MTPDP adjustments in the face of crises

*Paper submitted to Prof. Rene Ofreneo, Industrial Relations 289, UP-SOLAIR

In 2008, the Philippines was hit by the triple Fs – food, fuel and financial crises. Now, the big C – climate change – came and brought Ondoy, et al. In light of these disasters, what will you do as CEO or an HR manager of an economic meltdown rising from disasters? If you are a government employment planner, what adjustments will you initiate in the MTPDP 2004-2010?

Any business can experience serious incidents that can prevent it from continuing normal business operations. This can range from national economic crises (such as the triple Fs), flooding (as demonstrated by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng), or even other disasters such as serious accidents or information security incidents.

The CEO has a responsibility to recover from such incidents in the minimum amount of time possible; and the best thing that can be done is to ensure business continuity so that business owners, its employees and clients can continue to depend on the economic benefits of its successful operation. This entails keeping the workforce motivated and productive so that there are minimal interruptions to the business's ability to provide its products and/or services, minimal financial loss and quick resumption of critical operations.

Every business needs to carefully prepare business continuity and disaster recovery plans. Detailed plans must be created, outlining the actions that particular members of an organization will take to help recover/restore its critical operations that may have been interrupted during or after a disaster. All employees should have appropriate knowledge and training on the specifics of such plans.

In his book Operational Risk Management (2008), Mark D. Abkowitz enumerated risk factors common in man-made accidents, terrorist attacks and natural disasters, such as design and construction flaws, deferred maintenance, economic pressures, schedule constraints, etc. Included in his list are the following risk factors that a CEO and HR manager must take into account to prepare the workforce for future disasters:

1. Inadequate training that result in individuals making mistakes that either initiates an accident or allows a crisis situation to intensify
2. Not following procedures for how employees should perform a task or function, resulting in procedural errors that create hazardous situations
3. Lack of planning and preparedness in terms of gathering knowledge, assessing the likelihood and consequence of various disaster scenarios, evaluating alternative risk reduction strategies, and conducting exercises and drills to determine the effectiveness of ongoing efforts and maintain a state of readiness

CEOs and HR managers should also work together to enable employees to weather the tragedy by following some of the recommendations by Susan M. Heathfield in her article “When Tragedy Strikes: Eleven Tips for Your Workplace Response.”

• Make sure people are safe, especially if the incident happened in the workplace.
• Assess the personal involvement of employees, and offer assistance if possible. If a tragedy impacts employees personally or directly, offer release time, support, paid time off work or other forms of compensation.
• Give employees access to critical information through radio, TV or internet. Information helps people process the events. Allow them to gather with coworkers while watching breaking news.
• Give people something to do to help. Filipinos have proven to be especially generous and caring in times of disasters and organizations can facilitate activities that will enable employees to help solve the problem or to ease the situation.

Indeed, organizations must take planning and preparedness seriously. Such preparation is of course not exclusive to businesses trying to minimize economic loss. Both the public and private sector must consider risks and come up with prudent decisions regarding where and how to invest available resources to reduce those risks of greatest concern.

In the employment sector in particular, adjustments can be made so that the long-term plans allow for protection against increasing risks. One such adjustment could include an enhanced policy and/or implementation of workers’ compensation insurance especially in times of disasters.

The billions of damage left by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng was a wake-up call for people to appreciate the value of insurance. Many Filipinos consider insurance as an expense rather than an investment, and leave themselves vulnerable and unsecured in times of uncertainties.
Not only should government ensure a strong and effective insurance industry, but also ensure the provision of workers’ insurance especially in times of calamities. When several workers are injured due to such incidents, this will not only provide employees with compensation for on-the-job injuries but will also protect businesses from claims and lawsuits. The government should likewise ensure that specific sectors are suitably provided with such insurance such as those from the micro and small business and the informal sector.

Another adjustment to the MTPDP could be found in creation of more efficient and intelligent urban areas. Overcrowding, lack of infrastructure and inefficient use of resources have contributed to the devastation that resulted in the recent heavy flooding. Building more efficient and intelligent cities could mitigate similar future damages.

The IT industry will become a prominent figure in such an endeavor, equipping business and commercial centers with computing knowledge to manage transportation, water and power infrastructure. Technology will be employed to create sustainable and scalable infrastructure.
In the past, jobs have been generated in building industrial infrastructure such as buildings, roads and telephone lines. The same principle can work in developing urban infrastructure wirelessly connected to the internet.

