A Review of BSDC Curriculum vis-a-vis Contemporary Philippine Development Problems and Issues by Hanzel Gapayao

A REVIEW OF THE BSDC CURRICULUM VIS-À-VIS CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS AND ISSUES

HANZEL FRAYNA GAPAYAO

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE COLLEGE OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES LOS BAÑOS IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION (Development Journalism)

This undergraduate research titled A Review of the BSDC Curriculum vis-Ă -vis Contemporary Philippine Development Problems and Issues, prepared and submitted by Hanzel F. Gapayao in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Bachelor of Science in Development Communication (Development Journalism) is hereby accepted.

____________________________ ALDO GAVRIL T. LIM Adviser

____________________________ Date

Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Bachelor of Science in Development Communication (Development Journalism)

____________________________________ ROSA PILIPINAS J. FADRI-FRANCISCO Officer-in-Charge

Department of Development Journalism College of Development Communication University of the Philippines Los BaĹ&#x201E;os College, Laguna

_______________________ Date

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Review of the BSDC curriculum vis-à-vis Contemporary Philippine Development Problems and Issues was prepared under the overall guidance of Sir Aldo Gavril T. Lim as the research adviser. His leniency and firm oversight of the research project became one of the primary gears and cogwheels in the occurrence of this endeavor. Professor Maria Teresita Osalla-Borja provided strong support for this initiative. It was her curiosity for what is currently “happening out there” that ignited the researcher’s interest to “know more about it.” This review benefited from the inputs granted by these experts; namely, 1) Mr. Dennis Arroyo, National Policy and Planning Staff Director of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA); 2) a former Assistant Country Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) who requested not to be named; 3) Ms. Victorina Navida, Division Chief of the Policy Development and Planning Bureau Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD); 4) Dr. Teresa Tadem, Director of Third World Studies Center (TWSC) of the UP Diliman; and 5) Mr. Renuad Meyer, Country Director of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Documents, particularly course outlines, BSDC curricula and various reports, were provided by the Curriculum Committee Chairperson Professor Rhodorra De Villa, College of Development Communication (CDC)’s department chairs: Dr. Madeline M. Suva, Dr. Serlie B. Jamias, Prof. Julienne Bariuan and Prof. Edmund Centeno, College of Agriculture (CA)’s directors: Dr. Jose Hernandez, Dr. Ceasar Sevilla, Dr. Avelino Raymundo, and Dr. Rodrigo Badayos, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)’s institute directors and department chair: Dr. Emeterio Solivas, Dr. Virgilio Sison, Dr. Eliezer Albacea, Dr. Maxima Flavier, Dr. Cleofas Cervancia, and Dr. Arleen Saniano, College of Economics and Management (CEM)’s department chairs: Prof. Reynaldo Tan, Prof. Amelia Bello, and Dr. Cesar Quicoy, College of Forestry and Natural Resources (CFNR)’ directors and department chairs: Dr. Manuel Castillo, Dr. Eleno Peralta,and Dr. Enrique Tolentino jr, College of Human Ecology (CHE)’s department chair: Dr. Marison Dy, Prof. Ma. Theresa Talavera, Prof. Ma. Emilinda Mendoza, and Dr. Raymundo Mendoza, and College of Public Affairs (CPAf)’ Director Dr. Carolina Santillana. (all names and designations mentioned are as of december 2008). Sir Manalo of CEM-DE, Prof. Tapay of CAS-DSS, and Dr. Quicoy of CEM-DAE made the researcher fully comprehend certain concepts and thoughts that was once vague to him. Also, the researcher gives heartfelt gratitude to some people who helped in their own way: Tita Aying from the Graduate Studies Reading Room of CDC, Tita Fe of the Dean’s Office (CDC), and Ma’am Audrey of the UPOU Library. Lastly, certain persons in the researcher’s personal life signified the importance of perseverance and ambitiousness. The “simple pats on the shoulder” made by Javier Gapayao, Emily Gapayao, Mary Grace Habulan, Lorena Jaring, Jhossel Puchero, Maria Andrea Secerio, Ladylyn Erica Adarve, Maria Angeline Luz Hernandez, Joan Marie Del Mundo, Lorena Lunar, Theresa Cajarte, Gerika Soria, Oliver Bayani, John Carlo Malto, Paul De Ramos, Jim Velandrez, Renan John Guerra, Homer Cabuyao, Alvin Siongco, Gems Garcia and Andre De Belen were enough.

To my little elf and my one and only sibling, 7-month old Herchelle

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead Anthropologist

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER

TITLE Acceptance Sheet Acknowledgment Table of Contents List of Tables List of Figures Abstract

PAGES

INTRODUCTION Structure and Rationale of the Study Statement of the Problem Objectives of the Study Significance of the Study Limitations of the Study Operational Definition of Terms

1 1 4 4 5 6 8

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE School environments Curriculum Planning and Management Taxonomy of Social Problems Related Studies Synthesis of Review of Literature and Studies Theoretical Framework Conceptual Framework

12 12 18 25 28 30 31 32

METHODOLOGY Research Design Data Collection Procedure Sampling Procedure Research Instruments Data Analysis

35 35 36 36 37 38

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Profiles of Agencies National Economic and Development Authority Food and Agriculture Organization Department of Social Welfare and Development Third World Studies Center United Nations Development Programme Contemporary Development Problems and Issues of the Philippines Overview of the BSDC Curriculum Key Components of the Curriculum The Nature of the BSDC curriculum in terms of sequence,

43 43 43 44 45 46 46 48 57 59 63

articulation/continuity, scope and balance. Sequence Articulation/ Continuity Scope Balance Development Issues addressed by the curriculum Poverty Poor Quality of Education Unemployment Industry and Service Sector Lack of Investments and Infrastructures Low capital stock Low agricultural productivity Progress in Geothermal Energy Progress in ICT Support on SMEs Food Insecurity and hunger Deficit between food production and demand Climate change Forestry Issues Environmental Sustainability, resource management and alternative energy Housing problems Family Problems Problems of children, youth, women(gender equality), elderly and disabled Health care and Illness Globalization Agrarian Reform Existence of social movements Governance Human security Millennium Development Goals Global partnership for Development Peace building and negotiations Assessment 5

63 66 66 69 71 71 71 73 74 75 75 75 76 76 76 77 78 78 79 80 81 82 82 83 83 84 84 85 86 86 87 87 89

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary Conclusion Recommendations

91 91 94 96

BIBILIOGRAPHY

APPENDICES

102

LIST OF TABLES NO. 1

TITLE Curriculum Designs Related to Content Organization

PAGES 22

Considerations (Sowell, 2005) 2

Curriculum conceptions, Purposes of education, and Content

sources (Sowell, 2005) 3

Summary of contemporary development problems and issues of

the Philippines 4

The Existing BSDC Curriculum (2002)

Distribution of units among course components in the existing

curriculum and the proposed curriculum (CDC Curriculum Workshop, 2007) 6

Courses that are addressing development issues

LIST OF FIGURES NO.

TITLE

PAGES

Open System with feedback loop

Conceptual Framework (Adapted and Modified for Hoy

and Miskelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, 2005, illustration of open system) 3

Operational framework for the curricular study

ABSTRACT

GAPAYAO, HANZEL F. University of the Philippines Los Baños. April 2009. “A Review of the BSDC Curriculum vis-a-vis Contemporary Philippine Development Problems and Issues.” Adviser: Aldo Gavril T. Lim This study reviewed the UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum vis-àvis contemporary development problems and issues of the country. Specifically, the study aimed to: 1) find out the development problems and issues the country faces today; 2) describe the nature of the current BSDC curriculum in terms of scope, sequence, continuity, articulation, and balance; 3) find out the contemporary development problems and issues addressed by the current UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum; 4) find out the contemporary development problems and issues not addressed by the current UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum; and 5) propose enhancements to the UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum in terms of structure and coverage. The study was divided into two phases. For Phase 1, key informant interviews were conducted among five development agencies (NEDA, FAO, DSWD, TWSC, and UNDP) to find out the contemporary development concerns of the Philippines. Secondary data such as annual reports and statistical bulletins were also consulted. For Phase 2, the researcher analyzed various BSDC curriculum documents such as old and new BSDC curricula, course syllabi (course descriptions if syllabi were unavailable) of subjects included in the curriculum, reports, and other curriculum-related documents provided by the CDC Curriculum Committee. It was found out that poverty and food insecurity/ hunger were still the most prevalent development problems of the country, as identified by the development agencies. Among the other contemporary development problems and issues of the Philippines that the key

informants identified include: unemployment, poor quality of education, lack of investments and infrastructures (ICT and Transportation), and low productivity in agriculture. In terms of curriculum sequence, the BSDC curriculum came out as well-sequenced in all of its components, based on the criteria set by the researcher. Devcom courses, both major and core courses were sequenced from theoretical to practical. Technical and social science electives were arranged from basic to advanced and highly technical. For curriculum articulation and continuity, the BSDC curriculum has a smooth articulation of all Devcom courses. There is no single semester that does not have a Devcom course in place. However, in terms of the computational courses like that of MATH 11 and STAT 1, which are separated by three semesters, there is an unsmooth articulation. In terms of curriculum scope, the BSDC curriculum is very extensive. There are 32 course codes (e.g., DEVC, ECON, SDS, SOC, FRM, etc) from which students may choose their technical and social science electives from. As for curriculum balance, the curriculum is skewed. There are more units allotted to technical courses compared with social science electives, which is perhaps not adequate since devcom is a social science. Out of the 27 development problems and issues listed, 26 were present in the course outlines considered in the study. Most of theses course outlines were from specialized (technical and social science) courses. Very few Devcom courses (DEVC 10, DEVC 50, DEVC 134) seemed to include the development problems and issues identified. It was particularly DEVC 10 which covered many development problems and issues. Although all but one of the development concerns were addressed by the curriculum, the curriculum still rated as poorly adaptive as addressing them (curriculum adaptability to development issues). Only a few Devcom courses tackled development problems and issues, based on the course outlines and course descriptions. In terms of specialized courses, the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; freedom in choosing their desired electives and the prescribed number of units for these courses (27 units) are two factors that limit them from taking as many electives that address contemporary development concerns.

