
--
22
44
20
23 3
90
48
16
16
--
80
44
20
23 3
90
Table 5 – Sectors by Number of Individual Participants
Sectors by Number of Individual Participants
Participating Sector
Male Female Total TotalProgram Target
Total Actual
Muslims Christians IPs Tri-people24
Total Percentage
1,377
626
968
313
3,284
53%
1,240
894
968
184
2,958
47%
2,617
1,520
1,608
497
6,242
100%
2,400
800
800
--
4,000
2,617
1,520
1,608
497
6,242
(169%)
Number of Participants
• In terms of the number of individual participants, Propeace has surpassed its original target by 169% reaching 6,242 participants. Female participation is also significant at 47% based on the actual accomplishment.
• Women play significant role in various Propeace-supported projects. Most of the all-women managed projects are in micro-lending followed by trading and merchandising
Table 6 – Collective Projects Managed by Women
Collective Projects Managed by All-Women POs
Type of projects Women Managed
4
14 1 1
-- 2
22
Total No. of Projects
22
29
21
5
5
8
90
Trading & Merchandising
Micro-Lending
Agri-Agua Production
Livestock and Poultry
Post Harvest Facilities
Food Processing & Handicraft Production
Total
Stages of Development of Communities in Conflict Areas
In almost seven (7) years of working in Southern Philippines in partnership with the marginal-ized communities of Muslims, Christians and IPs and various stakeholders on peace and development, PDAP realized that communities in conflict areas go through several stages of development in the context of livelihood and enterprise promotion. These six stages mark a continuum from survival to rehabilitation to development and growth (see figure 2).
Conflict Situation. Due to massive displacement of communities in a conflict situation, delivery of relief services such as food and medicines are crucial. During this period the need to call for cessation of hostilities is a critical task to prevent further displacement of communities. The role of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), the press/media and peace advocates forming as a “peace constituency” together with the IDPs (internally displaced peoples) to call for ceasefire from warring forces becomes very important. At this stage where the displaced families are living in various evacuation centers, peace education is an effective strategy that helps to heal the trauma and emotional wounds suffered by the IDPs. Dialogue and therapy sessions are implemented to help reduce cultural and religious resentments and biases among the affected.
Post-conflict Preparation. In situations where the war is prolonged and formal declara-tion of cessation of hostilities has not been reached, IDPs play a lead role by asking warring forces to allow them to return to their communities. The “space for peace” model in Pikit, Cotabato spearheaded by the local communities and external facilitators (e.g., NGOs, donors, government agencies, etc.) is one effective and successful approach towards this end. With the expressed willingness of warring forces to respect the peace declaration of the communities affected, the IDPs can start to prepare for their return and rehabilitation which includes activities such as undergoing psycho-social programs and capacity-building planning, village rehabilitation and restructuring, core shelter construction planning, damage assessment and planning for livelihood including basic services requirements. At this level a multi-stakeholder mobilization involving CSOs, government donor agencies and even the private sector becomes very useful in order to generate the necessary resources to support the planned return of the IDPs.
Rehabilitation. With the support of all stakeholders including the warring forces (i.e., government and the rebel forces), the IDPs start to go back and settle in their communi-ties to rebuild their damaged houses and community infrastructure (like the village government office and religious structures such as mosques and chapels), cultivate their lands through food for work programs and help implement labor-based construc-tion of water projects. For communities with POs prior to the war, community organiz-ing activities to revive and re-strengthen the organizations are initiated.
Agricultural Productivity and Livelihood. At this stage where the IDPs are back and settled in their villages various type of support are provided to make their agricultural activities more productive such as introduction of farming systems and sustainable agriculture (SA) technologies, extension of soft agricultural credit, and provision of water for drinking and irrigation purposes. As additional source for food security and
14 15
household income, projects like backyard food production techniques, inland fish production and livestock production technologies are made available. During this stage continued provi-sion of basic social services on health, literacy and adult education are necessary. Peace education continues to be an important feature in rebuilding family, community and inter-faith relationships in order to sustain the initial peace gains achieved.
Micro-Enterprises. Community-based micro-finance or micro-lending projects are effective interventions in assisting households implement both on-farm and off-farm livelihood activities such as food processing, agricultural trading, merchandising, operation of common service facilities for agri-production and processing, agricultural trading and handicraft. Micro-finance modalities vary depending upon the financing needs of the project and the existing culture and traditions of the community. In some projects implemented by Muslim POs, micro-finance policies comply with certain Islamic principles on financing while others simply follow the usual micro-finance standards. At this stage of development, micro-enterprises are also provided with entrepreneurship and technology training, product improvement assistance, basic business management and marketing skills. Savings and capital build-up schemes are also given emphasis to allow formation of internal capital within the community thereby increasing their collective capacity to finance and invest in their own enterprise projects. Peace education at this stage moves up to a higher level when community leaders are tapped to extend peace education in other communities affected by the conflict to expand the peace constituency and assume leadership roles in government and donor-initiated structures that supports the peace and development efforts.
Market-Oriented Enterprises. Food-based and food-relat micro-enterprises with value added potential such as fish sausage processing, fruit jelly processing, organic sugar production (“muscovado”), cooking oil production are given assistance in product quality improvement, costing and pricing techniques to enhance their marketability. For these products to reach the shelf in malls and supermarkets various enterprise improvement interventions are provided such as labeling and packaging, promotions and consumer education, participation in trade fairs and product presence in various showrooms established by the government and private sector (i.e., chamber of commerce, industry associations, etc.). Non-food products and enterprises such as handicraft and traditional craft weaving possess strong potential for domestic and export markets. These products are given assistance through product quality and design improvement, buyer linkage, participation in trade fairs and presence in show-rooms.
SU
RVIV
AL
REHA
BILI
TATI
ON
D
EVEL
OPM
ENT
& G
ROW
TH
MAR
KET -
O
RIEN
TED
EN
TERP
RISE
M
ICRO
- EN
TERP
RISE
AGRI
. PR
ODUC
- TI
VITY
& L
IVEL
I -
H
OO
D PR
OMO
T’N
RE
HAB
ILIT
ATIO
N
POST
- CO
NFL
ICT
PR
EPAR
ATIO
N
CO
NFL
ICT
SI
TUAT
ION
1
2
3
4
5
6
Mai
n co
ncer
n of
be
nefic
iary
ho
useh
olds
•
Food
, med
icin
es &
te
mpo
rary
she
lter
•
Sa
fety
& s
ecur
ity
• O
btai
n sa
fety
and
se
curit
y co
mm
itm
ent
fr
om w
arrin
g fo
rces
• R
ebui
ldin
g of
cor
e
shel
ters
• L
and
cult
ivat
ion
• M
ake
land
pro
duct
ive
to
ens
ure
HH
foo
d
secu
rity
•
Red
uce
prod
uctio
n
risks
& c
osts
• E
arn
addi
tiona
l inc
ome
•
Ens
ure
off
- sea
son
liv
elih
ood
• S
eek
stab
le e
mpl
oym
ent
Som
e m
ajor
fa
ctor
s
need
ed t
o re
ach
this
le
vel
---
• R
e - e
ntry
pla
n fo
r IDP
s
(she
lter
& li
velih
ood)
• V
illag
e Re
habi
litat
ion
an
d Re
stru
ctur
ing
Pl
an
• A
gri -
sup
port
on
food
fo
r wor
k pr
ogra
m
•
Wat
er &
hea
lth
se
rvic
es
•
Com
mun
ity
org’
n.
• A
gric
ultu
ral c
redi
t
• P
otab
le w
ater
and
irr
igat
ion
• A
vaila
bilit
y &
div
ersi
ty o
f on
- sit
e ra
w m
ater
ials
• O
rgan
iz a
tiona
l cap
acit
y fo
r en
terp
rise
•
Cap
ital f
orm
atio
n
• S
uffic
ient
& s
tabl
e
mar
ket
dem
and
Requ
ired
de
velo
pmen
t
inte
rven
tion
s
• M
edia
adv
ocac
y; c
all
for c
ease
fire
•
Pro
visi
on o
f fo
od a
nd
med
icin
es, h
ealt
h
clin
ics
•
Rel
ief
fund
s ac
cess
ing
fr
om C
SOs,
dono
rs,
go’v
t, pr
i va
te s
ecto
r.
• N
egot
iatio
ns w
ith
war
ring
forc
es
•
Mul
ti - s
take
hold
er
mob
iliza
tion
of
reso
urce
s
• P
sych
o -s
ocia
l &
capa
city
bld
g. f
or
spac
e fo
r pea
ce
• P
eace
edu
catio
n
•
Pro
visi
on o
f ag
ricul
tura
l inp
uts
•
Pro
visi
on o
f so
cial
se
rvic
es t
o ad
dres
s
basi
c ne
eds
• F
arm
ing
syst
em
s &
SA
te
chno
logy
• L
ives
tock
pro
d’n.
te
chno
logy
• A
gric
ultu
ral c
redi
t
• S
ocia
l ser
vice
s to
ad
dres
s ba
sic
need
s
• C
ontin
uing
pea
ce
educ
atio
n
• E
nter
pris
e se
ed c
apit
al
•
Ski
lls t
rain
ing
•
Pro
duct
impr
ovem
ent
•
Org
aniz
atio
nal c
apac
ity
for
ente
rpris
e
• M
arke
ting
• Is
lam
ic -
com
p at
ible
fin
anci
ng
•
Pea
ce e
duca
tion
• M
arke
ting
• T
echn
olog
y
• S
uppo
rt f
or c
ertif
icat
ion,
lic
ense
s, tr
adem
ark
&
proc
essi
ng
•
Pac
kagi
ng &
pro
mot
ion
•
Pea
ce e
duca
tion
Stag
es o
f O
rgan
izat
iona
l G
row
th
• E
stab
lishm
ent
•
Reg
ular
izat
ion
•
Inst
itutio
naliz
atio
n
• E
xpan
sion
/Inno
vati
on
OFF
- SI
TE A
PPRO
ACH
ENTE
RPRI
SE -
FO
CUSE
D
APPR
OACH
COM
MUN
ITY-
BASE
D A
PPRO
ACH
Figu
re 2
. St
ages
of D
evel
opm
ent
of C
omm
uniti
es in
Con
flict
Are
as in
the
Con
text
of L
ivel
ihoo
d &
Ent
erpr
ise
Deve
lopm
ent
16 17
Important Features of Livelihood and Enterprise Programs in Conflict-Affected Areas
As communities go through the six stages of development with the end view of promoting the growth of livelihood and enterprises, five important elements come to fore based on PDAP’s experience.
• Poverty-Focused
Poverty and underdevelopment breeds conflict and political instability. PDAP’s response through livelihood and enterprise creation highlights the importance of providing immediate relief for food security and poverty alleviation. For projects to be relevant and responsive to the needs of the communities, PDAP implements a community-focused approach whereby POs/coops decide for themselves the kind of project that are short-gestating which produce immediate results for the project participants. Projects are also based on the natural resource endowments of the area, the enterprise’s market potential, the skills capacity of the participants and their track record.
• Social Capital Formation
War and conflict destroy the fabric of communities and societies. It erodes trust and confi-dence in individual and community relationships and destroys structures that support communitarian values and traditions. PDAP’s effort in building the individual competencies of leaders and project participants as well as the organizational capacities of communities in organizational and enterprise management and inter-institutional engagement are geared towards the formation of social capital. Gender-fair and environment-sensitive projects are developed and implemented with the community taking a lead role supported by technical assistance interventions.
• Multi-Stakeholdership
Individuals and communities that go through conflict situations loose practically everything that they have including self-esteem. The problems and needs are wide-ranging and diverse enough for any development program or organization to respond to. For development programs to be effective in conflict areas, development stakeholders need to collaborate and work together so that projects and activities do not duplicate and meager resources are put to better use. PDAP, with its niche in livelihood and enterprise programs working together with other stakeholders, has shown positive results for communities affected by the conflict. In some instances, the Propeace-supported physical structures built by the PO become temporary shelter of displaced families and the venue for psycho-social therapy sessions of the programs implemented by other NGOs.
• Multi-Cultural and Inter-faith
Cultural, tribal and religious biases and resentments born out from long historical animosi-ties heighten during conflict situations. Peace education that recognizes the historical root of conflicts, similarities and divergence in cultures and faiths, the affirmation of strengths and common thread that binds communities together despite conflict – are necessary devel-
opment interventions in conflict areas. Respect for people’s culture and faith, dialogue and joint actions and finding practical ways to work together are measures that facilitate commu-nity development action assisted by outside stakeholders. The use of faith-based and culturally-compatible approaches in micro-finance projects manifests the strengths found in the communities traditions and beliefs and provides an element for project viability and sustainability.
• Agriculture and Enterprise/Industry Orientation
Communities emerging from conflict which have been displaced in their economic activities need to revive their farming and other agriculture related livelihood in order to attain food security and free themselves from dependence in relief and rehabilitation work. While PDAP has supported communities in agriculture productivity improvement projects, it also became necessary to support communities to move beyond agriculture productivity especially when such communities have already attain a secured level of food supply/security, has gain some surplus production and therefore ready to go into value-added micro-enterprise and market-oriented activities.
Two schools of thought dominate the concept of enterprise creation – one is the necessary presence of a sound market and strong support institutions which allows people to do business and create enterprises, while the other presupposes that individuals with motivation, capabilities and resources interacting with society will have the capacity to create enter-prises. PDAP’s approach in building the capacities of people and communities to manage their own livelihood and enterprises is a manifestation of the latter. While institutions and government policies help transform conflict-affected communities into productive and vibrant societies, in the end the people and the communities (i.e., motivated by a vision, possessing the right values and armed with competencies and skills) determine by themselves the kind of development they want. Propeace-supported projects on food processing and handicraft/weaving which are currently marketed within and outside the communities and whose potential can be further enhanced through enterprise improvement strategies demon-strate this belief and aspiration.
18 19
• Peace and development work is attainable in conflict areas with time, a favorable policy environment and resources that directly address the root of the conflict – poverty and underdevelopment.
• A multi-stakeholder approach involving the national government, local govern-ment units, NGOs, donor agencies and local communities creates a “peace constitu-ency” that can push development work towards the attainment of peace in conflict areas.
• A multi-cultural, inter-faith and diversified approach in supporting community-based structures geared towards change and transformation at the community level.
• Peace education as the underlying foundation in re-building relationships and forming community structures that promotes the culture of peace and enhances people’s capacities to withstand conflict brought about by warring forces.
• The use of Islam-compatible principles and other innovative approaches in finance, livelihood and enterprise promotion work and socio-cultural development that has proven to work in other progressive Muslim communities/societies.
25 In 2000, the government under President Estrada’s administration declared an “all-out war” against the MILF which displaced close to a million individuals. Upon the assumption of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2001, peace negotiations were conducted with the MILF. However, in February 2003, extensive armed clashes occurred between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the MILF which displaced more than 400,000 individuals. A couple of months after this, peace negotiations resumed with the active facilitation of the Malaysian Government and other OIC-member countries such as Brunei. Since then the ceasefire declared and agreed between the two parties has so far been holding and respected by both parties.
Lessons and Challenges for Future Programs
The recovery of communities ravaged by conflict is determined by many factors. The strength of institutions (e.g., local government, national agencies, church and religious, educational system, financial, business, etc.), the macro policy framework, the micro-environment obtain-ing in the communities and the people’s inherent and acquired abilities and resources are all necessary in this regard.
While PDAP has found a niche in livelihood and enterprise promotion in the conflict areas of Southern Philippines, the need to continuously pursue peace and development work (i.e., particularly in livelihood and enterprise creation) is by no means a finished task. Another peace accord25 seems to be at sight offering yet another chance for pursuing development under a climate of peace. However, much needs to be done. PDAP believes that for develop-ment programs to be effective in pursuing peace, several lessons should be taken into account. These lessons serve as PDAP’s guideposts in pursuing its livelihood and enterprise work in Southern Philippines.
Human Security as the Overarching Framework
Poverty reduction remains to be the primary concern in a country like the Philippines, and more especially in Mindanao where conflict arises as a natural consequence of impoverish-ment, injustices, socio-cultural biases and prejudices. However, while poverty remains to be the principal consideration and the chief “lens” for all development interventions, another important “lens” appear to be useful in responding to the development challenges of Mind-anao conflict communities, that is the human security framework.
Human security is defined as one that focuses on the strengthening of human-centered efforts from the perspective of protecting the lives, livelihoods, and dignity of individual human beings and realizing the abundant potential inherent in each individual. In contrast to National Security which focuses on state-centered efforts rather than people and their communities, the state and their respective governments need to adopt a new paradigm of security. This is paramount “because the security debate has changed dramatically since the inception of state security advocated in the 17th century. According to that traditional idea, the state would monopolize the rights and means to protect its citizens. State power and state security would be established and expanded to sustain order and peace. But in the 21st century, both the challenges to security and its protectors have become more complex. The state remains the fundamental purveyor of security. Yet it often fails to fulfill its security obligations—and at times has even become a source of threat to its own people. That is why attention must now shift from the security of the state to the security of the people.”26
In the context of conflict-affected countries such as the Philippines, and especially in Mind-anao where the conflict is manifesting, human security as a development framework finds enormous relevance. Specifically this means that development interventions should gear up towards the following:
• Protecting people or the internally displaced peoples (IDPs) caught in violent conflicts
Innocent civilians, women, elderly and children are almost always the unfortunate victims of conflicts resulting from armed clashes between rebel forces and the state military forces. Government has the moral and the constitutional responsibility to see to it that people affected by conflict are protected and taken cared of either in evacuation centers or in their own communities. Government has the primordial responsibility to use the state resources and apparatus to provide relief and security to IDPs in the same manner that it uses the state resources for war. CSOs, donor agencies as well as the private sector need also to provide complementary assistance to augment scarce government resources.
• Providing minimum living standards (work-based security, securing livelihoods, access to land, credit, training)
As soon as the IDPs are settled in their communities, government and other sectors need to provide rehabilitation activities and consequential development-oriented projects geared towards securing the food security and livelihood requirements of
26 United Nations-Commission on Human Security Report, 2003.
20 21
the affected sectors. Land-related issues which are often a cause of conflict need to be responded and resolved utilizing community-based and culturally-appropriate approaches. State or government-mandated conflict resolution approaches and the legal justice system need to be augmented or attuned with community-based approaches. Training programs have to be directed towards social capital formation and strengthening of communities’ institutional capacity to engage other sectors. Financing for agriculture and enterprise activities need to be adapted to locally-appropriate or culturally-sensitive approaches such as those espoused in Islamic-compatible financing systems.
• Access to social services such as health and education
Health and basic education are critical concerns for communities affected by conflict. Health programs that utilizes modern and alternative traditional systems have to be deployed for the benefit of the marginal sectors. Educational systems in indigenous forms and those that are under the Muslim Madrasah system will have to be effectively utilized to complement modern educational approaches. Formal and non-formal peace education will also have to be directed both at the formal educational system and at the community-level. The latter is most important in the formal educational system where both teachers and students/pupils need to be re-educated or re-oriented on peace education.
• Articulating common goals, while developing multiple identities (inter-religious dialogue; culture of peace)
In Mindanao where different tribal identities abound and various religious persua-sions exist (between and among Christians and Muslims), development efforts should recognize the role and importance of traditional and faith-based (or inter-faith) approaches as a bridge for people to come together towards one common identity as a people. Dialogue within the same religious persuasion (i.e., within and among Christian sects, and even within and among different Islamized tribal groups) and between faiths (i.e., between Muslims and Christians) should be pursued towards a deeper understanding of each other’s faith and beliefs leading towards religious tolerance and formation/acceptance of communitarian values that are universally acceptable embracing all forms of cultural, tribal and faith systems.
• Empowering communities for good governance (engaged/active citizenship)
Effective governance is best addressed both from the perspective of formal gover-nance institutions and the communities/sectors being governed. Governance institutions in conflict communities are oftentimes weak and deeply vulnerable to pressures from the ruling power or dominant sectors (e.g., economic elite, traditional leaders, corrupt government officials and even revolutionary or rebel groups who are yet to settle with the government). Strengthening of these institutions through capacity building and institutional development activities is a must such that they become accountable and responsive to the communities/sectors they are supposed to govern and serve. Communities on the other hand need to engage actively in an organized manner these formal governance institutions utilizing existing windows
In the context of the Philippines and Mindanao, the existing Local Government Code (despite its existing limitations) offers opportunities for communities and organized sectors to participate actively and engage government in providing public goods and services (for the poor and the marginal sectors) necessary for poverty reduction and the promotion of human security.
• Forming alliances among civil society groups including churches, government and local communities
A broad constituency of sectors and institutions that are committed to peace and development is a critical foundation for sustained engagement with all the key stakeholders especially the warring factions (i.e., rebel groups and government/military). Peace is possible and sustainable when the people themselves affected by conflict are united in a common front to fight the root causes of the conflict. The communities themselves taking the initiative of engaging other allied sectors brings forth a “peace constituency” that can effectively push and eventually diminish any form of unpeace or anti-peace efforts from outside. While this is a struggle that cannot be achieved overnight, it is important that the people them-selves in tandem with other sectors take the cudgel for peace.
Finally, set against the challenges of poverty reduction and human security, PDAP commits to pursue its work on livelihood and enterprise promotion. The last seven years of PDAP work in Mindanao and Palawan has shown that indeed peace is possible and sustainable in the communities where it operated upon. And while PDAP may have played a pivotal role in these communities, ultimately the long term sustainability of these efforts will be pursued and determined by the communities themselves as they resolutely uphold their efforts, as well as by the other sectors and institutions (e.g., national and local governments, private sector, donor agencies, financing institutions, educational institutions, NGOs, etc.) operating in the wider macro environment where the bigger challenges lie.