Related to this, labor policies can be developed to promote telecommuting in the Philippines. Telecommuting or telework is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in terms of workplace location and hours of work. The daily commute to a distinct place of work is substituted by telecommunication links. Such a strategy can be efficient and useful for organizations as it allows workers to communicate over a large distance, saving significant amounts of travel time and cost. It also allows for employee flexibility as well as reduces traffic congestion and air pollution.

Finally, it is recommend that the government actively pursue efforts to promote green jobs, following the lead of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Premised on the inconvenient truth of climate change, the ILO believes that economic development by doing business as usual is not sustainable. Green jobs in low carbon economies will enhance not only adaptation measures against climate change but also result in mitigation, or the direct reduction of carbon emissions. It has the potential to contribute to sustainable economic growth and help lift people out poverty. The ILO therefore promotes the potential for green jobs and a positive labor market transition in the face of climate change, and encourages energy and industrialization policies, government investments and public-private partnerships to maximize its potential and benefits.

References:

Operational Risk Management: A Case Study Approach to Effective Planning and Response
By Mark D. Abkowitz (2008)

When Tragedy Strikes: Eleven Tips for Your Workplace Response
By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide

Ondoy's great flood highlights importance of insurance
By Junep Ocampo, The Philippine Star, November 02, 2009

Guide to Workers' Compensation Insurance
By Susan Ward, About.com Guide

‘Ondoy’ proves that cities need to be more efficient, intelligent
By Melvin G. Calimag, Manila Bulletin, October 15, 2009

Green jobs: Facing up to "an inconvenient truth"
ILO Article issued in 2007

IR institutions to stabilize the crisis

*Paper submitted to Prof. Ofreneo, Industrial Relations 289, UP-SOLAIR

Industrial Relations (IR) Institutions (e.g., unions, labor laws, employers organizations, etc.) are generally products of the times. Often a crisis gives birth to new institutions meant to contain the crisis and stabilize the situation, e.g., Industrial Peace Act of 1953 and Minimum Wage Act of 1952 at the height of the anti-Communist campaign in the early 1950s. With the present global economic crisis, what IR institutions do you think can and should b developed to stabilize the crisis?

In 1997-1998, Asia’s economic "tigers" were hit by a financial crisis. This crisis presented an opportunity for affected countries to build consensus on the policies required to renew economic growth through tripartism and social dialogue. The Korea Tripartite Commission, for instance, was compelled to contribute to economic restructuring and to involve social partners in the revision of Korean labor law. In Singapore, tripartite institutions have been instrumental in articulating conflicting interests among parties and in formulating and implementing social and economic policies. Their government also adopted various employee involvement systems such as work excellence committees, work improvement teams and quality control circles. Deficiencies in Indonesia’s industrial relations system were also put on the spot and efforts to promote social dialogue were utilized as a way of dealing with the crisis.

One IR institution that seems to have helped stabilize the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 is the use of social dialogue among IR actors. National and regional tripartite bodies were established and reformed, bipartite consultations in enterprises were introduced, a labor dispute settlement system was created, labor courts were created, and labor law was reformed in close consultation with the social partners.

It seems that institutionalizing social dialogue among IR actors (i.e., governments, workers and employers) will continue to be a crucial factor in stabilizing the current global economic crisis.
The global economic recession, which begun with consumption and production collapsing in the United States, European Union and Japan, has resulted in global increase in unemployment, poverty and inequality and the continuing collapse of enterprises.

The Philippines was not spared from the crisis. As then Economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto explained, the country is dependent on advanced economies for exports and remittances from overseas Filipino workers, and clients of business process outsourcing companies are also mostly coming from the United States and Europe.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) initiated efforts to help the economy and the Filipino workers particularly the vulnerable ones cope with the global economic crisis. Measures focusing on investments in public infrastructure projects coupled with the implementation of the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program or CLEEP (the government's flagship assistance program that provides emergency employment, funding, and livelihood assistance to affected workers) and job preservation efforts have apparently buttressed the country's capability to cope with the adverse effects of the global crisis. DOLE also established a registry of skills aimed at helping to identify and plan future responses, set up a hotline that addresses concerns of displaced workers, and provided training, livelihood assistance, job placement referral services and reintegration programs for returning OFWs.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) declared that the world is now facing a "global jobs crisis" that threatens to add 50 million people to the ranks of the unemployed in 2009. It could also push 200 million workers, mostly in developing countries, into extreme poverty. ILO is therefore promoting the relevance of the Decent Work Agenda, specifically its current measures to promote job creation, deepening and expanding social protection and more use of social dialogue. Policy recommendations include:

• Wider coverage of unemployment benefits and insurance schemes, equipping redundant workers with new skills, and protecting pensions from devastating declines in financial markets
• Public investment in infrastructure and housing, community infrastructure and green jobs, including through emergency public works; support to small and medium enterprises
• Social dialogue at the enterprise, sectoral, and national levels

Tripartite dialogue with employers and workers’ organizations should therefore play a central role in addressing the economic crisis, and in developing policy responses. This should include a commitment to social dialogue and strong labor market institutions, as well as wage-led increase in aggregate demand, social protection and collective bargaining. It also means no interference by employers, when workers organize themselves and represent their interests collectively. And it also entails coordinating measures internationally, so that no one is left out or left behind.

Strengthening the institutionalization of social dialogue among IR actors could lead to effective remedies such as stakeholders becoming proactive in finding solutions in ensuring the rapid recovery of employment and its accompanying social protection. Inputs from government leaders, employers and workers should be considered to enhance specific responses to the crisis on the national and at the enterprise level. For example, this could lead to subsidizing lost potential wages of workers by supporting shorter working hours to prevent massive layoffs. Some workers may agree to pay cuts to retain their jobs.

ILO has also recently emphasized the importance of collective bargaining in this time of crisis as a tool for negotiating social justice, as ILO Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining marks its 60th anniversary this year. While much has changed since the Convention was adopted in 1949, collective bargaining remains a fundamental right, an important tool to improve incomes and working conditions, and advance social justice.

It is worth noting that during the general economic depression in the 1930s, many governments instituted measures to extend collective agreements and protect collective bargaining from being undermined by intense cost-based competition. Established collective bargaining practices were also an element that allowed the Republic of Korea to weather the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and enabled South Africa to make a relatively peaceful transition into the post-apartheid era.

ILO standards promote collective bargaining and help to ensure that good labor relations benefit everyone. It promotes the utilization of machinery for voluntary negotiation between employers and workers, with a view to the regulation of terms and conditions of employment by means of collective agreements. It remains an important tool with which to improve incomes and working conditions and advance social justice. Through collective bargaining, innovative means are being found to address contemporary labor market challenges such as increasing employment insecurity and rising inequality.

Current efforts to stem the global economic and jobs crisis call for the strengthening of mechanisms for social dialogue, including collective bargaining. Collective bargaining can play an important role as part of a broader crisis response, enabling enterprises and trade unions to find practical ways to save jobs while at the same time facilitating the adaptability and long term sustainability of enterprises. This can be beneficial for both enterprises seeking to increase their flexibility – and workers seeking to share the benefits of productivity gains and balance work and family life.


References:

Efforts to help Filipino workers cope with crisis paying off
DOLE, November 11, 2009

Labor programs help workers cope with global meltdown - DOLE
GMANews.TV, 12/27/2008

Negotiating for social justice: Collective bargaining in times of crisis
ILO Feature Article, 19 November 2009

Social dialogue in times of crisis: what we can learn from the past? (Part 3 : The Asian financial crisis of 1997 - 1998)
ILO Feature Story by Ludek Rychly, 29 May 2009

The Global Jobs Pact: Helping Asia and the Pacific Recover from the Unemployment Crisis
An interview with Sachiko Yamamoto, ILO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
ILO Feature Story, 15 July 2009

Blog Action Day 2009: IP's Trade Fair and Exhibit

I have been contemplating on what to post about climate change, and I’ve been seriously considering a not-so-profound-and-intimidating write-up on climate justice (or the social justice issues surrounding climate change). But the topic’s too serious that I will have to study it more lest I make a superficial (and therefore careless) take on the issue.

However, I found an interesting email from one of my SOLAIR egroups, and I’m posting it here as part of my Blog Action Day 2009 commitment. The post is an advertisement of the Indigenous Knowledge Trade Fair and Exhibit. The email says:

Our Indigenous Peoples have so much to teach us about caring for our environment and living sustainably, but they need us to advocate with them so that more people can know about it.