The development issue progress of the fishery sector was the only one not addressed by the BSDC curriculum as it was not found out in any of the course syllabi. The study proposes that there be modifications made to the BSDC curriculum such as re-structuring the curriculum to a generalist track, re-allocation of unit allotments for components especially between technical courses and social science electives, strengthening of DEVC courses, and adding more foundation courses and specialized courses.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Structure and Rationale of the Study

The College of Development Communication (CDC) of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) is well-known for being the institution that forged the ground for development communication (devcom) teaching in the world. However, CDC may not have been the first to concoct the concept of devcom. A few schools had felt the need for and practiced development communication before CDC. Manyozo (2006) traced the roots of the schools where development communication originated. In 1950, the Bretton Woods School of Devcom emerged as a project of the World Bank and the International Monetary Bank to aid development projects in Third World societies (Manyozo, 2006). Also, the Latin American School of Devcom, which was established before Bretton Woods, ―pioneered the employment of systematically designed radio communications in empowering economically and socially marginalized campesinos, helping them to lead decent and healthy lives (Gumucho, 2001; Vargas, 1995, as cited in Manyozo, 2006). Soon after, in the 1950s, Nora C. Quebral founded the ―Los Baños School of Devcom.‖ Here in the country, The Los Baños School of Devcom had its form, not as a college yet, but a humble extension and publications office inside the UP College of Agriculture (UPCA). The school slowly worked its way up to becoming the first College of Development Communication in the world on December 18, 1998, and the only institution that offered a complete set of degree programs (BS, MS, and PhD) in the field. Jamias (as cited in Maslog, 2007) described that CDC has pioneered in development communication, which ―created a curriculum that combined a foundation of general 1

education courses…, social science electives; and a technical component…‖ In March 1974, the curriculum of devcom was revised to a specialized set of courses. Undergraduates were not required anymore to take all the general science and arts courses, which were required before. Afterwards, many other universities and colleges went into the development communication trend. Some universities adopted the new field of communication as an undergraduate degree program – Batangas State University, Silliman University, and Xavier University, to name a few. Others adopted it as a major field like the Pamanatasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, while some offered it as one of their undergraduate subjects such as De La Salle University-Dasmariñas. The curriculum of devcom in CDC, like any other curriculum, is not forever constant. It requires regular evaluation, review, and revision. Any school‘s curriculum must continually adapt to the ever-changing environment to fit and meet not only the school‘s objectives but also the communities‘ needs as well. The Philippine landscape changes constantly and so do development problems and issues. These problems and issues are the forces that affect the society and different sectors within it. Development concerns may come from different fields such as economics, environment, politics, education, employment, health, agriculture, etc. Devcom, as a field of study, was created to help address these issues with the use of media and other communication tools. The BSDC curriculum trains students in different areas of study such as the basic sciences and media studies. (UPLB Catalogue of Academic Programs, 2006) According to Quebral in 1975 (As cited by Manyozo 2006), the BSDC curriculum was carefully thought of to “acquire a theoretical base in sciences and applied arts that underline the study of human communication. Learn practical skills in interpersonal and mass communication. Gain a basic grasp of the issues and problems of development in general and of the subject matter of one developmental area in particular. Apply the concepts, principles and skills of communication in the solution of problems in a developing

society.” This way, the curriculum embeds the adequate knowledge and strategic practices that a BSDC student needs once he goes out of the university and into the field or workplace. However, a dilemma lies in the adequacy and fit of the knowledge and training given by the BSDC curriculum today. The curriculum was designed to address the issues and problems apparent in the country at the time it was conceptualized. To cope with this predicament, studies on the current social, cultural, environmental, and political environment, coupled with curricular review and revision need to be conducted time and time again to be able to train a new set of devcom graduates capable of addressing present development issues and concerns. As Quebral (2005) stated, ―a development communication curriculum responds to changes in the concept of development and of communication and in the environment that embraces both.‖ There have only been a few studies on CDC‘s undergraduate curriculum. Some of them were studies by Calaycay (1993), Delfin (2004), and Gibas (1984), all of which are reviewed in Chapter 2. Almost all of them tackled the perceptions of students and/or employees on the effectiveness of the curriculum. However, there have been no studies which offered a holistic overview of the curriculum and proposed specific modifications toward its improvement. With this in mind, the researcher sought to review the UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum vis-à-vis contemporary Philippine development problems and issues.

Statement of the Problem

This study was guided by the question, â&#x20AC;&#x2022;Does the BSDC curriculum address contemporary development problems and issues of the Philippines?â&#x20AC;&#x2013; This problem statement was broken down into the following specific questions, which the study addressed: 1.

What development problems and issues does the country face today?

What is the nature of the current BSDC curriculum in terms of scope, sequence, continuity/articulation, and balance?

What contemporary development problems and issues are addressed by the current UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum?

What contemporary development problems and issues are not addressed by the current UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum?

What enhancements could be made to the UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum in terms of structure and coverage?

Objectives of the Study

This study sought to review the UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum vis-à-vis the contemporary development problems and issues of the country. Specifically, the study aimed to: 1.

Find out the development problems and issues the country faces today;

Describe the nature of the current BSDC curriculum in terms of scope, sequence, continuity, articulation, and balance;

Find out the contemporary development problems and issues addressed by the current UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum

Find out the contemporary development problems and issues not addressed by the current UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum; and

Propose enhancements to the UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum in terms of structure and coverage.

Significance of the Study

This study yields both theoretical and practical contributions. Theoretically, this study gives fresh insights into the schools‘ ―external environment,‖ which greatly affects the objectives and performance of its curriculum. Hoy and Miskel (2005) viewed the external environment of a school from an information perspective. The external environment is a source of information (e.g., expected goals and levels of performance) that decision makers use in maintaining or changing the internal structures and processes of their organizations. The BSDC curriculum resides in a system that happens to be the College of Development 5

Communication (CDC). CDC has its external environment, which continues to change. Thus, any change in the CDCâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s external environment should affect the BSDC curriculum. This study also provides an update on the development issues of the country, thus can benefit decision-makers, instructors, and students as they address development problems by means of development communication. Specifically, this study provides information to the Curriculum Committee of CDC by offering recommendations such as improvements on the curriculum: information on what could be included in the contents of the courses or in the organization of the curriculum in relation to the development issues on the country.

Limitations of the Study

The study considered only the BSDC curriculum of UPLB. The environment of CDC and the BSDC curriculum may not be similar to the environment of other colleges and their curriculum. In addition, the MS and PhD Devcom curricula were not included in the study. This study also limited its scope to the development situation of the Philippines, prioritizing national development issues before regional/continental ones. As much as the researcher wanted to widen the scope, he saw it more feasible to focus on the development concerns as seen by selected development agencies. It goes without saying that the issues these agencies identify cannot generalize the overall condition of the country since each agency has its own focus areas, mandates, and priorities. Combined however, they could offer a good picture of the current development situation of the Philippines, which may have implications on the BSDC curriculum. This study examined the development situation of the Philippines to see if there are modifications that can be made to the current BSDC curriculum. Other factors that may be

considered in modifying the curriculum (employerâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s needs, studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; perceptions, instruction and teaching strategies, university policies, etc) were not considered. Meager resources such as time and money limited the number of development agencies which participated in the study. In the curricular study, the analysis was limited only to the course syllabi of all courses under the BSDC curriculum including the core development communication courses, foundation courses, social science and technical electives, and major fields in Development Communication. However, course syllabi of some technical and social science electives and RGEP courses were not obtained because they were either unavailable or the researcher was not granted access to them. Specialized (technical and social science elective) courses that were not included those of Sociology, Political Science, Psychology, History, Agrarian Studies, Plant Pathology, Entomology, Horticulture, and Computer Science. To compensate for this, the researcher sought for these coursesâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; course description from the UPLB Catalogue of Academic Programs. In addition, the course outlines/syllabi of RGEP courses were no longer obtained in this study. As such, in analyzing the development concerns addressed and not addressed by the curriculum, only the core, major, and specialized components were considered. It is also relevant to mention that this review of the BSDC curriculum was solely based on the contents of the course syllabi. Other means of evaluating the curriculum such as sitting in the actual classes and interviewing the faculty who handle the courses were not carried out.

Operational Definitions of Terms

Content - The topics covered in a course syllabus. This determines scope of the subject matter being taught in a certain course. In this study, the development problems and issues addressed by the BSDC curriculum should be at least covered or tackled in the content of its syllabus. Courses - The subjects included in a curriculum. Sowell (2005) defines course of study as â&#x20AC;&#x2022;curriculum product containing specified content, learning outcomes, and time allocations.â&#x20AC;&#x2013; In this study, these represent the subjects that are included in the BSDC Curriculum. These subjects are categorized into different components; namely, core courses, foundation courses, major courses, specialized courses (social science electives and technical courses), and a legislated course. Curriculum - This is a statement of subjects/courses, learning activities, objectives, and ways of teaching, strategically planned by a group of people to train competitive individuals and enhance their knowledge and skills. (Henson, 2001) It is also a communication tool, a product of conversations and meetings, used to fulfill a certain act of social change by formally educating people. In this study, it refers to the BSDC curriculum of UPLB. Curriculum Articulation or Continuity - Smoothness of flow of topics, courses or contents in the curriculum (Henson, 2005). In this study, the articulation or continuity refers to the flow of topics over time. (Time refers to the semester/s or year/s taken by an undergraduate BSDC student.) To measure the articulation/ continuity of particular courses, the following criteria were used:

Smooth Articulation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; There are no gaps between 2 or more sequenced courses over a period of 4 semesters. Fairly Smooth Articulation - There is a gap of one semester between two or more sequenced courses. Fairly Unsmooth Articulation - There is a two-semester gap between sequenced courses. Unsmooth Articulation - There is a three or more semester-gap between sequenced courses. Curriculum Balance - Distribution of topics, courses, or contents (Henson, 2005). In this study, the balance of the BSDC Curriculum refers to the subject matter/s that the curriculum is biased towards and how those topics are distributed. To measure the balance of particular courses, the following criteria were employed: Well-Balanced - If core component and major courses component (allowed for students) have equal unit allotments; if technical courses component, foundation courses component, and social science electives component have equal unit allotments. Skewed - If core component and major courses component (allowed for students) do not have equal unit allotments; if technical courses component, foundation courses component, and social science electives component do not have equal unit allotments. Curriculum Sequence â&#x20AC;&#x201C; How topics, courses or contents are ordered over time (Sowell, 2005). In this study, sequence refers to how topics or courses are arranged in the BSDC curriculum over the time frame of the curriculum (4 years; 2 semesters per year). To measure the sequence, the following criteria were used:

Well-sequenced - If the courses are arranged either from broad-to-specific, specific-to-general, theoretical-to-practical or previous-to-recent. Poorly Sequenced - If the courses in the curriculum are not arranged in a particular order, and there is no relation among courses. Curriculum Scope or Coverage - the breadth of topics, courses or subject matter included in a curriculum. (Henson, 2005; Sowell, 2005). In this study, the scope of the BSDC curriculum includes basic development communication courses, RGEP courses, technical and social science electives offered from other colleges inside UPLB, and other basic courses. To measure the coverage or scope, the following criteria were used: Extensiveness - Number of different coded courses that can be taken by BSDC students other than DEVC and RGEP courses (e.g. ECON, AECO, BIO, SDS, SOC, CHEM, etc). 19 or more

Very Extensive Scope

13-18

Moderately Extensive Scope

7-13

Limitedly Extensive Scope

6 or less

Inextensive scope

Adaptability to development issues (ADI) - Percentage of courses that addresses contemporary Philippine development concerns (as identified by key informants) and are embedded in the courses of the BSDC curriculum 100 – 90%

Strongly Adaptive

89 – 75%

Adaptive

75 – 50%

Moderately Adaptive

49 – 30%

Fairly Adaptive

30 – 10%

Unadaptive

9 - 0%

Strongly Unadaptive 10

Development Issues - These are conditions related to development. These may take the form of social problems, or progress and achievement in the country. In this study, development issues were determined through interviews with particular development agencies. Secondary sources such as statistics were also consulted as well. These development issues could be addressed by the BSDC curriculum by including them in the courses under it.