22 23
A CASE STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF WAR IN CENTRAL MIND-ANAO ON PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES, WITH FOCUS ON THE PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS OF PDAP-PROPEACE IN PIKIT AND ALEOSAN, NORTH COTABATO
Background
On 11 February 2005, the military launched an offensive in Buliok Complex, a territory of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, in Liguasan Marsh in North Cotabato. The attack broke the uneasy truce between the Government of the Philippines and the rebels, threaten-ing to slow down further the pace of the peace process which both parties have promised to pursue.
Peace and development are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. The absence of both no doubt results in aggravated poverty and a rich and beautiful Southern Philippines refusing to move forward.
This case study tries to see the effects of the recent outbreak of war in Southwestern Mind-anao on the peace and development initiatives of non-government organizations, thereligious sector and donor agencies in areas affected by the conflict and which are still tryingto recuperate from the destruction caused by the same war in 2000.
It likewise tracks the important role of the Philippine Development Assistance Programme’s Mindanao Program for Peace and Development or ProPeace projects in communities directly affected by the resumption of hostilities in February 2003.
24 25
This case study also takes a hard look at the victims of war. Ironically, these victims have for so long aspired for peace and are in fact active players in peace-building and development of Mindanao.
Introduction
Promenzo Cedeño, barangay chairman of Nalapaan in Pikit town, North Cotabato, does not like the violent incidents that had taken place recently in his village. Yet Cedeño, a former soldier of the defunct Philippine Constabulary, has opted to stay.
Meanwhile, most of Nalapaan’s 1,472 residents have already run to the safety of the evacua-tion centers in Pikit when fighting broke out between the military and the MILF on 11 Febru-ary 2003. They would go to their farms before noon and run back to their houses before sunset to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Nalapaan and Pagangan, a village in neighboring Aleosan town, have been declared as Space-for-Peace. However, a number of residents still fled when fighting between the military and the MILF erupted in February this year.
No skirmishes occurred in Nalapaan, but the sight alone of military and MILF units passing by the area compelled the people to evacuate. In Pagangan, particularly in Pagangan 1, about 50 households, mostly members of the groups assisted by PDAP-ProPeace, sought refuge at the evacuation center in barangay Dualing, Aleosan.
These and many more are the stories of the beneficiaries of PDAP-ProPeace.
ProPeace has financed livelihood projects worth close to P1 million (approximately US$ 20,000) in two villages in Pikit and in Pagangan. The projects are intended to address the devastating effects of the war on the people’s economic conditions. But the resumption of hostilities has affected their implementation.
PDAP PROJECTS
PDAP has been in the forefront of promoting peace and development in Southern Philippines especially in the Special Zone of Peace and Development, after the government entered into a final peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front in 1996.
PDAP is a consortium of networks of NGOs. Its members include the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas, Philippine Business for Social Progress, Asian NGO Coalition, Association of Foundations, Assisi Foundation and the National Council for Social Development. It has a nationwide reach and a 16-year track record in resource mobilization for poverty reduction initiatives in marginalized communi-ties.
The consortium has implemented the Program for Peace and Development in the SZOPAD Areas, which seeks to create a favorable environment for sustained peace and development initiatives.
Supported by the Canadian International Development Agency through the Philippines-Canada Development Fund, the PPDSA is an attempt to improve the lives of demobilized MNLF regulars through sustainable livelihood enterprises.
When the government and the MILF entered into peace talks in March 2001, PDAP joined other NGOs in trying to rehabilitate the lives of the residents.
In May 2001, PDAP embarked on ProPeace, again with the support of CIDA and PCDF. The 30-month project aims to reduce the level of poverty in SZOPAD by undertaking pro-active steps that would protect and enhance the initial gains made by PPDSA. Its target beneficiaries are communities affected by the war.
PDAP provided P354,542 (US$ 7,091) for three solar dryers and three warehouses in Nalapaan. These post-harvest facilities were constructed by the residents themselves through the “bayanihan” system.
The post-facilities are in sitios Maguid and Baruyan. These serve sitios Maguid, Proper 1 and Proper 2 while the Baruyan facilities serve sitio Baruyan and San Roque. These projects were coursed through the Immaculate Conception Catholic Parish of Pikit.
In Pagangan, PDAP provided residents with P350,000 (US$ 7,000) as their seed money for animal dispersal. The residents bought goats, ducks, hogs and poultry. There was also money to finance a small “sari-sari” (consumers) store.
The Pagangan Project was released to the Barangay Pagangan Women’s Association.
PDAP also provided P220,000 to a group of former Moro rebels in Sitio Punol, barangay Batulawan in Pikit through the Sitio Punol MNLF Multi-Purpose Cooperative. The rebels have decided to lay down their firearms and spend the rest of their lives as farmers. They used the money to buy three hand tractors.
PDAP-Pro Peace Assisted Community Projects affected by the outbreak of fighting since Feb. 2003:
The solar dryer and warehouse in Sitio Maguid serve 176 Christian and Muslim families who depend on rice farming.
Name of Project Amount from PDAP
No. of Beneficiaries
Project Location
Nalapaan Post-harvest Facilities Pagangan Micro-Agri Lending Sitio Punol Agri-Production Facilities Total
354,542.00
350,000.00
220,000.00
PhP924,542.00
277
285
50
612
Nalapaan, Pikit, North Cotabato
Pagangan, Aleosan,
North Cotabato
Batulawan, Pikit, North Cotabato
26 27
Nalapaan barangay councilor Kadtong Andic said the solar dryer has made it easy for them to dry their palay (unhusked rice). And when the rains come, the grains could easily be stored at the warehouse located beside the dryer.
In sitio Beroyan, the solar dryer also serves as a basketball court where Christian and Muslim residents may play together.
Fr. Bert Layson, parish priest of Pikit, said the solar dryer and warehouse have become symbols of community understanding for the residents. “It started the healing process between the residents. They played together and worked together. It has become a commu-nity center,” he noted.
Other NGOs and development agencies like Tabang Mindanao, Oxfam, Catholic Relief Services and the United Nations Development Programme also helped in the rehabilitation efforts in Pikit after the war in 2000.
Effects of the conflict on rehabilitation projects
The government waged an all-out war against the separatist rebels in 2000 disrupting the once peaceful and harmonious lives of the residents of Nalapaan.
The armed conflict again escalated in February 2003 adversely affecting the on-going rehabilitation and development initiatives in the area which started in 2001 since people have stopped going to their farms for fear of being caught in the fighting. These projects include those assisted by PDAP-ProPeace.
“These projects helped us a lot. We could have bounced back on our feet had the new war not erupted,” Cedeño said.
He said the residents were planning to put up a cooperative out of these projects if not for the war.
Nalapaan
Nalapaan has been declared a Space-for-Peace and no actual armed clashes have happened here since. Nevertheless, the presence of both military and rebel patrols has disturbed the relative security of the people.
They fear that if the two groups meet within striking distance of each other fighting would be inevitable. This is why villagers in sitio Maguid, Baruyan, San Roque and even those along the highway in Proper 1 and Proper 2 have moved to evacuation centers.
The effect of this on their farming activity is serious. Councilman Andic said their farms are virtually unproductive now as farmers do not anymore till their lands nor tend their crops.
Asked what other rehabilitation and development projects the community may need, he poignantly said in Maguindanao, “Kalilintad!” (Peace!). He added, “Kanang kalambuan, moabot ra man na kung dunay kalinaw.” (Development will just come if there is peace.)
Sitio Punol, Batulawan
Jackson Dimanalao, a former MNLF commander, said they are looking forward to a bright future because their village was spared from the fighting. He said they hope the government would construct a new farm-to-market road that would connect them to Pikit.
“I hope PDAP or other NGOs could provide us with money to buy a truck to carry our produce to the market,” he said.
Dimanalao, who heads a group of 50 beneficiaries, said it was his connections in the military and the MILF that spared them from the recent fighting.
“I told them to spare our village so we can tend to our farms peacefully,” he said.
He said only five beneficiary families who were living in the nearby village of Dalengaoen were affected by the war.
He said he pulled out from Dalengaoen the hand tractor given by PDAP and brought it to Sitio Punol for safekeeping.
The conflict has also put on hold a 2.5-kilometers farm-to-market road to be bankrolled by the SZOPAD project.
Pagangan, Aleosan, North Cotabato
For residents of barangay Pagangan, the war dashed their hopes for a bright future.
Minda Navarro, who signed the memorandum of agreement with PDAP-ProPeace as president of the Barangay Pagangan Women’s Association, said she did not know if the animals given to her barriomates were still with them.
She believed many of these animals were sold by the residents so they could buy their needs at the evacuation centers. She could only assure that six of the beneficiaries have not sold their hogs.
But Lilian Iligan, one of the beneficiaries interviewed at the evacuation center in Dualing, Aleosan said their husbands were taking care of the animals back home. She said their husbands would go to their houses and farms during the day and come back to the evacua-tion in the afternoon.
Sixty-four year old Lolita Pasaol on the other hand said she is very hopeful the assistance she got from Pro-Peace would help her. She availed of a loan to buy a boar. But in February, just as a sow impregnated by her boar was about to deliver, they heard explosions and automatic gunfire, so they scampered and left behind the animal which eventually died.
Interviews at the evacuation center with members of the association indicated that with the situation they would have a hard time paying their loan amounting to about PhP1,200 each.
28 29
The school children also have their own story. Every morning, a government dump truck would pick them up at the evacuation center and carry them to the Pagangan Elementary School some five kilometers away. They would be transported back to the evacuation center at three o’clock in the afternoon.
PEACE INITIATIVES
Peace and development assistance from government agencies and NGOs was poured in Pikit and other areas of Southwestern Mindanao after the Philippine government and the MILF signed on 24 March 2001 a ceasefire agreement.
These efforts gained headway in 2002 when relative peace was attained in these areas.
The peace talks held in Kuala Lumpur have been going well. On 07 August 2001, the two parties signed the implementing guidelines on the ceasefire agreement in the Malaysian capital.
The two sides also issued a joint communiqué in Kuala Lumpur that they would cooperate in running after criminal elements, a long-time problem in the region.
These confidence-building measures are supposed to lay the groundwork for lasting peace in Southern Philippines. But nothing has happened.
A field study made by concerned Mindanao leaders in January 2003 revealed that both the Philippine government and the MILF were violating the ceasefire agreement. “War could breakout any moment,” said the study made by the Mindanao People’s Caucus, a multi-sectoral forum.
At the end of 2002 leaders from the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives were reviewing the draft of the final peace agreement with the secessionist group.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had required the concurrence of Senate and House leaders before signing the agreement. She would have signed the agreement on 12 February 2003. But war broke out in Pikit town a day before the scheduled signing.
As of 24 March, more than 42,000 Pikit residents have fled the fighting. At least 25 evacu-ees, mostly children from two to six years old, have died in the various evacuation centers. Nine evacuees died in the towns of Pagalungan and Pagagawan in Maguindanao province.
Aside from the formal peace process, peace-building efforts have been taking place in communities. Efforts like the Space-for-Peace program which started in barangay Nalapaan have attained certain degrees of success. It has been holding, albeit delicately, despite the resumption of hostilities. (The Space-for-Peace program is discussed separately in this paper.)
In a nutshell, peace initiatives for Southern Philippines have been done at the national, regional, provincial and grassroots levels.
While government is pursuing peace talks with the MILF, civil society organizations have been engaging policy-makers in a peace discourse. Moreover, civil society organizations, religious groups and donor agencies, on the other hand have engaged in direct relief, rehabilitation and development efforts at the grassroots level.
The pursuit of a negotiated political settlement with the MILF provides a favorable condition for the grassroots peace-building and development initiatives. Consequently, snags in the peace process result in serious disruptions in the grassroots initiatives, which have been effective in addressing basic issues of widespread poverty in the South.
OTHER NGO EFFORTS
Following the conclusion of former president Joseph Estrada’s all-out war in Mindanao in 2000, various NGOs have come to Pikit to help in the rehabilitation efforts.
The CRS gave P200,000 for projects on conflict resolution to restore social harmony between Christian and Muslim residents of Pikit.
The church-based NGO also donated food, clothes and medicines to the thousands of evacu-ees in the town following the all-out war in 2000.
Tabang Mindanao gave P4 million to the rehabilitation efforts. The rice huller and engine located beside PDAP’s solar dryer and warehouse in Sitio Maguid, is one of its projects.
Oxfam also invested P5million in various livelihood projects in Pikit.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development spent P8 million in food, clothing and rehabilitation work for the evacuees.
The Initiatives for International Dialogue, another NGO, invested P3 million in “dialogues for
30 31
peace” in communities in Pikit and elsewhere in Southwestern Mindanao. This is aside from the P1 million in relief work it had to shell out following the outbreak of war last month.
The UNDP on the other hand poured in significant resources for relief, rehabilitation and development in areas affected by the war in 2000. Its assistance ranged from supplemental feeding and medical assistance to the provision of water systems to communities.
Resources from these organizations, albeit insufficient, have also been allocated for relief operations in the evacuation centers since February this year.
Situational Analysis
Development efforts for the war-torn town of Pikit would be useless without a stable peace, Fr. Layson, the parish priest of this predominantly Muslim town, said.
Nothing can be more succinctly accurate than his statement.
Layson hastened to add it is unbridled folly to think that peace can be achieved by war. The war raging in Pikit since February this year can never be the road to peace as it creates “warriors” in the children victims of the war.
“The folly of this war is the belief that it can be won. The reality is it is not just killing people but also the hope for peace of the young people who are victims of this war,” he said.
To prove his point, he shared a story of a nine-year-old boy whose father was shot by rebels in front of him and his mother in 2000.
Since then, the boy has stopped schooling and has developed the fetish for collecting empty shells of ammunition. When war broke out again this year, his mother pleaded for him to flee with her. The boy, who is now nine years old, was adamant and did not want to go to the evacuation center but wanted to fight.
Many stories also claim that most of the bandits roaming the region and causing trouble like castle rustling, looting or simply spreading terror were young boys when war erupted in this part of the country in the early 1970s.
Libyan-trained former MNLF commander Jackson Dimanalao agreed that war is vicious. “Sa baril-barilan, patay lang ang makukuha natin. Kailangan talaga is mapatuloy ang peace talks,” (In a shooting war, people only die. There really is a need for the peace process to continue), said the former rebel who was 15 when he joined MNLF founding chair Nur Misuari’s struggle for an independent Moro homeland.
Humanitarian Crisis
For the civilian victims of the raging armed conflict in Southwestern Mindanao, survival is the primary concern. As of 25 March 2003, the number of evacuees in the municipality of Pikit had risen to at least 42,000.
As of March 25, 2003
Deaths: 26Hospitalized: 280
The total number of evacuees in seven municipalities of the region is placed at 140,000. Evacuation centers have now spread to Damulog town in Bukidnon.
In the main operation center of the relief operations in the Immaculate Conception Parish in Pikit, updates were written on bulletin boards, one of which read:
Relief and volunteer medical workers were worried no end over the increasing demand for medicines especially for children and the looming shortage of medicines in their inventories.
At the Municipal Health Center, Dr. Edwin Cruzado, municipal health officer, wondered loudly: “Is this a just war?” The government doctor did not volunteer an answer to his question though. But such question reflects the growing dilemma and exasperation relief operation workers have been feeling as the armed conflict continued to rage and the humanitarian crisis entered its third month.
As of 24 March, the medicine inventory of his health center was only good for four days. And there was no assurance supplies were coming either from government or aid agencies and NGOs.
Meanwhile, the death toll was rising. The latest count was 26, eighteen of the casualties children aged 0-6. The most common cause was broncho-pneumonia, often as a complica-tion of measles, dehydration and malnutrition. The local health center has recorded two deaths due to severe malnutrition.
Women, especially the pregnant ones, are also bearing the brunt. Twenty-three of them delivered their babies in evacuation centers. There were at least two recorded still births. Cruzado said the latest case was that of a woman whose uterus ruptured and had to be operated last March 23. The mother survived.
In nearby Aleosan, a member of a group organized by PDAP gave birth to a baby boy on 07 March at the evacuation center in Dualing. They named the boy Rey, but he is more popularly known as Dodong Bakwit (Cebuano adaptation of the word evacuee).
The stress and sub-human conditions in the evacuation centers have also taken their toll on the sick and the elderly. Some have died of hypertension and cardiac ailments.
Evacuees have also complained of diminishing rations and relief supplies. They said that in the last two weeks all they got was five kilos of rice. They used to receive 10 kilos each week.
Fifty households that took refuge at the Dualing evacuation center said they have not received their rations the last two weeks forcing their husbands and menfolk to return to
32 33
their farms, taking the risk of getting hit in the crossfire just to have food for their families.
As living conditions in the evacuation centers turned from bad to worse, the military is embroiled in going after MILF fighters who have shifted to guerrilla warfare after their camps were overrun in 2000. The 5,000-hectare Buliok Complex in the fringes of the Ligua-san Marsh is their battlefield.
Policy Issues
Peace and development efforts implemented in Southwestern Mindanao after the all-out-war in 2000 have no doubt been held hostage by the outbreak of armed hostilities on 11 February 2003.
Some punsters call the military offensive in Buliok Complex “peace process ambushed.”
And why not? Days before Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes ordered the attack, the govern-ment peace panel was busy finalizing its peace proposal to the MILF, and the stage has been set for the resumption of peace talks with Malaysia acting as the third party.
Insiders in the Philippine peace panel said that between 06 and 11 June they were consulting with leaders of the Senate and the House on the government’s peace proposal to the MILF. In fact, the draft final peace agreement already had the support of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House. The concurrence of both legislative leaders with the draft pact was one of the preconditions given by President Arroyo before she would sign it.
The panel had also presented the peace proposal to the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Peace.
Officially at least, the Buliok offensive was meant to flush out criminal elements like the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom gang.
But the whole thing seriously compromised the already delicate ceasefire agreement between the government and the MILF. Moreover, the two parties signed on 06 May 2002 a communiqué in Cyberjaya which provides that pursuit of supposedly criminal elements in rebel-held areas should be jointly conducted by the military and the MILF.
Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Joint Communiqué clearly stipulates:
“The AFP/PNP shall convey to the MILF an order of battle containing the names and identities of criminal elements as defined in the implementing guidelines on the security aspect of the GRP-MILF Agreement on Peace of 2001 suspected of hiding in MILF areas/ communities.”
The MILF and the GRP shall form an Ad Hoc Joint Action Group against criminal elements. This group will operate in tandem with their respective Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities.”
Further, the Joint Communiqué calls on the GRP and the MILF to enhance their communica-
tions and working relations for the successful apprehension or capture of criminal elements in accordance with the said agreement.
The military strongly asserted that the MILF is providing refuge to the notorious Pentagon gang. While it is very much within the duty of the armed forces and the Philippine National Police to go after criminal elements, it would have been better to do it with the precarious state of the peace process in mind.
In this case, whether the Pentagon was flushed out or not has remained unclear. What is clear is the military and the MILF are back at each other’s throats. As the war escalated, a humanitarian crisis has emerged as more civilians are being displaced. After almost two months of fighting, the number of evacuees has reached 140,000.
The resumption of armed hostilities in Southwestern Mindanao this year has profound impli-cations on the peace and development initiatives that are making headway in the area.
The question now is whether the policy of the Arroyo administration has shifted from “all-out-peace” to “all-out-war.”
Recommendations
As the hostilities between the government and the MILF escalate, both sides are losing their credibility before the people for their failure to comply strictly with the different agreements they have signed.
At the same time a humanitarian crisis is happening and peace and development initiatives have taken a backseat.
Relief is the short-term need. Rehabilitation and development of the affected areas is the medium-term need and no doubt the political settlement of the armed conflict is the long-term need. Without the political settlement of the conflict, there can never be sustainable peace and development in this part of the country.
Short term interventions: 1. Relief – While the fighting continues it would be hard to convince the evacuees in Pikit and elsewhere to go home to their communities and tend their farms.
As the crisis enters its third month, relief supplies such as food and medicines are acutely getting low. Resources to sustain such are also becoming scarce. The number of fatalities, especially among children, is getting higher as the days go by.
This makes relief operations very important.
2. Rehabilitation and development – Demand for rehabilitation is expected to rise as soon as people start going back to their communities. There will be a need to provide them with assistance as they resume their farming activities and repair their damaged homes.
The three communities assisted by PDAP-ProPeace and covered by this case study, namely, Nalapaan, Sitio Punol and Pagangan, would still need assistance although not much physical damage was caused by the war in their areas, as they have been rendered unproductive by the conflict.
Agricultural productivity assistance may be needed by the affected communities and rehabilitation interventions may be needed for existing livelihood projects.
Members of the Barangay Pagangan Women’s Association who have availed of loans for animal dispersal have hinted they may not be able to pay their loans to the association because they left behind their animals. Some of the animals even died when they were aban-doned by their owners.
The same is true with the members of Nalapaan and Sitio Punol groups who expressed the need for some kind of assistance for them to start all over again in their farms.
The cost of the conflict is not just on the damaged properties but also on lost productive time and opportunities on the part of the farmers.
Once the situation “normalizes”, new development interventions would be necessary.
3. Advocacy for Political Settlement of the Armed Conflict – Unless the cause of the armed conflict is resolved, all development interventions in the area will have no assurance of success because these would depend on the peace and order situation.
There is a need to advocate that war will never be the solution to the conflict. Thus the resumption of the peace process is imperative.
This can be done at the national level, to influence policy, and at the grass-roots level, to institutionalize a culture of peace among the people.
The Nalapaan Space-for-Peace experi-ence is a very good example. It needs to be strengthened and replicated in other communities. More consultations and workshops to further improve the approach may be needed.
At the national level, there is a need to convince policy-makers that it pays more to work for peace than go to war. Studies, including those made by the World Bank, indicate that it is costlier to go to war than to pursue peace negotiations.
