~manila, you're not that ugly

There’s a twitter “movement” now to #helpDOT, and not surprisingly, many people are jumping in and seeing how they can get involved.

It started with a post from Carlos Celdran about a tour he did with new Tourism Undersecretary @entengromano, which led to @TeamManila making tourism posters for free:

Bloggers journeyingjames and otherworldpixie made their own posts of support, not to mention countless tweeters, and voila, now we have one viral volunteer campaign for Philippine tourism created in an instant.

DOT Undersecretary Enteng Romano tweeted back: “Still thinking of how 2 harness d outpouring of volunteerism 4 DOT. Hope to come up w some ideas 2moro.”

Let’s hope this to be the start of a real dialogue for tourism development!

I dug up my old post on how to help tourism back in 2005, fresh from my Spain trip and right when I started manilarat:

I am a great fan of the potential of the Philippines (and of the Filipino). I was born and raised in Manila, but there has always been the curiosity and eagerness to explore our culture through travel, conversations, daily interactions with people.

A month ago I left the family business and started working for the Department of Tourism. On the premise that I was there #1 to help tourism, and #2 to find out how government works from the inside.

I left the DOT after the Island Paradise Adventure Race Project (which is still held every year, but under the Development Bank of the Philippines now), and my biggest take away then was that for what I saw as the necessary work for Philippine tourism, the place to start was not the national government, which I felt had very limited authoritative power development-wise.

Five years and a new Tourism Law after, I don’t know if things are still the same.

But for sure, in our own circles, there are lots to do, and do now!  Quoting from that same post in 2005:

everyone always has something to say about tourism. i know i always romanticized it, holding up high “how i think things can be improved.”

many ideas–bright ones at that–get lost in implementation. and im learning firsthand that most of the time, no one really wants to be accountable for implementation. especially in government.

coming up with a great project and starting it is actually doable.sustaining it is not, or at the least, it is difficult. according to a colleague who’s been with the DOT for more than 10 years, projects fail mostly because of politics– everyone wants to run his own show; no one wants to carry on flagship projects of previous officials.

fact of life.

so what’s a private citizen to do?
i say sell the country in his own circle… be a walking salesman of what it means to be a filipino, to live in the philippines. work within one’s reach, with what you have control over, and stop barking at the government (it’s not only exhausting, it’s really just not effective).

statistics show that word of mouth is still one of the preferred modes of securing information about our country. we should capitalize on this. that’s why i have such faith in blogs and travel writing!

Let’s hope things have taken a turn for the better in our government and #helpDOT, but let’s also do our part as private citizens!  Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Last March 2010, I visited the Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and was dumbfounded that such an atrocity happened, and happened in the 1970s.  The Cambodians made sure none of it was left unremembered, and right in the center of its capital is a museum where visitors–and Cambodians themselves–can understand, even in passing, what went on in that place, while the rest of world went about its business.

Today I read about a memorial in Bosnia put up by Phillip Ruch, a German activist who is demanding accountability for the massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995.  “The Pillar of Shame” will be a mound of shoes–16,000 of them–each pair for a life lost in the ethnic cleansing that  still haunts people to this day.  Ruch says that the memorial serves as a “warning for all future U.N. employees never again just to stand by when genocide unfolds.”

We Filipinos should learn to be not so forgetful either.   Do you think we’ll someday see a memorial for our murdered journalists, or the Ampatuan victims?

Maybe we don’t really forget, but we don’t remember either.

(Image from pinoyvote.net)

Our new Tourism Secretary is Alberto Lim.  Didn’t know much about him until I read his irresponsible statements to AFP about Boracay! Oh no! We have someone who doesn’t know what he’s talking about at the helm of DOT. Ace Durano, please come back!!!

Yes, Boracay’s been under threat of overdevelopment for a long time, and yes, it is nearing tipping point, but as the new head honcho for marketing our country, you just don’t don’t don’t go about saying things like, “The thing about Boracay is the quality of the sand, (it is) very white. But there are other places that have better quality sand, but (they are) very expensive,” and then adopting a position of resignation:

Lim suggested the government may in the end be unable to halt overdevelopment.