Issues addressed - Issues obtained from the KII were included in the topical outline of the course. Issues that should be addressed - Issues obtained from the KII that are not included in the topical outline of the course

External environment - The outside forces acting upon an organization. According to Hoy and Miskel (2005), different of levels of society can bring multiple environmental factors to the school. These include â&#x20AC;&#x2022;technological and informational developments, political structures, and patterns of legal norms, social conditions and cultural values, economic and market factors, and population and demographic characteristics.â&#x20AC;&#x2013; In this study, the researcher looked at development issues as part of the environment of the curriculum. These issues were provided by the development agencies as they observe and assess the overall development situation of the country. Key Issues - These are the most apparent development concerns, problems, or topics. The key issues were acquired by identifying those which were frequently stated in the interviews with the development agencies. Structure -The overall form and design of the curriculum taking into account its articulation, sequence, balance, scope and depth. Syllabus - A document that contains the description, objectives, topical outline and requirements of a course. In this study, this term will be interchangeably used with Course Outline.

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

School Environments

A school is an open system. It depends on the exchanges it makes with its environment to survive. An exchange of information and resources helps the school system to grow and live. Being an open system, a school organization must consider its external environment as an important factor for its existence. According to Hoy and Miskel (2005), ―an argument can be made that anything that happens in the external environment may affect the school and vice versa.‖ For example, advances in the ICT may perhaps force schools to provide updated technologies to enhance the learning activities they provide. “Multiple environment influences come from different levels of society and affect what happens in schools. Technologies and informational data, political structures and patterns of legal norm, social conditions and cultural values, economic and market factors and population and demographic characteristics, influence school structures and processes” (Hoy and Miskel, 2005). Within the external environment of a school, there are stakeholders who affect the school, and in turn, are also affected by the school – employers, parents/guardians, legislators, grassroots stakeholders, etc. 12

Task and Institutional Environments

Hoy and Miskel (2005) classified two types of environments in which school organizations are a part of: task and institutional environments. According to them, the task environment includes all aspects of the environment that may partially influence the goal setting and achievement of the school (Dill, 1958 in Hoy and Miskel, 2005). Task environments assert that organizations exist because they have specific tasks to perform and goals to achieve. Organizations receive inputs from the environments and convert them into products that, in turn, may help the environmental elements/ stakeholders themselves. The task environment is further classified into two best-known perspectives: information and resource-dependence perspectives.

Information Perspective. In this perspective, the external environment is perceived by the organizations as the source of information, which decision-makers use as factors that can help modify or improve the internal structure or processes of the organization (Hoy and Miskel, 2005). The primary concern of this perspective is uncertainty within the environment. Environmental uncertainty â&#x20AC;&#x153;exists when decision makers in an organization are unable to make accurate predictions because existing conditions in the external environment prevent them from having adequate information.â&#x20AC;? (Milliken, 1987; McCabe and Dutton, 1993 in Hoy and Miskel, 2005) The level of uncertainty is determined by the amount and quality of data administrators have regarding the trends and changes occurring in the environment. There are at least five dilemmas that might arise when the level of uncertainty is high (Hoy and Miskel, 2005): 13

1.) Difficulty in understanding the information from the environment due to lack of knowledge and skills. 2.) Preferences regarding possible outcomes become less clear. 3.) Alternative courses of actions and their outcomes become increasingly unpredictable and risky. 4.) Strategies and tactics become relatively difficult to communicate and implement. 5.) Potential outcomes from a decision are not known. The main idea of the perspective is for schools “to adapt to produce environmental fit.” Environmental fit refers to the relationship between the school organization‘s structure and processes to the perceived external environment (Miller, 1992; Pennigs, 1992 in Hoy and Miskel, 2005). According to Hoy and Miskel, information perspective ―emphasizes goal achievement based on perceptions of the external environment as the primary source of information about what schools are expected to produce for society.‖ To reduce environmental uncertainty and to achieve environmental fit, school decision-makers must take into account information received outside the school as a part of the school‘s inputs. Resource-Dependence Perspective In contrast with the information perspective, resource-dependence framework suggests that the environment serves as the source in which the school organization can gather resources to sustain its task and technical functions (Hoy and Miskel, 2005). Four general types of resource are usually identified: fiscal, personnel, information and knowledge (research and development), and products and services (Aldrich, 1972; Benson, 1975 in Hoy and Miskel, 2005). These environmental resources are always seen as either scarce or munificent.‖The relative abundance of resources in the environment is the ultimate determinant of sufficient input for any organization.‖ If resources are scarce, the growth and survival of the school 14

organization may be limited. Meanwhile, a sufficient amount of resources may facilitate the achievement of goals. If uncertainty is the concern of the information perspective, resource-dependence perspective is concerned with the scarcity of resources. As the organization becomes more dependent on resources, the supplier of such resources may acquire control over the organization. Consequently, adjustments within the internal structures and processes of the organization may be observed. ‖For the educational settings, dependence is directly related to the school organization‘s need for resources controlled by other organizations, and inversely related to the resource availability from other organization. That is, if school organizations cannot accomplish their goals without the resources controlled by the other organizations and are unable to secure them elsewhere, they become dependent on the other organizations.‖ (Hoy and Miskel, 2005)

Internal Coping Strategies for the task environment (Hoy and Miskel, 2005) 1.) Buffering – “Uses structures and processes to insulate or surround internal activities and absorb environmental disturbances.” Schools create departments or systematic processes to absorb environmental instability. Buffering strategies include careful planning, proper allocation of resources (human and non-human), facilities, and the curriculum. 2.) Planning and forecasting – In this strategy, schools may anticipate future uncertainties. Schools may build planning and forecasting departments to take action or countermeasures to mitigate the effects of inevitable disturbances in the future. 3.) Spanning Organizational Boundaries – Unlike buffering strategies wherein schools absorb the environment‘s uncertainties, in this strategy the school is more 15

likely to engage with the environment to create harmony. Roles are made from the internal structure to detect and monitor events in the environment or represent the school itself to the environment. Boundary spanning creates inter-organizational relationship between the school and the environment in general. 4.) Adjusting internal operations – According to Hoy and Miskel, ―the way an organization should be designed depends in part on its environment.‖ They argued that the most effective way is to adjust its internal operations and structure as significant environmental disturbance happens. On the other hand, the institutional environment states that the environment builds the rules and regulations, laws and norms, in which the school organization must conform with. It encourages conformity to powerful sets of rules and regulations that the legal, social, professional, and political contexts of organizations impose (Fennell andAlexander, 1987 in Hoy and Miskel, 2005) ―Technical environments emphasize a rationality that incorporates a set of prescriptions for matching means and ends in ways that produce desirable and predictable outcomes… By comparison, institutional environments press ‗rationales as rationality‘. That is, institutional rationality provides an explanation that makes past actions understandable, acceptable, and seemingly accountable.‖ (Hoy and Miskel, 2005) The basic assertion of the institutional theory is that the school organization reflects and imitates the norms, laws, values, and ideologies of the society it lives in. With it, ―cultural support‖ will provide the organization success and survival. Coping Strategies 1.) Decoupling – Dividing the organization into two parts; one for the institutional

environment, one for technical tasks. In this strategy, two dichotomous parts are made to ensure effective monitoring. The part which has a close eye on the 16

technical activities neglects the environment and focuses more on the technical element. The same goes for the part assigned for the environment. 2.) Managing the Image – This strategy is used to depict a favorable impression on

the institutional environment. 3.) Categorical Conformity – This strategy uses categories to standardize the school.

Shared belief systems are incorporated not only within the educators and students, but also to the curriculum topics. 4.) Structural Conformity – Sometimes institutional environments such as the

government (national or local) implements structural policies to regulate and maintain educational uniformity. In this case, the school conforms to the institution‘s structural standards to mitigate uncertainties. 5.) Procedural Conformity – Sometimes schools implement procedures in a way

designed by the institutional environment. For example, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) requires all nursing schools to have certain number of units allotted for clinical duties.

Curriculum Planning and Management

Definitions of Curriculum

The term curriculum came from the Latin word meaning ―race course.‖ Like a race course, a curriculum directs learners what is to be followed, what turns can be taken, and what lies at the end of the track. According to Henson (2001), when the term curriculum is used in education, it accumulates ―many meanings.‖ Before, curriculum was defined only as a ―list of courses‖ used by schools in teaching. Soon after, the term began to grasp many interpretations as to what its purpose really is. Henson (2001) discussed several interpretations of the term curriculum, showing diverse and differentiated meanings of the term. 1.) Curriculum as a Program of Studies – This is expressed as the conventional view of the curriculum. Most individuals know a curriculum as a list of subjects offered by an academic institution. For example, the curriculum of secondary education contains subjects such as Basic and Advance Mathematics, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, History, Economics, Home Economics, Literature and English. 2.) Curriculum as a Document – Most of the time, people ask the head of a school‘s department for the curriculum of a certain degree program. In so doing, they are essentially asking for a particular document prepared by the school itself. This exemplifies another definition of a curriculum as ―planned actions for instruction.‖ (Foshay, 1969 as cited by Henson, 2001) 3.) Curriculum as a Planned Experience – A curriculum is a set of planned experiences such as learning activities and teaching instructions. A curriculum is

not merely a list of subjects but also serves as a guide and direction for both teachers and learners. 4.) Curriculum as an End – According to Pophan and Baker (1970, as cited by Henson, 2001), a curriculum is a set of learning outcomes in which a school has to meet and fulfill.

Nature of Curriculum A curriculum generally represents not only the school where it is being offered, but also the community where it lies. ―The school is a creation of a community and is supported by the community, which means that the curriculum must serve the needs of the community.‖ (Henson, 2001) A curriculum is the main tool which enables the school to form individuals to be responsible citizens of the community. Businesspersons see the curriculum as a means by which students can gain the requisite knowledge and skills to make them productive workers. It must be structured in a way to deliver outcomes that are relevant to employment opportunities and needs. (Brady and Kennedy, 1999) According to Henson (2001), like the community, the school has its own culture, which must be considered when curricula are developed.

Curriculum Organization A curriculum does not have a single most design that schools follow. Different curricula have designs and structures, which depend on the school‘s main purpose and objectives. Schools may choose the curriculum design that they want, which could be either broad field, specialized, or problem-solving (Sowell, 2005).