As Fr. Layson puts it, there is a need to reverse the belief of policy-makers and the public that war is the road to peace.
“The problem with us in Mindanao is we have a peace constituency that believes that war is the way to peace. And the folly of this all is the belief that war can be won,” lamented Layson, whose peace advocacy has made him an icon of peace in the region.
He added that war is only successful in “killing the hope for peace of the people, especially young people who are victims of war.
Finally, there is a need to accept the fact that the Mindanao conflict, no matter how difficult, can only be resolved through a political settlement.
Case in pointSpace for Peace in Peril: the Nalapaan Experience
Nalapaan is one of the 42 barangays of Pikit, North Cotabato. It is situated along the Davao-Cotabato National Highway and inhabited by Muslims, Christians and Lumad. During the all-out war launched by the Estrada Administration in 2000 against the MILF, the place suffered when government troops and MILF forces fought for control of the highway.
Many houses and animals were hit by bullets. Farms were abandoned as 350 families opted to stay in the evacuation centers in the poblacion1.
1 Space for Peace: A Nalapaan Experience in Grassroots Peace-building, By Fr. Roberto Layson, OMI
34 35
Despite the war raging then, grassroots initiatives were boldly initiated by peace advocates in Pikit spearheaded by Fr. Layson.
The objectives of the establishment of a Space-for-Peace according to the priest were: 1) support to the peace process; 2) the urgent need to show to the suffering people that there is hope even in times of war, that there is life even during the conflict; and 3) the need to bring the people back from the evacuation centers as conditions there are deteriorating everyday2.
Soon after the 2000 all-out war, peace and development advocates put in place rehabilita-tion and development projects.
PDAP-ProPeace figured prominently in these efforts by providing development aid to communities affected by the conflict. Other NGOs that provided rehabilitation assistance to the barangay were Tabang Mindanaw, Oxfam, Catholic Relief Service, PBSP, CIDA, CORUM and UNDP.
The Space-for-Peace initiative touched ground in the 1,000-hectare barangay of Nalapaan. Through dialogues and peace advocacy, the Moro, Christian and Lumad residents vowed to live in harmony with each other.
The barangay was officially declared a Space-for-Peace on 01 February 2001.
Efforts have also been made to secure the commitment from the military and the MILF not to make the Space-for-Peace barangay their battleground.
Lately, the Space-for-Peace experience has been replicated in nine other areas like in Pagan-gan and Panikupan.
According to Fr. Layson, through the empowerment of the people and improved awareness on peace and solidarity, they have made it clear to both the military and the MILF that they want peace and are tired of war and that there can be no development without peace.
To a significant extent the Space-for-Peace initiative is holding. Since armed hostilities between the government and the MILF resumed this year, there have been no recorded encounters in the Space-for-Peace barangays.
But the fear of such still lingers in the hearts and minds of the peace-loving people of these areas.
In Nalapaan, almost half of the populace took shelter in evacuation centers and in the unthreatened areas of the barangay.
In sitio Maguid, of the 48 households, 39 have taken refuge in evacuation centers while in sitios Proper 1 and Proper 2, one hundred six of the 126 households have done the same thing.
36 37
2 ibid
Relatively stable in terms of peace and order are sitios Baruyan and San Roque.
The PDAP-sponsored post-harvest facility in Maguid has become the refuge of at least nine families.
It is in sitios Maguid and Baruyan where PDAP-assisted projects – warehouses and solar dryers – can be found. But these facilities have become idle, as the conflict has virtually put to a halt all agricultural activities in the barangay.
No armed encounters have been recorded in the barangay in that the combatants merely pass through it. Still, this has a chilling effect on the residents to whom the images of the year 2000 hostilities, like bullet-riddled homes, are still visible.
Barangay chairperson Cedeño is not losing hope as of the moment. But his frustration was evident as he scratched his head asking why this war has to erupt at a time that peace and development projects and initiatives have taken root in their area.
“Imbis nakabangon na unta mi human sa gera sa 2000, nagubot naman pod hinuon,” (It’s lamentable that just as we have started to recover from the war of 2000, this one has to erupt again) he said.
He added there can never be development if the rule of the gun either by the government or the MILF prevails.
Asked what livelihood project they want in their barangay, Kagawad Andic, a Maguindanao and a Muslim, poignantly said “kalinaw man among gusto” (it’s peace that we want).
He said livelihood and development projects will come naturally once the shooting war stops and the doves fly free in their land again.
ence is an integration of multi-faceted approach that aims to facilitate and strengthen basic social relationship between the individual and society through therapeutic activities and rehabilitation and development as a post-conflict pro-active response.
PDAP has catered to the bio-physical needs of the IDPs by providing emergency relief assistance like food and medicines. These were implemented in close coordination with the local government of Damulog.
With the help of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office and the Municipal Health Office of Damulog, food and medicines were distributed to 630 households in the five affected areas. The actual number of beneficiaries is 26 percent more than the target of 500 households.
The road less traveled: psycho-social rehabilitation intervention
Psycho-social intervention plays an important role in the integrated approach to the compre-hensive psycho-social rehabilitation of IDPs.
Psycho-social rehabilitation and development are two sides of the same coin; one cannot exist without the other. Development in conflict areas would be difficult if the IDPs have traumatic experiences that always haunt them. On the other hand, psycho-social therapy, which alleviates the emotional pains suffered by the evacuees, would be useless if basic needs and livelihood assistance are not provided. Both interventions will enable the affected persons to objectively pursue their personal and/or collective rebuilding efforts.
38 39
Balay Rehabilitation Center, a Manila-based human rights NGO which has made a name in psycho-social rehabilita-tion work, considers rehabilitation work as a process of restoring a person’s capacity and capability, dignity and humanity. Side by side with this process is addressing their immediate and long-term economic needs.
Balay’s experience among its focus communities has brought about a new dimension in looking at and practicing the integrated components of psycho-social rehabilitation work.
The same perspective in rehabilitation work has brought PDAP to work with Balay for psycho-social, capacity build-ing, peace and development and rehabili-tation interventions in Damulog.
RELIEF AND REHABILITATION WORK IN CONFLICT AREAS: The Damulog ExperienceBy Karl Vincent Queipo
“Taking the road less traveled” was how an experienced psycho-social worker in the region described the Philippine Development Assistance Programme. Indeed, only a few institutions have given funding to or directly engaged in psycho-social work as an important component of an integrated rehabilitation program. In fact, this is something new for PDAP.
It was after the Government of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front had signed the 1996 Final Peace Agreement that PDAP went into post-conflict rehabilitation and development work in Mindanao, focusing mainly in the Special Zone of Peace and Develop-ment. Its role in peace and development work is the provision of livelihood support to marginalized Moro and lumad (indigenous peoples) communities in the region, aside from advocacy support and capacity building.
The implementation of the Mindanaw Program for Peace and Development (ProPeace) has proved PDAP’s reliability as a peace and development support institution in the SZOPAD area.
Relief and Rehabilitation Program for Evacuees in Mindanao (RRPEM)
The February 2003 armed clashes in Central Mind-anao between the military and the MILF have displaced thousands of civilians. Among the first to evacuate were the residents along the borders of Cotabato and Damulog, the southernmost town of Bukidnon.
The government, donor agencies and non-government organizations spent millions in relief aid and other emergency assistance for the Inter-nally Displaced Persons or evacuees. Most of the aid, however, went to areas in Southwestern Mindanao.
The RRPEM was implemented to cater to the short-term needs and facilitate support coming from other institutions for IDPs from the Bukidnon-Cotabato border. After gaining insights on the PDAP experience in Southwestern Mindanao, a ladder-like approach to Development in Conflict Areas was adopted. This approach was based on the realization that communities in conflict areas go through several stages of development in as far as livelihood and enterprise promotion is concerned. (Pacturan, 2003)
The implementation of RRPEM has integrated all the components to include interventions during conflict situations and post-conflict and rehabilitation stages. The Damulog experi-
40 41
Right after providing food and medical assistance to the evacuees, PDAP and Balay initiatedthe psycho-social intervention by first training selected volunteers in the five affectedbarangays to prepare them for conflict or emergency situations. Five emergencyresponse teams, or one in each barangay covered by RRPEM, were created. The objective ofthe training was to provide the participants with skills necessary to facilitate the process ofcoping and dealing with social, psychological, economic and political wounds inflicted byarmed conflict.
Balay facilitated the Trainers Training in Capacity Building for Peace and Development. The objective of the training was to provide inputs and skills in peace and development interven-tions such as assessment of the cost of rehabilitation of farms, houses and livelihoods; preparation of development plans for evacuees who have decided to return to their commu-nities; and identification of alternative livelihoods for evacuees who may opt not to return to their communities.
To asses the damage inflicted by the recent war in the five affected barangays, PDAP in coordination with Balay and the local government of Damulog facilitated an on-site damage and livelihood assessment through participatory rural appraisal methods. The assessment was used as basis in formulating the rehabilitation planning of every barangay and the integrated rehabilitation plans. The rehabilitation plans are using a proactive approach to the sustainability of peace and development like the establishment of a community-initiated “space for peace”.
Obstacles and challenges along the road
Difficult Terrain and Communication
One of the main obstacles in rebuilding communities is the accessibility of the areas.
The terrain along the Bukidnon-Cotabato is rough and mountainous. In conducting the assessment, rehabilitation planning and other on-site activities, PDAP, Balay, Damulog-based NGOs and local government representatives had to hike or travel by horse for several hours through trails which are impassable by any motorized vehicle.
Communication was also a problem. The municipality has no telephone system and is not covered by any cellular phone network. The only means of getting messages across is using UHF/VHF radios or going to the area personally.
Return of Muslim evacuees
During the project period the local government of Damulog held consultations with Moro residents of Barangay Anggaan who fled towards the Cotabato areas at the height of the conflict. The consensus was for the Moro evacuees to return to their homes. After the consultations, about 60 of them planned to go back to Purok 4.
Aware of the possibility that the return of the Moro evacuees might trigger a conflict in the area, the Disaster Management Team of Damulog, headed by the MSWD, met to discuss the
issue. The team came up with a plan to conduct debriefing and other psycho-social activities prior to the reentry of the Moro evacuees and a separate activity for them during the reentry period. The idea of integrating them with other community members was also considered.
Rat infestation
The evacuees were very thankful for the provision of food and other relief and rehabilitation assistance. According to an old Manobo woman and an evacuee, the food assistance really helped sustain them upon their return to their and homes and farms and while waiting for the harvest.
Unfortunately, rats have destroyed all the crops left behind by the evacuees when the conflict erupted. Root crops like cassava and sweet potatoes, their main sustenance, were not spared. Even the crops they planted using seeds given by the Department of Agriculture were also destroyed.
These incidents have made life more difficult for the returning evacuees. Additional food assistance as well as providing solutions to the rat infestation was needed.
The Municipal Agriculture Office has been informed of this problem. However, it has limited budget for the purchase of enough rat poison for the whole area. It has asked for assistance from the DA regional office.
Limited livelihood support
The Department of Agriculture in Region-10 has provided 425 sacks of certified high-breed corn seeds to the evacuees. To complement DA’s assistance, RRPEM has provided 14 cattle as working animals that would benefit 630 evacuees in the five affected areas in Damulog. The Catholic Church of Damulog, NGOs and government agencies have also planned to provide cattle and other livelihood ventures to supplement the RRPEM initiatives. The local governments of the five affected barangays have been tasked to follow up the commitments of these agencies.
The additional work animals will help increase crop yield. The livelihood activities will provide opportunities for the evacuees to rebuild their lives.
The winding road ahead
One of the milestones of the program is the interest of Balay to maintain Damulog as a focus area and continue catering to the psycho-social needs of the five affected barangays.
As part of the rehabilitation efforts, the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Region 10 is constructing 80 houses for the evacuees in Damulog. The provincial government has also promised to allocate P1M for road rehabilitation in the five barangays.
The Damulog experience is a clear example of a multi-disciplinary, multi-faceted approach to psycho-social rehabilitation work. The local government, NGOs, Catholic Church, Balay, PDAP and other stakeholders worked hand in hand in the process of rebuilding.
Now there are signs of hope – the sound of hammer pounding nails to put in place the foundation of a house, the swaying of the sickle clearing out the weeds that have grown on once abandoned farms, the sound of a guitar strummed by a weary farmer resting under the shade of a tree.
Images of burning houses and abandoned farms, the sounds of automatic gunfire, mortars and grenades exploding, and the screams of frightened people now all seem like forgotten nightmares that once haunted the evacuees in their sleep.
42 43
Promoters of Peace Chapter 2
44 45
Methodology and Process
Interventions
With PDAP’s assistance, the SPSPMPC has implemented the Muscovado Central and Market-ing Project with support from ProPeace. The cooperative has received P700,000 for the upgrading of the muscovado sugar processing plant to improve its product quality and augment its capital for improved marketing.
Capacity building is an important component in Pro-peace. This is done in two-ways – centralized and and on-site trainings and coaching activities. On-site trainings are normally basic organizational development interventions while centralized trainings are technical interventions meant for the leadership and management staff of the partner organizations.
The SPSPMPC had attended the following centralized and on-site trainings:
Strategic Planning
Basic bookkeeping
Saving mobilization
Annual planning & budgeting
Enterprise management & business planning
Solid waste management course
Financial management
Workshop: costing and pricing
PCI Orientation
Leadership skills training
Packaging & labeling seminar
Training titles
April 2003
May 2003
October 2003
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
June 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
Date
2
2
2
15
4
1
10
8
1
10
2
No. of participant
Technical Assistance
ProPeace tapped technical consultants and institutions to provide technical support to selected partners whose capacities need to be enhanced and developed.
As for SPSPMPC, ProPeace tapped the expertise of an engineer in providing technical skills for the construction of the muscovado processing plant and warehouse. Local NGOs and government agencies also assisted in organizational development and product improvement.
Networking and resource mobilization
Department of Labor and Employement (DOLE) and the Department of Science and Technol-ogy (DOST) assisted the cooperative by providing a project counterpart of P100,000 to upgrade the muscovado processing equipment. Of the 22 muscovado millers in the area, only the cooperative uses the latest facilities that are made of stainless equipment.
Individual members contributed P1,000 each as cash counterpart to the project aside from
RURAL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT: THE RESURGENCE OF MUSCOVADO SUGAR (SAN PEDRO SUGARCANE PLANTERS’ MPC - MUSCOVADO ENTERPRISE)By Hector Tuburan Jr.
Introduction
The Project site
Barangay Tuato in President Quirino town, an agricultural area, lies along the provincial road connecting Sultan Kudarat to the provinces of Maguindanao and North Cotabato. Eight hundred thirty-two hectares or 90 percent of its land area of 921 hectares is devoted to agriculture. The barangay has no forest and grassland covers.
Tuato has 595 residents or 144 households whose members are mostly Ilocano, Ilonggo and Cebuano. Ninety percent are Christians while 10 percent or five families are Muslims.
Seventy-five percent of the families are either landless or tenants, 18 percent are landlords while five percent are tiller-owners. The remaining two percent are government and private employees or self-employed. Commerce in the barangay has been sluggish the last three years. There are seven sari-sari stores, two agri-based traders, five muscovado dealers, and six muscovado miller-traders.Sugarcane and muscovado sugar are the major agricul-tural produce. Rice, corn and other crops comprise only 20% of the total agricultural production.
Problem being addressed
The San Pedro Sugarcane Planters Multi-Purpose Coop-erative (SPSPMPC) has a membership of 40 households of which 92% are tenant sugarcane farmers. The coop-erative is the only farmers organization in the barangay that provides milling services to sugarcane planters both to members and non-members.
The members have an average annual income of only P24,000, based on a survey made by ProPeace that 80 percent of the families in the barangay are living below the poverty line. The program aims to increase this amount by P15,000 or 64%, as more income may contribute to an increase in sugarcane production, quality service of the cooperative and higher market price for muscovado.
46 47
Continuing support has been facilitated by AJPN through the “Promoting Sustainable Agriculture in Muscovado Sugar Industry in Sultan Kudarat” which was launched in August 2004. The project aims to contribute to the goal of poverty reduction by enhancing this capacity of sugarcane farmers to increase their productivity through the promotion of sustainable farming systems.
Monitoring and Evaluation
ProPeace has set up a monitoring and evaluation process from the very start of the program implementation. It made use of the Logical Framework Analysis and Performance Measure-ment Framework in measuring the indicators vis-à-vis the rationale and planned results.
The ProPeace secretariat monitored the project sites based on urgency owing to the fact that it only has two program officers. Field visits are done on a per cluster basis with the program officers staying in an area for two weeks.
A Partners Capacity Index was designed by the team to monitor the development stages of its partners in terms of their performance in enterprise organizational development and project implementation.
The Partners Capacity Index could also provide information on how partners utilize their resources, mobilize local counterpart and implement planned activities. It is also very useful as a basis for the next intervention that would help improve their performance.
The table below shows the PCI results for the SPSPMPC.
The results show the SPSPMPC is fairly capable of implementing the Project. This means it can carry out planned activities, utilize PDAP grant and mobilize and utilize local counterpart with a total rating of 99 percent as planned.
In terms of enterprise performance, SPSPMPC is on the advance stage of operationalization while its organizational performance is on the advance stage of regularization.
Overall performance of the cooperative is satisfactory with a rate of 80 percent. Given the requirements of the Project and guided by the following parameters, ProPeace has come up with the following recommendations for the cooperative to consider before the
Planned Activities 32.2
Grant Utilization 40
Project
Performance
Analysis Local Counterpart 27
99.2
As Planned
Enterprise Performance Analysis 80 Advance sta ge of
o perationalization
Organizational Performance Analysis 90 Advance stage
Regularization
Overall Partner Capacity Index 80 Satisfactory
Sustainability and Market
PDAP-ProPeace facilitated the appraisal of the muscovado industry in the Philippines. The project is expected to initially establish the profile of the industry and identify the constraints hampering its growth as well as provide necessary recommendations to push its development and strengthening. It was also supported by Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF), Foundation of Sustainable Society Inc. (FSSI) and Asia-Japan Partnership Network for Poverty Reduction (AJPN).
Activities
National Eco-Waste and Multi Sectoral Conference and Techno Trade Fair
World Food Day
International Food Exhibit IFEX 2004
Thematic Conferences
1st Mindanao Food and Hotel Exhibit “Kumbira 2004”
3rd ABC Business Forum
Governance Expo 2004
Place / Venue
Cagayan de Oro City
Quezon City
WTC, Pasay City
Davao City / Subic
Cagayan de Oro City
Jolo
Megamall
Date
July 2003
October 2003
July 2004
Sept & Oct 2004
September 2004
October 2004
October 2004
0
500010000
1500020000
2500030000
35000
1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr
200220032004
Sales and production performance
the new 1,000 square-meter project site where the new building was constructed. Local counterpart reached P326,000 which is equivalent to 31.77% of the total project cost.
Product improvement and marketing
One of the project components is the development of muscovado packaging, labeling and marketing. ProPeace facilitated the design of its brand name which is “Healthy Sugar”.
ProPeace has also helped the cooperative promote its products in various trade fairs, presentation and exhibits.
BEARING THE TORCH OF PEACEA Woman’s Story in Cooperative Enterprise WorkBy Amy Cabusao
"As a young girl, I saw women with their backs bent by the heavy sacks they balanced on top of their heads, rushing home with a basket of food on one hand and a child on the other to cook and keep the house clean before sundown. I saw how fast the young mothers aged, how the shadow of impoverishment snatched the luster in their eyes. And I vowed that someday, I will do something about it."
Wahida Abtahi, now 48 years old, has indeed made a difference, not only in opening doors for economic activity in the small farming village of Bunao, Tupi town in South Cotabato, Mindanao but also in defining the Moro women's role in peace and development in the light of present day realities in the Philippines. She chose a path only few Moro women dared to tread, believing that "by helping to liberate other women from long-held prejudices, I am also liberating myself." She joined the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1981 as member of the Bangsa Moro Women Revolutionary Committee until the signing of the historic 1996 peace accord with the government.
With her husband Akman, she involved herself in networking and in gathering international support for the cause of the Moro rebels while they were in the Middle East where he was studying law. She was a young wife then and had to raise their six children under difficult circumstances and away from the support of her relatives.
Born on 24 January 1954 in Datu Piang town, Maguindanao, Wahida is the middle child of Guiamelon Mangulamas and Umbag Anayatin. Her father was then sheriff of the Court of First Instance based in General Santos City in southern Philippines. She finished a degree in History at the Immaculate Conception College, a Catholic School in Davao City, where she was conferred "Most Outstanding Graduate."
"But I did not attend graduation rites because then, finishing college was not really a big deal for me. I wanted to become a diplomat," she mused. In 1978, she finally finished a degree in International Studies at the Mindanao State Univer-sity in the Islamic City of Marawi. Her education prepared her for the important task she had to do for the MNLF in the following years.
She married Ustadz Akman Abtahi who was then deeply involved in the Moro revolutionary movement and to this day remains the MNLF's envoy to Libya.
Reluctant leader Wahida's involvement in livelihood and enterprise development work started inconspicuously. Soon after the 1996 final peace agreement was signed, the arduous task of rebuilding the lives of thousands of Moro rebels and integrating them into the main-stream of society began.
Although some 7,500 MNLF1 combatants all over Mindanao were absorbed by the Armed
4948
1 The Moro National Liberation Front was organized in 1969 by Nur Misuari after heightened repression in the Moro areas in Mindanao under the deposed President Ferdinand Marcos.
program ends: link with other agencies, and, on a case-to-case basis, explore the possibility of scaling up.
General impact of the project on the target communities/households
Prior to ProPeace, SPSPMPC’s only enterprise activity was the milling of muscovado sugar, where its capital buildup remained at P47,000 the past three years.
