USAID, The Asia Foundation Launch Assistance Program For Local Governments In Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines - With support from the United States Agency for International Development, The Asia Foundation will help local governments in Mindanao improve fiscal performance, service delivery, transparency and accountability.

The Foundation will conduct a series of regional orientations in Mindanao to announce the availability of technical assistance for local governance improvement, which will be implemented under the fourth phase of the USAID-supported Transparent Accountable Governance Program.

Many local governments in Mindanao are challenged by limited resources and inadequate governance capacity, which impede the delivery of even the most basic services to citizens.

In some areas of the region, instability hinders economic development. The TAG Program will assist local governments in increasing revenues and managing expenditures, enhancing frontline services, and improving administrative processes to enable them to better serve citizens.

The Foundation will conduct three regional orientations to provide information on program enrolment, the competitive selection process, and the expected results of TAG assistance. The first orientation will be held on July 20 and 21 in Davao City for municipalities in Regions 11 and 12.

The second orientation, in Cagayan de Oro City on July 22 and 23, will cover Regions 9, 10, and CARAGA. A separate orientation for ARMM municipalities will follow in September. Provincial directors of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and representatives of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines will participate as TAG partners.

“We welcome Mindanao mayors to the orientation sessions on our local governance assistance program. The U.S. Government proudly supports local governance and decentralization that brings development closer to the citizens,” said Roger Carlson, Acting Mission Director of USAID.

Dr. Steven Rood, Philippine Country Representative of The Asia Foundation said, “The Foundation is pleased to be able to reach out to local governments throughout Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. We are at the very beginning of a new administration, both at the national and the local levels, so this effort is perfectly timed to maximize the benefits which can be produced in the upcoming term of office of local officials.”

USAID projects praised in Zamboanga City

City Councilor Gerky Valesco speaks during the closing of the USAID livelihood skills training program in Zamboanga City.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 20, 2009) – A member of the Zamboanga City Council praised the United States for its continuing support on various development and livelihood projects here.

Councilor Gerky Valesco thanked the United States Assistance for International Development (USAID) for funding the intermediate and advance baking and pastries production for out-of-school youth here.

The project, he said, helped spur the livelihood potentials of the locals as well as the promotion of their communities. Valesco was the guest speaker during the project’s culminating program held in the village of Santa Maria.

Valesco said the the out-of-school youth benefited from the livelihood initiative dubbed as the Technology-Based Community Skills Training (TBCST) under the Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQUALLS-2) headed by Robinson Wee.

“This workshop can spell a difference in the lives of our people and is highly relevant as this will encourage sense of entrepreneurship and the importance of self-reliance to our people, at the same time, their products or outputs can verily help promote their respective villages,” Valesco said.

Valesco thanked the USAID for the consistent and well-meaning intention in equipping Filipinos with livelihood projects amid the global financial crisis. Valesco has been advocating the so-called “One Barangay One Product,” initiative, similar to the government’s One Town One Product program.

The One Town One Product is a priority program of President Gloria Arroyo to promote entrepreneurship and create jobs. Through the One Town One Product, local chief executives of each city and municipality take the lead in identifying, developing and promoting a specific product or service, which has a competitive advantage. It also supports micro, small and medium enterprises to manufacture, offer and market distinctive products or services through the use of indigenous raw materials and local skills and talents.

Valesco’s idea is focused on the potentials of the villages with the direct involvement of the people.

Also present during the Friday’s closing program were Santa Maria village officials headed Justo Lacandalo, Corazon Hericho; and officials from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority led by Maricor Santa Teresa, Joy Wee, Larilyn Lim, and municipal coordinator Nathaniel Asuncion among others. (Jung Francisco)

US Pledges More Development Projects In Sulu

Photos released by the US Embassy show American Ambassador Kristie Kenney and Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan lead groundbreaking ceremonies in Jolo town in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008.

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 15, 2008) – The United States pledged more support to peace and development efforts in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, where American forces are training local troops.

Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan said US Ambassador Kristie Kenney was in the province on Tuesday and launched various development projects, among them the repair of the airport runway and the water system in the capital town of Jolo.

"We are thankful to the US government for its continued support to peace and development in Sulu. My people are forever grateful to all these humanitarian projects," Tan told reporters.

He said the projects are worth some $3.7 million and on top of the more than $190 million pledged by Washington last year for infrastructure and other development and humanitarian projects in Mindanao.

Tan said the airport runaway will be expanded to more than 1,800 meters so it could accommodate bigger passenger planes not only from Manila or Zamboanga, but from neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei that makes up the East Asia Growth Area (EAGA), a sub-regional economic cooperation initiative in Southeast Asia that included the Philippines.

At present, only small planes such as the Seair's 19-seater passenger aircraft now serving the Jolo-Zamboanga route. So far, the biggest plane that could land at Jolo airport is the military's C-130 cargo plane.

Tan said the project was made possible because President Glorial Arroyo have sought the funding for the rehabilitation of the airport.

He said the completion of the airport repair will boost investments in Sulu province. "Several local and foreign investors have already expressed their intent to set up businesses here," he said.

He said the rehabilitation of the airport is expected to be completed next year.Tan and Kenney led US and Filipino officials in the ground breaking ceremonies in Jolo town.

"This will improve development and give the citizens of Jolo a chance to be connected to the rest of the Philippines. More importantly, it will give the rest of the country and the world a chance to discover Jolo," Kenney said.

Total air passenger traffic to Jolo grew 30 percent in 2006-2007, making it difficult at times to get seats on existing flight routes, while cargo movement more than quadrupled, according to data from the Air Transportation Office.

"With this development, Sulu can now aim high and be competitive with the rest of the country in opening a gateway for market linkages to promote their local products," Kenney said.

The airport improvement project is being completed in partnership with the Department of Transportation and Communications, Civil Aviation Authority, the Sulu provincial government and the US Agency for International Development's Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program.

Kenney also said the water project will upgrade the current pumping system by constructing a 200-cubic meter concrete reservoir, installing transmission pipelines totaling 2.5 kilometers long and replacing distribution pipelines and defective meters.

The project will enable the Jolo Water District to provide potable running water to approximately 70,000 residents of Jolo and adjacent villages in Indanan and Patikul towns.

Kenney said the water project will be undertaken through the joint efforts of the Sulu provincial government, Local Water Utilities Administration, Jolo Water District, and the GEM Program.

"America is proud to be among the many partners in this project," she said.

Kenney and Tan also visited the Mohammad Tulawie Central School, a beneficiary of USAID education and workforce preparation assistance, and she read books with students.US troops are currently training Filipino forces in Sulu and are active in humanitarian missions.

They have built schools, roads and clinics, among others worth over $10 million since 2006 in the province, according to Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commander of military forces in Sulu. (Mindanao Examiner)

US Fight Insurgency In Philippines With Aid And Development Projects

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 2, 2008) - US peace and development efforts in the Philippines is gaining ground and making progress in the fight against terrorism.

US Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who visited Manila on Monday was in Zamboanga City over the weekend and met with US soldiers training local troops here, according to the American Forces Press Service of the US Department of Defense.