However, different curriculum designs share common qualities: scope, sequence, continuity, articulation, and balance (Henson, 2001). Scope refers to the breadth of a curriculum at any level or at any given time. It refers to the variety of topics covered by the courses offered in the curriculum. It represents the coverage of the whole curriculum. Sequence is concerned with the order of topics over time. Continuity refers to the smoothness or the absence of disruption in the curriculum over time. A curriculum might have a good sequence but might also have disruptions. This quality deals with the repetitions of ideas or themes within a curriculum. Articulation refers to the smooth flow of the curriculum. Balance refers to the distribution of different fields offered. Sowell (2005) agreed on the qualities that a curriculum should have, however, she modified some of them, arriving at only four considerations in organizing the content of a curriculum: scope, continuity, sequence, and integration. In Sowell‘s perspective, the continuity of a curriculum makes sure that ideas imparted by the curriculum are repeated and tackled at least once in the curriculum (Goodland and Su, 1992 in Sowell, 2005). Sequence deals with not only how ideas or topics are repeated in the curriculum but also on how deep those topics are tackled through time. Sowell, however, added another component, integration, which deals with ―bringing concepts into close relationships.‖ (Sowell, 2005) According to Sowell (2005), a curriculum‘s design dictates its content, which then provide its scope, continuity, sequence, and integration. To her, there are three major curriculum designs: subject matter, society-culture-based, and learner-based.

Subject matter designs Single subject contains only one academic discipline. Correlated subjects have two or more related areas. Broad fields cut across an entire domain of knowledge (Goodland and Su, 1992 in Sowell, 2005) Interdisciplinary integrated study has multiple disciplines yet guided by a common conceptual focus. Thematic instruction is multidisciplinary and has several coordinated conceptual foci. Society-Culture-based designs ―Curricula based on the needs of society and culture are rooted in the study of life in society, major activities of social life, or social problems‖ (Sowell, 2005). A curriculum having this design does not usually have a well-defined scope. Since culture varies and societies are different from one country to another, a curriculum based on its society may be different from another curriculum. This design mainly emphasizes the need for learners to acquire certain skills (problem solving, human relations, etc) enabling them to become well=prepared for real-life situations. Learner-based designs Organic curriculum examines activities from the learner‘s point of view. Developmental curriculum decides activities based on the learner‘s needs and interests. Other designs Technology as curriculum features ―explicit, behaviorally stated objectives towards which learners are directed though a carefully sequenced set of 21

activities, and it usually uses subject matter as source of content.â&#x20AC;&#x2013; (Sowell, 2005) School-to-work designs specially tackles learning activities which will help students when they finally work and become part of the labor force. Core curriculum is a design having closely integrated and interrelated disciplines and contents. Table 1. Curriculum Designs Related to Content Organization Considerations (Sowell, 2005) Designs

Scope

Well defined; Subject-matter

content predetermined

Society-culture

Learner-based

Well defined; content varies

Not well defined; content varies

ContinuitySequence

Integration Weak, except for

Well defined;

broad fields;

preplanned

depends on learners Strong; content

Not well defined

relevant to learners Strong; content

Not well defined

relevant to learners

Andres and Francisco (1989) came up with the following guidelines or social considerations in curriculum development: Basic agencies demand skill, attitudes and knowledge. Curriculum must tap local, regional and provincial needs and not only those which are national and international. Cultural pluralism should be respected. 22

The curriculum must draw upon analyses of society and culture, of Filipino tradition and heritage, social pressures, and established social habits. The curriculum should prepare learners to be a productive member of culture. The curriculum should diagnose gaps, deficiencies, and variations of backgrounds. Schools should select and organize learning experiences in the curriculum, taking culture and society into consideration Societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s concept of function of schools determine to a great extent what kind of curriculum should the society have. There should be a continuous examination of the goals and demands of the changing society and the forces operating in it, to be reflected in the curriculum. There should be a sustained study of culture and effort to mobilize the resources of the social sciences Schools should analyze the impact of technology and the changes it has produced in the society.

Conceptions of Curriculum A curriculum must follow a specific educational purpose, together with the appropriate content and organization, to effectively attain the objectives. According to Sowell (2005), the content of the curriculum comes from the same source which dictates the purpose of education. These sources may range from the subject matter, needs of the community (society or culture) or needs and interests of the learners. These sources of contents are very well highlighted in different curriculum conceptions. 23

Table 2. Curriculum conceptions, Purposes of education, and Content sources (Sowell, 2005) Curriculum Conception

Purpose of Education

Primary Source of Content

Cumulative tradition of organized knowledge

To cultivate cognitive achievement and the intellect

Academic disciplines, subject matter

Social relevancereconstruction

To prepare people for living in an unstable, changing world; to reform society

Needs of culture and society

Self-actualization

To develop individuals to their fullest potential

Needs and interests of learners

Development of cognitive processes

To develop intellectual processes

Any source, but usually subject matter

Technology

To make learning systematic

Any source, but usually subject matter

Cumulative tradition of organized knowledge - In this conception, the purpose of education is to ―cultivate cognitive achievement and intellect by helping students understand knowledge‖ (Sowell, 2005). Proponents of this conception believed that by teaching learners the basic disciplines such as mathematics, basic sciences, language, etc, they would be able to apply these disciplines and solve different real problems. Self-actualization - This conception ―seeks to provide personally satisfying experiences for individual learners‖ (Sowell, 2005). In this essence, the curriculum aids students to gain their individual potential. Contents focus more on the needs and interests of the learners, and teaching strategies are centered on the students. Social relevance-reconstruction – This conception is geared towards ―education in a larger societal context where societal needs dominate both subject matter and individual needs‖ 24

(Sowell, 2005). Different social issues formulate the content. In this essence, there are two orientations in which this kind of conception operates in: 1) ‗current‘ orientation states that learners should develop in the context of social change. Proponents of this orientation believed that the curriculum should ―prepare people for living in an unstable and changing world;‖ and 2) ‗futurist‘ orientation believes that schools should actively participate in social change and reformation. Development of cognitive processes – In this conception, the curriculum helps learners develop their intellectual processes and cognitive skills such as speculating, deducing, and analyzing. The curriculum in this conception does not usually state an education end. (Sowell, 2005) Technology – Curriculum, in the technological conception, ―seeks to make learning systematic and efficient‖ (Sowell, 2005). The focus is on the technology that facilitates the learning process such as programmed instructions.

Mooney, Knox and Schacht’s (2002) Taxonomy of Social Problems

What is a Social Problem? According to Mooney, Knox and Schacht (2002), there is no universal, constant, or absolute definition of what constitutes a social problem. Social problems are a combination of both objective and subjective elements that differ among societies and culture, among people and groups of a society, and across time periods. The objective element of a social problem refers to the ―existence of a social condition.‖ People are aware of different conditions they or other people have. They come to recognize these conditions through life experiences, media, and education. The subjective element of a social problem refers to the 25

â&#x20AC;&#x2022;belief that a particular social condition is harmful to society, or a segment of society, and that it should and can be changed.â&#x20AC;&#x2013; Existing social conditions cannot be identified as social problems unless a part of society believes that it is harmful to them. Herbert Blumer (as cited by Mooney, Knox and Schacht, 2002) added that social problems are fundamentally products of collective definitionâ&#x20AC;Ś a social problem does not exist in society unless it is recognized by that society to exist. Problems of Well-Being These problems are commonly regarded as individual, private problems. They are results of one's own actions and decisions. Thus, one's behavior is commonly blamed for these problems (Mooney, Knox and Schacht, 2002). 1. Illness and Health Care crisis (e.g., HIV/AIDS, mental illness, mismanaged health care assistance.) 2. Alcohol and Other Drugs (e.g., drug use and abuse) 3. Crime and Violence (e.g., street crimes, vice crimes, white-collar crimes, computer crimes, juvenile delinquency) 4. Family Problems (e.g., intimate partner violence and abuse, child abuse, elderly abuse, divorce, non-marital, and teenage childbearing) Problems of Human Diversity People are diverse. This diversity creates meanings and judgments among different people. There are problems that are commonly rooted from labeling people with characteristics that make one individual different from the rest (Mooney, Knox, and Schacht, 2002) 1. The Young and the Old. (e.g., children in conflict with the law, poverty, violence, (elderly) work retirement, living arrangements, health issues, abuse, quality of life) 2. Race and Ethnic Relations. (e.g., racial discrimination, prejudice, and racism)

3. Gender Inequality (e.g., structural sexism (education, income, work, politics, civil rights), cultural sexism (family relations, school), feminization of poverty, conflict in relationships.) 4. Sexual Orientation (e.g., homophobia, heterosexism, discrimination (workplace, family relationships, hate crimes)) Problems of Inequality and Power This category is concerned with social "inequalities" of life, between the rich and the poor, between those who have everything and those who have nothing. These inequalities can further affect people's status in life, either in school, work, or in the place they live (Mooney, Knox, and Schacht, 2002). 1. The Haves and the Haves-not. (e.g., poverty (health problems, educational problems, family stress, housing problems), intergenerational conflict, war and social conflict) 2. Work and Unemployment. (e.g., sweatshop labor, child labor, health and safety hazards, dissatisfaction and alienation, family concerns, unemployment and underemployment, struggle for workers‘ rights) 3. Problems in Education. (e.g., inequality in educational attainment (social class, gender, race, and ethnicity) low levels of academic achievement, school dropouts, violence in school, deficient school facilities and personnel, deficient teachers) 4. Cities in Crisis. (e.g., urban poverty, unemployment, urban housing problems, inadequate schools, urban ―three-headed monster‖ (drug addiction, AIDS, crime), transport/traffic problems, wildlife displacement) Problems of Modernization As society transform from an agriculture-based to industry-based, changes in the structure and culture occurs. This process of transformation is called modernization. Changes in this transformation may bring social problems (Mooney, Knox, and Schacht, 2002).‖

1. Population and Environment Problems. (e.g., overpopulation, falling fertility rates, poor maternal and infant health, increased global food requirements, water shortages and depletion of other natural resources, (environmental problems) air pollution, global warming, land pollution, water pollution, environmental injustice, threats to biodiversity, disappearing livelihoods) 2. Science and Technology. (e.g., alienation, deskilling, upskilling, social relationships, loss of privacy and security, unemployment, digital divide, mental and physical health) 3. Conflict and the World. (e.g., death and disability, rape, forced prostitution, displacement of women and children, disruption of social-psychological comfort, diversion of economic resources, destruction of the environment)

Related Studies

A handful of curriculum studies have been conducted in CDC. Most of them were carried out in the early â&#x20AC;&#x2014;80s. Perhaps, it was Villero, who conducted the very first undergraduate research on the BSDC curriculum in 1978. This survey research aimed to present the whereabouts of graduates and the jobs they perform, the available job opportunities for BSDC graduates, and their perceptions regarding the adequacy of their undergraduate courses and competence of their respective institutions. Results showed that graduates usually start as information officers, development workers, writers and instructors. Majority of the respondents in this study perceived communication courses, technical and social science courses as relevant to their jobs for these provides basic trainings on communication works and well-round comprehension on technical fields. 28

