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Showing posts with the label Boholanalysing Development Agents

How much does it take to rebuild Candijay after Odette?

Damage of Typhoon Odette to Basic Infrastructure in Candijay, Bohol (Source:  Jean Celeste Paredes, based on Candijay MDRRMO's RDANA)   To rebuild the infrastructure of the town of   Candijay in Bohol, the Philippines, back to its situation before Typhoon Odette, it needs a whopping 922 million Philippine pesos .   Ninety percent (90%) of that requirement is for the reconstruction of 6,924 houses, 16% of which are totally damaged.   Candijay is home to 33,699 people living in totally or partially damaged houses.       The typhoon did not spare basic infrastructures.   Total damages estimated in schools amounted to Php20 million and in basic health facilities as clinics up to Php3.3 million.   Damages in churches and chapels were estimated at Php9 million, while in other public infrastructures, as barangay halls and covered courts, it was estimated at Php34 million.   Also,   total damages to roads nd bridges were estimated at Php22 million pesos.   Density of A

The Lack of a Backup Plan and Why Ribbon Cuttings Won’t Do the Trick

  I spoke with a friend of mine a few days back, and he told me he is now ready to implement his backup plan – which is to migrate to another country to study a new field and leave all his tourism-related businesses behind.   He told me he did not see it coming. Like with all the others in his sector, he thought that COVID19 is a temporary anomaly and won’t stay for long.     But now, all his businesses are closed, and his cash reserve is bleeding. Despite the many times that the Provincial Government of Bohol announces re-opening with ribbon-cutting events here and there, tourists did not come by truckloads.   They came like summer rain – very few and far in between.     The province’s economic recovery plan is ill-advised and short-sighted.   We all know we relied primarily on tourism to fuel the local economy despite the fact that the sector is the most affected by the pandemic and will continue to be so in at least 3 to five years based on conservative

If you are living a comfortable life during this pandemic, be thankful and please share your blessings

Image grabbed from Wayne S. Grazio See link here . I volunteered to conduct a city-wide research on the socio-economic impacts of COVID 19 to the city of Tagbilaran. My team at Step Up Consulting just felt that if we want to chart a better future post-pandemic, we need to base our plans, projects, and even our day-to-day decisions on data. And we have to be part of or contribute to the solution however way we can.    I have been working on data for development for six years now and I strongly advocate for evidenced-based policy or programming, especially in a context where some of our leaders base their decisions on what they hear from their friends or what they see on social media. One of the things we did, as part of the multi-methods research, was to engage in short but deep conversations with tricycle drivers – one of those severely affected by the lockdown.   For most of the people in the city, we move around using tricycles and the tricycle drivers we interact with on a daily

5 Ways to Build a Resilient and Sustainable Business: Lessons from Balai Cacao

The COVID 19 pandemic has significantly changed the way we live.   For more than two months now, most of us, by force of governmental regulation, have stayed at home, avoided public and even social gatherings, set aside various recreation activities, and abstained from going to religious services.   These new  patterns of behaviour, regardless of the involuntariness of its nature , have altered not only how we think and do things; they also significantly altered the way we produce and consume things.   Businesses are severely affected by this pandemic.   Mall sales had gone down, not only because they were closed for a while, but also because many people can no longer go there, including children and the elderly, (and those without quarantine passes) even when lockdown rules were relaxed. When religious celebrations were halted, sales for flowers and candles went low.   When borders were locked, revenues of car rental companies, tour guides, and tourism-related establishments plummet

10 Lessons from Loay, Bohol on How Local Government Leaders Should Fight Decisively Against the COVID – 19 Pandemic

“Some people ask me why I was very quick to deliver social assistance to people during this crisis. It’s simple. I have experienced myself having nothing. I can easily empathize with what people are experiencing on the ground.”      -  Atty.  Hilario “Lahar’ Ayuban              Mayor, Loay, Bohol The COVID-19 crisis that plagues the world is impacting adversely every sector and every individual globally . In the Philippines, the rate of infection has been steadily increasing, partly brought about by the availability of test kits, and the lack of compliance with strict preventive measures. The ability of the country to combat and survive this pandemic is put to the test.  Despite the missteps on the part of the national government, local government officials all over the country have been facing the crisis head-on, with some local chief executives finding creative ways to stem the spread of the virus through preventive measures while at the same time temper the economic

4 Reasons Why Following Bishop Abet on FB is a Good Thing To Do in this Time of Crisis

I met Bishop Abet Uy for the first time online. Some three years ago, at the suggestion of a good friend of mine, Fr. Harold Anthony Parilla , I sent Bishop Abet a direct message via FB messenger.   He replied, within a day or two and told me how I could proceed with something I wanted to do.   I did as was instructed, and some few weeks later, he sent me, via messenger again, a thank-you note.   Such tech-savviness impressed me, especially for a prelate his age. I was not surprised that some weeks later, I learned that the Bishop was using social media to spread God’s message, in very accessible terms. I also personally witnessed events he presided where online footprint was created almost in real-time (or at least a few hours after the event concluded), making us aware of where he was, what he was doing in building God’s Kingdom here on earth.   Currently, his various Facebook accounts have thousands of followers ( Teba Yu has 11,744 followers, Abet Uy has 63,3

Two Cases of Government Responsiveness

With the bad things that happened with government service delivery these days – from tanim-bala to market fires due to bad cables – it is easy to be swayed to the opinion that this government can never do right, and that everything in the Philippine government, whether local or national, are all wrong.  If facebook posts and tweets are measures of the opinion of the “connected” Filipino nation (which, by the way, comprises only around 40% of the total population), it  seems that the general sentiment is that this country is so badly-governed that entertainment is a happy escape from the current mess we are in.  But often we forget that there are also many good things going on in this country’s government.  I do not want to be an apologist of the government but I want to speak of two experiences where I can say that as a citizen, I have benefitted from government’s willingness to protect the interest of its citizens and from government’s responsiveness to an ordinary citizen’s