It said Mullen saw firsthand how the US inter-agency fight is making progress in the Philippines.

Mullen was at the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City where a bomb attack last week damaged the office of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and a Filipino military mutual fund near the Edwin Andrews Air Force base.

Filipino and US military officials briefed Mullen about the security situation in the southern region, where security are battling al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and the Indonesian militant Jemaah Islamiya, blamed for May 29 bombing here that killed three people and injured more than a dozen more.

Mullen later met with US soldiers who are part of the Joint Special Operations Task Force – Philippines and saw how the USAID is helping the Philippine government battle an insurgency.

The report quoted Mullen and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates as saying US civilian agencies, such as the USAID are important assets in the effort to combat terrorism and both have testified before US Congress on the need for more people and money for these agencies.

The US is helping Manila defeat terrorism and preventing the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya from recruiting members in Mindanao.

“What has become very evident to me as it should be to you here is security is a necessary condition, but security is not going to get you across home plate. You’ve got to be able to create an economic underpinning. You’ve got to have good governance. You’ve got to have the rule of law -- all these things that start to sustain themselves,” Mullen said.

Mullen said the US is helping the Philippine military address a “classic insurgency,” noting that in doing so, it’s as important to build a school, rebuild a bridge or host a medical clinic as it is to kill an extremist.

“I’ve come to believe that we’re never going to capture them all, [and] we’re never going to kill them all,” he said. “It’s going to be the people who take back their territory - the people that get fed up with it.”

USAID spends $50 million to $60 million a year in the Philippines, with 60 percent coming to this impoverished area while the US military aid is pegged at roughly $5 million to $6 million a year, the report said.

It said USAID works with Philippine national and local leaders to develop projects that benefit all the people. The agency has financed digging wells, building roads, rebuilding bridges and constructing schools.

The agency is financing improvements to the airports at Tawi-Tawi and in Sulu – both of which also benefit the Philippine armed forces.

USAID works with the Joint Special Operation Task Force - Philippines in scheduling medical, dental and veterinary exercises that provide health care to thousands of people. They also work with Navy Seabees who deploy to the islands to build schools and medical clinics. The agency also acts as a bridge for nongovernmental organizations that, for whatever reason, don’t want to work directly with the military.

But USAID is stretched, Mullen was quoted by the report as saying, adding, when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, the US took a “peace dividend.” While the US military was cut 35 to 40 percent, civilian agencies also were slashed. USAID went from 15,000 employees worldwide to 4,000.

“The US government is not set up for the wars of the 21st century,” Mullen said. “It doesn’t reflect the expeditionary world we’re living in. We haven’t recruited, hired, promoted, trained, and educated the people in our civilian agencies for the kind of expeditionary requirements and rotations that we are actually doing right now.”

Both Gates and Mullen have testified that the State Department needs 1,000 more employees and $1 billion more in budget.

USAID, State Department programs that help nations build governance and security assistance to help nations build military capabilities are crucial to the fight in the Philippines and go together in many other poorer nations that face the same problems. The civilian departments need to grow; they need more people, and those people need to deploy at a moment’s notice, Mullen said.

“Until we can do that, the military will pick up the slack, because we can,” Mullen said.

The report said the capability to help nations build good governance is not a core mission for the US Department of Defense, but it is something the State Department can and does do. Building infrastructure is a mission USAID has done since it started in 1961.

It said officials at the Joint Special Operation Task Force – Philippines and the US embassy in Manila would like to see the group get commanders’ emergency relief program funds.

“We had an incident where Abu Sayyaf burned down homes in central Mindanao, Lee McClenny, the US Embassy spokesman said. “If we’d had CERP funds, we could have helped rebuild those houses and made a huge statement against the terrorists.”

It said Mullen listened to the words of the civilian and military leaders on the ground – “where the rubber meets the road,” he said and promised to take their concerns back to Washington.

“The days where a single service, a single department, a single anything can make things happen are behind us,” Mullen said. “It’s got to be integrated, and it’s got to be all of us doing this together.”

Mullen did not speak to the Philippine media and the local military also refused to give details of his visit here. Mullen arrived in Zamboanga City with Philippine military chief Gen. Alexander Yano from Singapore where they attended an Asia security conference. Mullen and Yano held a closed conference in Manila on Monday. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sulu Airport To Undergo Repair And Expansion

Passengers from Pangutaran Island disembark from a motorized boat as the other wait for their turn in the port of Jolo in Sulu province in the southern Philippines. Small ferries and boats such as this bring passengers and goods to island-villages off Sulu. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 27, 2008) – Filipino engineers are to begin a survey in Sulu province for the expansion of the airport and once finished, huge planes such as 737s and cargo aircrafts, will be able to fly and land safely.

Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan said the project, which will begin in a few months, cost about $ 3 million and is funded by the United States. He said the project was made possible because of President Gloria Arroyo who sought the funding for the rehabilitation of the airport.

"We thank President Gloria Arroyo and of course the United States' President George Bush and all the stakeholders in the project that will surely benefit our people. With a bigger airport, more aircrafts now can fly and land safely in Sulu and the project will surely hasten trade and commerce," Tan said.

The 1,800-meter runaway will be expanded to more than 2,000 meters so it could accommodate bigger passenger planes not only from Manila or Zamboanga, but from neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei that makes up the East Asia Growth Area, a sub-regional economic cooperation initiative in Southeast Asia that included the Philippines. The rehabilitation of the airport expected to be completed next year.

He said Arroyo has pledged more development projects for Sulu and so is Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao , to which Sulu belongs. "The President has promised us more projects for the people and so is Gov. Ampatuan, who has been very supportive and working hard for the development of Sulu and of the whole autonomous region," Tan said.

In October last year, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney handed over to Tan the P27-million Jolo market road and several projects in the province, including computers for the Sulu National High School and aquaculture materials for former Muslim rebels now engaged in lobster fattening.

They were on top of the $3.7 million airport expansion project and the construction of a potable water system in Sulu.

Last year, Tan launched the "Fruits of Hope program" in partnership with the international non-governmental organization called the Asia America Initiative and the Philippine National Red Cross and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The Fruits of Hope program was a model for reconciliation and terror prevention through creating livelihood opportunities in agricultural and fisheries-based communities. Because of the program, Sulu was able to shipped about six tons of assorted fruits bought from farmers and agricultural cooperatives and sold to supermarkets in Manila.

Just early this year, Tan led thousands of Muslims for a two-day peace caravan in Sulu.

He said the caravan was a collaborative effort of national government agencies and various non-government organizations to address the immediate health, education and livelihood needs of communities affected by conflict.

Dubbed as Health, Education, and Livelihood for Progress (H.E.L.P) Humanitarian Caravan, Tan said it was a mechanism designed to address the needs of communities in crisis due to the prevailing conflict in the area.

A second peace caravan, Tan said, would be held next month in Sulu. Tan said the H.E.L.P initiative is also aimed at consulting with the local communities on their medium and long term concerns particularly on livelihood and employment aspect. (With reports from Nickee Butlangan and Sulu Media Desk)

World Earth Day: Sulu Joins Coastal Clean-Up Campaign

Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan, 2nd from left, and US military commander Col. Bill Coultrup, left, pick up pieces of garbage in the coastal village of Mauboh in Sulu province in southern Philippines, Monday, April 21, 2008.