In 1980, Mendoza surveyed graduates and employees about their perceptions on the adequacy of academic training in BSDC. Majority of the respondents agreed upon the usefulness of the undergraduate courses in their work. The following year, 1981, Guzman interviewed undergraduate and graduate (MS and PhD) devcom students. The researcher investigated the reason why students enroll in Development Communication. Most of the answers had to do with personal interests, high demand for devcom graduates, and the perception of devcom as a new field of study. In 1983, Mayor surveyed students regarding their choices on their field of specialization. The respondents perceived that there is a need for major fields because some fields offer more job opportunities than others do. In 1984, another survey was conducted. That time, Gibasâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; inquiry turned to the technical and social science electives, and general education courses. The researcher asserted that the number of the courses mentioned was enough for the students to be in favor of the generalist track. More than a decade after Guzmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s study, Dia, in 1992, again interviewed Devcom students to find out their reasons why they enrolled in the course. Again, personal interests and their perceptions of devcom as a field of study showed to be the most common answers. A year after, Calaycay attempted to use another method of analysis to discern the personal constructs of students on the courses in the curriculum. This researcher used Repertory Grid Technique to probe into the thoughts of the students. The results showed that undergraduate students most likely have positive constructs on the learning activities of the courses offered in the devcom curriculum. In 2003, Delfin studied the perceived usefulness of the curriculum to the jobs of graduates, and studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; perception of the generalist and specialized orientation of the curriculum. This is the most recent curriculum study made by an undergraduate student in the college. Results showed that most employers who hire devcom graduates expected them to be knowledgeable in the four areas of specialization, thus, favoring the generalist orientation of the curriculum. 29

Synthesis of the Reviewed Literature

To sum up the literature reviewed, it can be said that the BSDC curriculum is part of a bigger system: the College of Development Communication. The school, the University of the Philippines Los Bańos, wherein CDC belongs, lives in an external environment comprised of different elements and factors that affect its existence. As an open system, both CDC and UPLB must adapt to the environment for their ―survival.‖ As the school adapts to its environment, it exchanges information, raw materials, and human resources with the environment. In doing so, the school constantly enhances its structures to cope with the demands or qualifications of the external environment for future growth. To adapt, the school should constantly re-organize its internal operations, such as developing other suitable approaches for instruction, and/or modifying its curricula. The environment of a school can be classified as a task environment or an institutional environment. The task environment of the school provides school materials, information, and other resources. It can be viewed from two famous perspectives: information and resource-dependence. Meanwhile, the institutional environment is evident in the norms, values, and laws that the school conforms to to gain support. Furthermore, the curriculum design of devcom in CDC may be seen as societyculture-based. This means that the curriculum itself was developed to produce capable individuals to help improve the society.

Theoretical Framework

Open-systems theory was used as the theoretical foundation of this study because it displays the vulnerability and interdependence of the organization, particularly a school, to its external environment (Hoy and Miskel, 2005). (See Figure 1.) The Open-systems perspective looks at any organization not as an entity that is isolated from its external environment, but rather as one that is affected by the changes occurring in its environment. Not only is it affected, but an organization is also dependent on the environment. It receives inputs from the environment such as raw materials, information, people, and finances. It transforms these inputs into products and services. The outputs that the system produces affect the environment as well. For example, the school produces competitive citizens that are willing to contribute to the improvement of the community where the school is located. There is interdependence between the school and the environment.

Figure 1. Open system with feedback loop

According to Hoy and Miskel (2005), an open system is concerned with both structure and process; it is a dynamic system with both stability and flexibility, with both tight and loose structural relationships. The interdependence of the organization and its environment is critical. 31

In this study, the researcher viewed the external environment of CDC from an information perspective, thus classifying the external environment as a task environment. He assumed that the CDC uses the inputs from its environment for its decision-making processes that affect the output that the college feedbacks to the environment. For the purpose of this study, the researcher identified an element of the environment of CDC, which greatly affects the workings of the college. This element is the country‘s development issues and concerns. Thus, these emerging development issues and concerns give information inputs to CDC in general and its curriculum in particular. In turn, the college produces students, who can help address these development issues and concerns themselves. In this study, the BSDC curriculum was analyzed in terms of its topical content, scope, articulation, coverage, depth, and sequence, adopting Henson‘s and Sowell‘s curriculum design characteristics.

Conceptual Framework

The study first scanned the environment of the BSDC Curriculum to find out the development problems and issues present in the country. Although the external environment of a school, especially of UPLB CDC, includes various linkages such as companies, communities and competing schools, the study closed in on just development concerns of the present. These development problems and issues are enclosed within the task environment of UPLB CDC seeing that CDC gets its inputs in the form of information and knowledge from these development concerns. Development issues affect CDC, especially its curriculum. The curriculum of BSDC was formulated more than nine years ago to address the issues apparent in the country. 32

However, the external environment changes; new issues arise, while others evolve.. The current curriculum needs to keep abreast of the changing development concerns of the country. Thus, it must constantly adapt to its environment.

Figure 2. Conceptual Framework (Adapted and Modified for Hoy and Miskelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, 2005, illustration of open system)

For the curricular study, the researcher developed a framework that he used to analyze the BSDC curriculum. In this framework, articulation, sequence, balance and scope (Henson, 2001; Sowell, 2005) were included to depict the overall nature of the curriculum. The inputs to the curriculum (development issues and skills needed) are shown as embedded in the scope of the curriculum. To reiterate what was defined earlier, articulation refers to the smoothness of flow of content/courses over time. Sequence refers to the arrangement of content/courses. Balance refers to the distribution of content/courses, measured in units. Scope refers to the overall content/coverage of the curriculum. 33

This framework (See Figure 3) assumes that development issues in the current BSDC are well-embedded in its scope by means of the technical and social science electives.

Figure 3. Operational framework for the curricular study

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

This study is part qualitative and part quantitative. Descriptive data were used to contextualize the environment of the curriculum; while the curriculum design of CDC (e.g. sequence, articulation, scope, content, coverage, etc) was evaluated by means of categories or criteria. This research combined two research designs that will be appropriate for the exploration of the development issues and study of the BSDC curriculum. For the part of the study that is concerned with the development issues, the researcher employed a textual analysis to find out the contemporary development problems and issues of the Philippines. For the curricular review portion of the study, the researcher then conducted a document analysis. Course syllabi were examined to evaluate the current BSDC curriculum vis-Ă -vis the contemporary development concerns of the country.

Data Collection Procedure

This study consisted of two phases of data collection. To find out the development concerns of the country, the researcher employed two data collection methods. These were 1) Key informant interviews with the head, spokesperson, or representative of the development agency; and 2) Review of various relevant statistical data and studies concerning the issues 35

disclosed by the agencies. Phase One of data gathering started on October 9, 2008 and ended on February 3, 2009. Phase Two of the study took the shape of a content analysis of course syllabi. For this phase, the researcher first requested, through official channels, course outlines of courses encompassed by the BSDC curriculum. There were 203 course outlines (42 of those were only course descriptions, 32 were DEVC courses) gathered. CDC curriculum workshop reports and collection of previous BSDC curricula were also obtained to shed light on the nature of the BSDC curriculum. The researcher then referred to the overall listing of the development issues of the country, essentially a combination of issues identified by the development agencies to cross-checked it with the course syllabi. It was through this process that the researcher found out which courses the identified key development issues were embodied in.

Sampling Procedure

In Phase One of the study, five development agencies were purposively sampled: the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Third World Studies Center (TWSC) of the University of the Philippines - Diliman. The key informants that were interviewed were identified by the agencies themselves. Among the five, three of them were planning directors/chiefs, one was a country director, and one was assistant country representative. The researcher purposely selected agencies were purposely selected according to the sector in society that they cater to the most: DSWD for children, women and elderly FAO for policymakers (for food and agriculture) and farmers, NEDA for the policymakers (socio-economic planning) and the business sector, UNDP for policymakers (development efforts), and the Third World Studies Center (TWSC) for development researchers. Interviews were conducted under the assumption that the different sectors of society have 36

different development concerns, which would be somehow addressed by these development agencies. To strengthen the internal validity of the phase one results, triangulation was employed, through having multiple sources of information.

Research Instrument An interview guide was used as a research instrument. The topics included in the research instrument for the first phase is presented as follows: Issues addressed by the development agency; Sectors targeted by the development agency; Emerging issues as seen by the development agency; Needs and problems of the grassroots or sectors as researched by the development agency; and Communication skills needed to address these issues

For the second phase, these criteria were used in analyzing the curriculum: Key Development Issues. What issues and concerns are somehow being tackled in the subject? Which courses tackles certain issues? How are issues tackled? Sequence. How are courses ordered over time? Does this sequence help enhance the development of knowledge? Articulation/ Continuity. Is there a smooth flow of content/topics/ courses (core courses, major courses, foundation courses, and specialized courses) in development communication curriculum? Are there any disruptions or gaps in between courses?

Scope. How wide is the scope of the BSDC curriculum in terms of courses offered? Is it generalized or specialized? Are there contents/topics that the curriculum does not have but it should? Balance. How are courses distributed? Which has more unit allotments? Enhancements. Are there skills/knowledge (as identified by development agencies) that must be emphasized in the curriculum? Does the curriculum lack necessary skills that will help address development issues? How can the articulation, scope, sequence and balance be improved?

Data Analysis Phase One. Upon collecting the data on the current development issues of the country, the researcher extracted the issues that the informants mentioned and listed them. The researcher has these considerations in obtaining the issues. These are 1) if the Key Informants identified problems, issues, concerns, or situations in the course of the interview, 2) otherwise, these issues were implied or slightly mentioned by the Key Informants. Then, the researcher picked out the key issues from the total pool of development issues. To determine the key issues, the researcher singled out a particular concern as agreed upon by more than one development agency. After which, the researcher consolidated the contextual accounts from the key informants to give a picture of the development situation of the country today. Results were analyzed descriptively with simple statistics such as frequency counts and percentages as sourced from the reports and documents obtained from the informants themselves and the websites of the development agencies. Phase Two. After the key issues had been identified, they were used as categories to crosscheck if the BSDC curriculum covered these issues in its courses. If these issues were present or tackled on the curriculum, it is understood that the curriculum can address these

issues by imparting students the knowledge about them. Its scope, balance, sequence, and continuity/articulation will be considered as well. Firstly, in measuring the scope, Extensiveness and Adaptability to Development Issues were used as descriptions. When looking for Extensiveness, codes of courses (etc. BIO, CHEM, MATH, PHYS) encompassed in the curriculum were simply counted. Extensiveness – Number of different coded courses that can be taken by BSDC students other than DEVC and RGEP courses (e.g. ECON, AECO, BIO, SDS, SOC, CHEM, etc). 19 or more

Very Extensive Scope

13-18

Moderately Extensive Scope

7-13

Limitedly Extensive Scope

6 or less

Inextensive scope

In quantifying the Adaptability to Development Issues, development issues taken from the Phase 1 and crosschecked with various course syllabi in the curriculum, particularly the core, majors and specialized components, except the RGEP courses.