See and experience the life of IPs... Explore partnerships with them... Patronize their products... Protect the environment with them.

Wine making and tasting, cultural presentations, night market of organic goods and IP products, film showing, solidarity concert

WHEN: October 16-18, 2009
WHERE: Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City

FREE ADMISSION!

The post seems to be concerned more about the cause of indigenous peoples than about climate change. But I’d like to emphasize that climate change affects everyone -- even those who benefit very little from the industrialization and other environment-destructive activities that the modern man has initiated.

We take for granted that we in the cities buy vehicles and products manufactured in factories and simply say that these pollute the air and destroy our environment. Yet we sometimes fail to see that while we enjoy the modern life’s pleasures, certain marginalized members of society such as indigenous peoples are unable to enjoy them in the same way or even benefit from the so-called industrialization and economic growth that it supposedly provides. Even worse, they suffer the same consequences that global warming delivers.

They have become victims of calamities too but help could not come easily because there are no paved roads that lead you to the indigenous peoples’ homes.

They are suffering from the effects of climate change, yet they have not benefited from the industrialization that has caused global warming.

That is why supporting their sustainable ways of living should be appreciated and supported.

Personally, I find indigenous products VERY cool. I love shopping in Baguio, Bicol and Cebu and native products are of course at the top of my list. And if they could bring their products here, right near my workplace, who am I to resist?




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NOTE TO READERS:
Blog Action Day is about creating a conversation about issues like climate change. So please don't hesitate to comment about this post. Let me know if you have an opinion about climate change (whether you agree with me or not), if you are willing to support the exhibit, or even if you simply wanna join me as I tour the Quezon Memorial Circle on Oct 16! Thank you!

OCT 15 is Blog Action Day!

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. The aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

In 2007, I proudly participated in Blog Action Day (Environment) with my post Biodiversity Is Life Itself. In 2008, I advocated for Blog Action Day (Poverty) but failed in my commitment to post.

This year, Blog Action Day tackles the issue of Climate Change -- a concern for so many Filipinos today considering what we have all been through when typhoon Ondoy hit us like nothing we've ever experienced.

Climate change is the most urgent threat we face and on October 15 you can help confront the issue and show the world that we care about finding lasting solutions.

I encourage everyone to participate and take action. To all bloggers who have not yet registered, just go to the official Blog Action Day 2009 website to register you blog. Once you've signed up you can download badges from the site and get ideas about how to connect your interests to climate change.

Now is the time to make our voices heard.

Blog Action Day '09 from Benjamin Rattray on Vimeo.

on october 15th, change the conversation

Today is International Day for Biodiversity!

The United Nations proclaimed May 22 the International Day for Biological Diversity to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.


This year’s theme, “Biodiversity and Agriculture,” seeks to highlight the importance of sustainable agriculture not only to preserve biodiversity, but also to ensure that we will be able to feed the world, maintain agricultural livelihoods, and enhance human well being into the 21st century and beyond.

Below are the Key Messages from the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Biodiversity is the basis of agriculture. Its maintenance is essential for the production of food and other agricultural goods and the benefits these provide humanity, including food security, nutrition and livelihoods.

Biodiversity is the origin of all crops and domesticated livestock and the variety within them. Biodiversity in agricultural and associated landscapes provides and maintains ecosystem services essential to agriculture.

Agriculture contributes to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity but is also a major driver of biodiversity loss. Farmers and agricultural producers are custodians of agricultural biodiversity and possess the knowledge needed to manage and sustain it.

Sustainable agriculture both promotes and is enhanced by biodiversity. Sustainable agriculture uses water, land and nutrients efficiently, while producing lasting economic and social benefits. Barriers inhibiting its widespread adoption need to be reduced.

Agricultural producers respond to consumer demands and government policies. To ensure food security, adequate nutrition and stable livelihoods for all, now and in the future, we must increase food production while adopting sustainable and efficient agriculture, sustainable consumption, and landscape-level planning that ensure the preservation of biodiversity.

BIODIVERSITY IS THE BASIS OF AGRICULTURE.

Biodiversity, at all three levels – genes, species and ecosystems – is the basis for the sustainability, productivity and resilience of agricultural systems, and is the foundation of ecosystem services essential to agriculture and human well being. Biodiversity is the origin of all crops and domesticated livestock (species) and the variety within them (genes).