The assistance of PDAP-ProPeace has helped increase the asset of the cooperative from P612,886 to P1.3 million. Internal and operational control systems were likewise set up. The Farmers and management have come to appreciate the importance of sustainable agricul-ture practices and efficient entrepreneurial management.
Leadership and management skills were also provided to the cooperative through exposure and educational tours. The San Pedro Sugarcane Planters Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SPSPMPC) had the opportunity to witness the experiences of other organizations in improv-ing their enterprise performance and production facilities.
Conclusion and lessons learned
The muscovado industry in Sultan Kudarat is beginning to flourish once again especially now with the commitment of the AJPN to provide sustainable agriculture technology to the farmers and millers. While PDAP has initiated a nationwide muscovado industry assessment in collaboration with other NGOs like PEF, FSSI and PhilDHRRA and government agencies like CITEM of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Science and Technol-ogy in order to know the status of muscovado production in the Philippines and map out plans to develop the industry.
With these at hand, small farmers involved in the production of muscovado sugar in Sultan Kudarat will greatly benefit from the project.
unarmed operative who has embraced community development work and vowed to battle instead poverty in their communities. There are about 200 PDAs involved in volunteer work in various areas in Mindanao - from the field of peace education and advocacy to comprehensive integrated area development, and to networking. These communities are called Peace and Development Communities2, areas that have been severely affected by Mindanao's internal war but are now active participants in the island's peace and development efforts. There are 157 of these communities found in Mindanao and Palawan. “The impact of the 1996 peace agreement on our personal lives was not immediately felt because there were so many things to do before combatants finally left the jungle," Lalang said. He admitted that soon after the peace agreement was signed most MNLF rebels were not really prepared to lead normal lives away from the battlefield. But they had skills that enabled them to somehow find a place in society. "We have organizing skills which we put to good use. We honed this to perfection when we organized people to support the revolution, now we use this skill for economic activity," he said. The quest for peace does not end with the signing of a peace agreement, he said. True, the sound of gunfire has ceased and communities no longer have to evacuate the scene of armed encounters, but "there is no peace when you have no rice on the table." He said poverty and lack of basic social services like health and education for the children are indirect forms of violence that they have to deal with to be able to advance a culture of peace. Charting their course War exacts a great toll on women. In more than two decades of the MNLF rebellion, women had to fend for themselves and their children to be able to survive. Moro women who are traditionally subservient and economically dependent on their husbands have to acquire skills out of necessity. And as a natural consequence of economic independence, women have become more assertive in decision-making not only in their homes but also in the community where they live. Maisara Pagagaw, a member of the cooperative, said taking on this role was a difficult thing to do. To be able to accumulate capital for their small trading business, they had to depend on money lenders who bled them dry with usurious interest rates. This scheme failed to improve their economic status as they had to continually pay off their debts with whatever little income they had. But when the cooperative was established and slowly staggered to its feet, one of its services
2 The Special Zones for Peace and Development areas are Moro communities in 15 provinces and 14 cities in Mindanao that were identified in the Tripoli Agreement between the MNLF and GRP in 1976.
50 51
Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police there were still combatants who were left with nowhere to go and were unprepared for a different way of life.
Assistance from government and international development agencies started to pour in to rehabilitate shattered communities and repair battered lives. Years of fighting left Moro rebels without the basic skills to compete in an environment of relative peace.
A core group of Moro leaders was organized to facilitate access to livelihood assistance from government and non-government agencies. Among those who immediately responded to the urgent task of rebuilding was Wahida's husband Ustadz Abtahi. He initiated meetings with the community in Tupi town where they had a small farm lot and tried setting up a cooperative composed of former MNLF combatants and their wives. His having contacts in various agencies enabled him to open talks with funding partners for projects which were envisioned to piece together the lives of the Moro rebels and their families.
Wahida just tagged along with her husband and from him, learned the ropes of proposal-making and presentation to government agencies and international funding partners. Hardly had the organization taken root when Ustadz Abtahi was called by Prof. Nur Misuari, in June 1999, to represent the MNLF in Libya. He left, leaving the fledgling Tupi Multi-Purpose Farmers Cooperative in a bind, hoping that someone from the group will take up where he left off.
"The women were the ones who asked me to take the place of my husband. They were confi-dent that I would be able to run the cooperative. They showed their faith in my leadership at a time when I was very unsure of myself. I felt then that I was inexperienced in steering the group toward its vision of economic freedom," Wahida said.
It was rough sailing, she said, but her persistence and blind faith that the cooperative is the only key to achieve better economic opportunity for the farmers paid off ever so slowly. With a small capital, they ventured into projects, stumbling along the way but ever more steadfast as they learned from their painful experiences. In no time, armed with knowledge on enterprise development culled from the experience of their cooperative, Wahida began reaching out to other cooperatives in the neighboring towns of Lumen, Tampacan and Palian in South Cotabato. Four years after she took the helm of the small cooperative, she is now president of the Federation of Bangsa Moro Women composed of 17,000 members in 120 primary cooperatives.
This is no mean feat for a woman who had to feel her way in the totally strange world of economic enterprise.
Developing peace and development advocates
Leopoldo Lalang, Saratan Davao State Revolutionary Committee chief security officer of the MNLF, is a peace and development advocate. He is one of those whom Wahida has helped.
A peace and development advocate or PDA is defined as a former MNLF combatant or an
52 53
Cooperative members underwent training in financial management and bookkeeping, enter-prise development, membership education seminars, cattle fattening, gender and develop-ment and organizational development to increase their capacity in managing rural enter-prises, designing and implementing efficient and productive systems, and engaging in diver-sified skills to ensure sustainability of the cooperative.
Wahida is a community partner of PDAP and assists in exploring potential partners in South Cotabato. As federation chair, she has already recommended three new partners, women cooperatives that were given assistance by PDAP.
From the consumer store which the cooperative initially set up, they have expanded their services to include cattle fattening, provision of post-harvest facilities, trading, and recently, welding and steel fabrication.
These projects do not only cater to members but also to the entire community as their post-harvest facilities and even consumer store also serve farmers in the village.
Their success did not come overnight
"We learned from our mistakes," Wahida said, noting that the success of their project was a result of the experience they had. They never tire of innovating ways to increase production and to develop appropriate technology by tapping the expertise of the Department of Agriculture and other multilateral organizations of the United Nations.
"We lost at least P300,000 (US$6,000) in cash which we lent to other cooperatives for them to jumpstart their projects. We helped other cooperatives even when we were ourselves just starting," Wahida said. This was just one of the many mistakes they vowed not to repeat.
They also had to contend with members who failed to see that funds from development agencies should be well spent to be able to sustain the cooperative. The difference led to some members quitting the organization. But all these trials only served to strengthen the resolve of Wahida and other members, most of them women, to continue the cooperative which they pinned their hopes on.
Empowering women of Barangay Bunao
Women's voices are being heard and their opinions valued because of their contribution to the economic activity of the community. They take active part in running the cooperative and in decision-making which seeps into the way they deal with their family at home.
"From just rumor mongering and taking nits and lice from each other's hair, our wives are now so busy tending to their stalls in the market that when they go home, they are the ones who complain if there is no food on the table or no water in the house," Marato Mangulamas, manager of the consumer store, said.
The landscape in this small village has changed from a destitute community ravaged by armed conflict to that of a village poised toward prosperity. The fields of maize stretch to the
was providing capital which was also sourced from development agencies. This enabled the women to cut their iniquitous relationship with usurers. Not only were they given capital for their trading business, they were also given trainings to deepen their knowledge on enter-prise development. They learned basic skills in accounting and in diversifying business ventures to make the most of what little capital they had.
The micro-lending project of the cooperative has helped women increase their economic productivity. They have put up stalls at the Tupi wet market, selling vegetables, fruits and household items. Because their job entails buying fresh farm produce from farmers in nearby villages or towns, they leave the house at the crack of dawn and go home late in the evening, relinquishing in part the responsibility of keeping their homes to their husbands.
The husbands tend the farm or work as part-time farmhands and embark on cattle fattening, another project of the cooperative, which requires them to stay in their homes most of the time. They take on the responsibility of caring for the children because of this.
Bapa (uncle) Gampong, 65 years old, said the men do not mind this set-up for as long as their basic needs are met and the couple plan together for the future of their children. The finan-cial contribution of their wives helped them realize a decent source of income and provided for their family a better life. "We used to have money only during harvest season which was not even enough to last us a month as we had to pay off our debts. Sometimes, when calamities strike, we are stuck with huge debts which we will have to pay for three harvest seasons. Production was not as good as what we have now with the post-harvest facilities the cooperative has provided," he said.
A rough computation pegs the monthly income of a couple who are both members of the cooperative at P5,000 (US$100) from a measly P2,000.00 (US$40) per harvest season or every four months.
Learning the hard way
Having no background in cooperative work, Wahida had to equip herself and her colleagues by attending seminars organized by development agencies.
One of those who facilitated in providing capability-building of cooperative members is the Philippine Development Assistance Programme, Inc. through its Program for Peace and Development in the Special Zone of Peace and Development areas or ProPeace3.
PDAP is a coalition of six Philippine networks of non-government organizations with over 200 community-based NGOs and peoples organizations as partners and members. PDAP has channeled funds from the Canadian International Development Agency, Canada and Philip-pine NGOs to support projects that build the social and economic capacity of disadvantaged Filipinos.
3 Propeace is a program of PDAP funded by the Philippines – Canada Development Fund (PCDF) involving Muslim, Christians and Indigenous People affected by the conflict and focused on livelihood and enterprise development.
54 55
But it’s still the sultan who leads. Meetings and worship sessions at the mosque still find the Maranao women sitting at the back of the hall while men take the front seats. But Matingca believes her voice as the Bai Labi of the Marcaban clan in Kulambogan commands some respect from the men, that is, as long as she makes a lot of noise.
“If you don’t contribute anything to the group, they will start to ignore you,” says Matingca, who at age 12, used to shuttle foods and goods to mujahideens waging a separatist war in Mindanao in the last three decades. At 14, she took up arms and became a woman warrior when paramilitary men came to burn down their villages at the height of the fighting between Moro rebels and Army troops.
This made her realize the war was no longer the concern of men alone but of women as well. The almost daily fighting and killings had already pushed her against the wall there was nothing else she could do but fight back for their lives.
Moro women used to serve as couriers and nurses at the height of the Moro war. Some of them engaged in actual combat. “But as usual, men did most of the talking during meetings while women had to retreat to the kitchen to prepare the food,” says Matingca, who laughs ruefully at the situation.
“There’s a gulf of difference between a sultan and a bai labi,” explains Matingca’s husband Mike Sedic, “Once a sultan dies, the bai labi could not take his place as the head of the clan. The clan has to pass the leadership to a new sultan.”
The new sultan could be a brother or the son of the former sultan. For a woman to head the clan is simply inconceivable for the Maranao tribe.
But Matingca used to enjoy the privilege of a sultan’s daughter. At the height of the war, her father shuttled her off secretly to the nearby city of Marawi, to escape the war and to finish
A NEW KIND OF WARA Woman’s Story in Peace BuildingBy Amy Cabusao
“AS A WOMAN, you need to speak up,” says 41-year old Matingca Sedic of the Maranao tribe in the Philippine south. “You can’t just sit there and watch while men take the lead. Say something about the way things should be run. Otherwise, they’ll just ignore you.”
She stands taller than an average Filipino woman. Her voice is strong and self-assured and the way her face assumes a hard, determined look when she stresses her words, tells one she’s used to asserting her authority. Her father, a Maranao sultan, had appointed her Bai Labi---a Maranao princess--which entitles her to a voice in the decision-making process of their clan.
gentle slopes of the mountains, cattle graze peacefully on grasses, children play in joyful abandon, men and women join hands in making lives better for their family and community.
Wahida's girlhood musings of being able to do something about the lives of Moro women are coming true. She has helped faltering women's organizations in South Cotabato stand on their feet by facilitating networks with international development agencies that provide technical and financial aid.
"We still have so much to do. Apart from ensuring that our cooperative will be sustainable, we are now looking into providing basic social services to the community. We still do not have a health center here. Our children need day care centers closer to home," she said.
The success of the Barangay Tupi Multipurpose Farmers Cooperative rests on the commit-ment of each member to achieve their vision. And because they were able to develop women leaders from among their ranks, much of Wahida's time is spent helping establish other cooperatives in the federation that she heads. She is also consulted by international agencies on the development plans, not only in South Cotabato but also in the entire Mindanao.
Wahida and other Moro women like her are in the frontline of establishing a culture of peace in Mindanao which is continually challenged at this time. The government of the Philippines continues to battle the Abu Sayyaf, which is notorious for kidnapping and banditry in the islands of Basilan and Sulu, as well as forge a peace agreement with the National Democratic Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Wahida admits that the path to lasting peace and sustainable development is confronted by challenges at every turn. But this thought does not dissuade her from working hard to ensure that the Tupi Multi-Purpose Cooperative and all other cooperatives she is involved with are walking through that same path together.
“I keep telling the women cooperative members in Tupi that soon, like the white-collar professionals, we will also have our own Automated Teller Machine cards and that we will no longer be looking at the sidelines but be at the center of economic development,” she said.
From that little girl who wished for a better life for women she saw passing by her house, Wahida has indeed come a long way.
56 57
the war had nothing to do with either Christianity or Islam, people got easily confused because the Maranaos happened to be Muslims and the paramilitary groups that came to harass them, were supposed to be Christians. The war, however, had something to do about land, politics and power, just like many other wars fought by men on this strife-torn island.
When Matingca was a little girl, the Ilonggos, migrants from the Visayas, had formed a group known as “Ilaga”, a Visayan term for rats. Ilaga, pejoratively an acronym for Ilonggo Land Grabbers Association, became notorious for swooping down on Muslim villages, burning down houses and killing people mercilessly. Then they would claim the abandoned land as their own.
These atrocities forced Matingca to train as a warrior in a Moro rebel camp set up in the next town of Munai. “We used to resent government’s unfair treatment,” recalls Matingca, as her face hardens. “When a Christian dies in battle, soldiers would get back at us by burning our villages. But when a Muslim dies, they would act as if nothing happened.”
She lost a father, Sultan Undalu Marcaban, a cousin and a mother-in-law in that war. But now that it had ended, she is starting to pick up the pieces by helping women gain confi-dence in themselves. Matingca says that in managing the cooperative she has always relied on the strength of Maranao women.
“If we were able to tap the best of our women’s talents during the war, why can’t we also tap them now, in time of peace?” she asks.
The Women’s Store
Sachets of shampoos and toothpastes hang from the ceiling and walls of the Jamiatul Musli-mats Al-Islamiah dry goods cooperative store, framing the view of the wide entrance where one can see a Muslim woman in black shawl pass by the dusty concrete street outside.
It is still early morning. But Pampi, a Maranao girl with a lavender shawl covering her hair, is already seated at her desk, jotting down notes of groceries that are sold in the store. She is one of the women tasked to run Jamiatul Muslimats Al-Islamiah store, an Arabic word which meant, ‘Group of Women for Islam.’ On the floor, cases of softdrink bottles are piled on top of each other. Canned goods like milk, sardines, cooking oil and packets of noodles fill the shelves. Carton boxes of assorted goods are piled up near the entrance of the store. A boy is neatly stacking the boxes while a Moro woman is doing her grocery—picking up packs of chicken noodles and canned goods and placing them in a bamboo basket.
college. When the rebels finally inked a peace pact with the Philippine government in 1996, Matingca’s college education came in handy.
She was asked to go over and foresee the signing of important documents that eventually ended the Muslim separatist war launched by the Moro National Liberation Front and forged the peace agreement that eventually paved the way for the setting up of the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development.
Today, Matingca fights a totally new kind of war. After the peace pact with the government, she laid down her arms and turned the former Ranao State Revolutionary Command--composed of mothers, wives, children and sisters of Moro fighters--into an all-women cooperative. Her new task is to fight poverty right in the war-torn agricultural towns of Kulambogan and Tangkal where she lives. The area has been ravaged by war the people have become so poor they could hardly live on whatever their small parcels of land could produce. Their income comes mainly from corn, copra, some rice and poultry. Whatever they had tried to build in the past had been wiped out by war.
But their women were affected most
Unlike Matingca, most of the Maranao women were not able to go to school at the height of the armed conflict with government. The war had simply stopped them. Their failure to get basic education had rendered them voiceless not only in their own households --where their husband had the last word--but also in their communities, where men make most decisions. The Maranao women are rendered “invisible” in the Philippine political system that had allotted the Maranao people a minor voice in major policy issues.
Decades of war have made the women too dependent on their husbands. They do unpaid chores at home and in the fields. They do not have income of their own. They work in small cornfields with their husbands where the corn refused to grow because farmers still depended on inorganic fertilizers that are too costly they had to borrow money from local loan sharks.
Loan sharks took advantage of their misery. No bank ever trusted them with money. Banks lent out money elsewhere in the island where children are not caught in crossfires, where husbands are not killed in the farms and corns are allowed to grow until harvest time. At the height of armed conflicts in Kulambogan, Moro women had to flee the cornfields to avoid army choppers and bombs.
Growing up in a war-torn town wasn’t easy for Matingca. A rift that dated back for centuries from the coming of the Spaniards and Americans in Mindanao had long existed among Muslims and Christian settlers and worsened under the Martial Law regime in 1970s when paramilitary men roamed the southern island, harassing Muslim villagers.
It wasn’t easy for a girl--and a Muslim girl at that--to live in the Lanao town of Kulambogan. Among the people in town, culture and language had drawn a dividing line between “them” and “us,” depending on which group they belong. As a Maranao girl, Matingca discovered she belongs to ‘us,’ the Muslim Maranaos and ‘they’ on the other side, are the Christians. Though
58 59
To sustain the gains of the peace process, government intends to focus its intensive peace and development efforts in the SZOPAD areas by helping the Moro people earn income from livelihood enterprises. Foreign assistance and investments are expected to boost economic growth in the strife-torn island.
One can reach Kulambogan after an hour’s bus ride from the nearby city of Iligan. The bus follows a winding, narrow concrete highway that snakes through the Lanao del Norte moun-tains on its way to Pagadian, a city in the western part of Mindanao. Along the way, the soil is rich and loamy, the sea calm, and the houses well-built. But as the bus starts to climb the hilly curve in Moro areas, the concrete houses are taken over by small farmer’s huts huddled together by the roadside.
A military checkpoint is set up in the village of Kawit in the nearby town of Kauswagan, known to be controlled by another Moro rebel group---the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. It was here, deep in the mountainous terrain, where some of the fiercest fighting during the war took place between Moro rebels and government forces.
All peace and development efforts have been concentrated in this area in the last few years to sustain the gains of the peace process. Government and foreign donors are now helping former Moro rebels get on with their lives so they can finally integrate into the mainstream society—instead of being rendered outcasts because of poverty. One way of doing this is to encourage foreign and local investors to come to the area and spur business activities that will uplift the economic conditions of the Moro people. The peace agreement had set aside a three-year transition period for this arrangement with the former rebels.
One steps down from a bus at a military checkpoint by the highway run by former Moro rebels who have been integrated into the Philippine National Police and follows the road leading to the Kulambogan public market to find the way to the Jamiatul store. The store is only one of those assisted by the Philippine Development Assistance Programme, a Canadian-funded non-government organization assisting cooperatives owned and run by former MNLF rebels as part of the group’s support to the peace process.
After more than two decades of fighting, there are hardly any resources left for the livelihood of former MNLF fighters in their own hometowns. Foreign donors started pouring in funds into the area to assist livelihood cooperatives that will help Moro fighters earn income. Among the foreign-funded programs PDAP implemented is the Program for Peace and Devel-opment in the SZOPAD Area following the 1996 peace pact. The project provided livelihood funds to former Moro fighters within the three-year transition period after the peace pact.
Eventually, PDAP implemented a follow-through program, the Mindanao Program for Peace and Development or ProPeace, which built on the gains of PPDSA by allowing successful Muslim-owned cooperatives access to much-bigger livelihood funds.
The women’s store started with 50 cooperative members in 1998. Today, membership has grown to around 600. Aside from the consumer store, Jamiatul also lends out money to
The women’s store sits in the heart of the public market of Kulambogan town in Lanao del Norte province.
Armed with the new perspective they got from having participated in their people's struggle, these Moro women decided to put up a cooperative store that will not only address the basic needs of their families but also allow them to earn a small income. Matingca says women have to earn because having their own money is the first step to be free.
She believed that demand for consumer goods will always be there as long as there are people who live and work in the community. “People will always need soap to take a bath. They need rice to eat, they need detergents to wash their clothes and at times, when they want to treat themselves, they would long for a cold bottle of softdrink which can easily be found at the women’s co-op store,” Matingca says.
Since most of the Maranao women are still confined to the unpaid daily chores at home---the repetitive kitchen works, washing clothes, taking care of the children---such concerns as where to get the next supply of rice falls on them. The store will help take care of these needs by allowing the family to get their supplies of rice, canned goods, sardines, cooking oil, laundry soap, sugar, etc., while they wait for the corn to grow. They can pay the goods during harvest time.
Apart from their unpaid labor in the farms, women had to struggle hard to buy these commodities with a small household budget. If they can put up a store of their own, they no longer have to buy their groceries from other stores and commercial traders. They would rather buy them here--at the women’s store that they own and operate. Says Matingca: “Why should we put our grocery money in other people’s pockets when we can do this ourselves? It is time for us to stand up together and put up our own store.”
Matingca had helped conceptualize the store, prepared the documents for government accreditation, managed it in its initial stage and eventually trained other women to run it without her. She had helped women discover the things they can do. After she encouraged women to take part in the whole business of making their money grow, women at Jamiatul are starting to regain the self-confidence they lost in the long dark years of poverty and war.