Elzadia Washington, of the United States Agency for International Development, accompanied by US Embassy staff, arrived in Sulu to join more than a hundred Muslim villagers and soldiers in the clean-up campaign during the World Earth Day celebration. Elzadia Washington picks up pieces of garbage in the coastal village of Mauboh. And Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan gestures as he shows to Elzadia Washington the beautiful beaches in the town of Patikul. (Sulu Media Desk Photo)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / April 1, 008) – Muslim villagers joined US and Filipino troops in a coastal clean-up campaign during the World Earth Day celebration Monday in the southern province of Sulu.

Elzadia Washington, of the United States Agency for International Development, who visited Sulu province, also joined the clean-up drive in the village of Mauboh in Patikul town. Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan led the locals in the campaign.

“We are happy that people are active in caring for their environment and we will sustain this effort to ensure Sulu remains a beautiful place in this part of the country,” Tan told reporters.

Filipino marines and US troops headed by Col. Bill Coultrup joined in picking up pieces of garbage left by tides on the beach. “Along this, we are all reminded of our responsibilities, which extend beyond our own backyards. This clean-up campaign demonstrates oneness among stakeholders in caring for the waters not just in Sulu, but in fact everywhere in the world,” Marine commander Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban said.

“Every day should be coastal clean-up. And cleaning the coast through picking up garbage is the least that we can do. By giving Mother Earth a totally healthy environment, we are also acting upon our moral duty for the people we both serve and hold dear,” he said.

Washington said she is happy by the active participation of the province in the World Earth Day celebration. “Protecting the environment is important and crucial towards the progress of the nation. If environment is not protected, concerns in security may arise,” she said.

She also toured different places in Sulu and went with Tan to the Mount Datu where Washington viewed the whole of Jolo and nearby towns. Washington was all praised to the beauty of Sulu, from its pristine beaches to unspoiled jungle and friendly people. “The people are great and friendly and the place is magnificent,” she said.

Tan said the Mount Datu one of many eco-tourism sites in Sulu and a favourite among nature lovers and trekkers. While the Sulu Sea is one of the richest fishing grounds in the Philippines. “We have very beautiful places in Sulu and we are working hard to promote these places,” he said.

The Tubbataha Reef is the best known site in the Sulu Sea for its 81,000 acres of corals. It is also considered the world's best dive spot for underwater adventure. The pearls from the Sulu Archipelago are among the finest in the world, Tan said. (With reports from Nickee Butlangan and Arthur Abasalo)

Mindanao To Get 160 New School Rooms

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 14, 2008) – The US Agency for International Development has partnered with Petron Foundation to construct and rehabilitate more than 160 school rooms in the troubled region of Mindanao, south of the Philippines.

USAID and Petron agreed to provide US$ 1.25 million each, for a total of US$ 2.5 million, to help alleviate classroom shortages and improve access to basic education in Mindanao, home to more than 16 million people.

U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney and Petron Chairman Nicasio Alcantara signed the agreement on Monday at the Petron Building in Makati City.

The partnership was in to a classroom shortage across many parts of the country.

“The USAID and Petron Foundation will construct 120 classrooms and rehabilitate an additional 480 classrooms in public elementary schools. The partnership will equip new and refurbished classrooms with water and electricity, an average of 25 school desks each, and teachers’ tables and chairs, blackboards, cabinets, fans, clocks, and toilets,” the US Embassy said in a statement.

It said the USAID’s Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS) project has conducted an assessment on the need for new classrooms in communities in Mindanao based on current and projected enrollment data in relation to the existing number of classrooms.

The EQuALLS assessment has identified areas for construction and rehabilitation across 35 municipalities and 4 cities in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Western and Southern Mindanao Undersecretary Ramon Bacani, of the Philippines Department of Education, has committed to maintain the school buildings after the construction and refurbishment.

The Department of Education topped the list of the government budget recipients with P138 billion allocated as follows: P2 billion for the repair of school buildings; P760 million to cover the backlog of classrooms; and P420 million for school seats and P330 million to hire new teachers.

But while the bulk of the national budget goes to education, it remains inadequate to address the problems crippling the education sector.

Hundreds of teachers last year had walked out of their classes in Sulu, one of five provinces under the ARMM, to protest the alleged failure of the Department of Education in the ARMM, to pay their salaries. But regional education officials insisted the teachers have not been paid because they either not passed the PRC licensure examination or are not qualified.

Sulu has more than 5,000 teachers and about 900 of them are with temporary status serving some 50,000 students in 19 towns.

Teachers here have blamed problems of delayed and missing salaries and contributions to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to corruption.

More than P389 million of teachers' contributions to GSIS were allegedly missing and that this has ballooned to over P600 million over the years and yet ARMM continues to deduct insurance premiums from their salaries. The teachers were asking for a formal Congressional or Senate investigations into the missing GSIS contributions and salaries and jail those who would be found guilty of embezzling funds.

The Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), a national confederation of government employees and their unions and associations, said teachers are among the skilled workers that have joined the exodus of Filipinos leaving for abroad due to the lure of higher pay.

Attracting and retaining competent public school teachers remains a huge problem in the Philippines. Many state teachers are overworked but underpaid. A public school teacher here only gets around P10,000-P15,000 a month while a Filipino teacher in the United States can earn up to P40,000 or more.

Low-paying jobs, deplorable working conditions and lack of opportunities in the country also drive some teachers to become domestic workers or caregivers just so they can work abroad. (Mindanao Examiner)

The Asia Foundation Distributes Books In Southern Philippines

Efren Balajadia, the Director of the Books for Asia Program, of The Asia Foundation, hands over books and reference materials to Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan and Vice Gov. Lady Anne Sahidullah and other provincial officials headed by Patikul town Mayor Kabir Hayudini during a two-day peace caravan in Sulu province. The Asia Foundation will distribute 20,000 books on Thursday and Friday, March 6-7, 2008 in South Cotabato province and General Santos City in southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Nickee Butlangan)

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 05, 2008) – The Asia Foundation will release some 20,000 children’s books and reference materials to 560 schools in the southern Philippines.

Steven Rood, Country Representative of The Asia Foundation, said they will distribute the books at separate ceremonies on Thursday and Friday in South Cotabato province and General Santos City.

The donations, he said, are part of The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia program. The distribution of the books in Mindanao is made possible through The Asia Foundation’s Transparent Accountable Governance (TAG) project with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Among key people who are invited to grace the occasion in South Cotabato are Koronadal City Mayor Fernando Miguel, South Cotabato Governor Daisy Fuentes and other government and education officials.

Mayor Pedro Acharon and Congresswoman Darlene Custodio will also lead the ceremony in General Santos City.

The provision of books and other educational resources serves as a joint commitment in the campaign for education among communities in South Cotabato and General Santos.

“The Asia Foundation is happy to be able to provide educational resources in order to make a difference in the lives of school children in South Cotabato and General Santos.”