Agriculture is an integral part of every person’s life as it provides us with food, raw materials for goods – such as cotton for clothing, wood for shelter and fuel, roots for medicines – as well as incomes and livelihoods for many. From the earliest examples of the domestication of plants and animals, farmers and their communities have used a rich diversity of wild species to facilitate agriculture and in the process have modified the diversity of domesticated species, landscapes and environments.


Source:
Convention on Biological Diversity
DENR Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau

Zoobic Safari: A Prison by Another Name

Why should animals live like prisoners for their entire lives, just to suit curious humans?

“The saddest thing about zoos is the way they drive animals mad. Much of the behavior we take for granted in zoo animals – repetitive padding up and down, head banging, obsessive paw swinging, or just plain moping – is actually psychotic, the sort of thing humans get driven to when they are kept in solitary confinement.”

Bill Travers – Star of “Born Free” and co-founder of Zoo Check

Check out the photos from our office teambuilding in Zoobic Safari. It seems obvious how I and the rest of my co-workers were having so much fun watching the captive wild animals. The monkeys, the ostriches, the goats, the camels, the guinea pigs, the oh-so-amazing tigers were just there for our entertainment pleasure!

A wild animal confined in a restrictive, artificial zoo environment is a sensitive being condemned for the rest of its life to a deprived existence. Where it sleeps, what it eats and with which other animals, if any, it interacts are all decided for it. Its inherent value is denied and the respectful treatment to which it is entitled, dismissed.

From Animal Rights Africa

In general, the zoo industry has been justified for its conservation efforts for endangered species. This means that the zoos supposedly conduct research, teaches the public about wildlife and environmental conservation, and provides entertainment through the spectacle of captive wild animals. Animal Rights Africa debunks these conservation and education justifications in zoos.

The World Wildlife Fund likewise has a Policy Statement on Captive Breeding:

Captive breeding is the process of breeding animals outside of their natural environment in restricted conditions in farms, zoos or other closed facilities. The choice of individual animals that are to be part of a captive breeding population, and the mating partners within that population, are controlled by humans.

WWF considers captive breeding of rare, threatened, or endangered species, with the aim of eventual reintroduction to the wild, to be a “last resort” strategy. It is exceedingly difficult and must be part of a scientifically-based management plan for the species, working closely with the range country government authorities. It is also expensive, and should not be seen as a substitute for in-situ efforts, except in rare circumstances.

While I allowed myself to enjoy the company of friends and co-workers in this very entertaining field trip, I kept a silent but watchful eye and ear to the conservation and education efforts of Zoobic Safari. And unfortunately, I was terribly disappointed. I don’t recall our tour guide making any conservation related statement, nor did I see or hear anything that would suggest scientific efforts towards conservation by the owners/operators of Zoobic Safari. He did throw us some interesting trivia, though, like the intelligent guinea pig appearing in the local soap “Super Twins.” f course I wasn’t hanging on to every word that my tour guide was saying because he obviously couldn’t handle the 30+ strong audience that he had.

I disabled the flash function in my camera and kept from knocking on glass cages or taunting the wild animals. But so many others did, and nobody from Zoobic Safari cared. Some furiously knocked on the glass cages of snakes and lizards, daring them to strike. Some were whistling and taunting the chained and the caged aggressive monkeys. A co-worker splashed the remaining contents of his bottled water on the catatonic crocs. A few insisted that I use my flash, but I refused to add to the stress of the animals. The tour guide warned us that he’ll lose his job if we insist on reaching out to the crocs and get our hands bitten off. I almost laughed.

The zoo was filled with competing noises from the megaphones of different tour guides, the chatter and gleeful comments from the visitors, the music from the blasting speakers. I got an earful of what I assume is not close to the naturally calming sounds of the wild.

I was awed by the giant tigers. I touched their tails and whispered my “lambing,” daydreaming that I could take one home as a pet. (Til that day, I only wished to own a life-size stuffed tiger.) But then you realize how pathetic their lives must be in those small cages. Tigers are meant to run and hunt in the wild, not get irritated and stressed by onlookers daring them to growl and show their ferocity.


Sadly, Zoobic Safari is obviously profit-oriented.

By confining and exhibiting animals in a manner designed to entertain, amuse or satisfy curiosity requires that they be trained and/or confined in ways that suppress their natural behavior, drastically limit their living space, deny them the opportunity to choose their mates and companions and make them totally dependant on their “owners”.