Five other grocery stores exist in the town of Kulambogan. Chinese and Christian traders owned them. Only Jamiatul is owned and run solely by Moro women.
“Moro people from the neighboring town of Tangkal come here to buy,” Matingca says. “These consumer goods were not available to them at the time of war. But even if they were, they scarcely had money to buy them. Now, they come to buy these goods cheap and help their women earn,” she adds.
Lanao del Norte, where Kolambugan is located, is one of the 12 provinces and nine cities comprising the Special Zone of Peace and Development in Mindanao, which was created after government inked a peace pact with the MNLF.
Jamiatul get paid. The store sells cheap fertilizer, even cheaper than those they used to get from other suppliers. It also provides ready credit to small farmers and fisherfolk at very low interest rates.
Some Christian women occasionally drop by the store to buy groceries. One can easily distin-guish them by the clothes they wear and their short hair which stays uncovered in the sun. Says Matingca: “This cooperative is run by women. Women come to buy and patronize it. To attract women from all cultures, our goods have to be cheaper and better.”
Matingca’s vision of peace is the rebuilding of more Moro villages in Mindanao which had been torn apart by the war. “We want to see new houses built with strong, sturdy materials. We want these houses to last. In peace time, we want to see our communities grow,” she says.
As former Moro rebels have laid down their arms and returned to their farms, the women expect the demand for consumer goods in their community to increase. Anticipating a grow-ing market for their goods, they are now thinking of expanding their cooperative store.
But that is not the end of their long cherished vision. As they expect the fighters to build new houses during times of peace in the island, they are seeking additional funds this year to build the women’s hardware and construction store. “In times of war, villages are being burned down, discouraging people to build," says Matingca. "Now it's peacetime. It’s time to build new villages.”
The Maranao women want to be there when these former rebels begin to build new villages again. A bigger store that will address the demand of this growing consumer market in times of peace will mean more income for them.
As they see more money flowing into women’s pockets, the small farmers of this thriving predominantly Muslim town in the southern Philippines will no longer need money from greedy loan sharks to buy farm and household needs. All the women of this town will have ready credit from their own booming cooperative.
With the soil no longer deprived and abandoned, the corn in Kulambogan will start to grow again.
60 61
women members in Kulambogan and Tangkal towns.
Initially, the cooperative had a hard time surviving on its own. The women were torn between providing for their families and operating the store. Eventually, after many months of hard work in strengthening the organization, business grew by leaps and bounds.
Today, with a flourishing store, increasing members and healthy cash flow, the cooperative has put up its own building in the heart of Kulambogan. The women can already supply consumer goods to far-flung villages of neighboring towns, trading farm goods and bringing in some of the city’s simple luxuries to the poor villagers like softdrinks, snack items, canned goods, bread and new clothes. Lately, part of the women’s income has even been set aside to pay for a teacher’s salary in the madrasah, an Arabic school, and help take care of the education needs of their children.
It was difficult at first. But the women pitched in little amounts of money to raise the startup capital for a consumer store. After they passed the box around, they counted how much they got. The cash they collected was only around P30,000, barely enough to start up a store.
Matingca heard of the PPDSA. With additional contribution from members, the women came up with some P79,000. The money served as their counterpart to avail themselves of some P213,909 in startup capital from PDAP for the setting up of the women’s Kadiwa Store Project. That was the start of the long journey ahead for this successful cooperative in Lanao del Norte.
Sales had tripled in the last three years since the cooperative started doing business. Last year, its gross sales reached as high as P5.04 million. Last year too, PDAP granted some P250,000 under its ProPeace1 funds to increase Jamiatul’s capital for the purchase of consumer items and to open credit to women members.
Women started to discover the things they can do with the little money they have by invest-ing it in small backyard projects—like dried fish processing, poultry-raising, vegetable vending—where they actually see their money grow to a point where they can pay the small capital they borrowed and roll back the profits to their micro-enterprises.
Somehow, women have always been good at making money even without their knowing it. They have innate skills to create, to let things grow. They have the capacity to make some-thing out of nothing, according to Matingca. In the Jamiatul, the Muslim women discover what women can do. “They’re earning money from whatever small projects they can lay their hands on a sari-sari store, a chicken coop, or barbecue stalls or dried fish processing,” she says.
When the women earn, they discover that their work means something after all. It has real value in terms of cash. They have realized they do not have to beg money from their husbands anymore whenever they need to buy food for the children. Women who work at
1 ProPeace is a program of PDAP funded by the Philippines – Canada Development Fund (PCDF) involving Muslim, Christians and Indigenous people affected by the conflict focused on livelihood and enterprise development.
62 63
She said that at one point they decided to lend capital only to the first set of 10 members owing to lack of savings. There were also apprehensions waiting for enough savings to enable them to provide capital to all the members would take long, she added. But having attended a Culture of Peace Seminar organized by the Notre Dame University Peace Center and the Catholic Relief Services, the PWA realized that the scheme may cause an irritant among them. It would not be sensitive to peace culture, she added. From the P1 daily group savings, the biggest amount the organization was able to raise was P29,000, including a commission from raffle tickets that they helped dispose among the members. Aside from the savings, the members planned of turning the association into a cooperative and so they tried to raise capital from among themselves. They now have P32,000.
The organization is composed of 81 Muslims and 45 Christians. They said they have been “conscious not to come up with any decision that may threaten the very harmonious relationship between us Muslims and Christians that we labored so hard to establish in the many years that passed.” With the help of Fr. Roberto Layson, OMI, the parish priest of Pikit, an honorary male-member who acts as its treasurer, PWA got a major break when it was able to access a grant of P350,000 from the Philippine Development Assistance Programme, a CIDA-funded organization. Amera Sandigan, one of the five members of PWA’s Board of Directors and Layson’s assistant treasurer, said PDAP released P177,000 to the association on 01 October 2001, seven months after it was organized. From the first tranche, PWA decided to grant each member a P1,200 loan which they used for various income generating projects like sari-sari store, hog raising, poultry, cattle fattening, duck and goat raising. She said the beneficiaries were the ones that decided on what income generating project they would implement. On 05 July 2002, PWA was registered with the Department of Labor and Employment in Region 12. It also continued complying with documents for its registration with the Coop-erative Development Authority. But on 11 February 2003, just when the requirements were about to be completed and eight of its 125 beneficiaries have already fully paid their loans and others were starting to pay, another war broke out between the government and the MILF. “We stopped processing the documents needed for Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) registration because it was very difficult to gather our members as they were scattered in evacuation centers in Pikit, Aleosan, Midsayap and Pagalungan,” said Gialal Musaid, PWA chair and teacher in charge of Pagangan Elementary School. The association is still keen on registering with the CDA. But Musaid said they are yet to raise the amount needed for the registration and the cash bond for their treasurer. Despite the fact that the members were scattered in various evacuation centers, Musaid said that they “made it a point to monitor the project even at the evacuation centers.”
WHERE SOCIAL COHESION OWES ITSELF TO WOMEN (Supporting Local Peace and Development Efforts: The Case of Pagangan Women Association)
“I went to Cagayan de Oro City with only P300 in my wallet. I was so hungry, wanted to eat, but I could not because the money I had was just enough for my fare,” sadly narrated Felomina “Fely” Antoniego, 35, recalling the hardships she encountered just to attend a “simple bookkeeping training” in behalf of the Pagangan Women’s Association (PWA).
Pagangan is a barangay in Aleosan town in Cotabato. On 08 March 2001, the 125 women, mostly mothers, of this barangay organized themselves believing that only unity could help them cope with the vicious effects of the 2000 all-out war not only on themselves but also on their children and the community.
The government of deposed president Joseph Estrada waged an all-out war in 2000 against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. “In every household, you could see sick children. Some, along with their mothers, were hospi-talized. Many did not have any food to eat and money to buy medicine. People who were traumatized needed psycho-social intervention, but there was no one to help us,” Antoniego, a daycare worker, said when asked why the PWA was organized. Little did they know that aside from providing them support mechanism in coping with the effects of the war, the association would also play a crucial role in rebuilding their community. PWA officers relayed that when they were organized, government and private relief and humanitarian organizations began to notice them and extended assistance. But the aid coming in was not enough for the needs of the community, a reason that pushed the associa-tion to find ways and means to help augment the earnings of their members. Fresh from the ravages of war, the only feasible thing they could think of then was collect P1 a day from each member for a group savings project. “It is a very small amount, but that was far better than having nothing at all for emergency purposes,” Antoniego stressed. She said that at times the amount was able to help families that needed money for medication. Members were allowed to withdraw only 50 percent of their total individual savings, she explained. Realizing how a peso could save lives, members started their own backyard garden, the income from it going to the group savings. They had earlier attended a training on backyard gardening conducted by non-government organizations that responded to PWA’s needs. Antoniego said “everyone was so eager to save” because by then they were not only thinking of the group savings as a fund for emergency purposes but also as “an opportunity to build capital for the members who were already thinking of running their respective income gener-ating projects.”
members would still fail to attend general assembly meetings, although she added it was due to the heavy workload they have. The worst problem they encountered, she said, was during the war when practically all community activities especially economic ones were disrupted. Yet, even in times of peace, Antoniego said, the project would still encounter some problems. She cited the rampant cattle rustling and robbery in the past that have already victimized 10 PWA members whose farm animals were purchased with project funds. At one point, the members especially the officers also had problems with their husbands who complained about their being frequently away from home owing to their active participation in the activities of the association. But this was slowly resolved when the organization conducted gender sensitivity seminars where the husbands were invited to participate, Antoniego said. Aside from helping the members economically, she said, PWA forged social cohesion by organizing the women in the community which is “one of the biggest but unquantifiable gains.” “We learned so many things. We now know how to care for our children and family. We learned the value of cleanliness and of preserving the environment and maintaining a healthy surrounding. We learned about so many herbs available around that could cure a number of illnesses. We are very much concerned now with the plight of our neighbors and we help each other in almost all aspects of our lives,” Antoniego said. She added that even children have learned to value the need to work hard as a group because “in line with our waste management campaign, we once asked our children to gather tins and they were paid P.25 for every tin they gathered.” The project they had for the kids, she said, has also helped create a “closer relationship among Muslim and Christian children. They realized that they should not fight and that if they work together, they could be more productive.” She said there are a number of IGPs the organization wants to implement in the area, but added that they “need more capital.” Another very important lesson the PWA learned in implementing the project was “the need to prioritize food production, which is why all our projects are really intended to augment the need for food of our members.” While she considers her task as a manager very heavy, Antoniego said she would continue doing it without being compensated because “the active members of our association are giving me the encouragement and the energy to go on.” For Antoniego, her success as manager is due to “utter hard work and diligence. If I go
64 65
Antoniego, whose family was also displaced by the war, recalled that she had to visit the various refugee camps “to look at the farm animals of our members. We had to closely moni-tor them because the evacuation centers were not also conducive for them to live any longer. We had to immediately decide to sell the animals at the very first symptom of illness.” As manager of the project, she led seven members of its monitoring committee. Many farm animals, she said, were sold even when they had yet to reach the ideal weight. Worse, she said, there were “unscrupulous traders who exploited the situation and bought the farm animals, at the most, 25 to 50 percent of their market value before the war broke out.” The organization admitted many of their beneficiaries have yet to fully pay their loans from the first tranche of the fund. But Antoniego said that if not for the renewed hostilities, “all our members might have already fully paid all their accounts with the association and quali-fied for second release.” While most of the proceeds from selling farm animals were spent on food or medicine while at the evacuation centers for seven months, some members, like Luz Caniedo and Delia Catahom, still managed to set aside enough amount to buy swine to start another Income Generating Project (IGP) as soon as they were back home. After the war PWA decided to disburse P3,000 to P5,000 each to its members for new IGPs. This time the amount released to each member was net of deductions for unpaid accounts. “We had to release funds for other projects but had to deduct from them their unpaid accounts. We had to do this for our members to survive and start again,” said Antoniego, adding that aside from raising farm animals, some members used the new loans on their respective farms. As part of the mechanism for PWA’s sustainability, Musaid said they approved a policy of deducting P150 from each loan approved. The amount would be added to the borrower’s share capital. An amount of P360 would also be deducted as advance payment for the member’s one-year P1 daily savings. “Generally, we can claim we are very successful,” said Musaid. She, however, said most of the credit for the success should go to Antoniego whom she described as “a leader who just works and works without complaining.” Their success, Antoniego said, may be measured by the testimonies of members who are claiming that the association “has helped them, especially at times when the help was most needed.”
More than having helped members in times of emergency, the PDAP-funded micro-financing project “has actually made a living for some members.” Among them is Noraisa Manalasal who now engages in buy-and-sell business of farm products with the micro-financing loan she availed from the association.
Not all is well with the implementation of the project though. Musaid complained that some
66 67
WHERE CARABAOS ARE CHANGING THE LIVES OF BLAAN FARMERS (Working Animal Project of an IP Community)By Froilan Gallardo
The village of Pait is so remote that even drivers of habal-habal (single motorcycles) would balk if people asked them to be brought there.
“Pait (miserable)!” the drivers would say of the tortuous, muddy road going to the village that dwells on a row of denuded mountains, 10 kilometers east of the town of Alabel in Sarangani province. They would usually refuse to go there, but passengers are getting scarce nowadays and they have to earn, bad roads or not.
Less than a thousand members of the Blaan tribe are eking out a living on the jagged moun-tain slopes in Sitio Pait. These mountains were a paradise to them until logging companies came in the 70s and destroyed the trees.
Old-timers say only seven families lived in the village and subsisted on planting corn and hunting. The soil was rich and suitable for corn.
“There were plenty of monkeys and boars around here when these mountains were still a big forest. Food was plenty then,” recalled 75-year-old Macondon Yo in the Blaan dialect.
But theirs was a rugged life. Yo said they had to do slash-and-burn farming on the land the logging companies left behind after it was denuded.
“It was a backbreaking work. We used picks and sometimes our bare hands to clear out the tree roots,” Yo narrated, adding, “We had no carabaos (water buffalos).”
By 1975, more Blaans came, attracted to the rich soil in the mountains of the place. That year, the municipal government formally named the village as Sitio Pait and appointed local leaders.
The village grew from ten houses in 1975 to 150 at present as more Blaans have come to settle.
Like the early settlers did, the newcomers plant corn, root crops and coconuts. But they are handicapped by the lack of carabaos, which could have helped them during the planting season.
Poor production affected the income of the Blaan farmers. Average family income was only P1,000 to P2,000 a month.
The cost of living for a family of six in Region 12 is P6,000 a month, according to the National Statistics Office.
To break the cycle of poverty, several Blaans formed themselves into a cooperative, said Joel
around monitoring the project and find the beneficiaries weeding their farm, I usually help them so we can talk about the project while working.” For Musaid on the other hand, the secret of her leadership is sheer motivation. “If members would fail to attend the quarterly meeting, I would call and ask them why, and encourage them to go on supporting the group as I cite to them the many good things it has done to their lives.”
But Abagan and other members of the cooperative had a problem: they had no money to buy the animals. “Nobody wanted to give us a loan. The banks and other government institutions do not trust the Blaans to make good in the payment,” he said. Luckily, the Philippine Development Assistance Programme, which is supported by the Cana-dian International Development Agency, heard of the plight of the Blaans and asked the cooperative to submit a proposal. In April 2003, PDAP released a grant of P349, 980 to the cooperative for the purchase of 27 carabaos. The donor tasked the cooperative to “ensure the systematic and fair dispersal of the carabaos” to its members. The Blaans were also required by PDAP to provide the harrow, cart and animal shed as their counterpart. Aside from using the money to buy the animals, the cooperative also loaned it to its members. According to Abagan, the members decided that the loan payments, in cash or in kind, would be 10 percent of the beneficiary’s gross yield and would be collected after every harvest. He said the members also decided to give another 10 percent of their harvest to the cooperative as shares and two percent for their savings. Twenty seven members of the cooperative, 15 males and 12 females, became beneficiaries of the grant from PDAP. The oldest beneficiary is 57 years old. The youngest is 38 years old. Majority (18) of the beneficiaries do not have any formal education. Only six have secondary education and only two were able to get college education. What they lack in education, the Blaan farmers got through seminars on ecological aware-ness, corn production, soil conservation and Sloping Agricultural Land Technology. “PDAP was a blessing from God. It allowed us work for our future. We now have the tools,” Abagan said. The cooperative members immediately set out to nearby towns in Sarangani to buy the carabaos they needed. Through skillful negotiations, the farmers were able to buy 28 carabaos instead. After distributing the carabaos to their members, Abagan said they came up with a novel idea to maximize the use of the animals: they divided themselves into four groups, each having seven carabaos and a team leader. “The group members decided to help each other by working together. So instead of an individual farmer working his farm, there are seven men and seven carabaos working in the field. That way, more lands can be made available for planting,” Salinto, the cooperative’s vice
68 69
Abagan, a Baptist pastor and a member of the tribe. “At first, my fellow tribesmen were suspicious because of their sad experience with coopera-tives before. Later we were able to convince some of them to join us,” Abagan said. On 07 May 2002, twenty-seven Blaan farmers registered their cooperative, the Pait Indig-enous Producer Cooperative (Pipco), with the Cooperative Development Authority. Abagan was voted as its first chairperson and Jose Salinto vice chairperson. The first thing the cooperative did, Abagan said, was to take stock of their resources and what they found out was appalling. He said many of their members were still using pointed sticks, bolos and picks in clearing their farmlands. “We found out only two of our 27 members owned a carabao. It was impossible to raise our corn production,” he said.
He said while many Blaan farmers owned two or three hectares of land, they could only plant half an hectare of corn every planting season. “We realized that having carabaos is very important. Without work animals, our production will never improve,” he stressed. He estimated that each farmer could increase his corn production by 150 percent if they owned a carabao. “Our cooperative can also earn since we take care of selling our corn produce,” he said.
70 71
THE BEAUTIFUL WARRIORS OF AL JAMELAH:The Story of the WKSRC-Al Jamelah OrganizationBy Fanny Divino
The War
“In 1973, war broke out in Mindanao between the forces of the government and the Moro National Liberation Front. Maguindanao was one of the provinces severely affected by the conflict that resulted to massive evacuations and displacements of civilians. More than 200 families from the towns of Upi, Datu Piang, Talayan and Kabuntalan sought shelter in some parts of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao. The refugees, having nowhere else to go because of the volatile peace and order situation in their places of origin, found refuge in Barangay Tamontaka.” These were the recollections of Bai Albaya B. Wampa, now 41 years old, presi-dent of the Western Kutawato Revolutionary Committee (WKSRC) Al-Jamelah Organization.
Bai Albaya or “Bai Albee,” as fondly called by friends, said that Tamontaka, her birthplace, was a very peaceful place to live in. The Muslims, Lumad and Christians co-existed very well. In fact, it was and still is home to retreat houses, seminaries and novitiate training centers of Catholic religious congregations. It is only a kilometer away from Cotabato City which was considered the safest place in Maguindanao at that time.
The suffering caused by war on innocent civilians is not new to Bai Albee because she hasseen a lot of senseless killings in the past, especially during the early 70’s. Being a sister of an MNLF commander, she was close to the theater of war and even experienced the effects of armed conflict even when she was very young. She saw how Muslim civilians coped with and got used to being suspected as rebels on a daily basis because of their religious affiliation.
Right as Muslims
Having experienced and seen a lot of killings, displacements, human rights violations and oppression against her fellow Muslims, Bai Albee started to get involved in various activities that advocated respect for and protection of Muslims’ rights as human beings. At a tender age of 12 years, she became a full-pledged member of the MNLF’s Bangsamoro Women’s Commit-tee of the WKSRC in 1975. The committee performed auxiliary tasks for the MNLF warriors during the war. The women would smuggle information, ammunition, medicine, food, and even wounded combatants to and from rebel zones.
Bai Albee’s membership in the women’s committee made her very sensitive for those who were involved in the war whether as combatants or civilians. But she became more concerned with the situation of the evacuees who had to start new lives in a strange place and in an abnormal situation. They had no farm to till, no business to tend, and no promising future to look forward to. “At least our combatants could fight back teeth to teeth and they had the whole rebel zone as their home. But the evacuees, they were very vulnerable,” she said.
chairperson, explained. He said the farmers would repeat the process until all the lands owned by the group members were ready for planting or for harvesting. “It also brought a spirit of cooperation among us since we saw how our fellow members worked with us in our farms,” he noted. He said it is a common sight nowadays to see their members share a roasted chicken or ripe fruits to each other. “Thanks to the carabaos, we remembered again our tribal practice of sharing,” he said. Abagan said their production has improved, as all of them have increased to two or three hectares the area of land planted. In the June 2004 harvest, he recalled, the Blaans produced 1,000 sacks of corn. Before, when they had no carabaos, the farmers would be lucky if they harvested 500 sacks, he said. He said the cooperative was able to sell 300 sacks from which they earned P20,000. Treasurer Lolita Pag-ong proudly deposited the P20,000 at a local bank in General Santos City. The money was the first earnings the cooperative made since it was formed. Their initial success has made the Blaan farmers of Sitio Pait hopeful of the future. Abagan said they would love to have a corn mill in their village and perhaps a truck to bring their produce to Alabel and General Santos City. “In five years, maybe the local government can fix our road. Who knows what the future will bring us? As long as we plan and work together, no dreams are impossible,” he said.
72 73
group in order to help and guide the other women.
The group tirelessly looked for funding opportunities until they were able to seek assistance from PDAP, through the Mindanaw Program for Peace and Development or ProPeace.
Weaving lives
Equipped with skills in primal weaving they inherited from their ancestors, the Al Jamelahventured into traditional weaving of a special Maguindanao cloth locally known as ina-ul(special Muslim cloth). They decided to undertake this project since this primordial style of weaving Maguindanao garments has become a vanishing craft.