“We have world-class laws but nobody follows them,” he said, adding tourists may just have to look elsewhere.

Boracay is one of the most celebrated places the Philippines is known for, and to talk about it this way betrays not only a lack of love for it, but a lack of understanding of its real value!

There have been cases of overdevelopment elsewhere (e.g. Balearic Islands), but given concerted effort from stakeholders, with government at the helm, they were able to turn things around for the better.

Secretary Lim, Boracay is not dead, it’s certainly not dead YET, but with such a defeatist, dismissive attitude as this, then you might as well have asked for its death.

If Philippine Tourism is stuck with this kind of mindset for another 6 years, then we are definitely dead.

Last May 2010, I went on the worst bus ride of my life, something I described to friends as a nightmare I wouldn’t dare inflict on my enemies. I sat on a plastic stool on the aisle of a provincial bus for close to 4 hours of zigzaging roads from Iloilo to Caticlan, and for the life of me I couldn’t understand why the conductor kept inviting people aboard as if there was still so much room for passengers! Some of the late boarders had to sit on the aisle floor for crying out loud (and still pay the full fare)!

I wouldn’t have remembered this had I not read about an overloaded bus in Cebu that killed 15 people this month. Such reckless, GREEDY practices must not only go unchecked, punish those responsible!!!

Such a stark contrast to the budget buses in New York and the U.S. East Coast I just rode on the month before, with their comfy seats, power outlets and wifi-on-board service:

Our buses don’t even come close to the Mekong Express buses of Vietnam and Cambodia, with comparable fares of $10-12 from Ho Chi Minh to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, complete with snacks and an English-speaking tour guide!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Ceres Bus Company, if you can’t offer premium services, then please at the very least ensure that we can travel SAFELY with you and your buses!

I remember singing this song over and over again when I was in first grade–my mom chose it as my piece for a singing contest in school…
I realize now that that was in 1987, a year after EDSA 1 (it puts me off the way we have to qualify which EDSA we mean now–the succeeding two were “not of the same spirit” and don’t belong with the first). Without pretense, in 1987, the spirit of Bayan Ko was alive in my mom, and was unknowingly passed on to me:

Ang bayan kong Pilipinas
Lupain ng ginto’t bulaklak
Pag-ibig na sa kanyang palad
Nag-alay ng ganda’t dilag

At sa kanyang yumi at ganda
Dayuhan ay nahalina
Bayan ko, binihag ka
Nasadlak sa dusa

CHORUS
Ibon mang may layang lumipad
Kulungin mo at umiiyak
Bayan pa kayang sakdal-dilag
Ang ‘di magnasang makaalpas

Pilipinas kong minumutya
Pugad ng luha at dalita
Aking adhika
Makita kang sakdal laya

I wonder how kids feel today, having lived through the inauguration of a new president who above all, promises to be good-hearted.

Do they believe him? Do they hope with him?

It was my first time to vote for a president this week, and together with about 50,000 Pinoys, I voted for Nick Perlas.  Maybe a small showing compared to the rest of the candidates, but that feat was not small at all.

Seeds have been planted, and in some places, given the chance to grow.

Many of us came out of the our apolitical caves to join in the May 2010 frenzy, but I hope that whatever effort we put into campaigning for our chosen candidates can also be translated to monitoring and supporting those same candidates, whether they won or not.

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My best friend, Jason Gonzales, ran as Iloilo city councilor (first time in politics, and won as top 6 of 12 as an independent! so proud of him!), and we flew to Iloilo on election day itself  to lend him our truest and loudest support.

(more…)

I’ve made no secret about my support for Nicanor Perlas, who is neither my relative, family friend, nor ninong.

Glad to see others are recognizing the same:

Perlas best bet to solve water woes, survey shows (Inquirer, 23 March 2010) — Environmental groups EcoWaste Coalition and Greenpeace show the results of their “Green Electoral Initiative” (GEI) survey, which ranks the presidential candidates’ green value based on their platforms on clean water.  Highest mark of  8.7 points (out of 10) goes to Nick Perlas.  Sen. Jamby Madrigal is second with 7.8 points, followed by Gordon with 7.2 points.