“All members of society have to take on the responsibility of mobilizing their resources to create an impact on the performance of their young leaders. With the help of our local governments and private partners, we can help each community as we bring learning to all deserving schools throughout Southern Mindanao and the rest of the Philippines,” said Ky Johnson, Deputy Country Representative of The Asia Foundation.

Since 1954, Books for Asia program has been committed to the belief that knowledge and education are critical for Asian nations to advance their citizens and societies. The program puts nearly one million up-to-date books and resources of the highest quality into the hands of students, teachers, and librarians in 17 Asian countries each year, according to The Asia Foundation.

“Education forms the foundation for all prosperous and democratic societies,” Jon Lindborg, USAID Philippines Mission Director, said. “The U.S. Government is very proud to support the work of dedicated organizations like The Asia Foundation and committed schools and communities across Mindanao to help improve educational opportunities for school children and young scholars.”

USAID's program in the Philippines, valued at approximately $80 million in 2008, focuses on strengthening peace in conflict-affected Mindanao, promoting good governance, increasing economic opportunities, protecting the environment, strengthening health services, and improving basic education.

Last year, The Asia Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to the development of a peaceful, prosperous, just, and open Asia-Pacific region, provided more than $68 million in program support and distributed 974,000 books and educational materials valued at $33 million throughout Asia. It depends solely on monetary contributions from donors to accomplish its work.

Reynald Ocampo, Assistant Program Officer-Books for Asia Program, acknowledged the unrelenting support of public and private partners in the endeavor and said U.S. publishers have supplied the books while the Aboitiz2go helped shipped them to Mindanao.

“We are happy to help and look forward to providing more books to other areas in Mindanao,” Ocampo told the Mindanao Examiner.

In December, the Asia Foundation led by Efren Balajadia, the Books for Asia Program Director, also donated books and reference materials to Sulu province during a two-day peace caravan. Balajadia said they will continue to support basic education program in Sulu. (With reports from Mark Navales and Nickee Butlangan)

Sulu Schools Get USAID Support

EQuALLS is helping communities in Luuk town in Sulu province in southern RP craft an education and skills plan from which their municipal government would base its education projects, like reconstructing classrooms in this devastated school building at Kan Muni elementary school. Buroh Elementary School Principal Mrs. Hulman Sali (left) receives a copy of the joint support agreement which will guide her in using the schools improvement grant from USAID’s EQuALLS project and the local government of Talipao. With her are EQuALLS-Save the Children Project Director Joe Agarano and Talipao Mayor Hadja Sitti Raya Tulawie. And school principals sign the joint support agreement after receiving their schools improvement grants from USAID-EQuALLS2 and the local government of Talipao, Sulu. Mrs. Parisia Lerios (left) earnestly points out the importance of implementing priority projects. (Photos by Abdel Amilhamja)

SULU, Philippines – The tell-tale signs of the town’s delicate history with armed conflict are pock-marked on the few concrete structures in Talipao. A short distance away, a pillar that once was part of a school building stands like a monument to the fierce clashes between Moro bandits and government troops a few years ago.

But the land’s harsh history is softened by the lush greenery and the people’s gentle ways. It is probably because of this past that people are forward-looking and have that eager desire to put things aright.

This is particularly apparent among teachers and educators. Mrs. Parisia Lerios is the school principal of Bilaan Central Elementary School in Talipao. When the school was reopened last year, structures and facilities were in a sorry state. Here, a classroom of 100 pupils must make the best of 40 chairs.

To help fill the school’s need Mrs. Lerios trekked a good distance to Camp Bayog, seeking donation for chairs from the American soldiers in the Balikatan program (mutual peace agreement program between the US and Philippine governments) last year.

But the teaching force also needs attention. “There are 291 grade one pupils in my school. Two of their teachers are under probationary status and do not report regularly. If nobody assumes their role, 100 kids will be deprived of learning for a day. So I set aside my reports and go to their classroom,” Mrs. Lerios explained.

In nearby village of Tiis, Mr. Jun Sali, a principal of five years, reflects on the hurdles his tiny school has to overcome. Out of five teachers, three are on probationary status. These teachers have been working without pay since June 2007, spending for their transport to and from Tiis out of their own pockets.

“We only have 2 regular teachers for 295 pupils. Still, the students are coping. We have managed to land in the median rank in the achievement test given by the Department of Education (DepED),” Mr. Sali said.

The Bilaan Central Elementary School and Tiis Elementary School are just two examples of schools struggling to survive amidst poverty and threats of conflict in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Help comes to them, and to over a hundred other schools in Sulu province, from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS2) project.

On January 29, USAID awarded a total of P700,000 as schools improvement grants to 14 schools in Talipao which will be used for rehabilitation and improvements of classrooms and school facilities, launching a reading program and trainings like English language enrichment for teachers.

This amount was augmented with P100,000.00 by the local government under the leadership of municipal Mayor Hadja Sitti Raya Tulawie. EQuALLS2 advocated with Mayor Tulawie to invest in projects that respond to the education problems in her municipality.

The award has brought school principals one step closer to the realization of their dreams. For the first time, they felt empowered to take the lead in providing better quality education to their children. The grant from EQuALLS2 and the local government came with an education and skills plan embodying the voices of various sectors in their community – children and youth, parents and teachers, barangay leaders, and religious leaders.

“Now we can accomplish our priority projects. First is the training of teachers. Second is the repair of our dilapidated classrooms,” Mrs. Lerios thought aloud, her tone disclosing her happiness.

Mr. Sali also presented his priorities, “We will focus on pupils’ development. We will run a reading program for our school’s struggling and non-readers.” In a low but obviously cheerful voice, he added, “And the principal’s office.” He related that he never had an office since the start of his tenure as the school principal. His school records and reports are kept at home.

When in school, he stays on the stage, a flat and open structure whose zinc roofing is his only shield from the sun.

Elsewhere in Region 9, Region 12 and ARMM, USAID’s EQuALLS2 project has advocated to local governments in upgrading Mindanao’s education sector. It involves a process that sounds clear cut: consult the grassroots, engage the local government. In between, however, are the key elements: rare and bold educators wanting that lasting change.

“You have to go out, source out. If you only wait for blessings, it’s not going to work.” Wise words from Mrs. Lerios. (Floreen Bartulaba)

Pinoy Out-Of-School-Youths Get Education In Mindanao

Education administrators from Region 9, 12 and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao attend recently the DAP workshop together with project implementers of EQuALLS OSCY programs in Mindanao. DAP, a profiling tool from the USAID’s EQuALLS project uses positive questions to gain insight into the child’s personal experiences and assets. EQuALLS hopes to increase OSCYs’ chances of success by building on these assets while engaging them in livelihood skills trainings. The Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) introduced by USAID’s EQuALLS project can produce results that indicate an out-of-school youth’s strongest positive assets. These assets will enable him to live a healthy and responsible life. (Photos by USAID-EQuALLS)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - How fare the youth in Mindanao? Are they growing up as responsible adolescents? Are they making healthy choices? Are they potential leaders of their communities? It would be interesting to get a glimpse of the youths’ plight along these lines.

