BoholAnalysis

(Many thanks Liza of boholrepublic.com for the picture) Recent debates on climate change has started to refocus measures from global and national playing fields to local spheres, with the belief that “the “local” is also an important site in governing global environmental problems” (Betsill and Burkeley 2006). The Stern Report in 2007 has clearly indicated that communities need to be empowered so that they can actively contribute in vulnerability assessment and implementation of adaptation. Further, it argues that climate change needs to be incorporated into development planning at all scales, levels, and sectors (Stern 2007). The recent experience of Jagna, Bohol, where a tornado destroyed the homes of more than a hundred families takes to the fore the issue of how prepared are we as a province, and the Philippines, as an archipelagic country, in meeting the challenges of a changing climate and the threat of natural disasters.  While Jagna has its own Disaster Risk Reductio

I am currently in Lausanne, Switzerland attending a conference on the use of science and technology for sustainable development.   Yesterday, in one of the plenary sessions, the famous neuro-scientist Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, developer of Brain Machine Interfaces and one of those considered the forerunners in emerging technologies emphasized a very strong point – that the critical years in the development of children are not the time that they are already in formal schools but prior to it – 0 to five years old.   He argued that for us to be able to develop the next Einsteins in this age, we need to educate the children even before they were born.   This is not all thoughts and ideas, as Dr. Nicolelis is currently building the “city of the brain” in Natal, Brazil, with facilities for pregnant women, so that the child can be educated at age zero, and facilities for elementary, secondary, and tertiary learning. I am fascinated by this idea coming to life.   A facility such as this,

Very recently, business tax collection system in the municipality of Panglao has drastically changed that resort owners, maybe accustomed to a subjective tax assessment processes, reacted strongly.   The basis of the reaction is simple – tax assessments have significantly increased the amount of tax that they will have to pay, when compared to previous years - and like every taxpayer who is assessed a higher amount of tax, businessmen complained, alleging that the tax base is highly irregular and the system anomalous. The municipal government of Panglao implemented this year the Enhanced Tax Revenue Assessment and Collection System (E-TRACS), a system that automates the assessment and collection of taxes and puts subjective assessments aside and makes tax payment negotiations a thing of the past.   A primary highlight of the system is the elimination of subjective tax assessments because certain parameters are used, and in this case, the most objectionable to businessmen, the u

Sunday morning at the Tagbilaran airport, and flight was delayed.   I had the chance to talk to a student of mine who works in the airport for years now.   He brought my attention to this counter near the exit door of the check-in area   that has a wide sign bannering RA 8550 and a collection of pictures of seashells. RA 8550 is no stranger to me. My sister who is a marine biologist and foreshore management specialist is one of its staunchest advocates that even my mother would take extra care in buying fish as these may still be too young to be caught or are spawning or are taken from the sea by fishermen using fine mesh nets. The law provides, among other things, the reconstitution of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the specification of allowable fishing in municipal waters, the power of the state to prescribe non-fishing seasons, and the participation of communities in monitoring of fishery laws. What the wide banner and the counter represents, is the effort o

  My mother is a fan of Lite Shipping. Travelling between Plaridel and Tagbilaran City when two vessels were still plying the route, she always prefers Lite Shipping over Palacio Shipping lines. Reasons? Many. Lite shipping is much cleaner. It is a newer sea craft than Palacio’s. Its crew are much more efficient. It always arrives earlier than the other boat, departing on time, and arriving much earlier. As she goes to Bohol to visit his favourite son every month (as there is no other), I always hear her good comments.   The fact that Lite Shipping’s vessel arrives at 10 in the evening in Tagbilaran from Plaridel after a short stop at Larena makes picking her up much bearable, as compared to Palacio’s that arrives at around 1 to 2 dawn.   This makes me love Lite Shipping too. My family (wife and two kids plus a nanny) went home to Calamba, Misamis Occidental, my hometown, to spend Christmas after almost two years of not being able to visit the place.   The last time we