P30,000 water system solution–Perlas (Inquirer Visayas, 16 March 2010) — Nick Perlas gives a solution to water problem for farms that costs P30,000, can be set up in three days, and can irrigate three to five hectares of farms.

(more…)

NOTE: This site got hacked last month and boo that my back-up didn’t include the latest 4 posts (lesson learned: back-up everyday!).  I’m resurrecting this third of four posts (original publish date: January 2010) from loose emails and saved drafts.

Look at these ingenious jeepneys spotted in Leyte!

Got these pics in the email last January 2010 from Dorothy Llariza, who said they were passed along by an acquaintance from India.  At first glance, friends and I were quick to dismiss these jeepneys as “surface green”–they use bamboo and other indigenous materials, but still have the same constitution as their CO2-guzzling cousin…. or so we thought.

An online search just now led me to the site of TOTI Eco,  which as it turns out is another ingenious project by a local government official (and also the source of the pics doing the email circuit)!

Feeling the need for a low-cost, fuel-efficient, safe, and environmentally-friendly alternative mode of transportation (versus the accident-prone habal-habal, a motorbike usually overloaded with passengers),  Tabontabon mayor Dr. Rustico Balderian created the Tabontabon Organic Transport Industry (TOTI) Eco cars, which proudly claim to be a revolution in transportation:

Important Points to Keep in Mind About a Bamboo Car vs. Vehicles of Steel
-Our bamboo cars run 100% on coco-biodiesel.
-90% made of bamboo.
-Bamboo is indigenous & renewable.
-Bamboo is stronger in tensile strength than steel.
-It takes 5 tons of ore to make 1 ton of steel plate.
-Consider the heat needed to process 5 tons of ore.
-Made by Tabontabon’s Out-of-School Youth

ECO 1
ECO1 can seat 20 people including the driver. It can run on ONE gallon of Biodiesel fuel for 8 hours. It can climb more than 20% grade. It is covered in banig the Filipino woven mat.

ECO 2
ECO2 is made of bamboo, seats 8 passengers, and has a stereo with sound system. It also runs on one gallon of biodiesel fuel for 8 hours.

Future Models
Other models in production include another vehicle made of bamboo…including the chassis.

Estimated cost of Eco1 amounts to P200,000.   Not sure how this compares to the steel Sarao…

Other projects by Mayor Balderian include the production of shredders, boilers and bio-reactors for solid waste management (package cost is at P650,000) and livelihood projects that reuse plastic waste into slippers, bags and bricks.

More pictures can be seen on the TOTI Eco website.

Related reading:

Biodiesel Bamboo Cabs: Philippines Town Turns Taxis Green (March 19, 2010)
Small Leyte town assembles bamboo car (Inquirer, Sept. 2009)
The Bamboo Jeep from Bangued, Abra (featured on Lakbay TV before 2006. NOTE: according to the people at Kawayantech, this bamboo jeepney was built by government worker Chris Adriatico in 1992 ):

Bamboo Bikes by Kawayan Tech (Oct 2009).  Video below shows clips of the bamboo bike building workshop by Craig Calfee held in the Yap Farm, San Jose, Tarlac last July 6-11, 2009:

Amazing that while transcribing videos of Nicanor Perlas (global environmentalist and 2010 Presidential aspirant), I came upon one video that had him talking exactly about SMALL FARMER PRODUCTIVITY.

This was just a few days after I chanced upon an article by Jeffrey Sachs in which he says that the world’s top 8 countries (the G8) agreed to give $20B to help small farmers increase productivity.  Seems like a normal aid activity, but Sachs stresses that this “is a potentially historic breakthrough in the fight against hunger and extreme poverty,” adding that combined with other initiatives, it “could be the greatest step so far toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals… to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by half by 2015.”