When, from a young age humans are conditioned to the sight and experience of animals under the total control of humans for trivial purposes, as is the case in zoos, circuses, dolphinaria and aquaria, this contributes to the general human attitude that animals are “here for us”. The integrity and dignity of each animal are totally undermined.

The pleasure people take in viewing animals in zoos and laughing at them in the circus is not good enough reason for keeping the animals there. That this constitutes a flagrant disregard for the rights of the affected animals is of no concern to the “owners” and exhibitors, who exploit the curiosity, indifference and ignorance of the public.

Animals in Entertainment, Animal Rights Africa

I do not ask anyone not to visit Zoobic Safari, or the Ocean Adventure or Manila Ocean Park. I simply encourage everyone to take a critical view of such industries.

I initially had the view that I should refuse adding to the profit of such industries by NOT visiting these zoos. Now, I prefer the challenge of learning more about animal cruelty and animals in entertainment, and critically examining our own zoos, aquaria and dolphinaria.


Here are a few great articles for further reading:
Animal Rights Africa -- Animals in Entertainment
Animal Rights Africa -- Zoos: A Prison by Any Other Name
What's Wrong with Zoos?
Are Zoos Cruel?
Zoos: The front line in the battle against extinction
Time Magazine's feature on the dolphin entertainment industry
Me.Find.Home: Why I’m against the Manila Ocean Park (includes PETA statement)

Dove Evolution

My apologies for the recent storm of video uploads in my blog. I just can't resist posting this awesome video from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. It's quite old, actually. I think it's the first video in support of their campaign, and now they have two more. Check the Campaign for Real Beauty website to show your support or watch other videos.

Self-Esteem Is Worth Sharing

Biodiversity is LIFE itself

i found an old CD disseminated by the ASEAN Regional Center for Biodiversity Conservation (ARCBC) in 2005. The video is old, considering that ARCBC is now called ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). But the issues are still the same: we need to conserve our biodiversity. I hope that through these videos, I could somehow help get the message across.


Coral reefs need your help now!


The environment needs your help now!


Money can't be eaten


Extinction is FOREVER!

October 15 is Blog Action Day!

2 more days...

Close Encounter with the Tamaraw

I’m posting here an article by a co-worker and friend. She had the rare opportunity to see tamaraws in the wild... and she’s even more fortunate she came back in good shape after a very close encounter with the wild animal.

I’ll hopefully write more about the tamaraw, especially since very few people seem to really understand what they’re all about. (And I promise to give interesting and informative trivia since my hubby himself is considered an expert, having worked with the DENR Tamaraw Conservation Program for over five years.) For now, I’m glad Danee had the chance (not to mention the courage and the strength!) to battle Mts. Iglit-Baco in Occidental Mindoro and meet the fierce national animal of the Philippines.

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Close encounter with the tamaraw
By Daneelyn A. Querijero

Our team had a unique mission. That is to see the famous tamaraw up close. The mission theater of operation: a 16,000-hectare expanse within the 75, 445-ha Mt. Iglit National Park in Occidental Mindoro.

But before we could fulfill our mission, we have to figure out an equally formidable problem: how to dig deep into the wilds of Mindoro for the encounter……

All four of us from the Public Affairs Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) took the bold step of hooking up with a team of tamaraw “crusaders” from the Tamaraw Conservation Program (TCP) of the DENR to witness how they take on the task of accurately counting the number of the elusive mammal within the expanse of that jungle.

That this was my first time to join the “hunt” only heightened my excitement even more and hardly gave a thought to what lay ahead of me in the four days that would follow. Little did I imagine that those four days at Mts. Iglit-Baco will give me more than what I bargained for……

Tourists, media people, and even students have trekked every summer to Mt. Iglit to be ``up close and personal’’ with an animal considered by the World Conservation Union as critically endangered since 2002. It normally takes an average of seven hours to get to tamaraw territory. It took us 10 hours – but only because we had to take a break during the journey and fell asleep in the process!

Our trek to Mt. Iglit started on a trail in a village named (or nicknamed) Poypoy in the town of Calintaan. From there we were to go to the top of Mt. Magawang, said to be the ``core habitat’’ of the tamaraw. As we started, the weather turned from refreshingly cool to periods of unbearable heat that we could feel intensely in our faces and back. We soldiered on.