To this day however, there has been no known profiling of Mindanao youth based on personal assets. But very soon, this gap shall be filled – at least for the out-of-school youth (OSCY) sector in Region 9, 12 and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Thanks to Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS), an education project from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), kids who have dropped out of school and are now engaged in EQuALLS’ basic literacy and livelihood skills trainings will undergo a survey so as to get their profile.

The new profiling tool, Developmental Assets Profile (DAP), surveys children ages 11 to 18 years basing on 40 developmental assets – personal experiences and qualities that they need to become responsible members of the society. Children respond to a test instrument which will reveal how much of these assets they possess.

Earlier this month, DAP was introduced to EQuALLS implementing partners and Department of Education (DepED) administrators from the Bureau of Alternative Learning System. It gained positive reactions from the DepED administrators in Region 9, 12 and ARMM who work closely with EQuALLS in the implementation of its Alternative Learning System (ALS) programs.

They tried the survey at youth centers, among these the Social Development Center in Zamboanga City. What came out was a learner-centered profile of the youth conveying mostly the difficult growing up experiences of OSCYs. One of the administrators, Emie Kiblatain, Division ALS Supervisor of Sulu 2 in ARMM, was deeply touched when a child respondent sought an explanation of “family” when the word cropped up in the survey.

“I have no difficulty with DAP as a tool. But it can be difficult for this learner who has to answer questions about her family when she herself doesn’t know what a family is. She doesn’t know what a house is because for her the house is the Social Development Center,” she said.

“The DAP tool can also be an instrument to foster a closer relationship among Instructional Managers (IMs) and their learners,” Kiblatain added.

IMs are supervisors of ALS classes at EQuALLS community learning centers. With information on the learners’ abilities and personal assets, they will be in a much better position to help the learners achieve their goals – such as passing the government’s Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) test.

OSCYs undergo intensive basic literacy training in preparation for this test. The goal is to help them re-enter formal schools, since A&E passers will get a certification comparable to a diploma of an elementary or high school graduate. But the latest figures from DepED showed only 24% of 51,979 succeeded in the last A&E test.
Understanding the youth based on their strongest positive assets and building on these could be the key that will transform them from drop outs to achievers.

The DAP tool is only one of the many tested approaches USAID-EQuALLS has introduced for the development of the youth in Mindanao’s most volatile regions. EQuALLS aims to uplift the lives of 100,000 more OSCYs through various literacy and livelihood skills trainings until 2011. (Floreen Anne Bartulaba)

Southern RP Town Signs MOA With US Agency

Mayor Manuel Rabara, of Midsayap town in North Cotabato province and ASCEND-Mindanao Program Director Joe Agarano, Dr. Thomas Krall of USAID-Office of Education, sign the Memorandum of Agreement for the Midsayap-Municipal Education and Skills Plan (MESP) together with various partners and stakeholders.

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 20, 2007) – Local municipal leaders signed an agreement with the US-led Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS) as they celebrated the success of the program in North Cotabato province in southern Philippines.

The agreement ensures the sustainability of community support to basic education, alternative learning, and skills livelihood training projects of EQuALLS and Save the Children-Assistance for the Comprehensive Educational Development of Mindanao (ASCEND-Mindanao) in Midsayap town.

Just recently, some 250 children, youth, teachers, community members and village and governmental officials, including business leaders gathered in Midsayap to celebrate the successes of three years EQuALLS project implemented by ASCEND-Mindanao.

Highlight of the event was the signing of Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) by the local government of Midsayap, the Department of Education (DepED), and EQuALLS/ASCEND.

US, Britain Pour Development Aid In Southern RP

Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan with US and British Ambassadors Kristie Kenney and Peter Beckingham on Monday Sept. 24, 2007 in Patikul town in Sulu province in southern RP. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 24 Sept) – US and British officials on Monday unveiled a huge package of development projects in Sulu province in an effort to help Manila bring peace and progress in the southern region.

Ambassadors Kristie Kenney, of the United States, and Peter Beckingham, of the British Embassy, arrived WITH Philippine military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon in Jolo town where Gov. Sakur Tan led local officials in welcoming the delegation.

Tan said the US and British projects will help a lot of people in Sulu, one of five provinces under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Among the projects are the rehabilitation of the Jolo airport by the US worth $3 million and $700,000 potable water system funded by the British government under the Alliance for Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) program.

"The $3 million will be used to rebuilt and renovate the Jolo airport so people here can their fabulous products out to market in Manila and the rest of the world," Kenney told reporters.

It was in addition to the $190 million development and economic growth agreement the US recently signed to help fund other projects in Mindanao. "The $190 million will be spreading it evenly throughout various parts of Mindanao. The airport in Jolo and the water system, which costs $700,000, are separate projects," she said.

The potable water system, on the other hand, will benefit hundreds of people in four villages - Siolakan, Bakud, Latung, and SibakLatud – in Sulu's Siasi town, where AMORE also set up the communities' first access to electricity using solar power technology in 2004.

The project consist of an intake structure, four impounding reservoirs confined with 7,335 meters pipeline and with 21 tap stands, said Tetchie Capellan, AMORE's chief of party.

"I am confident that the completion of the potable water system project, the health, sanitation, and economic living conditions of the 200 marginalized households spread across the four villages will be addressed," Capellan said.

The AMORE is an alliance of the United States Agency for International Development, the Philippines' Department of Energy, Mirant Philippines Foundation Inc., the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Winrock International.

Bekingham described the province as vibrant and tremendous. "Everybody is very friendly and I am delighted to be here and see the projects that we are doing here," he said.

He said Britain is committed to increasing expenditure on water related projects, ensuring universal access to safe water and sanitation. The British government, he said, has already supported projects in developing countries, like in the Philippines, a community-based program integrating water, sanitation and hygiene education.

Kenney and Beckingham also handed over ten units of computers to the Sulu National High School. The British government provided reference materials while the USAID helped to install the new computers and train teachers on their use for classroom instruction.

They also visited the Jolo Market Road which had been upgraded recently from an earthen causeway to a concrete-paved boulevard by USAID. Tan said the improved road now provides a more efficient means of moving products and people from Jolo port to the market area.

The road has already become an evening attraction for locals, many of whom now regularly take walks to watch the sunset and panoramic view of the Sulu Sea.

Tan said the ambassadors also handed over aquaculture production materials to former Muslim rebels now engaged in lobster and abalone farming. "Peace and development in the province of Sulu has always been the ultimate goal of my administration and the people of this historical archipelago."

"Seeing it flourish again into agricultural and marine-based economic potentate in the region amidst challenges is the glory we all relentlessly working for early realization," he told Kenney and Beckingham.

Esperon said the peace and order condition in Sulu has improved a lot the past months and is giving confidence to foreign countries to take a second look into the province's rich natural resources. "Sulu is very peaceful and we have the US and British ambassadors here pouring a lot of development projects. It is a very good sign that progress," he said. (Mindanao Examiner)

Kano Nagbuhos Ng Proyekto Sa Sulu

Ang mala-paraisong beaches sa lalawigan ng Sulu ay maihahalintulad sa Boracay o mga resorts sa Phuket sa Thailand. Tatlong malalaking proyekto ang ilulunsad ng Estados Unidos sa lalawigan na patuloy sa pagunlad. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

SULU (Mindanao Examiner / 23 Sept) – Tatlong malalaking proyekto ng Estados Unidos ang ilulunsad ngayon sa Sulu bilang pagtugon at suporta sa patuloy na pag-unlad at katahimikan sa lalawigan.