Empowering small farmers to solve world hunger and poverty.  Such a simple idea.  Could this be it? A real answer that is doable NOW?

How does this translate locally in any case?

Nicky Perlas in the video below briefly shares real, applicable solutions to agricultural productivity that have come from 40 years of working with farmers.  He studied, lived, and breathed agriculture–it is his great love.  And the best part is he presents them as a man who’s actually running for the highest office of the land.  Imagine having a president who understands, and one who understands really, and from the ground (he experienced it, still experiences it), that to help is to empower.

Nicky Perlas is the real deal. And this vision of empowering everyone, of including everyone is seen in every aspect of his candidacy– from his platform, to his dialogues with individuals and groups (from the grassroots to the national and even the global levels), and even to his manner of relating to his volunteers.  His slogan says it all–Tayong lahat Perlas.  The solution is in empowering EVERYONE.

Email me or visit nicanorperlas.com if you’d like to help empower others, and in the process empower yourself!

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Watch all videos of Nicky Perlas during the Mindanao forum held in Davao City last August 27, 2009 here. I included transcriptions of each video/issue for easier viewing. Issues discussed as follows:

1. Six Pillars of his Platform
2. Leadership for Mindanao
3. Economic Development and the Environment
4. Farm Land Conversion and Low Agricultural Productivity
5. Agriculture and Food Security
6. Philippine Education
7. Not Being Corrupt When Elected into Office
8. Indigenous Peoples Act of 1997
9. Indigenous Peoples Education
10. Business Investments in Mindanao
11. Future of the Youth in Mindanao
12. Bangsamoro Juridical Entity
13. Laws to Protect the Environment
14. Three Women’s Rights to Protect and Promote
15. On Another Woman to Become President
16. Peace Agreement with the MILF

Once read that a 24-hour response time for a business today is old skool, given all the instant devices we have at our disposal– texts and calls on cellphones, mobile landlines, emails, instant messaging online, facebook, friendster, multiply, etc. But one site I have yet to explore is Twitter, said to be the most inane and useless concept on paper, but once you’re on it, you’d wonder how you ever lived without it…

Imagine my surprise when I read today that even the British government is urging employees to tweet! Makes me feel like such a lola for refusing to get on this bandwagon!

New government guidance has been published urging civil servants to use the micro-blogging site Twitter.

Launched on the Cabinet Office website, the 20-page document is calling on departments to “tweet” on “issues of relevance or upcoming events”.

The website is already used by Downing Street, the Foreign Office and many individual MPs.

Wonder how it would feel like to have instant access to the people in government, and get instant replies… It would be like opening Pandora’s box I think, considering how given to complaining and badgering (i.e. makulit talaga tayo!!) Pinoys are… Then again, imagine the possibilities…! Even on a community level, getting live information on public events, traffic concerns, government projects, and straight from the horse’s mouth! What a way to engage your public!

Tweets should also be limited to issues of relevance or upcoming events rather than just campaign messages, and insights from ministers are encouraged. A cabinet office spokeswoman said: “At the moment, around 65% of homes are on the internet and there are 15 million visits a month to directgov and these numbers are growing.

Sixty-five percent of households online..wow. What a tech-savvy country. The most recent techie upgrade I saw in Metro Manila was the ticketing gadgets of street parking attendants in Makati: hindi na de sulat-kamay, you get your ticket printed out on portable machines credit card style.

But hayyyy. What a long way to go.

Sidenote: Twitter was apparently built by dreamers (what business isn’t?) who went by the “Field of Dreams” philosophy: “Build it and they will come.” Talk of the town now is how “to turn their popular micro-blogging service into a revenue-generating company.” From marketwatch.com:

The Twitter co-founders told me at the D7 conference in May that they believe their business is similar to Google Inc. (GOOG 444.80, -1.92, -0.43%) , which built its search engine before it figured out how to generate revenue.
But Google was faster to figure it out. It launched AdWords, its first system to sell ads related to search in October 2000, two years after incorporating. Twitter’s service is now three years old, having been launched in July 2006, and is still running about $55 million in venture funding.