As I walked, I felt pleased as it never crossed my mind that I could one day come face to face with a tamaraw --- in its own turf, no less. As I’ve heard, these are not exactly gregarious fellas -- even the mountain dwellers fear the tamaraw’s deadly horns and catlike speed. No doubt, they say, tamaraws are fierce, especially when cornered or threatened. Gifted with an acute sense of smell, the tamaraws use it to alert each other to the arrival of nosey human beings, whom they try to avoid as much as possible.

We were about halfway to our destination when someone exclaimed – “There they are!” Indeed, less than a kilometer away, an animal that looked like a cross between a cow and a carabao walked into an open clearing. Behind the beast walked three smaller ones, apparently wards.

Our guide silently ordered us to crouch behind the tall grasses as low as possible and not to move or make any noise. He didn’t have to say it twice -- we were so awestruck we dropped down on all fours for fear of spoiling the moment.

Our caution might have been a little late though. The mother bull started behaving less like the gentle carabao and more like an awakening bull. She struck a pose which told me she was definitely prepared for war – head lowered, horns shifted into a vertical position, head shaking. She appeared ready to charge. Our bodies frozen with fright, we looked at the hostile creature – but it just looked right back at us, for what seemed an eternity! I could swear all four of us were squarely placed in the angry tamaraw’s eyeball. Then, the unbelievable happened. Mother tamaraw started to look like a gentle carabao once more. The fighter-like look in its eyes and stance disappeared. She turned to her youngsters and seemed to tell them (maybe) that we were not worth a fight at after all. She started to lead the young ones further up the mountain. Whew! Good thing the tamaraw is not known to eat humans!

Tamaraws, how do I count thee?

After breathlessly exchanging our impressions on the surprise encounter, we decided to continue on with our climb, craving to see more tamaraw. We climbed, and crawled sometimes, but no longer saw any roaming tamaraw. We finally found ourselves at the TCP’s Magawang station. This was to be our home for another day or two. Inside was a man ---a member of the Bantay Tamaraw team – excitedly and animatedly talking about something to another guy, who turned out to be Rodel Boyles, coordinator of the TCP. It turned out that the Bantay Tamaraw team had just concluded the afternoon count of the tamaraw for that day – and that they had spotted 34 heads in all, an ``encouraging’’ number, as they told us later.

According to Boyles, the TCP uses the Intensive Concentration Count (ICC) method to tally the tamaraws. Eighteen pre-selected observation sites have been established within the 16,000-hectare section of the park where tamaraws are known to exist. Magawang is the major observation point. Armed with their binoculars and spotting scopes, two to three man-teams are then assigned at each site to conduct and record observations for five consecutive days from April 22-26 (the preset study period for the annual count).

A fixed observation time, from 5:30-7:00 AM and from 5:00-6:30 PM, is strictly followed by the tamaraw teams. “We use a pre-structured matrix or data form where we record the number of tamaraws sighted, the exact time of sighting, activity when seen including the direction they are heading when seen running or walking,” Boyles explained. Based on compass readings, the location of the tamaraw that was sighted is then plotted on a map.

Other important features which could help in determining the exact location of the animals were also noted as reference points. These include wallowing areas, rivers, hills, big rock, established trails and bunkhouses, he said.

Mission impossible accomplished

For the next three days, we had a taste of what it was like to be a Bantay Tamaraw volunteer as we enthusiastically participated in the counting activity. After all, it’s not everyday that I get to see these unique creations traveling in herds or grazing in their natural habitat. It amazed me how its small size and great strength enables it to push through dense jungle and climb steep mountains.

We went down the mountain exhilarated from the experience. We knew that only a few have had our experience of watching a beautiful creature roam freely amid man-made dangers like slash and burn farming, hunting through traditional means or the use of home-made shotguns, cattle ranching, timber poaching, among others, all major concerns for the Protected Areas authorities.

Unlike the Philippine eagle, whose beautiful head and figure frequently appeared in books, newspapers and television, the tamaraw has been absent from the limelight for many years, its survival uncertain. Then, in 2002, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared October as Tamaraw Conservation Month in Occidental Mindoro, as embodied in Proclamation No. 273 dated October 14, 2002. Although the Tamaraw Conservation Program has been going on since the 80’s, the proclamation highlighted the earnest effort to protect surviving tamaraws so that they could multiply even more.