Strongly Adaptive

89 – 75%

Adaptive

75 – 50%

Moderately Adaptive

49 – 30%

Fairly Adaptive

30 – 10%

Unadaptive

9 - 0%

Strongly Unadaptive

Before arriving at any of these percentages, the researcher first assigned weights to each component based on its total number of units in the curriculum. These weights are as follows: Core courses (37 units) = 40% Major courses (24 units) = 30% Specialized courses (27 units) = 30% (20% for the technical courses, and 10% for the social science electives.) A total of 203 course outlines were obtained by the researcher. This following computation was used to measure the adaptability of the BSDC curriculum in terms of addressing contemporary Philippine development concerns:

Where:

For balance, the curriculum was categorized as either Well-Balanced or Skewed. Unit allotments among core courses and major courses, and among technical, foundation and social science courses were weighted. Well-Balanced - If core component and major courses component (allowed for students) have equal unit allotment; if technical courses component,

foundation courses component, and social science electives component have equal unit allotment. Skewed - If core component and major courses component (allowed for students) do not have equal unit allotment; if technical courses component, foundation courses component, and social science electives component do not have equal unit allotment.

For sequence, the curriculum was categorized as either Well-Sequenced or Poorly Sequenced. It is the arrangement of the courses that was reviewed. Well - Sequenced - If the courses are arranged either from broad-to-specific, specific-to-general, theoretical-to-practical or to previous-to-recent. Poorly Sequenced - If the courses in the curriculum are not arranged in a particular order, and there is no relation among courses.

For the continuity/articulation, the following criteria were used: Smooth articulation, Fairly smooth articulation, Fairly unsmooth articulation and Unsmooth articulation. To obtain the measurement, the semester gaps between sequenced courses were used as indicators. Smooth Articulation – No disruptions or gaps between 2 or more sequenced courses over a period of 4 semesters. Fairly Smooth Articulation – There is a gap of one semester between two or more sequenced courses. Fairly Unsmooth Articulation – There is a two-semester gap between sequenced courses.

Unsmooth Articulation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; There is a three or more semester-gap between sequenced courses. Lastly, using the development issues obtained from the KIIs, Issues Addressed and Issues Not Addressed were determined by frequency counts on Core, Major, Specialized (Technical and Social Science Electives) courses syllabi only. Issues addressed - Issues obtained from the KII were included in the topical outline of the course. Issues that should be addressed - Issues obtained from the KII that are not included in the topical outline of the course

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

To obtain an overview of the contemporary development problems and issues of the Philippines, the researcher interviewed five key informants from different development agencies: namely, NEDA, FAO, DSWD, TWSC, and UNDP.

Profiles of the Agencies

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)

In this study, the researcher had a talk with Mr. Dennis Arroyo, the Director of the National Planning and Policy Staff of NEDA. Mr. Arroyo served as the key informant for NEDA. Under the Executive Order No. 230, the NEDA is duly authorized by the law to â&#x20AC;&#x153;be responsible for formulating continuing, coordinated, and fully integrated social and economic policies, plans and programs.â&#x20AC;? NEDA is the major socio-economic planning and policymaking body of the government. In general, it conducts socio-economic and policy analyses for different agencies of the government, acting as the coordinating and advisory council in terms of economic development. Upon request of different departments and government offices, NEDA performs an analysis of the performance, opportunities, problem areas and concerns of a certain economic sector i.e. industry, service, finance or agriculture,

drafts feasible and effective policies, project trends in the economy such as market prices or growth rates,, and lays directions for future programs and strategies. NEDA is responsible for the formation of the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP), a guide book for all sectors of the government as to where actions should lead to and what targets should policymakers aim for and to what extent. According to Mr. Arroyo, NEDA collects the inputs from the different government agencies and consolidates them into a full report and policy instruction document, which is the MTPDP. All national government agencies follow MTPDP.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

FAO has been working with the country ever since its establishment in 1945. Both FAO and the Philippines have been focused on these specific areas: agriculture, fishery, forestry, nutrition, and rural development. The following is an excerpt from the FAO mandate: ―Since its foundation, FAO has been recognizing physical and economic access to food as basic human right, and the mission of the Organization was grounded on the belief that elimination of hunger and malnutrition is essential and attainable through national efforts and international cooperation… FAO‘s mandate is directed to step up levels of nutrition and standards of living, to improve the production and distribution of food and agricultural products, and to better the condition of the rural populations as rural areas are home to seventy percent of the world‘s poor and hungry people.‖ FAO operates in distinct forms: collection and dissemination of information, sharing of policy experiences (policy support, technical assistance, strategy advises), neutral forum, and field projects. In the Philippines, FAO works hand-in-hand with the national government, mainly the Department of Agriculture , Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of 44

Environment and Natural Resources, National Anti-Poverty Commission, Department of Foreign Affairs, and other government agencies, non-government organizations, the academic sector, the private sector, local groups, and other international agencies. FAO is also directed and guided by the MTPDP. Upon requests, FAO proposes projects that help in improving the agriculture sector.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

Established in 1987 under the Executive Order 123 signed by President Corazon C. Aquino, DSWD was enacted â&#x20AC;&#x153;to provide assistance to local government units, nongovernment organizations, other national government agencies, peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organizations, and other members of civil society in effectively implementing programs, projects and services that will alleviate poverty and empower disadvantaged individuals, families and communities for an improved quality of life.â&#x20AC;? (DSWD, n.d.) Under this mandate, DSWD has these functions: 1) formulate policies and plans to guide efforts in the delivery and implementation of social services, 2) develop existing programs for different stakeholders, 3) set standards for monitoring social welfare efforts, 4) recognize and accredit people who perform social welfare activities, 5) provide technical assistance and capacity building to social service intermediaries such as NGOs, and 6) provide social protection for the poor and vulnerable. DSWD has community-based services, center-based services and residential care services at its disposal. Aside from basic social protection services, the agency engages in policy forum, monitoring and evaluation activities, implementation of pilot services and other supports (DSWD Annual Report, 2007). DSWD has also streamlined its programs and projects with the MTPDP and the Millennium Development Goals.

The researcher talked with Ms. Victoria N. Navida, the Division Chief, Policy and Research Division, Policy Development and Planning Bureau of DSWD to find out the development problems and issues the country faces today.

Third World Studies Center (TWSC) of the University of the Philippines

The TWSC has five thematic programs in which they focus their studies on: 1) globalization, 2) social movements, 3) democratic governance, 4) peace and human security, and 5) culture and identity. Its mission is to â&#x20AC;&#x2022;develop critical, alternative paradigms to promote progressive scholarship and action for change by undertaking pioneering research on issues of national and international concern; creating spaces for discussion and dialogue; publishing original, empirically-grounded, and innovative studies; and building a community of activist-scholars and public intellectuals.â&#x20AC;&#x2013; (TWSC, n.d.) The kind of research the Center undertakes is anchored mainly on developing new perspectives and paradigms to view global, national, and local issues their five thematic programs focus on.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

UNDP is the part of UN system which deals more with development agenda. UNDP strengthens networks among countries to share resources and knowledge towards development. It builds capacities and healthy partnerships between policy makers and local communities with the goal of sustained growth. In the Philippines, UNDP works with the national and local government units, private sector, academe, peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s organizations, international donor agencies, and local urban and rural communities to promote human development as well as peace-building and conflictprevention 46

The following is an excerpt from the UNDP mandate: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Through advocacy and development projects, with a special focus on vulnerable groups, UNDP contributes to poverty reduction, promoting democratic governance, fostering environmental sustainability, addressing climate change and natural disasters, strengthening peace and conflict prevention, to ensure a better life for the people of the Philippines.â&#x20AC;?

UNDP has four focus areas in which they operate:

1. The Millennium Development Goals; 2. Fostering democratic governance; 3. Energy and environment; and 4. Peace building and conflict prevention.

The researcher engaged in a discourse with Mr. Renuad Meyer, the Country Director of the Philippines of the UNDP.

Contemporary Development Problems and Issues of the Philippines

The key informants from the five chosen organizations were asked about the current development problems and issues of the country, as their agencies views them, and what can be done to address these concerns. The development issues that surfaced were contextualized according to the nature, purpose, and mandate of the organization. Interviews show that one of the most pressing issues today is still poverty. Among the five development agencies, four of them, NEDA, UNDP, DSWD, and TWSC, did not fail to mention poverty as a development concern of the country. NEDA stated that: “The world challenge is to fight poverty, to reduce the number of the poor… that entails providing more employment, raising the incomes of more people, and then transferring people from low productivity, from low income sectors to high income centers…” From the eyes of NEDA, poverty is a complex condition where real action is needed. It requires investments from the government, reallocation of resources, and a shift in priorities. “It’s whole complex panoply.”(NEDA, 2008). NEDA related poverty to having low income, low consumption, and low productivity. However, there is so much to poverty than these indicators. According to Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), “yung mahihirap lalong humihirap lalo na yung walang hanapbuhay (the poor are getting poorer especially those who do not have jobs).” The Department noticed that there is an increase in poverty incidence – in other words, there are more poor people compared with whole population. Poverty Incidence is one of the measures used by national governments as well as the international development agencies to determine the number of people below the poverty line of $1.25 a day (World Bank, n.d.). According to statistical data published by the National Statistical Coordination Board (as in www.nscb.gov.ph), poverty incidence among the population went down from 2000 (33%) to 2003 (30%) but went slightly up to 32.9 in 2006. DSWD added that poverty has a widespread of causes. “Kulang sa eduakasyon, walang hanapbuhay, ’pag di nakapag-aral and magulang forever na silang ganun, yung 48

mga anak… (Lack of education, unemployment, if the parents were not able to finish their education, their condition, especially that of their children, will remain like that forever…),” DSWD added. Likewise, UNDP saw alleviating poverty as the master goal of the any country including the Philippines. The UNDP is one of the key actors that help the government in attaining the MDGs. The MDGs are set of goals that countries pledged to attain by 2015. Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger is the first goal. the more specific targets for this goal are stated as follows: “Target 1a. Halve the number, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day. Target 1b. Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people. Target 1c. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.” According to the 2007 Philippines Midterm Progress Report on Millennium Development Goals, the quantity of people living below the subsistence threshold “whose incomes cannot support a recommended minimum food basket” decreased from 24.3 percent in 1991 to 13.5 percent in 2003, while the quantity of people living below the poverty threshold decreased from 45.3 percent to 30.0 in 2003. If both of these numbers decreased to 12.15 percent and 22.65 percent respectively by 2015, Goal 1 will be met. However, the key informant from UNDP emphasized a disturbing update recently. “There have been changes. Unfortunately, the changes are not good… initial info that we received is that poverty itself is actually growing, not decreasing, which is a very worrisome factor and fairly unique situation in Asia because most of the countries in Asia, even those who are poor than the Philippines are able to at least halt the progression of poverty. Here in the Philippines, it seems that the number of poor people is actually increasing…” (Meyer, 2008) What the TWSC said about the poverty in the Philippines is not about deprivation but about the effect of globalization and power play of the elites. In the eyes of the studies center, poverty is a class issue, which means, ―the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer… globalization is selective, you now have millionaires but it is very limited to a few…‖ Though the agencies had varied views and interpretation of poverty, they all agreed on one thing: this was the country‘s main development challenge.