Kabilang sa mga proyekto ay ibat-ibang infrastructure projects, patubig at kuryente. Inaasahang dadaluhan ng matatas na opisyal ng embahada ng Estados Unidos at maging sa embahada ng Britanya.

Isang opisyal ng Alliance for Mindanao Off-Grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) ang nagsabi sa Mindanao Examiner na ang proyekto ay bahagi ng pagtugon ng Estados Unidos, partikular ang United States Agency for Internatinal Development (USAID), sa katahimkan at pag-unlad ng Sulu.

Maganda umano ngayon ang kasiguruhan at pangangalakal sa Sulu kung ihahambing sa mga nakalipas na taon, kung kaya’t nabiyayaan ang lalawigan ng malalakign proyekto.

Natuwa naman si Gov. Sakur Tan at sinabi nito na ang patuloy na pagunlad ng Sulu ay sa kadahilanan ng pakikipagtulungan ng mga ahensya ng pamahalaan at mga bayan dito, gayun rin ang suporta ng mga business groups sa lalawigan at mga nongovernmental organizations at mamamayan at mga Ulama.

“Marami ang nagtatrabaho ngayon para sa ikauunlad ng Sulu at nais naming ipakita sa buong bansa at buong mundo na sa pagkakaisa ay may bagong pag-asa,” ani Tan sa hiwalay na panayam.

Ang USAID ang siyang nasa likod ng AMORE – ito’y 7 taon na proyekto sa pakikipagtulungan sa pamahalaan at Department of Energy sa Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). (Mindanao Examiner)

U.S., Australia Continue Mindanao Education Initiative

The joint EQuALLS-BEAM Beginning Reading Program helps teachers understand the learning process of children, classify them according to levels of school readiness, and effectively teach beginning reading in pilot schools in ARMM.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Building on previous collaborative efforts, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) trained 134 teachers, school heads, and division supervisors from 18 public schools across the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) on teaching beginning reading to Grade One students.

Called the Beginning Reading Program, the joint effort is carried out by USAID’s Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS) and AusAID’s Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM) program. The trainings were conducted on August 20-24 and August 27-31 in Cotabato City and Zamboanga City, respectively.

Teachers were trained in devising innovative and engaging methods of teaching beginning reading to first-graders.

They were likewise trained in assessing the readiness of pupils to begin formal schooling thereby allowing them to tailor-fit their lessons according to the readiness of the class.

Department of Education ARMM Secretary Udtog Kawit has acknowledged the contributions that USAID and AusAID are making to improve the capacity of teachers in ARMM, which is a region that continues to require significant assistance to develop teaching capacity and provide students access to quality basic education.

Mrs. Shirley Dawila, principal of Provincial Housing Lab Elementary School in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, says “the Beginning Reading program will help us solve the problem of non-readers in our school. After this training, I want to witness the teacher’s class and see to it that she follows the program.”

Earlier this year USAID and AusAID jointly trained 4,000 teachers in the ARMM on teaching English, science, and math. Two other follow-through trainings are set for November this year and January next year.

EQuALLS’ partnership with the BEAM project for the Beginning Reading program is a step towards EQuALLS’ goal of improving education quality in Mindanao, especially in areas where learning is disrupted by poverty and conflict.

U.S. Officials Open Joint Military Training In South RP

U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney and Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat in Tumaga village, 01 June 2007.

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 1 June) – American Ambassador Kristie Kenney on Friday visited the southern Filipino port city of Zamboanga, where U.S. and Philippine troops are holding a joint amphibious training.

Kenney formally opened the 13th “Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training,” known as CARAT 2007.

CARAT 2007 is a combined naval tactical operations exercise involving fleet forces of both the Philippine and United States Navies. The exercise also focuses on relationship building through social and community service events such as providing free medical, dental, and veterinary care in host communities.

Kenney also inspected the USS Harper’s Ferry, one of three American naval ships participating in the exercise, and met with Philippine Army Lieutenant General Eugenio Cedo, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, to discuss on how to further expand joint humanitarian and development programs in the troubled region.

Local mayor Celso Lobregat welcomed the U.S. official who also toured several American-funded projects for development in the Zamboanga area.

While in Zamboanga, the ambassador visited poor Muslim communities and led U.S. and Filipino officials in distributing some 42,000 books to school libraries.

The books were donated under the Education Awareness Support Effort (EASE) program of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and will go to more than 130 schools, allowing students to have access to encyclopedias, dictionaries, literature and short stories.

She visited the island of Pangapuyan Island, a remote community that received electricity through a program supported by the USAID under the AMORE Project, which aims to provide electricity to more than 400 remote and conflict-affected villages in Mindanao. AMORE also announced an additional $2 million to the program.

Kenney also inspected a hanging footbridge in Tumaga village which was built so villagers can safely and easily cross a river and improve their access to needed health, social and economic services in the town center.

The USAID, through its Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) program, built the new 30-meter long pedestrian footbridge to replace a deteriorating wooden bridge.

After a short tour in the village, Kenney also attended a roundtable discussion on tax collection with Lobregat and Zamboanga business leaders. Zamboanga City is one of 16 Mindanao cities participating in USAID’s and The Asia Foundation’s Transparent and Accountable Governance (TAG) Project.

Under TAG, participating city governments have committed themselves to enacting specific governance reforms to improve services and reduce corruption. Zamboanga City chose to reform its processes for collecting business taxes and issuing business permits. (Chris Navarra)

And The Struggle Continues...

NORTH COTABATO - Peace talks between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have been sidelined by the recent national and local elections. A story published on the newkerala.com reports about struggle of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in Mindanao.

Since the age of 15 Muslim rebel Datumanong Lumanggal has fought countless battles against government troops in the southern Philippines to defend his peoples' rights and identity.

Through the years, Lumanggal said he saw numerous friends and relatives killed in clashes with soldiers on the hills of Carmen town in North Cotabato province, 960 km south of Manila.

Now, the 54-year-old father of three grown-up children is waging a different kind of battle aimed at uplifting the lives of men who fought with him as commander of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which used to be the largest Muslim separatist rebel group in the southern Philippines.

Lumanggal and his wife are leading a group of close to 300 MNLF fighters turn the battlefields of Carmen into a bountiful field of mango, banana and corn plantations in the village of Kitulaan.

"We lost money in our first mango harvest but our bananas and corn are doing well," Lumanggal said.

"But through the help of GEM (Growth with Equity in Mindanao) technicians, we hope to improve our mango harvest and make a profit during the next fruiting season," he added.

Lumanggal and his men are among 28,000 of an estimated 70,000 MNLF combatants who have received financial and technical support from the US-funded GEM programme aimed at helping them reintegrate into the mainstream of society.