In order to preserve and promote ina-ul weaving, which is embedded in the customs and tradition of the Maguindanaos, the group is trying to exert all efforts to make the project succeed and become sustainable. In fact, they are now in the process of training the younger generation in the craft as part of their sustainability mechanisms.
Within a short period of its existence, the project has already received positive feedbacks from the market because of its unique product designs and quality. The organization has even created a variety of product lines from ina-ul to various Muslim garments and décor to cater to the varying needs and demands of their target consumers.
The organization’s fundamental mission of preserving and promoting Muslim culture and traditions, particularly those of the Maguindan-aos, has generated support from various agencies and institutions in
the locality. Which include the Department of Trade and Industry office in Maguindanao, Region 12 and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The City Tourism of Cotabato has even included the project site in the list of tourist destinations in the City.
Having no regular gainful employment, the refugees engaged in vending assorted goods, weaving handicraft items and working as laborers in market places. Their backbreaking work was not enough to secure them three decent meals a day. Bai Albee had desired to help, but she did not know where and how to start doing it.
The Peace Pact
The opportunity came in 1996, or two decades later, when the MNLF and the Philippine government signed a peace accord to end the war in Mindanao and to promote economic and social development in Southern Philippines. All MNLF members, combatants and non-combatants, were encouraged to become “soldiers of peace” and to participate in the rehabilitation of Mindanao.
Armed with skills and knowledge in organizing people which she acquired during her involvement in the MNLF’s auxiliary corps (women’s committee), Bai Albee gathered around 50 women who would be ready and willing to give the peace pact a chance.
Initially, she wanted to organize Muslim women who were affected by the war (refugees, widows, mothers of martyred combatants). However, she realized that through the years the Christians that settled in their village and that many of them were also affected by the war in one way or another. Thus, she decided to form a cooperative composed of Muslim, Chris-tian and Lumad women. After all, this was one of the aims of the peace agreement: to unite the people of Mindanao so that peace and prosperity would one day be achieved.
In 1997, or months after the signing of the peace accord, the Bangsamoro Ladies Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BLMPC) was born. By that time, various foreign and locally funded development projects were already being implemented in Mindanao through the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development. The BLMPC members thought they should also take advantage of the opportunities as well as cater to the needs of the marginalized women.
The group tried to learn how to comply with the various requirements asked by different donor agencies in order to get assistance. But after submitting some proposals to a number of funding agencies, they received no affirmative or encouraging responses. Some said it could be because the group was a cooperative. They said cooperatives were no longer fashionable and advised the group to change its name. Naïve about these things, the BLMPC did so.
New opportunities
In 2001, upon consultation with the women, the BLMPC decided to change its name to WKSRC-Al Jamelah Organization. Al Jamelah is an Arabic term that means “beautiful women”. It was registered with the Department of Labor and Employment on 20 July 2001. Since majority of the women members did not have formal education, Bai Albee found difficulty in looking for the right people to handle key management and administrative positions of the organization. Hence, she convinced her professional friends to join the
74 75
The local government of Cotabato City, DTI Region 12, Federation of United Bangsamoro Women Multi-Purpose Cooperative, City Tourism of Cotabato and other local support groups have also supported the organization and sponsored its participation in various trade fairs and exhibits where the group showcased their products.
Among these fairs were the Mindanao Trade Expo 2004 held at the Megatrade Hall in Ortigas, Kumbira 2004 in Cagayan de Oro City, Bagumbal 2004 in Cotabato City, Shariff Kabunsuan Festival in 2003, and other small trade exhibits that helped promote and market Al Jamelah’s products.
The organization has also established three marketing outlets. Two of these are in Cotabato City (Estosan Hotel and Hop ‘n Shop) and the other is at the Mindanao Showroom in Cagayan de Oro City. These are aside from the production center where the group has a little show-room for their different products.
Impact on women
When Al Jamelah started its operations in July 2003 the group had nothing except one unit of old ina-ul equipment that was handed down for generations. They did not even have enough working capital to buy thread that serves as raw material in ina-ul weaving. How-ever, sheer determination and aggressive promotion and marketing enabled the organization to amass P594,037.20 in total assets from a starting capital of P9,000. Although the figures include the financial assistance from PDAP, the women are very proud to say that they were able to generate surplus that has provided them an additional source of income. “With the help of the organization, I was able to have the cyst in my foot operated,” said Umbay Adil, 36, and mother of two. Umbay is one of the expert weavers of Al Jamelah. Although she acquired her skills at an early age of eight, she was able to enhance it through more frequent practice and use upon joining the organization in 2001.
Umbay recounted that before she became a member of the Al Jamelah she used to be a weaver in Katidtuan, Nuling, Sultan Kudarat. She was only receiving P50 per malong (indigenous wrap-around skirt) that usually took two to three days to complete. “Life then was very miserable for me and my kids because we did not usually meet the regular three-times-a-day meal and I could not even send my children to school. But when I joined the organization, life for us has changed positively. We can now have our regular meals and I was able to send my youngest son to school,” she said.
When Umbay and her husband separated, the man took their eldest child, a son, who is now 19 years old. Now that she is earning an average weekly income of P900 from the organiza-tion, her husband is trying to woo her once again. The eldest child is also slowly making his way back to his mother. “All that I dream of now is to see my children finish their studies until I can still support them,” she beamed.
Another inspiring story is that of Aripa Esmael, 21, and a graduate of a two-year agriculture course. She joined the organization in 2001 because she became interested in learning the
craft of weaving. She joined the series of weaving trainings for members, and her enthusiasm to learn made her the youngest, best weaver of the Al Jamelah. According to her, from having no income before, she is now earning around P5,000.00 per month and is able to help her parents economically. She even proudly narrated she was able to buy a pair of gold earrings that she had longed for.
The stories of Umbay and Aripa are similar to those shared by Amina Baraguir, a 55-year-old widow who is supporting two grandchildren who are living with her. Amina, who was a courier of the MNLF, said the hardships she suffered during the war were comparable to the ordeal she experienced before she became a member of the Al-Jamelah. She said she was only earning an average of P40 a day from vending vegetables at the local market before she joined the organization. Now that she is one of the weavers of the Al Jamelah, she earns P100-300 a day depending on her output. With the income, she is able to support the basic needs of her two grandchildren. She also saves P5 per day and adds P10 per month to her capital share in the cooperative. These amounts may be very small to others, but for Amina these are manifestations that life would be better with the Al Jamelah.
“Ours is not a unique path. There are also several Bangsamoro women groups who dared, strived and succeeded before us. While all of us seem to share a common goal of improving the life and promoting the welfare of Muslim women and children, we do have different stresses. Some do it through agriculture, others do it through food processing and soap making. In Al Jamelah, we decided to carry it out through weaving and preserving the ina-ul…because in so doing, we know that we are also contributing to the preservation of our culture and tradition,” an elated Amina said.
76 77
BUILDING PEACEFUL HOMES: The Gensan Habitat Community Association Tuna Processing ProjectBy Amy Cabusao
Introduction
People in General Santos City were listless. It was not only the sweltering heat that put that glazed look on their eyes. It was the air of uncertainty, teetering on the edge of hopelessness, written on their grim faces and the rigid stance as they go about their daily lives. The city slid into an Indian summer in 2002.
Fires burned down a huge portion of Kimball Plaza and KCC malls in April and March of that year. A bomb, lobbed by still unidentified perpetrators, exploded inside the Fitmart mall. All these conspired to send thousands of unskilled labor without income overnight.
The early 90s ushered great promises for Mindanao. With the formation of the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asia Growth Area, brisk economic activity was foreseen, and General Santos City was considered a hub with its strategic location in the growth polygon. The city, known as the “Tuna Capital of the Philippines,” experienced a boom in investments and industry. The future was bright.
Fishing is a P50-billion industry in the Philippines, contributing about four percent of the country’s gross national product. General Santos City shares a huge portion of the total production. With an annual production volume of 2.4 million metric tons of fish, it directly provides livelihood and employment to over one million Filipinos.
Tuna is among the 200 or so species of fish found in the country that have high commercial value. The Philippines is the 7th top tuna-producing country in the world, both in terms of fresh/frozen tuna and canned tuna.
Then came the economic nightmare, the Asian Financial Crisis. Major sectors were affected: real estate, manufacturing, banks, tourism. The value of the peso dropped 100 percent against the dollar.
Disaster struck almost simultaneously. In 1998, a long drought hit the vast agricultural sector of Mindanao. The El Niño occurrence in that year was one of the worst in recent history and laid to waste several hectares of prime agricultural lands. Water became scarce, exacting its toll on food security. Children died of hunger and many communities were displaced for lack of food.
Then, in May 2000, the Estrada government declared an all-out war in Mindanao shattering the tenuous peace in the island. Southwestern Mindanao turned into a battleground between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine Military causing massive internal displacements in some parts of the region.
People’s lives
Such circumstances led a small community, the General Santos City Habitat Community Association, to think of ways to overcome the economic rut they were in. The families living in the housing project found out they could no longer afford the P400 monthly repayment of their housing unit with months in arrears behind them.
Part of the sustainability of the Habitat program is the collection of the repayments for the construction of more houses for the homeless. But the economic crisis, which forced most of the home-partners to incur arrears, affected the program since there is a policy that funding for building houses will cease unless repayments will reach at least 85%.
To help the home-partners, who were mostly unskilled workers retrenched from their jobs, GenSan Habitat Community Association’s livelihood committee organized the women to introduce them to small-scale livelihood projects. With assistance from government agencies, trainings on various economic activities such as food processing were conducted. But, to materialize their income-generating project, they needed to acquire ample startup capital.
Judith Olendo, one of the home-partners, said the organization had 40 women, all unem-ployed and desperately needing to make both ends meet. In their meetings the women felt that food processing would be the best project they could embark on considering the ready supply of mango, papaya and pineapple from the Dole Philippines plantation which they could buy at a low price. The fruits could be processed into dried fruits which they could sell in the locality and neighboring towns.
With the tuna port in the city, they said, there was no problem purchasing the product at a low price. At that time, they had already observed that chorizo and tocino products made of tuna enjoyed a wide market not only in the city but in other parts of Mindanao.
The project was conceptualized to simply provide regular income to women for their basic needs. The savings from their income would also give them money for the house repayments so they could keep the roof over their heads and help the Habitat program move on.
They also identified four strategies to achieve their aims. One is to develop an alternative livelihood through micro-enterprise which is expected to increase household income to cover expenses for food, health, shelter, and other basic needs. This would result in an increase in the repayment rate, increase in the families’ budget for food and lower the incidence of illnesses in the family.
The second strategy is to empower home-partners toward self-reliance. As home makers who lacked formal training, the women would develop confidence in dealing with economic difficulties. This would translate to an increase in access to economic opportunities and market expansion as they would be equipped with entrepreneurial skills.
The third is to strengthen family ties amidst the economic crisis and conflict situation through gender development and family cooperation. This would encourage the couple to
understand the need to work as a team in the fight against poverty and in maintaining peace within the household. The stress here is for the entire family to become stakeholders in the project.
The fourth is to strengthen unity and cooperation of the community as a whole to fight poverty. The community is involved in the project and is part of the team.
Afterwards, Judith said, they started looking for capital to start their project. Dr. Mem Soriano, regional director of Habitat for Mindanao, and Patricia Macorol, secretary to the board of trustees of GenSan Habitat, happened to meet a project officer of the Mindanaw Program for Peace and Development or ProPeace.
Funding assistance
Through the Philippine Development Assistance Program, the association was able to access a grant amounting to P328,864 which was released on 23 July 2003. But previous to it, the group already had strategic planning sessions and technical trainings to prepare its mem-
78 79
bers for the project.
“All of us needed to be trained in running the enterprise. We did not have previous training in administration, fund manage-ment and how to build an organization,” Judith said.
Organizing the 40 women for the project was difficult enough, Judith said. Most of them only had experience in small-scale buy-and-sell business, with little or no capital required. Some sell snack items which they make or get from a supplier on consignment basis. Apart from this, some women lost interest as it took a while for the project to get off the ground. Bickering and petty misunder-standing ensued among the women, which required time and patience to resolve.
The fund was used on processing equip-ment and materials, trainings and preliminary marketing. They set up their small plant within the Habitat commu-nity, a small office that was partitioned into the production workshop and a room used for trainings and administrative work.
The women are proud of their production area which they claim meets rigid quality control and is strictly kept spanking clean.
The ordinary work schedule is from 8:00 am to 3 pm. If there are huge orders, the women stay until 5 p.m. They produce between 1,500 and 6,000 packs every month. This earns the women P160.00 per day, a tidy sum which can help augment their husband’s earnings. They can now put food on the table and save some for the repayment of Habitat.
“A year after we first went into operation, we have paid all our arrears and are now updated on the payment of our houses,” beamed Rosie Peralta, a mother of three, a fulltime home-maker before joining the project.
Marketing
Constrained by lack of capital for production, the organization was only able to meet consumer demands which were ordered in advance by other Habitat communities and other organizations.
It has joined the Yaman Gensan showcase on June 21 and 23 this year, and the recently held Tuna Festival in August where their products—tocino, fish fillet, lumpia, siomai and chorizo-earned favorable feedbacks from other agencies and potential markets.
Since then, the group has received invitations and participated in other trade fairs, the biggest of which are the International Food Exhibit 2004 at the World Trade Center in Manila and the Mindanao Food Exhibit (”Kumbira”) 2004 in Cagayan de Oro City. However, it cannot spread its wings as yet. It is still incapable of going into large-scale production and the packaging of its products cannot yet compete with those of other more established tuna-processing companies.
“Once we are more confident to compete, we will widen our market – because there is truly a market now of people who are more health conscious – and increase production,” Judith said.
The members handle the marketing aspect through their Habitat affiliates in and outside General Santos City. They plan to set up a marketing outlet in Koronadal City to ensure a continuous processing cycle and widen the market.
Best practices
“Since we are practically learning while doing, we would like to tread cautiously,” says Rosie Peralta, one of the women involved in production.
The women said what worked in their favor were the skills they obtained from their training not only in tuna processing but also in management and other administrative concepts which were foreign to them. They said they owe these skills to government agencies, PDAP and the GenSan Habitat Association.
80 81
FISHERMEN AS FARMERS:A Look at Tarakan’s Seaweed IndustryBy Froilan Gallardo
Anyone entering Tarakan, a village 14 kilometers east of Dinas town in Zamboanga del Sur, will certainly be in for a big surprise. Most of the houses here have zinc roofs instead of nipa. And many of these dwellings have TV antennas on their rooftops, an indication that the local economy is moving forward.
But a more concrete proof of an improved local economy is the sight of fishermen drying seaweeds on the two solar dryers in the heart of the village.
“Seaweed is big money here. And if we talk about seaweeds, Tarakan has the best in the entire province,” said barangay chair Camaroden Maulana.
Maulana said profits from seaweed culture have improved the living standards of the local fishermen. They harvest two tons of seaweeds every 45 days and sell them dry at P36 a kilo in nearby Pagadian City.
There is a high demand for seaweeds because it is one of the major components of carra-geenan. It is being exported to Europe, the United States, Korea and Japan.
Maulana said seaweed culture is very profitable that local fishermen have planted 100 hectares of its coastline with it. This has made Tarakan the most economically successful of the 30 barangays of Dinas, he said, pointing to the zinc rooftops of the 500 houses around as proof.
“Our seaweeds are our resources that give us wealth. And we are very proud of it,” he said.
Having a clear strategic plan enabled them to focus on the phases of the organization’s development and made them more confident to embark on the project. They were also able to carefully consider what they can actually do, taking into account their finances and capacities. “We can produce more if we want to but we always consider the shelf life of the product and the market,” Judith said. “We never lose sight that everyone in the group should benefit and this is the reason why transparency, commitment and self-confidence should be ingrained in each one of us. These would be the ingredients of a sustainable project,” she said. Cleofe Costaños, cashier of the association, said the project has not only helped the women involved in tuna processing. It has also improved the repayment rate of the housing project that the housing association is now planning to expand its services to more beneficiaries. Challenges The original plan of the project was to engage in tuna and fruit processing. The funding from PDAP only allowed the women to purchase tuna processing equipment and some materials and conduct pre-testing of products and trainings. While they said it is also good to focus first on tuna processing and see how they can expand the business, they have not lost sight of going into fruit processing in the near future. They are however aware that they need to be trained in fruit processing. Building a peaceful community What could be more violent than not having food to eat, a roof over your head, clothes on your back, health services and education? These problems affect the community and the way people relate to each other. PDAP’s ProPeace program addresses the needs of the people whose lives are broken by the effects of armed conflict to help them stand back on their feet and become productive citizens. Its timely assistance to GSCHCA’s food processing project not only saved 40 families from being ejected from their homes but also gave them enough resources and skills to fight poverty and eventually reclaim their dignity. “We were so desperate then. We didn’t know where to get our next meal. There were no jobs available for us. Now, at the end of the day, we can count pesos we earned from work. More than that, we can say we partly own it, too,” Rosie beamed.
82 83
He said the village is thankful to the Philippine Development Assistance Programme, a non-government organization, which came to their aid more than a year ago.
“This was not a success story before. Our people were engaged in seaweed culture but were not so successful,” he recalled.
He said the seaweeds the Tarakan fishermen harvested years ago were inferior in quality, and because they practiced old planting techniques, their harvest was not in big commercial quantities.
That changed when PDAP came in 2003 and provided a P300,000 grant to the Tarakan Fisherfolk Multi-Purpose Cooperative or Tafimco.
Tafimco chair Abdila Casan said the cooperative was formed in March 2002 to help local fishermen improve their livelihood.
He said they were also looking for a viable economic project that could help ease the pressure on the fragile marine ecosystem in Dinas especially its 100-hectare marine sanctu-ary. It is feared that overfishing might result in declining fish catch among Tarakan fisher-men even if the bay around the municipality still has plenty of mangroves.
At first, he said, the cooperative had only 47 members and suffered the “usual birth pains” including a failed attempt to give its members fish nets provided by the provincial govern-ment of Zamboanga del Sur.
“We saw the need for a viable economic project. Otherwise, my fellow fishermen will illegally fish in the sanctuary to survive,” Casan said in the vernacular.
He said they decided to engage in seaweed culture since many of the fishermen in Tarakan
were already into it. He noted that the two rivers flowing into the bay make the place ideal for such venture.
“The seedlings are readily available locally and there are plenty of buyers. What we need is money and appropriate technol-ogy,” he added.
Seaweed culture requires capital-ization. A farmer needs at least P5,000 to buy seedlings and install modules for planting.
Casan said they tried to avail of loans from banks but that they could not put up the required collateral. He said going to the loan sharks was not an option either because these people would charge usurious interest rates.
“Getting loans is very risky. It will not help us,” he said. Hence, he continued, the P300,000 grant from PDAP was widely received by the Tarakan fishermen.
“The grant was more than monetary gain. Since the money was managed by the cooperative, the fishermen in Tarakan learned to work together and not individually,” he said.
The P300,000 grant from PDAP was released in two tranches, in April 2003.
The money was released to the 43 members of the cooperative. The members received P6,500 each as startup capital for seaweed culture. Each of them used the amount to plant 400 kilos of seaweed seedlings using the Monoline Raft Method, Tafimco secretary Bohari Palwa said.
The cooperative provided the money to its members as loans with a monthly interest rate of two percent to be paid every time they harvest the seaweeds. The members agreed to pay the loan with two percent of the net income from their harvest, Palwa said.
“That two percent and another one percent will be the capital build-up and savings of the members,” he explained.
The cooperative hoped to recoup their initial investments by earning a profit of P400,000 by the end of this year. Its fund is expected to increase by P43,000 next year. As for the members, their individual income is expected to increase to P21,000 a month starting next year, the secretary said.
The farmers also expect to harvest 16 tons of seaweeds every season thus increasing the profitability of the venture. “We are dreaming already of buying a big truck so that we can market the seaweeds to Paga-dian City ourselves,” Palwa said. Once the loans are paid, he said, the cooperative would loan the money to other fishermen in Tarakan who have already applied for membership. He said 40 more local fishermen have applied for membership bringing the total number of members to 83. Maulana, who was chosen by the cooperative to head its marketing work, said the assistance from PDAP opened the doors for more assistance from other agencies. He said the two solar dryers for seaweeds in the barangay were donated by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Region 11. The fishermen also underwent seminars where government fishery experts taught them the appropriate technology in seaweed culture, he added. “But the most important lesson that PDAP gave us was how to improve our lives the coop-erative way,” he concluded.
BUILDING PEACE AND POSITIVE LIVES: A STORY OF A TRI-PEOPLE COMMUNITY: The Daguma Range Tri-people Federation)
Background
Barangay Chua in Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat province is home to lumad belonging to the Dulangan-Manobo Tribe, Maguindanao Muslims and Christian settlers from Iloilo who are popularly known as Hiligaynons. The three tribes form the Daguma Range Tri-Peoples Federa-tion.
The community is beset with problems that manifest in a cycle of poverty in the area. The most apparent of these problems is the lack of alternative livelihood opportunities despite the rich resources offered by their surroundings.
Enter the Community Organizers Multiversity and the Program for Peace in Mindanaw or ProPeace of the Philippine Development Assistance Programme, which have set up three projects to uplift the lives of barangay residents. The projects include goat dispersal, commu-nity stores for far-flung areas and a solar dryer. Sixteen months into its implementation, the program has experienced some problems. These include the leaders’ lack of knowledge on recording and bookkeeping processes, difficulty in monitoring beneficiaries in remote areas, inability of farmers to pay loans and rivalry among people’s organizations in the area. Participatory approaches in project implementation, form-ing project management teams, defining responsibilities at the onset, reflection sessions and capacity-building helped mitigate such problems.