Another development concern that surfaced was hunger, or the deprivation of nutritious food to sustain life. When one is poor, one does not have the capability to buy his basic needs such as food. As such, hunger goes side by side with poverty. In the interviews, three development agencies, mainly FAO, DSWD, and UNDP, identified hunger as another development issue greatly faced by the country. It was the FAO that had its eyes focused more on this issue. ―Well, the concern of these people is to survive, where to get their meals…” (FAO informant, 2008). ―The (hunger) incidence, I think, is 34% now… I think the government is trying to reduce this by 50% by 2015 which is in line with the UN MDG…‖ Likewise, UNDP was also disturbed with the hunger situation in the Philippines. ―There are regions in the Philippines where the situation on hunger is also worsening…‖ (Meyer, 2008). It should be noted that both FAO and UNDP are parts of the UN system which set its goals based on the MDGs. Hunger is also incorporated in Goal number 1 of the MDGs. Likewise, DSWD also noted the increase in the number of hungry Filipinos, and identified it, together with poverty, as perhaps one of the factors affecting the welfare of the Filipinos. Furthermore, FAO related food security with the rise in the hunger incidence. According to a summary report published by FAO (2007), “food insecurity exists when people are undernourished as results of insufficient physical availability of food, limited economic and social access to adequate food and/or inadequate food utilization.” The FAO key informant added: “Actually, well, this (food security) is a major issue, not only in the Philippines, but global, I think there are about 35 to 37 countries that are severely affected by the showing food crisis, by the lack of supply, including in RP, we felt it in the Philippines early part of 2008.” Food insecurity in the Philippines was largely felt last year (2008). Food prices, including that of staple foods such as rice, soared tremendously. As the prices of food rose, the income of Filipinos remained the same, thus many could not afford to buy even rice. The inflation in food was caused, as the law of demand and supply goes, by the low supply of food. FAO expressed that our government actually needs to import agricultural products to supply the gap between food production and food demanded by Filipinos. Yet this action of filling the gap by importing food has actually led to a drastic consequence. FAO said that the money that is allotted to food imports could have gone to other development purposes, since the country, on its own, has the capability to produce agricultural goods that Filipinos need. 50

However, the country‘s low agricultural productivity was caused by low investments in agriculture, FAO and NEDA agreed. Both development agencies stressed the lack of investments and neglect of the agricultural sector has caused the country‘s food production to lag behind compared with other Southeast Asian countries. NEDA stated: “Its (agricultural production) been lagging due to low productivity… because low investments in irrigation, low investments in farm mechanics loads, or in superior seeds…” In addition, FAO expressed that: “Investments in agriculture are not increasing, unlike other areas like industries and services. I think the government neglected agriculture, and also there’s diminishing investment per capita in agriculture…” NEDA not only pointed out the deficiency of investments in agriculture. ―The main problem of the Philippines is kulang tayo sa investments… (The main problem of the Philippines is that we lack investments).‖ Investments that the key informant mentioned involve businesses, public goods and infrastructures. According to the key informant from NEDA, to create more jobs the country needs more investments. Without investments, industries will lag behind. One of the things to address in the country is the lack of infrastructures, such as roads and communications. Basically, transport structures such as national roads and railways connect various regions and facilitate market exchange and delivery of services. “Development plans should consider our archipelagic economy.” (MTPDP, 2004) More roads would mean more connections and stronger movement of goods and services, finances, and services. Another component of infrastructure is Information and Communication Technology (ICT). NEDA sees the potential and edge of the Filipinos in ICT. According to the key informant, the country is the second leading exporter of software and electronic products in Asia next to India, and the top player in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, which is dominated by call centers. ―Upgrading ICT and strengthening our edge in ICT are important because they employ more people and they pay better…‖ (Arroyo. D, 2008).

The strength of the outsourcing industry in the Philippines has helped the economy keep afloat. The outsourcing industry is an edge for Filipinos because of the basic fact that Filipinos are fluent in English. According to the key informant, ―by 2010, the revenues of outsourcing will be almost as big as all the revenues of OFWs in 05…‖ Thus, improvements in ICT will strengthen the country‘s edge. Although there is progress in the service sector, particularly the BPO and OFWs, the fact is, unemployment is still high in the Philippines. The rate averaged at 11.3% between 2001 and 2003. Also directly related to poverty, unemployment in the Philippines is one of the key factors affecting the country‘s low productivity. However, according to NEDA, the government is trying to create more jobs by attracting more investments from foreign investors. Our capital stock alone cannot provide enough jobs for everyone. ―To employ more people, you need to invest more…‖ (Arroyo, D., 2008) One of the actions of the government to address the issue of unemployment is to promote microfinance to assist Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The existence of SMEs boosts the economy on a micro-level by enhancing the economic growth in their respective communities. Education also seems to lag behind in the country. Both NEDA and UNDP expressed the need for focused investments and high-priority on education. “It is a key investment that can break the Filipino’s seemingly endless cycle of poverty, and provide the people, particularly the youth, with more opportunities.” (MTPDP, 2004) The UN set education, particularly ―achieving primary education,‖ as goal number 2 in the MDGs. Three targets for 2015 have been set, that is to ensure that, by 2015, all boys and girls alike will be able to complete a full course in primary school. However, according to the latest report on the progress of MDGs (2007), the country is still low in achieving this goal, since there is a decline in the enrollment rate from 96.8% (2000) to 84.4 % in (2006). There are so many things to do to improve education in the country. The government, together with the people, must address the inadequacies of learning materials, deficiencies in facilities and personnel and the ineffective teachers. With the expanding population, school faces the incapability to cater to all. Tight budgets have led to the lack of investment in education, thus aggravating the quality of education in the Philippines. Aside from the economic problems of poverty, unemployment, investments, and education, there are also problems that are not usually seen in the statistics. These problems exist in a social dimension, and numbers and statistics cannot tell their existence and prevalence only but by stories told by the people themselves. The researcher had a talk with Ms. Victoria Navida of DSWD about the issues the children, youth, women, and families face. 52

Children are the most served stakeholders of DSWD, with an average of 30, 000 individuals per semester. According to the key informant, the issues and threats of children are still the same, such as sexual abuse, maltreatment, child labor, trafficking, etc. However, she noted that there has been an increase in reported cases of sexual abuse and maltreatment. By ―reported cases,‖ she meant that the frequencies of child abuse made known to the authorities. This increase in reported incidents was brought about by the availability of more action centers and help desks. However, with the advancement of technology come new problems for children. Some of these are human trafficking, cybersex, and cyber-pornography. The youth also experiences problems since they are in an identity-confusion stage. One youth problem the DSWD focuses is the prevalence of Out of School Youths (OSY) The women are the second largest stakeholders of DSWD. The Key informant said that the problems of women, as the DSWD sees it, are still the same, domestic violence. For the elderly, also a vulnerable sector of the society, the problems that they encounter deal with the accessibility of retirement funds and services that they deserve. Most of older persons have trouble obtaining their pensions. Older persons are threatened by elder abuse, which, in most cases, includes being abandoned by families, substandard living arrangements, and poverty. Similar with the elderly, persons with disabilities are also being served by the DSWD. Their problems are also about getting the right services, such as discounts and special treatments. In addition, the key informant identified vagrancy as one of the most prevalent problems of the country. This problem has to do with the people who dwell not in their houses, but on the streets, under the bridges, and on the pavements. Aside from social issues on the individual level, there are also problems on a macro-level that do not seem to reveal themselves in statistics and numbers. The TWSC identified globalization as one of the major issues in the country. According to Mooney et. al. (2002), ―globalization refers to the process of global integration of the economies of nations by allowing the unrestricted flow of goods, services, investments, and currencies.‖ Globalization is described as the free movement of goods, services, and information among countries. We are now in an age where everyone connected with one another. Globalization has brought with it positive and negative impacts can affect the development of the country. 53

One of the impacts of globalization, in the eyes of the TWSC, is the deterioration of local industries, with the Philippines importing goods from other countries. The country imports agricultural goods (i.e., rice) and non-food products (i.e., textiles) whose prices are lower compared with locally produced goods. If the local producers cannot compete in terms of prices, they cannot expect profits from their business. Another issue brought about by globalization, according to TWSC, is the selective distribution of profits. Though the interconnection of finances among countries, with foreign investors putting up corporations in the country to create more jobs, money should trickle down to the people. However, according to the key informant, it has never happened. Money circulates within the people who have the ability to invest and make more money. “There will be profit but they will not care about the distribution of the profit and they will say it should trickle down, but it is not trickling down…” (Tadem, 2008) Another issue in globalization is its effect on Filipino culture and identity. According to the key informant, Filipinos are very westernized compared with neighboring countries, which still have touches of ethnicity and traditional culture. Next, UNDP and TWSC stressed the issue of governance in the country. Both of these development agencies agreed that corruption is rampant hindering the country‘s development. TWSC sees corruption as one of the key elements that worsen the socio-economic inequalities, while UNDP sees it as an institution that keeps on worsening. UNDP however acknowledged the anti-corruption programs of the government. “So on the government side, anti-corruption is very strong, strong enough to ensure that people who have rights are actually aware of these rights, who have access to tools, policy that would protect those rights…” (Meyer, 2008) Another concern that was raised was climate change. This has become a global concern which demands that countries take actions in their capacity. According to the FAO, locally, climate change has affected the country in terms of food production and the livelihood of people because of unprecedented change in temperatures.

In relation to this, efforts have been initiated in terms of environmental sustainability. More than just focusing on achieving MDG number 7 (ensure environmental sustainability), UNDP in the Philippines also has a focus area on energy and environment. Since the country is always victim to natural disasters and calamities, it is a perpetual concern to address the aftermaths of natural disasters especially if local communities are affected. In relation to energy, NEDA has expressed that the Philippines is number two in the world in terms of harnessing geothermal energy, next to the United States. In search of a renewable source of safe energy, the Philippines can turn to geothermal. The last development concern identified was the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. The reports showed the attainment of most of the goals except Goal 2 to ―achieve universal primary education‖, Goal 3 to ―promote gender equality and empower women,‖ and Goal 5 to ―improve maternal health. These targets and goals seem to have low attainment rates. However, according to the key informant from UNDP, there have been disturbing changes. Some goals, which are likely to be achieved, took a slight turn for the worse, such as Goal 1— poverty reduction, and Goal 6 – HIV/AIDS prevention. Other development concerns also arose aside from these major development problems and issues identified by the different development agencies. The FAO identified the improvement in the fishery sector and the persistence of illegal loggers as additional development concerns of the Philippines. The TWSC emphasized the role of social movements that may help reconstruct the society and bring about change. Also, the research center is working on the human security index which lifts definitions from communities of what is safe and what is secure for them. In conclusion, as long as the Philippines remains a third world and has poverty on its hands, there will be issues and concerns that will need a lot of attention. Unless the government sets a firm priority on major issues and maintain a firm commitment, these development issues will still continue to impede our progress.