The GEM programme was started after the MNLF signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in September 1996, raising hopes of development in the southern region of Mindanao, where decades of strife has hampered economic and social growth.

Aside from livelihood projects, the GEM programme also built basic infrastructure as farm-to-market roads and bridges in communities, affected by the conflict in Mindanao.

While Lumanggal said he was thankful for the assistance from GEM, he was worried of the larger number of MNLF fighters who have yet to reap the benefits of the 1996 peace pact.

"The help is not enough," he said. "A lot of MNLF fighters are still waiting for help. Some of them are getting desperate. I hope their plight could be addressed soon or else trouble might start again."

In the mountains in nearby Shariff Kabunsuan province, more than 200 MNLF fighters gathered in a show of force to a group of journalists.

Commander Magid Bantu said his group of more than 1,000 fighters continues regular military training, but was not engaged in recruitment activities since it is not allowed under the peace agreement.

Bantu pointed to thatched houses in various degrees of decay, the unpaved dusty feeder road and the dilapidated school building, as proof of the continued poverty among the country's Muslim minority.

"Nothing has changed," he said. "We are still living in poverty and government services are few and far between. We are tired of fighting but how else can we be heard. Our options are very limited."

Bantu, 56, expressed serious concern that the continued neglect would force MNLF fighters to go back to the hills and renew their armed struggle.

The Philippine government has admitted that lack of funds has hampered the implementation of the agreement with the MNLF, but stressed that it was doing everything to help spur development in Mindanao.

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has in fact placed the implementation of the 1996 peace agreement with the MNLF on the top of her administration's agenda.

"Maybe the government thinks that we are already past our prime as fighters," he said. "But it has to remember that a new generation of disillusioned young Muslims are growing and they would not hesitate to continue our struggle, even if it means going back to the hills."

Making a lasting IMPACT: Flexible teaching system transforms public elementary schools

LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER. Incoming grade 4 student Lemuel Ian Cua of Culianan Learning Center helps his classmate solve a mathematical problem on fractions. The Culianan Learning Center has been implementing the electronically enhanced Instructional Management by Parents, Community and Teachers (e-IMPACT) system – a revolutionary, non- traditional, and flexible learning program supported by USAID’s Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS2) project that trains students to become peer group leaders while teachers facilitate a class of more than 80 students ranging from grades one to six.

A MIX OF EVERYONE. Tom Crehan, Chief of the Office of Education, USAID/Philippines talks to incoming grade six students in Maasin Learning Center. With him is Edsel Francisco, the school principal. In the background, a teacher oversees a peer group leader practice a reading exercise for grade one pupils. The electronically enhanced Instructional Management by Parents, Community and Teachers (e-IMPACT) system allows one teacher to handle 80 to 100 students clustered according to grade levels in one classroom.

EAGER LEARNERS. Elementary students of Maasin Learning Center in Zamboanga City take advance lessons on math to prepare for their role as peer group leaders in the coming school year. An in-service training on math was given to their teachers this summer by USAID ‘s Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS2) project to help them develop the higher order thinking skills of students in concepts such as fractions, geometry, whole numbers, and pictograph.

ALL READY. All geared up for school. A total of 4,100 teachers including master teachers and supervisors from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) were trained on teaching beginning reading during a summer training series held in 63 venues from April 9 to May 5. The wide-scale capability building activity was jointly sponsored by the USAID's Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS2) project and the BEAM project of the Australian Agency for International Development. When the school year opens in June, a reading program based on the training will be piloted in 18 schools in ARMM. In the Philippines, predominantly Muslim populated region has the lowest student academic achievement owing largely to the poor competencies of teachers. (Photos contributed by EQuALLs)

ZAMBOANGA CITY - Incoming Grade 4 pupil Joshua Bue and some of his schoolmates go to school even on summer to take math lessons from their newly trained teachers.

When Joshua returns to school in June he will assume the role of a peer teacher. Last April, teachers from the Maasin Learning Center, a public elementary school tucked within canning plants and other industrial plants in this city, had an intensive training on math to help them develop the higher order thinking skills of students on basic concepts such as fractions, geometry, pictograph, and money.

Passing on new strategies to students like Joshua is crucial in a non-traditional school like Maasin Learning Center where students learn while they teach and teachers act as instructional managers.

Maasin Learning Center is one of two schools in Zamboanga City that operates under the electronically Enhanced Instructional Management by Parents, Community and Teachers (e-IMPACT) system – a revolutionary, non- traditional, and flexible learning program supported by USAID’s Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS2) Project.

In this set-up, the teacher, known as the instructional manager, facilitates the class and gives advance lessons to students who teach their peers.

e-IMPACT was designed by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Center for Education Innovation and Technology (SEAMEO INNOTECH) and adapted in the late 70’s by the Department of Education (DepEd) to help deal with insufficient classrooms and to taper off the incidence of drop-outs in public elementary schools.

But budget limitations forced the DepED to suspend the program’s implementation in the early 1980’s, with only one of the three pilot schools—the Culianan Learning Center in Zamboanga City— continuing to execute the project.

In the opposite side of Zamboanga City, away from the canning factories and into small fishing villages lies Culianan Learning Center, the e-IMPACT pilot school now fast becoming a resource hub for other schools and organizations wanting to implement the system.

In Culianan as in Maasin, there are no specific room assignments per grade level, such that some Grade 1’s share a room with Grade 3 and Grade 6 students especially if they are siblings or they come from the same neighborhood.

Believing that education is the process of learning and not merely the acquisition of facts, lessons in a mini-class, composed of up to 15 pupils per grade level, are taught by a peer group leader or program teacher like Joshua and other classmates who take their turns teaching one subject.

“We found IMPACT to be very effective in improving our students’ academic performance especially when they go to high school. Our graduates always top their class once they are out there! This inspired us to push through with it even without much government support,” said Josefina Lacastesantos, Culianan’s school principal.

She was among the first batch of teachers trained to efficiently handle the multiple mini- classes under the non- traditional set-up. In June 2006 after three decades of toiling on their own, USAID, through its EQuALLS project, assisted Culianan in revising and then reprinting 600 learning modules—equivalent to the traditional school’s textbooks—based on a culture-responsive Revised Basic Education Curriculum.

As two of the more than 800 EQuALLS-assisted schools in regions 9, 12 and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Culianan and Maasin enjoy the benefit of having continuous teacher and administrator training, intensive on-site mentoring; and advocacy support from EQuALLS.

Assistance for the conduct of monthly meetings, contributions for materials for classroom refurbishment, provision of additional books and other learning materials, as well as Math and Science kits were also extended. For the past decades or so, Maasin’s community of multi-cultural groups of Sama, Tausug, Yakan, Badjao, and Christians rarely concerned themselves with school matters.

Maasin Learning Center adopted e-IMPACT only last school year. But already it has successfully transformed its physical as well as academic status in the region. It now has ten classrooms that cater to more than 800 students. A two-classroom building was donated by the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

“At first, it was quite difficult to explain to the parents why the school needs to adopt the system, but we were quick to let them see the benefits. We have even just completed an in-service training on math this summer which we are now testing on our students,” said the school principal Edsel Francisco.

e-IMPACT combines traditional, teacher-based instruction, peer tutoring and self-paced learning as it strengthens the participation of parents and the community in improving quality and access to education.