To enable the program to reach other beneficiaries and to ensure its sustainability, it is recommended that PDAP and CO Multiversity continue their involvement in the area to institutionalize community participation. Furthermore, there is a need to continue harmoni-zation efforts with the government as well as train and develop community-based agricul-tural technicians that will oversee the farming activities and provide technical assistance to other farmers.
In a short span of time, the program has shown that it takes a village to make a livelihood program work especially if the ultimate goal is to build peace and lives in an area with such a diverse cultural background.
Introduction
The Daguma Range Tri-Peoples Federation was established in 2002 after a series of meetings and consultations among POs, namely, the Muslim-Lumad Farmers Association, Chrismus
84 85
Highlanders Cooperative, Tri-People Women’s Association and Lumad-Muslim-Christian Youth Association. These people are living in harmony with one another in one of the upper valleys of Bagumbayan in Sultan Kudarat with the help of the PDAP ProPeace Program and the CO Multiversity. Geographic Location Chua is one of the upper valley barangays of Bagumbayan. The town is strategically located in the elevated portion of the province of Sultan Kudarat. It is bounded in the north by the municipality of Isulan and in the south by the municipality of T’boli, in the west by the municipality of Ninoy Aquino and in the east by the great Allah River. The Daguma Mountain Range, Bagumbayan’s prominent physical feature, stretches from north to south dominating a vast agricultural land and the whole western stretch of the Allah River. It separates the eastern portion of the town from the Western Mountainous commonly known as the Masiag Valley (or upper valley) comprising nine barangays includ-ing Chua. In the early 70’s to 80’s, Chua harbored guerrillas of the Moro National Liberation Front and the New People’s Army and became a battlefield during those years. The series of ceasefire agreements during the Cory Administration and finally the 1996 Peace Agreement between the Government of the Philippines and the MNLF during the Ramos Administration paved the way for a peaceful and normal life in the barangay. Socio-Economic Situation The population of Barangay Chua is 15 percent lumad, 35 percent Muslims and 50 percent Hiligaynons. These people are the small cultivators that took over the logged-over areas, cutting down secondary-growth trees for swidden agriculture. There are about 450-500 households in Barangay Chua with an average of five to seven members each. The dominant age bracket of family heads is between 25 and 50 years old. Their average educational attainment is elementary level, but most of them did not reach Grade 6. Some are illiterates. This pattern is also true in the case of their children’s educa-tion.
86 87
Ethnic Profile of Brgy Chua, Bagumbayan
Lumad15%
Muslims35%
Hiligaynons50%
Most of the residents are farmers, earning between P1,000 and P5,000 per month and practicing mono-crop system. Corn is the major crop and it is planted two times a year. Some farmers cultivate rice, coffee, beans and other crops but these are very minimal compared to corn production.
Barangay Chua Today
Though the Daguma Mountain Range offers vast opportunities for livelihood and develop-ment, residents have remained poor because they are plagued with problems such as illiteracy and lack of alternative sources of income aside from their backyard farming activi-ties.
Despite working hard in their farms, people here are still experiencing severe poverty. And each year they experience crop failures caused by rat or insect infestation.
On the other hand, some are employed as hired farmhands. They receive 50-70 pesos a day, but job opportunities are only available during planting and harvest time. During off-peak seasons, food would be hard to find for most households. Children are malnourished and have to stop schooling because they have to help their parents as hired farm workers even at an early age of seven.
The low literacy level and the lack of access to information also contribute to deficient income opportunities in the area.
Households are also very dependent on loan sharks or financiers to whom they owe much debt. If they could not pay on the agreed date their lands would be taken away from them. The dispossessed landowners would become hired agricultural workers, a situation which is evident in lumad areas.
Support from the government is hardly visible. The local government unit and other govern-ment agencies like the Department of Agriculture have very limited resources to subsidize the needs of the upland farmers. Most often, only technical services are being extended.
Moreover, health problems are high especially among women and children.
Finally, problems also arise from prejudice and antagonistic relations attributed to the diverse cultures of the area.
Process
Prior to PDAP’s ProPeace, the CO Multiversity sa Mindanaw initiated an issue-based commu-nity organizing approach in November 2000 where the people identified their issues and concerns. Sessions on Culture of Peace as well as Mediation and Negotiation were conducted in order to lessen prejudices and antagonisms that exist(ed) among them.
The community participated in a series of meetings and planning sessions in order to solicit
88 89
people’s participation in resolving their problems. The lack of alternative livelihood was among the issues identified. In July 2002, PDAP-ProPeace became a partner of the people’s organizations in addressing such. The residents participated in a series of consultations to identify priority livelihood projects.
PDAP-ProPeace’s livelihood and enterprise development project fits well in the development of an enabling environment that will help the people enhance their livelihoods by improving access to productive assets and income-generating opportunities and by addressing food security. The project is in a position to contribute to poverty reduction while ensuring that the people are at the center of the development process.
The project is also seen as a medium to provide capacity-building support to the federation to enable it to identify and address its own needs. Such support is needed to enable the federation to effectively contribute to community development and efficiently develop and implement projects that complement the peace process.
Objectives
The livelihood and enterprise project of the federation aims to build peace and prevent the resurgence of conflict by helping barangay Chua restore the foundations of normal life and move towards sustainable peace by providing assistance for economic and social develop-ment.
The direct beneficiaries of the project are upland dwellers of the barangay specifically the general membership of the federation which comprises an estimated 250 households.
Key Strategies and Intervention
The program has three major components: construction of solar dryer; provision of working capital for community store and provision of individual livelihood (goat dispersal) for women and youth.
Goat Dispersal. This component provides the Tri-people Women’s Association and the Lumad-Muslim-Christian Youth Association with goats for breeding purposes with a total cost of P70,000 per organization. Beneficiaries will take care of the goat, which is ready for breeding. The goatherd is obliged to give the second kid of the mother goat to the organiza-tion so that other beneficiaries will also be able to benefit from the project.
Goat dispersal involves the purchase of native breeding goats. The women and youth organi-zations will distribute these to identified participants. After five to six months the goats will have produced two offspring each which are expected to weigh around 20 kilos each after 6 months.
Provision of Working Capital for Community Store. This component provides the Muslim-Lumad Farmers Association and the Chrismus Highlander Multi-Purpose Coopera-tive with working capital for their community store at P70,000.00 each. It is expected to
earn profit from selling the basic needs of the community such as sugar, rice, corn grits and canned goods. Average markup is 10 percent and each organization is expected to earn a net surplus of P2,500.00.
Construction of Solar Dryer. This component provides the federation with a multi-purpose concrete solar dryer. The solar dryer will be constructed in front of the office building at the commercial center of the barangay. It has a capacity of 80 sacks or seven metric tons of corn. It is as big as a regular basketball court (17 x 30 meters), and it could also be used for social gatherings of the community.
Planning, Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation
In July 2003, the different POs conducted series of meetings to review the policies agreed upon by the members during the initial stage of project planning. During these sessions, the process of implementation, monitoring and evaluation were discussed, and clarifications and points for improvement were raised so that implementation of the projects will encoun-ter lesser problems.
Committees were also formed to ensure that project monitoring and evaluation are done efficiently. Action plans were set including target dates for individual visits to beneficiaries. At the initial stage of the project the POs formed a purchasing committee for goat dispersal, community store, and materials for the solar dryer. Each organization was represented in the committee.
The implementation encountered several problems such as the postponement of solar dryer construction because it was found out that the proposed site was actually a spring outlet where water comes out from underneath the soil when it rains. The federation’s Board of Directors and the project committees were forced to return the construction materials to the supplier to minimize losses such as hardened cement.
As regards the goat dispersal, the goats purchased from the lowlands could not adjust to the cold climate in the upland which caused several of them to get sick. Eventually, five to seven goats died. As such, the project committees sought the help of the municipal veterinarian, who gave the necessary medicines for the animals.
The community store, on the other hand, found it difficult to maintain a bookkeeping and recording system, especially in the Muslim and lumad areas. The project committees decided to hire an accountant to organize their records.
The PIME cycle framework means conducting a series of meetings and submission of reports and financial records. Officers and members of each organization, members of the commit-tees, treasurers and bookkeepers reported the development of each component project. CO volunteers and the committees of each component project also submitted monthly reports and action plans every 14th of the month. This process facilitated the federation’s decision-making as it provided a venue wherein improvements can be done at every cycle.
90 91
Management of finances involves the disbursement of cash by the treasurer after the presi-dent and the project committees approve and sign the voucher. The financial report includes documents like order of payment and the beneficiary’s statement of receipt for goat disper-sal.
Supporting Programs on Capacity Building
Trainings and seminars were also given to the leaders of POs that comprise the federation to provide them with knowledge and skills in handling the project. There are four member-organizations and five leaders from each organization participated in these activities.
The leaders attended the following:
PDAP-assisted trainings:
-Simple Bookkeeping and Recording-Savings Mobilization-Strategic Planning-Project Management-Sustainable Agriculture
CO Multiversity-assisted trainings:
-Culture of Peace-Mediation and Negotiation-Leadership and the Organization-Orientation on Community Organizing-Situation Analysis and PIME Cycle-Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment-Responsible and Accountable Governance-Gender Sensitivity and Mainstreaming
The leaders who attended these trainings and seminars are obliged to echo what they learned to the members during their regular organizational meetings.
Outputs
The PDAP ProPeace Program was able to implement three project components: Goat Disper-sal, Community Store, and Solar Dryer.
One hundred fourteen goats were distributed to members of women and youth organizations while two community stores for barangay residents were built. A solar dryer was constructed and is now managed by the federation.
General Impact
Results
A total of 261 federation members or 80 percent benefited from the livelihood and enterprise project implemented in Barangay Chua. The following table shows the number of beneficia-ries in comparison with its total membership:
The goat dispersal project started with the first distribution to beneficiaries on 20 August 2003. This was followed by a second distribution on 15 April 2004. An evaluation was conducted on 8-9 November 2004 during which it was found out that the number of goats has reached 285, or 2.5 times more its original population.
The goat dispersal policy is very progressive. Members who availed of the goats during the first and second distributions have to give the second kids back to the organization. These kids in turn will be given to members who were not able to avail earlier. The women and youth organizations hoped to distribute goats to all members by August 2005, exactly two years from the first distribution date.
Name of organization Project Total number of membership
Total number of members who benefited from
the project
Tri-people Women’s Assn. Lumad Muslim Christian Assn. Christian Muslim Highlanders Cooperative Muslim Lumad Farmers Assn. Daguma Range Tri-Peoples Federation
Goat Dispersal Goat Dispersal Community Store Community Store Solar Dryer
83
97
54
93
4 member organization
55
59
54
93
4 member organization
One youth member named Generous Tabladillo was one of the first beneficia-ries of the goat dispersal program. He related that he promised to make good in taking care of the goat he received since he was determined to earn enough to send him to school in June 2004. True to his promise, Generous is now enrolled as a high school student in the poblacion of Bagumbayan and continues to take care of his goat, which is about to give birth to its third set of kids. One mother also testified that the goat she received has helped her in providing hospital care for her youngest child.
Testimonials Testimonials The community store has been success-ful especially in the interior sitios of the lumad-Muslim communities, which have been experiencing problems in accessing grocery items that are reasonably priced and a store that could allow them to purchase goods in exchange for their produce. The nearest store, which often ran out of stock, was located in the center of the barangay. And whenever stocks ran out, the people had to commute to Bagum-bayan town 19 kilometers away to purchase basic needs such as kerosene or salt.
The community store project was a dream come true for the lumad and Muslims in the interior sitios. The store allows members to barter their corn with goods like rice, salt, sugar, canned goods, dried fish and other household needs. They also enjoy discount privileges from the store.
The women are most happy with the presence of the store in that laundry soaps and kerosene are already very accessible and they can avail of a one-week credit line which they can afford. Aside from the benefits the members are enjoying, the store gives opportunity for the leaders to practice simple bookkeeping and recording Meanwhile, the solar dryer was constructed only in September 2004. The four member-organizations are now using it and the federation is charging two pesos per sack of dried corn.
The series of meetings, evaluation and reflection sessions during the project bonded the people together. It helped eradicate the prejudices and antagonisms among them. If one tribe had problems the other two would be available to lend a helping hand.
Constant communication has also been established. Lumad and Muslims can now sleep in the houses of Christians living in the barangay poblacion if transportation to the interior sitios is no longer available during the night. A culture of peace is alive and strongly being upheld.
The daily hardships have been reduced even as they continue to be affected by the national economic crisis.
Program Impact
The project is now on its 16th month since its launching in July 2003. The project continues to operate and benefit the general membership. Members who were not the direct benefi-ciaries during the first stage of implementation are now benefiting from the second kids of the goat dispersal project.
Positive impact can be seen among the upland dwellers of barangay Chua where the livelihood and enterprise project has been implemented.
The trainings that the leaders had undergone and shared to the other members enabled the community to manage their organization and their projects. The training on sustainable agriculture is gaining ground with the launching of their program on Sustainable Upland Development on 09 November 2004 in sitio Little Baguio, barangay Chua. Their first activity is actual contour demonstration, which is an entry point to implement the Sloping Agricul-tural Land Technology or SALT. They hope to influence the neighboring upper valley baran-gays.
The Federation is now an active member of the peace alliance Sindaw Ko Kalilintad. The alliance allows for networking and linkage with other organizations which would broaden their knowledge and enhance their capacity in dealing with other communities that are
advocating lasting peace and genuine development.
Lessons Learned
People actively participate only in programs that directly address their issues and concerns. It is effective to use livelihood programs as a medium to advocate ideals like gender-sensitivity.
Regular meetings facilitate teamwork and contribute to successful implementation of the project. Having regular meetings, workshops, sessions and other activities that provide interaction play an effective role, not only in project management but more importantly, in creating a strong bond among leaders and members from different cultural and religious backgrounds.
Effective coordination with other government agencies can help a lot in planning joint strategies and effective resource allocation. It can also improve the effectiveness of the project implementation while simultaneously enhancing overall assistance. Joint assess-ments of needs have been excellent starting points for coordination.
Facilitating Factors
The participative approach resulted in a sense of ownership of the project on the part of the community. This helped make people do their tasks and responsibilities without being reminded to do so.
The formation of project management teams and defining responsibilities and accountabili-ties facilitated efficient implementation of all program components. It also laid the ground-work for the monitoring and evaluation of the project.
Regular reflection sessions helped in continuously improving the project processes and implementation.
Capacity building interventions such as training and workshops provided the necessary skills for the PO leaders and members in managing the project.
The daily presence of a partner NGO (CO Multiversity) in the area served as the PO’s day-to-day guide thus implementation problems were immediately addressed.
Technical assistance of PDAP accountants to bookkeeping work facilitated the financial monitoring of the project.
Problems and Challenges
Leaders and members lack the capability to understand the simple processes of bookkeeping and recording.
92 93
There is difficulty in monitoring beneficiaries in remote areas. Point persons living in these areas rarely report to the project team for monitoring updates.
Farmers are unable to pay debts to the community store due to crop losses caused by pest and rat infestations.
Rivalry among other POs created by other NGOs has caused division within the community.
Conclusions
The PDAP-ProPeace livelihood and enterprise project has not only improved the economic condition of the Daguma Range people but also helped plant the seeds of harmony in baran-gay Chua.
The livelihood and enterprise project has provided the means for self-employment that generated income for the federation, allowing the members to take care of themselves and their families. The goat dispersal project has given them additional income aside from their earnings as farm workers.
The extra income has provided food, money for medicines and their children’s education. This is supplemented by the community store that gives access to credit and food while waiting for harvest. If sustained, the goat dispersal project can give farmers additional source of income and make them less dependent not only on loan sharks but also on government subsidy.
The people need not go hungry while waiting for their corn to dry as the solar dryer allows for a faster and more efficient means to do so. It does not only provide immediate income to buy food, it also offered them a place for social activities and interaction.
Moreover, the project enabled the federation to achieve its goals of strengthening good relationships, providing service to the community, and developing their skills. They realized that although the livelihood opportunities provided by the project have helped them immensely, it was their dedication, hard work, and working together that really made them overcome the problems and challenges they face. In the end, they realized that progress and development must come from their efforts and that the project is only there to lend a hand.
Empowering the people is a powerful tool in conflict prevention and peace-building. By understanding that conflict is partly an issue of poverty and lack of economic opportunities, the PDAP ProPeace livelihood and enterprise project has offered one of the most powerful weapons against it.
Today, the Daguma Range Tri-Peoples Federation is closer to their vision of an active and united community that recognizes and respects each other’s beliefs and culture. The project has given the people something to hope for in the future. Indeed, peace is not only about absence of conflict, but is also about building positive lives.
Recommendations
There is a need to continue the involvement of PDAP and CO Multiveristy in the area to fully institutionalize community participation and thus sustain the outputs produced by the project.
Harmonization and coordination efforts with government agencies should be continued to sustain partnerships cultivated in the area.
Finally, there is a need to train and develop community-based agricultural technicians that will oversee the farming activities and provide technical assistance to other farmers.
94 95
Rationale: Improving
PerformanceMeasurement
in PROPEACE
Chapter 3 Chapter 3
96 97
98 99
ProPeace PCI: Measuring Changing Capacities in Livelihood and Enterprise Development for Peace-building and the Pro-motion of Human Security .By Ma. Victoria z. Maglana
PDAP & Its Work in Mindanao
The Philippine Development Assistance Programme, Inc. is a non-stock, non-profit consor-tium of non-government organizations that contributes to social change by creating a favorable development environment.
For the past 17 years, it has been working to reduce the causes of poverty and inequity in the country. PDAP works to efficiently and effectively manage large Official Development Assistance-funded projects for Philippine NGOs and people's organizations assisting the Filipino poor. It also assists other NGOs in advocating for the programming of ODA funds.
PDAP’s contribution to the consolidation of peace and development in Mindanao started with the Program for Peace and Development in the SZOPAD Areas that commenced soon after the Philippine Government and the Moro National Liberation Front signed the Final Peace Agreement in 1996. Embracing the principle that peace is crucial to the success of social development in rural communities, PDAP, with the support of the Philippine and Canadian governments through the Philippines-Canada Development Fund continued its assistance to peace-building through the Program for Peace and Development in Mindanaw or more popularly known as ProPeace.
ProPeace aims to contribute to poverty reduction in areas covered by the former SZOPAD. It aims to improve the quality of life of poor Muslims, Christians and Indigenous Peoples through livelihood and enterprise development, capability building and support to policy advocacy and reform.
Through ProPeace, PDAP manifests its understanding that to effectively help communities in Mindanao become enterprising (and thereby address poverty), it is important to recognize that they come from a reality that is often described as “post-conflict” but in reality bespeaks of many layers of difficulties. Indeed, PDAP believes that in Mindanao, the impetus is to build peace through a number of strategies in order to achieve poverty reduction and promote human security. In keeping with its nature, track record and capacities, PDAP’s main peace-building strategy is livelihood and enterprise development.
Completed in December 31, 2004, ProPeace intends to report back on its accomplishments, with a focus on the changes achieved at the level of participating communities and organ-zations.
1. At the level of the partner Peoples Organizations (POs) the PCI has been discussed and presented to them for their validation and identification of appropri-ate course of action that the partners need to take in order to continue to imple-ment their projects effectively, mitigate and improve on their performance. Thus,
through the PCI, the partner POs has greatly realized and has been able to share in the responsibility of sustaining their projects.
2. At the service provider level (donors, NGOs, government, LGUs), the PCI generated great interest when it was presented briefly during the PCDF-sponsored thematic conference on livelihood and enterprises on September 29,2004 in Davao City, where donors such as the ADB, JICA, AUSAID, ILO, CIDA and programs like EU-STARCM, UNIDO-Industrial Development Program, etc. were present.
3. At the PDAP level, the PCI is a valuable investment which it will use as a building block for its future program in Mindanao. The PCI is a very useful experience and a basic tool in developing further a comprehensive program performance analysis and measurement framework and indicator system for livelihood and enterprise projects.
Rationale: Improving Performance Measurement in ProPeace
The impetus for improving performance measurement in ProPeace takes off from the realiza-tion that the Program needs to measure performance at the following levels:
• Progress of the projects assisted by ProPeace • Performance of the enterprise (referring to the livelihood and enterprise projects supported by ProPeace) • Growth of the community organizations (associations and cooperatives) partici pating in the Program
Orienting performance management in the above way is more consistent with the develop-ment orientation of PDAP, which subscribes to the tenets1 of providing support to group enterprise or organization-managed enterprises.
ProPeace Partner’s Capacity Index (PCI): An Overview
The ProPeace Partner’s Capacity Index (PCI) focuses on measuring the ability of its partner community organizations to improve, change or grow in a manner that is beneficial to the group. As an index, it is not necessarily a grade or score but a pointer, sign or indication.
The PCI is best appreciated within the context of development assistance, particularly capac-ity development support.
The PCI measures the ability of ProPeace partners to grow or develop in organizational and management terms; to execute projects; and to manage enterprises. Hence, the component systems: • Project Performance Analysis (PPA) • Organizational Performance Analysis (OPA) • Enterprise Performance Analysis (EPA)
100 101
The PCI recognizes the inter-relationship among the component systems. Project execution capacity is often underpinned by and is a reflection of organizational strength. Development organizations often use project implementation as a vehicle to achieve organizational growth. However, while successful project execution often makes a difference in the opera-tions of an enterprise, it is recognized that enterprise success is the result of many factors, a number of them beyond the control of the participating communities.