To date, a total of 239 tamaraws are still left in the wilds. With a little help from DENR’s conservation program and various pro-environment groups, the tamaraw could still make an amazing comeback in our hearts and eyes – just like the Philippine Eagle.

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This article is a soon-to-be-published feature story of the DENR Public Affairs Office. Check the DENR Website for other related articles. Photos of the tamaraw courtesy of Jaime Lumanglas and the DENR Tamaraw Conservation Program.

For Women Only: Top Reasons to Live in Sweden

I’m not a hardcore feminist, really, but I have to thank my former professor, V.A. Teodosio of SOLAIR for showing me (and the rest of the class) the importance of understanding women’s rights.

But this is not about her or me. This is a celebration of the great opportunities provided for women in Sweden, where they are judged for their smarts and not for their gender. I’m not even familiar with the country’s culture, economy or social conditions (except I’ve read that the lifestyle is pretty expensive), yet I’d give anything to live my next life there. For now, I can dream of at least immigrating…

Here’s a list (in no particular order) of top reasons for women to live in Sweden.
Source: The World's Best Country for Women by Abigail Haworth at MSN Lifestyle

1. Female politicians make up around half of the Swedish parliament.
2. "Anti-Sexism Awareness Training" begins in kindergarten, where male toddlers are encouraged to play with dolls, and females with toy tractors.
3. In school, classes in cooking, sewing, metalworking, and woodworking are compulsory for both sexes
4. Women are free from traditional roles; there is no pressure to choose between a high-profile job and a happy home life or even give up being feminine.
5. Few Swedish men expect women to be domestic or subservient.
6. Swedish men do more housework than men anywhere else — an average of 24 hours per week.
7. Nearly one in three police officers in Stockholm is a woman, and female recruits now outnumber men at some police training academies. Stockholm's chief of police is a woman who uses psychology and negotiation in most cases but is not afraid to use brute force. Crime has dropped by 9 percent under her leadership.
8. Women are accepted as aggressors in relationships. There is also no stigma against women who've had many sexual partners.
9. Sweden has generous laws on parental leave. Swedish couples — women and men — get 13 months paid leave and another three months at a fixed rate. Of that, 60 days must be taken by the mother, another 60 by the father, and the rest can be divided however they choose. Employers must hold a new mother's job for her for the duration of her maternity leave.
10. Women's sports are given as much TV airtime as men's.
11. In shopping malls, pay-to-pee public toilets are often unisex to minimize those infamously long lines for women's bathrooms.
12. There are innovations such as the world's first "female-friendly car," unveiled in 2004 by Swedish auto giant Volvo. Created by an all-female lead team, the car is packed with woman-specific features: seats that auto-adjust to a female body shape, a special groove in the headrest for ponytails, and a high-heel rest near the foot pedals.

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More than having to pay equally with men during dates, or performing conventional courtesies like holding a door open or helping a women carry heavy stuff, these are concrete demonstrations women rewarded for being themselves. I had a glimpse of Sweden when I was an undergraduate in UP. Most guys (my friends, especially) did not believe in traditional gender roles and accepted girls as equals. I was a bit culture shocked when I left for work in the public sector. Where I work, men did perform conventional courtesies, especially for the more attractive women. Such perks are never enough for a woman who wants to be a top official in a very male dominated workplace. I’d like to see me and my female co-worker friends reaching the top someday, but I can’t shake the feeling that we’d have to break the glass ceiling the hard way in order to do that.

“Japanese women live longer, American women earn higher salaries, Greek women have lower rates of breast cancer, and according to one poll, Italian men are better kissers.” Even so... I’d still grab a chance to live a Scandinavian woman’s life... especially if it can be done right where I’m working.

Al Gore's Electricity Bill: An Inconvenient (and embarrassing) Truth

I haven't seen Al Gore's Oscar-worthy film An Inconvenient Truth --- and i will, i promise --- except for the meantime, i'm more interested in the controversy over his Nashville mansion's electricity bill.


Apparently, the electric bill for this house averaged $1,200 last year --- quite hypocritical for the owner who's supposed to be campaigning against global warming.

Here's the statement from the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, posted February 26, 2007:

Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”
Gore’s home uses more than 20 times the national average

Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.

Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.

Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.

“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.

In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.

my source: Yahoo! News