“This is a better experience for me because I learn a lot from my classmates and they also learn from me,” said Lemuel Ian Cua, who was formerly enrolled in a nearby traditional school, but moved to Culianan in the middle of the school year.

By passing the periodical tests, he was able to catch up with the lessons and enjoyed being a peer group leader during his afternoon class for the rest of the last school year. e-IMPACT’s focus on self-paced learning allows for the multiple entry and exit of students who are in challenging situations.

This virtually eliminates the incidence of student dropout particularly those located within Mindanao’s conflict-affected areas. It allows one teacher, or instructional supervisor to efficiently manage up to 100 students clustered according to grade level under one roof.

Drawing from the success of Culianan, EQuALLS chose the first school in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Baas Learning Center in Lamitan town in Basilan island to implement the innovative education system.

According to Saudi Daud, Baas instructional coordinator (principal in traditional school), barely six months after adopting the e-IMPACT strategy in June 2006, the number of non-readers and slow-readers has noticeably dwindled from 55 to 20.

“e-IMPACT was devised to address the problem on classroom shortage and the high incidence of dropping out especially in economically- deprived areas,” explained Dr Teresa Mukamad, area coordinator for the EQuALLS2 Project. In the case of Lamitan, drop out rates have considerably trimmed down from as high as 20 to zero. It was a welcome development for a community of at least 3,000 predominantly Yakan Muslims, who used to see some of the fiercest fighting between government troops and rebel groups.

Overall, Daud said, the new strategy has helped solve classroom and textbook shortage. From having a single textbook for every 20 students, Baas Elementary School now has learning modules for all its 406 students.

It was not until late last year that the 30-year-old school produced its first distinction when a student won the provincial level Essay Writing Contest.

“Under e-IMPACT, children are more interested to go to school because they are given a chance to actively participate in the learning process. Instructional supervisors told me to prepare the school as we anticipate higher enrollment this coming school year,” Daud said.

Environmental Sourcebook with Islamic Perspective, Rleased

ZAMBOANGA CITY - Muslim religious leaders in Western Mindanao warmly received Al Khalifa (The Steward), a sourcebook on environmental protection and conservation written from the perspective of Islam.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Philippine Environmental Governance 2 Project (EcoGov2), worked with Muslim community leaders, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, educators, and Qur’anic experts from Western Mindanao to develop Al Khalifa. USAID released introductory copies of the sourcebook in Zamboanga City last April 22 to coincide with the global celebration of Earth Day.

The sourcebook, the first publication of its kind in the country, underscores the commitment of the EcoGov2 project to promote good environmental governance practices in Western Mindanao.

Right now, 20 local government units (LGUs) in the Western Mindanao provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga Sibugay receive substantial technical assistance from the EcoGov 2 project.

USAID’s EcoGov2 project developed Al Khalifa to help LGUs in predominantly Muslim regions of the Philippines improve their capacity for sound ecological governance.

Based on the teachings of the Holy Qur’an, Al Khalifa seeks “to educate leaders and followers in Muslim communities that the environment and ecological governance are part of man’s responsibilities as God’s vicegerents on earth” and “to enable Muslims to be involved in environmental governance through a clearer understanding and better appreciation of his responsibilities and accountabilities as prescribed by Islam.”

Al Khalifa is inspired by the Islamic principle of man as God’s steward and trustee on earth. As stated in the sourcebook, “Islam exemplifies rightful conduct…and regulates man’s life according to the halal-haram dichotomy, of what is allowed and forbidden, lawful and unlawful… And Islam views the care and management of the environment as part of every Muslim’s religious obligation.”

Endorsements by Islamic religious leaders of Al Khalifa:
In Zamboanga City, Deputy Mufti for Western Mindanao and Palawan Sheikh Abdulwakil Tanjilil of the Darul Ifta, endorsed Al Khalifa.

He said that, “As a Muslim, one should be aware of the responsibilities in the use of earth’s natural resources and the care of the environment, and should enjoin his Muslim brothers to obey Allah commands them to do, in relation to them.”

He also enjoined “all concerned Muslims to propound the teachings from the Al Khalifa in their daily activities, at home and in government, shools and mosques, work and leisure, and to consider all these as part of Islamic worship”.

In Lamitan, Basilan, Ustadz Ulama Usman Mangkabung heartily accepted the sourcebook stressing that “the people are all responsible for the environment”.

In Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay Province, Hadji Jaalal Saniel appreciated the book as a “good source to support what the Qur’an and Hadith command”.

In Buug, Zamboanga Sibugay, Ustadz Abdul Mauna recommended that the book be used as in instructional reference in the different madaris (Islamic schools) all over the country.

Earlier, in the Islamic City of Marawi, Al Khalifa was used as a reference in a khutbah (a religious sermon) delivered on April 13, 2007 at Masjed Bubong Lilod by Amrola Diambangan, aleem (“learned man”) of the Young Moro Professional Network, Madaya.

USAID Headquarters Attacked In Southern Philippines, 3 Wounded!

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 25 Apr) – A grenade attack in the restive southern Philippine region of Mindanao injured three people working for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), officials said on Wednesday.

Major General Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Infantry Division, said one of two grenades exploded in front of the USAID office in North Cotabato’s Pikit town.

“Three people – two engineers and a contractor, all Filipinos – were injured in the blast and we are still investigating the motive of the attack. We have strengthened security in the province and other areas where foreign aid workers are operating,” Ferrer told the regional Mindanao Examiner newspaper.

The attack, he said, occurred late Tuesday. "One of two grenades lobbed at the USAID office exploded," he said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The three victims – Mario Tabaosares, 26; Alfredo Cabardo, 53, both engineers, and Damrod Dalandangan, 28, -- were rushed to hospital.

The three men were working on a USAID program called Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM). It aims to accelerate economic growth in the region and help assure that as many people as possible benefit from the economic growth and that the benefits are equitably distributed.

GEM also help bring about and consolidate peace in Mindanao. It was unknown if the attack would affect US aid in the southern Philippines. The United States, Australia and Canada have warned of impending attacks in Mindanao and told their citizens not to travel to the southern Philippines because of heightened terror activities.

But the Philippine military on Tuesday said it has no reports about an impending terror attacks by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Mindanao.

“It is relatively peaceful in many parts of Mindanao. We have not received reports about any specific threats,” a military spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro.

But a bomb explosion injured person last Sunday in Midsayap town in the troubled North Cotabato province.

Authorities said the bomb, assembled from a mortar rocket rigged to a timer, exploded on a roadside, wounding a woman. Police held two people in connection with the attack.

A man was also killed after a bomb he was transporting exploded in Cotabato City.

Last week, Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to Al-Qaeda, beheaded six construction workers and a fisherman they kidnapped in Parang town in Jolo island.

The beheading came just four days after Jolo governor Benjamin Loong rejected the Abu Sayyaf demand of five million pesos ransom in exchange for the lives of the hostages, six of them were workers of the politician in his construction firm. (With reports from Mark Navales and Juley Reyes)