Application and Uses of the PCIThe PCI enables PDAP to: • Report on the growth of the PO (Peoples’ Organization) partners in terms of organizational development, project execution, and to enterprise development and management • Gather information that would enable it to improve on its delivery of enterprise development and management support to groups in post-conflict communities • Have a reference for determining PO capacity in participating in future develop ment program • Have a basis for recognizing performance
Peoples’ Organizations are able to: • Locate themselves within a “continuum” of organizational development and enterprise development; the PCI points them to a sense of “what’s next?” • Identify what needs to be addressed in the different aspects of project execution, organizational management and enterprise management in order to improve performance
Other support institutions such as LGUs, government agencies, finance institutions, and award-giving bodies, and donor organizations can utilize information from the PCI to: • Take off from the current capacities of the POs and to determine the point of focus of further capacity development support (what areas to invest in) • As a “seal of good housekeeping,” the PCI is an initial reference for determining PO capacity in participating in new development programs
Information Produced by PCI As of end of Propeace, the PCI can produce the following reports: • PPA, OPA & EPA Report per Partner • Summary by Type of Reports (PPA, OPA & EPA Program Summary) (see attached sample analysis reports) • By Type of Report (PPA, OPA & EPA) by Type by Location (Province) or by Type of Participant (Muslim, Christian, Lumad or Women) • Overall PCI rating per Partner • Summary Program PCI Report PCI and the Sustainability of Partner OrganizationsPCI renders ProPeace program information in such a way that it is made more relevant to the participating community organizations particularly in their efforts to sustain their achieve-ments.
A grasp of their level of capacity will enable community organizations to: • Develop and undertake enterprises and other initiatives commensurate to their organization’s delivery capacity • Identify gaps in their organizational, managerial and entrepreneurial competen- cies and the means with which to address these • Negotiate with support institutions and donors on the focus of capacity building assistance
PDAP believes that making Program information more relevant and comprehensible to participating community organizations will help strengthen ownership over and responsibility for their own growth and development. This assumes importance given that ProPeace support to these POs is ending and a forthcoming program is still being negotiated by PDAP (as of end of Propeace program).
The PCI Component SystemsProject Performance Analysis (PPA) enables PDAP to determine whether: • Project activities are being implemented as planned • Project resources (ProPeace grant support) are being utilized as planned • Local counterpart is being mobilized and disbursed as planned
and to determine the appropriate action PDAP management should take to assist the PO partners in achieving project objectives and deliverables and to protect ProPeace resources.
Rating 111% and up
Rating
111% and up
90 – 110
70-89
50-69%
Below 49%
Exceed Expectation (EE)
As planned (AP)
Minor Slippage (MiS)
Major Slippage (MaS)
Poorly Implemented (PI)
Performance Analysis
1 An organization-based approach to enterprise development and management is a way of developing social capital. The poor are highly vulnerable to many pressures. Group management of enterprises will enable them to develop resiliency and better capacity to deal with enterprise risks. The poor (particularly the subsistence poor and the income poor) require support systems (access to financing, technology, & information; financial and management services) that can better be provided by a group approach to enterprise. It is a way of democratizing access to and allocation of resources by emphasizing the social nature of the support. There is a higher possibility that the benefits would be disseminated to other members of the community. It is still the most cost-efficient way of reaching many beneficiaries given the limited resources of PDAP and the programs that it implements.
OVERALL CAPACITY OF ProPeace
PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATION
PROJECTPROGRESS
ENTERPRISEPERFOEMANCE
ORGANIZATIONALIMPROVEMENTS
The range of possible management action that ProPeace can undertake with respect to each rating is tackled in Annex A.
The PPA also facilitates the discussion of: • What went well in the implementation of the project • Project issues and concerns and how have these been addressed by the Pro Peace partner • Factors (internal and external, positive and negative) that contributed to the project status
Organizational Performance Analysis (OPA) is built on the following key organizational elements: Group Identity and Culture; Leadership and Governance; Membership; Structures; Policies, Systems, and Procedures; Management and Staffing; Linkages and Partnerships; Participation in Local Governance and Community Involvement.
These elements serve as parameters that describe an organization as it goes through the following stages of its development: • Pre-Establishment - Community members come together to form groups to respond to needs or to avail of opportunities. • Establishment - Group establishes basic organizational, financial and entrepre neurial systems. • Regularization - Group regularizes organizational, financial and entrepreneurial operations. • Institutionalization - Group institutionalizes organizational, financial and entre preneurial operations. • Expansion & Innovation - Group demonstrates innovation and expansion in organizational, financial and enterprise management.
Enterprise Performance Analysis (EPA) is founded on an appreciation of basic enterprise functions, namely: Marketing; Production/Operations (Enterprise Identification, Business Planning, Enterprise Implementation and Evaluation); Organization (Entrepreneurial Self-Awareness); Finance (Fund Sourcing and Financial Management).
Using these as parameters, the EPA is used to describe the enterprise development and management capacities of the participating community organization. In particular, to deter-mine where it is in the following continuum: • Pre Start-up - Individuals identify need or opportunity for and agree to under take group economic enterprises • Start-up - The enterprise is at the start-up stage. • Operationalization - The enterprise is operational and essential systems are in place to produce the goods/services but are still weak. • Growth - The enterprise shows promising economic performance and there is interest in standardizing operations to achieve financial surplus. • Expansion - The group has gained experience and confidence in enterprise management and is looking for ways to scale up its business, venture into new enterprises and partake of more mainstream business transactions or economic sectors.
The following measures will be used in determining the financial performance of all types of projects: Breakeven Point, ROI and Payback Period. Other financial indicators that are specific to the type of enterprise will also be used as appropriate: Trading/Merchandizing; Microfi-nance; Fishing and Aquaculture; Livestock and Poultry; Agricultural Support Services; Food Processing and Manufacturing.
Indicator System
Both OPA and EPA are supported by a system of indicators that allow flexibility. This is in consideration of the challenged nature and capacities of the participating post-conflict communities. The partner community organization has leeway to identify indicators that they deem are not applicable and thereby head off potential issues of system rigidity and inappro-priateness of indicators. However, this option is circumscribed by the following categoriza-tion of indicators:
D for Descriptive: Refers to behavior that is commonly observed among groups or enter-prises but are not essential to growth. E for Essential: Refers to behavior that has been found to be necessary foundations for the growth and good performance of organizations or enterprises regardless of the type at that particular stage.
R for Recommended: Refers to behavior that may not be vital to a type of organization or enterprise but is encouraged because it has been found to have desirable effects.
Partner Organizations can respond to the EPA and OPA checklist in one of three ways to each indicator used:
Met/Done - All indicators marked as "Met/Done" demonstrate that the organization has fully fulfilled, achieved or gone through the indicator concerned.
However, the organization should periodically review Essential and Recommended Indicators despite having been marked "Met/Done" to be sure that their management remains healthy in view of the many internal and external changes that constantly occur in all organizations and enterprises.
Needs work - An indicator that is marked as "Needs Work" implies that work has been done towards achieving this indicator but has not yet successfully completed it. The organization is aware of the need for this indicator, and is working towards attaining it.
This provides an opportunity for PDAP to ask the Partner Organization whether it is taking the appropriate steps to fully achieve the indicator.
N/A - Indicators under the column "N/A" can mean three things and should be indicated as such: • The indicator is Not Applicable (N Ap) to the operations of this organization or enterprise. It is recommended that the organization should clearly establish reasonable basis first before deciding for the status of N Ap. The Partner Organization 102 103
• The organization is Not Aware (N Aw) of the need to meet the requirements of this indicator. This is usually applicable to indicators that are Essential or Recommended. This presents a chance for the Facilitator to explain the significance of an indicator and to suggest steps towards achieving it. Partner Organizations have to be encouraged to further discuss Essential or Recommended indicators that are marked with N Aw. • The organization has No Action (N Ac) on this indicator presently, but may address it in the future. Partner Organizations have to be encouraged to further discuss Essential or Recommended indicators that are marked with N Ac Guided Self-Assessment as Strategy ProPeace recognizes that self-assessment can be hampered by the risks of underestimation and overestimation. However, these risks are mitigated by the guidance provided by PDAP staff to the community organizations as they accomplish their organizational and enterprise performance assessments. Guided self-assessment is a preferred strategy of ProPeace because the partner organization is motivated to do self-examination, but also benefits from facilitation support and an exter-nal perspective provided by PDAP. Hopefully this will lead to a balanced point of view. It is projected that as a consequence, the partner organization will have a stronger sense of “ownership” over the results as they are not viewed as “imposed judgments.” This approach is also more consistent with the principles of capacity building -- that the partner organization/beneficiary is in the driver’s seat. PCI Tools PDAP through the ProPeace program has developed a set of tools to apply the PCI. These are: • Focus Group Discussion Guide Questions • PPA Report Template (PCI A-2) • OPA Checklist (PCI B-2) • EPA Checklist (PCI C-2) • OPA and EPA Action Plan Template (PCI D-3) • PCI Report Sheet Template (PCI D-4)
Annex A Project Performance Analysis System
Performance Analysis
Exceed Expectation (EE)
As planned (AP)
Minor Slippage (MiS) Major Slippage (MaS)
Poorly Implemented (PI)
Rating
111% and up
90 – 110
70-89
50-69%
Below 49%
Possible Management Action • Explore the possibility of scaling up • Link with other agencies • Can serve as “models” • Provide customized capacity development support • Identify and study learnings
• Strengthen by providing customized capacity building support or additional capital- ization • Link with other agencies • On a case to case basis, explore the possibility of scaling up
• Link with other agencies to secure TA • More frequent monitoring; ProPeace staff provides coaching
• Discuss & analyze slippage with the partner, identify implica- tions & remedial actions • Provide or seek customized support • Discuss and analyze slippage & implications; develop rehabilita- tion plan • Secure commitment for rehabilita tion plan from the implementing organization and other parties • Follow through on the rehabilitation plan through monitor and consul tants
• Pre-terminate • Recover what can be recovered (without throwing good money after bad) • Further participation in PDAP programming is subject to delibera- tion
104 105
Using the Partners Capacity Index (PCI), this section illustrates the performance of the PROPEACE partners at the end of the program.
1. Project Performance Analysis (PPA)
PPA OverviewThe Project Performance Analysis (PPA) System is a component of the ProPeace Partner Capacity Index (PCI). The tool is used to analyze information that would support manage-ment action on the progress and performance of projects supported by PDAP. Specifically, it looks at three (3) aspects of project execution (each with a corresponding weight), the implementation of project activities (40%), the utilization of PDAP grant (40%) and the mobilization and utilization of the required local counterpart (20%). The resulting rating provides information on the project implementation capacities of the partner organizations: Exceeding Expectations (EE) for projects rated 111% and up; As Planned (AP) for those within 90 to 110%; Minor Slippage (MiS), 70 to 89%; Major Slippage (MaS) for 50 to 69%; and Poorly Implemented (PI) for projects that are rated below 50%.
Using information from progress reports and other project documents, and from monitoring visits, the assigned ProPeace staff initially prepares the PPA report for a project. This is presented to the other staff for discussion in an en banc session. The initial rating is then presented to the partner organizations for verification and finalization. The PPA also looks at success factors, what needs to be improved and learnings that can be factored into the design and implementation of future projects..
106 107
Performance of the PDAP PROPEACE Partners
Overall Rating
Trading/ Merchan-dising
Micro - Finance
Livestock/ Poultry
Food Proce -ssing
Fishing/ Aqua
Agri-culture
Facilities Manufac-
turing Total % Exceeding Expectation 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 3 As Planned 5 13 5 3 4 4 1 35 40 Minor Slippage 8 13 3 3 3 2 1 33 36Major Slippage 6 1 0 1 3 1 0 12 13
Poorly Implemented 2 1 2 0 2 0 0 7 8 Total 21 30 10 7 12 8 2 90 100
PPA Results:
Analysis of PPA Results
About 79% of ProPeace partners have fair to excellent capacity in terms of project imple-mentation. These partners were able to carry out their planned activities, utilize PDAP grant and mobilize and utilize local counterpart with ratings ranging from minor slippage, as planned to exceeding expectations. Forty-five (45) or 50% partner organizations are first time project implementers. They have no experience in running a livelihood or enterprise project.
Trends in Project Execution Capacities of ProPeace Partners
Trends in Activity Implementation • partners (3%) made innovations in their activity implementation. They undertook
unplanned but important activities to achieve project objectives • 19 (21%) were able to fully carry out the activities of the projects they are implementing • 43 partners (48%) were able to carry out the relevant activities of the projects they are implementing, although not fully according to plan • The capacity of 25 partner to implement project activities according to plan is of concern
Trends in grant utilization • 48 partners (53%) were able to utilize PDAP grant based on the approved terms of the project • 24 partners (27%) were able to utilize the grant with minor changes or re-alignments • There are 18 partners whose utilization of PDAP support is of concern
Trends in local counterpart mobilization & utilization • 6 (18%) partners were able to mobilize and utilize local counterpart over and above the amount they originally committed • 52 (58%) partners were able fully mobilize and utilize local counterpart resources • 12 (13%) partners were able to mobilize and utilize local counterpart lesser than the requirement • There are 10 partners whose utilization of PDAP support is of concern
Gender Trends • 47% of participants are women, 53% are men • Twenty-two (22) projects are implemented by organizations with membership exclusive to women • There are 39 projects that are led by women (as managers or as leaders); 21 of these are led by Muslim women, 8 by IP women and 10 by Christian women • Thirty-six (36) out of the 39 (92%) women–led projects have performance ratings of Exceeding Expectation to Minor Slippage; only 8% are implemented poorly or with major slippage performance • 46% of the projects implemented by women are on micro-finance followed by food processing, 15% • Of the 39 women-led partner organizations, 28 are with Technical Assistants or link with LGUs and NGOs.
2. Enterprise Performance Analysis (EPA)
EPA OverviewThe Enterprise Performance Analysis is a sub-set of the PDAP PCI. It measures the progress of partner people’s organizations (POs) along a series of stages on enterprise growth. The infor-mation is derived using process of guided self-assessment. A focus group, made of key PO respondents, is assisted in responding to set of questions. The group decides on the status of the indicator, whether it has been met/done, needs work or is regarded as N/A (not applicable, no awareness or no action) to the next possible, the indicators have been made sensitive to enterprise performance. The EPA rating is then derived based on the applicable indicators. Central to the exercise is formulating an action plan focused on urgent and doable areas.
108 109
Trading/ Merchandising
Micro finance
Livestock/ Poultry
Food Processing
Fishing/ Aqua
Agriculture Facilities Manufacturing Total
Pre 04 Pre 04 Pre 04 Pre 04 Pre 04 Pre 04 Pre 04 Pre 04 2 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 15 0
- 7 0 14 2 3 1 0 0 4 0 1 1 1 0 30 4 5 7 10 12 4 6 5 4 2 6 2 3 0 1 28 39
0 6 0 13 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 28 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2
Overall Rating
Pre-Start-up
Startup
Operationalization
Gowth
Expansion
Total 14 14 27 27 9 9 6 6 9 9 6 6 2 2 73 73
Muslims Pre Start upStart upOperationalizationGrowthExpansionTotal
Christians Pre Start upStart upOperationalizationGrowthExpansionTotal
Trading/ Micro Livestock Agriculture Fishing & Mfg & Food Mdsg Finance & Poultry Facilities Aquaculture Processing Total 0 2 2 3 7 2 1 2 3 18 6 3 1 3 13 1 1 9 12 3 1 5 4 34 Trading/ Micro Livestock Agriculture Fishing & Mfg & Food Mdsg Finance & Poultry Facilities Aquaculture Processing Total 0 1 1 1 5 1 8 6 2 2 10 1 1 2 11 1 3 0 3 20
Indigenous People Pre Start upStart upOperationalizationGrowthExpansionTotal
Trading/ Mdsg
3 3
Micro Finance
4 4
Livestock & Poultry
1 3 1 5
Agriculture Facilities
2 2
Fishing & Aquaculture
4 4
Mfg & Food Processing
1 1
Total 0 1 13 5 0 19
Pre Start up, 0
Start up, 2
Growth, 13
Expansion, 10
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Muslims
Enterprise Performance of the Muslim Organizations • Of the 21 Muslim partner POs that were in the pre start-up stage and Start-up Stages prior to Propeace, 19 moved on to the next stages and only 2 partners remained in the start-up stage in 2004. • Those operationalization stage increased form 13 partners to 18 (38% increase) • Partners at the Growth stage also increased from 0 to 13 in 2004 • One partner Muslim PO has reached the Expansion stage. Christians
Operationalizat ion, 18
Growth, 10Start up, 1
Pre Start up, 0
Expansion, 10
5
10
15
20
25
Operationalization, 8
Enterprise Performance of the Christian Organizations • 20 Christian partner POs from the 1st three stages progressed such that only 9 POs were remain in the Start-up & Operationalization in 2004 • 10 partners in 2004 reached the Growth stage • A PO partner also managed to reach the Expansion stage
Analysis of the EPA Results
The enterprise performance analysis (EPA) provides lucid assessment of the current status of operation of enterprises being implemented by MPPD partner organizations. EPA looks at the economic component of program implementation, relates it to the overall project implemen-tation of the proponent and sees it in a laderrized/ staged framework. PDAP MPPD has managed to conduct EPA to only 73 out of 90 partner organizations.
Table below show the results of Enterprise performance of 73 partners with their respective type of enterprises:
Tables below shows the EPA rating per type of Sectors (Muslims, Indigenous Peoples and Christian Partners.
Stages of development - EPA
Pre StartPre Start--up up
OperationalizationOperationalization
GrowthGrowth
StartStart--upup
ExpansionExpansion
110 111
Start up, 1
Growth, 5Expansion, 0
Pre Start up, 0
0
5
10
15
20
Operationalizat ion, 13
Indigenous People
Enterprise Performance of Indigeno us People • The 8 IP partners that were in the Pre Start-up to Start-up stages before ProPEACE developed such that only 1 PO remains in the Start-up stage • Subsequently, the POs that are in Operationalization grew from 6 to 13 (increase of 116%) • Five (5) partners managed to reach the Growth stage
Projects with Women getting major role in the Management and Direction
Enterprise
Pre start up Start up Operationalization Growth Expansion
01304
MF
0299020
Livestock
0 0 1 2 0 3
Agri Facilities
0 0 1 1 0 2
Fishing & Aqua
0 0 2 1 0 3
Mftg & Food Processing
0 0 4 2 1 7
Total
0 2 18 18 1 39
Trdg/ Merchandi-
zing
• 39 partners out of 90 are championed (led or managed) by women • Of the 39, about 20 (51%) are into Micro-Finance, while 7 (18%) are in Manufacturing and Food Processing, and 4 (10%) are engaged in trading and merchandizing • Of those micro-finance enterprises championed by women, 9 of them are in the Operationaliza- tion stage and another 9 are at the Growth stage • 4 of the women-championed manufacturing and the processing enterprises are at the Operationalization stage, while 2 are in the Growth stage • One enterprise championed by women and engaged in manufacturing and food processing was able to reach the Expansion stage. Only one other enterprise has reached this stage
3. Organizational Performance Analysis (OPA)Pre – ProPEACE
OPA overviewThe OPA is a sub-set of the PDAP PCI. It measures the progress of partner peoples’ organizations (POs) along a series of stages of organizational growth. The information is derived using a process of guided self-assessment. A focus group made up of key PO respondents is assisted in responding to a set of questions. The group then uses the information to review a checklist of indicators. The group decides on the status of the indicator, whether it has been met/done, needs work or is regarded as N/A (not applicable, no awareness or no action. The OPA rating is then derived based on the applicable indicators. Central to the exercise is formulating an action plan focused on urgent and doable areas.
Analysis of the OPA Results
The Organizational Performance Analysis provides information on the Partners Organizational Development prior to PDAP intervention through ProPEACE. The data below indicates that 74 out of the 90 partners conducted with the performance measurement tool, Partners performance capacities are improved. Prior to ProPeace, 6 partners are on the stage of pre-establishment in which partners are on the organizing stage while 22 partners are just on the establishment period were partners has just registered with government agencies and formulated there VMGO and strengthening their membership support.
OrganizationalDevelopment StatusPre-establishmentEstablishmentRegularizationInstitutionalizationExpansionTOTAL
Pre – ProPEACE
Christians13142020
Muslims314180035
IPs 25120019
Christians03412120
Muslims071810035
IPs 02107019
Year 2004
With ProPEACE assistance on capacity building and technical assistance components, for at least two years intervention, 14 of the pre-establishment and establishment stage status has graduated to a higher stages on regularization and institutionalization were partners has improved their capacities with indications that there management and accounting systems are installed, reports are prepared and submitted, expanded their networks and linkages both with government and NGOs.
It is also noted that during Propeace assistance, from 2 partners in the institutionalization stage it increased by 27 partners of about 1,450% increased.
The tables below shows the OPA rating per type of Sectors (Muslims, Indigenous Peoples and Christian Partners)
Muslims
0
10
20
30
40
Pre-establishment Establishment Regularization Institutionalization Expansion
2004Pre-ProPEACE
• Of the 17 organizations that were in the 1st two stages of organizational development, 10 have moved on to the next stages by 2004• 10 of the POs also reported that
Stages of development -OPA
Pre-establishment
Regularization
Institutionalization
Establishment
Expansion/ Innovation
112
Indigenous Peoples
Christians
• 17 (89%) of the POs are already in the stages of regularization and institutional-ization & only 2 remains in the establishment stage; prior to ProPEACE, 12 (63%) were regularizing while 7 (37%) were in the 1st two stages
• 1/3 of the POs achieved institutionalization by 2004• v1 PO is already in the expansion stage
0
5
10
15
20
Pre-establishment Establishment Regularization Institutionalization Expansion
2004 Pre-ProPEACE
• Of the 17 organizations that were in the 1st two stages of organizational development, 10 have moved on to the next stages by 2004• 10 of the POs also reported that
0
5
10
15
20
25
Pre-establishment Establishment Regularization Institutionalization Expansion
2004 Pre-ProPEACE