Table 3. Summary of contemporary development problems and issues of the Philippines NEDA

FAO

DSWD

TWSC

UNDP

Problems -

Poverty Poor Quality of education Support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) Low capital stock of the country Low agricultural productivity Lack of investments Lack of infrastructures Poor transportation structure The need to improve on Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Illegal logging Food insecurity Deficit between food production and food demand Hunger Low investments in agriculture (infrastructure, technical assistance, budget) Climate change

Poverty Hunger Housing problems (vagrancy in urban and rural areas) Family problems Social problems of children, youth, women and elderly Poor services for persons with disabilities

Poverty Globalization (impact on local economy, socioeconomic inequality, culture, and identity) Diluted agrarian reform Existence of social movements Governance (democratization, corruption)

-MDGs (extreme poverty and hunger, primary education, gender equality and women empowerment, child mortality, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, malaria, other diseases, environmental sustainability, global partnerships for development) -Democratic governance (issue of corruption, advocacy for human rights) -Energy and environment (management of resources, actions towards renewable energy) -Peace-building (negotiations and recovery actions)

Progress -

Good performance on electronic exports Good performance of service sector especially OFWs and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Potentiality and capability on geothermal energy as renewable energy

Good performance of the fishery sector

----------------------

Human security (communitybased dialogues)

Developments in the attainment of some MDGs

Overview of the BSDC Curriculum

As a program of studies, the BSDC curriculum offers basic communication courses, but it has a scientific orientation since social sciences and technical courses such as agriculture, forestry, biology, computer science, and statistics are included. Students who are enrolled in this degree program are expected to gain â&#x20AC;&#x2022;a basic grasp of the issues and problems of development in general and of a development area in particular; and apply the concepts, principles, and skills of communication to help solve problems of developing societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2013; (Quebral, 2002) According to the recent Curriculum Workshop (2007) of the CDC, the BSDC Curriculum has these goals: 1. Acquire a theoretical and conceptual base in development, communication, and development communication; 2. Analyze development problems within a specific social, economic, political, and cultural context from a devcom perspective; 3. Apply devcom communication process and media to address development problems; and 4. Inculcate devcom work ethics and values relevant to the practice of devcom. The curriculum has eight major components or groups of courses which comprise its overall program of studies. These components are: 1) the Revitalized General Education Program (RGEP) courses, 2) core courses, 3) major courses, 5) technical electives, 6) social science electives, 7) foundation courses, and 8) a legislated course. The existing (2002) BSDC Curriculum embodies a specialist track, which means BSDC students are given the freedom to choose their own major courses as well as specialization courses. The table below represents the existing BSDC curriculum, including the courses and their respective units, as well as the semester each course is to be taken. 57

Table 4.The Existing BSDC Curriculum (2002) First Semester

Units

Second Semester

Units

FIRST YEAR GE (MST) GE (AH) GE (SSP) GE (SSP) DEVC 10. Introduction to Development Communication MATH 11. College Algebra PE 1. Foundation of Physical Fitness

3 3 3 3 3 3 (2)

TOTAL:

CMSC 2. Introduction to Internet DEVC 11. Intro to Mass Media Writing ECON 11. General Economics GE (MST) GE (AH) GE (AH) PE 2 or 3. Basic or Advanced course

3 3 3 3 3 3 (2)

TOTAL:

SECOND YEAR DEVC 20. Fundamentals of Development Journalism DEVC 30. Fundamentals of Community Broadcasting DEVC 40. Fundamentals of Educational Communication and Technology DEVC 50. Introduction to Science Communication GE (MST) GE (SSP) PE 2 or 3. TOTAL:

GE (MST) GE (MST) Major Major Specialized (Technical) Specialized (Social Science Elec.) PE 2 or 3.

3 3 3

3 3 3 3 3 3 (2)

3 3 (2) 18

TOTAL:

THIRD YEAR DEVC 70. Interpersonal Communication for Development GE (AH) STAT 1. Elementary Statistics Major Major Other Major TOTAL:

DEVC 80. Communication and Society DEVC 197. Introduction to Communication Research GE (AH) Major Major Specialized (Technical)

3 3 3 3 3 18

TOTAL:

3 3 3 3 3 18

SUMMER DEVC 190. Communication Internship

FOURTH YEAR DEVC 198. Undergraduate Research in Development Communication DEVC 199. Undergraduate Seminar GE (SSP) Other Major Specialized (Technical) Specialized (Technical) Specialized (Social Science Elective) TOTAL:

3 1 3 3 3 3 3 18

DEVC 180. Communication Campaigns & Programs GE (MST) PI 100. Life and Works of Rizal Specialized (Technical Course) Specialized (Technical course) Specialized (Social Science Elective)

TOTAL:

3 3 3 3 3 3

Key Components of the Curriculum

Revitalized General Education Program RGEP is a UP System-wide curricular policy by which UP students are required a certain number of units under different general education domain. In UPLB, there are three general education domains: Social Science and Philosophy (SSP), Mathematics, Science and Technology (MST) and Arts and Humanities (AH). According to the UPLB Catalogue of Academic Programs (2006), ―the principle (of RGEP) is to inspire the students to learn… they are likely to perform better in courses which they choose rather in courses that they have no interest in but are required to take.‖ For BSDC students, five courses (totaling 15 units) are required under each domain. The purpose of the RGEP component is to have a student widen his/her knowledge by means of studying fields other than those in his/her degree. They are given freedom to choose which set of course they would like to take under each domain. In addition, RGEP gives students basic comprehension on various knowledge using different perspectives (UPLB Catalogue of Academic Programs, 2006) Under the Arts and Humanities (AH) domain: ENG 1 (College English) ENG 2 (College Writing in English) HUM 1 (Literature, Man and Society) HUM 2 (Art, Man and Society) SPCM 1 (Speech Communication) Under the Social Science and Philosophy (SSP) domain: HIST 1 (Philippine History) HIST 2 (Asia and the World) PHILO 1 (Philosophical Analysis) 59

PSY 1 (Exploring the Self: Thoughts, feelings and actions) SOSC 1 (Foundations of Behavioral Sciences) SOSC 2 (Social, Economic and Political Thought) SOSC 3 (Discovering human sexuality) POSC 1 (Reimagining Philippine Politics) ECON 10 (Economic in Social Issues) Under the Mathematics, Science and Technology domain (MST) IT 1 (Information Technology Literacy) MATH 1 (Quantitative Reasoning) MATH 2 (Problem Solving) NASC 1 (Material Universe) NASC 2 (Living Planet) NASC 3 (Physics in Everyday Life) NASC 4 (The World of Life) NASC 5 (Environmental Biology) NASC 6 (Food and Nutrition for healthy life) NASC 7 (Animals in Human Society) NASC 8 (Practical Botany) NASC 9 (Living with Microbes) NASC 10 (Forest as a source of life) 60

STS 1 (Science, Technology and Society) Core courses Core courses are Development Communication courses that teach theoretical and practical expertise on development, communication, and development communication. BSDC students are required to take all of these core courses. Some of these are prerequisites for majoring courses. These include: DEVC 10 (Introduction to Development Communication) DEVC 11 (Introduction to Mass Media Writing) DEVC 20 (Fundamentals of Development Journalism) DEVC30 (Fundamentals of Community Broadcasting) DEVC 40 (Fundamentals of Educational Communication and Technology) DEVC 50 (Introduction to Science Communication) DEVC 70 (Interpersonal Communication for Development) DEVC 80 (Communication and Society) DEVC 180 (Communication Campaigns and Programs) DEVC 190 (Communication Internship) DEVC 197 (Introduction to Communication Research) DEVC 198 (Undergraduate Research in Development Communication) DEVC 199 (Undergraduate Seminar) Major Courses CDC offers four distinct major fields: Community Broadcasting (Combroad), Development Journalism (Devjourn), Educational Communication (Edcom), and Science 61

Communication (Scicom). Students are free to choose which majoring area they would like to focus on. BSDC students are required to complete six majors in their chosen major. Aside from their major courses, students likewise choose two other courses from other majors, provided that the prerequisites are satisfied and offered in the first semester. Technical Courses Similar to major courses, BSDC students are also required to take technical courses offered by other colleges. By means of these courses, students are expected to obtain a background in the fields of agriculture, forestry, economics, agricultural economics, management, agribusiness management, human nutrition, or computer science, among others. Students must complete 18 units of technical courses. Social Science Courses Likewise, BSDC students are required to take 9 units of specialized courses from the social sciences domain. Social science electives may come from the areas of agricultural extension and rural studies, human ecology, social development services, social forestry, psychology, sociology, or education. Foundation Courses These courses comprise the non-devcom, non-RGEP, non-technical, and non-social science elective component of the curriculum. BSDC students take these courses as required by the college and the curriculum. These courses lay the foundation for higher technical and social science courses. Such subjects account for 12 of the total 148 units in the curriculum. These are: MATHEMATICS 11 (College Algebra) ECONOMICS 11 (General Economics) COMPUTER SCIENCE 2 (Introduction to Internet) STATISTICS 1 (Elementary Statistics)

Legislated Course PI 100 (Life and Works of Jose Rizal) is the only course legislated by the government to be included in the curricula of every college and university. Here is an excerpt from Republic Act No. 1425, which legislates this course: â&#x20AC;&#x153;An act to include in the curricula of all public and private schools, colleges and universities courses on the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal, particularly his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, authorizing the printing and distribution thereof, and for other purposes.â&#x20AC;? (1956)

The Nature of the BSDC Curriculum in Terms of Sequence, Articulation/Continuity, Scope and Balance.

To assess the nature of the BSDC curriculum, four curricular design characteristics (Sowell, 2005; Henson, 2001) were considered: sequence, articulation/continuity, scope, and balance. Sequence Description Sequence refers to the arrangements of courses and/or contents over time. The BSDC curriculum is a four-year program with two semesters each year. In the first two years, BSDC students take 10 RGEP courses, six core courses, three foundation courses, two major courses, one technical, and one social science elective. As such, it can be seen that the curriculum is focused more on general education and knowledge. In this scenario, most of the units allotted per semester are for RGEP courses with a few concurrent foundation and core courses.

When a BSDC student reaches the second semester of his sophomore year, he starts to take major and specialized courses. The curriculum then shifts to a more focused field of study in development communication, as well as technical and social science areas. It is also at the start of the specialization phase (second year, second semester), that BSDC students take the prerequisite courses for both their major and, if applicable, their specialized courses. These majors include DEVC 120, DEVC 102, DEVC 130, DEVC 131, DEVC 134 and DEVC 140. Since it is requisite that students learn how to write well in their respective majors (Villero, 1978; Mendoza, 1980; Mayor, 1983; Delfin, 2003), certain writing courses are prescribed. These are DEVC 120 (for Devjourn and Combroad majors), DEVC 102 (for Edcom majors), DEVC 131 (for Combroad major) and DEVC 122 (for Devjourn and Scicom majors). Overall, the curriculum is sequenced deductively, offering more general courses at the start, and then gradually focusing more on specialized field areas. This sequencing is best shown in how core courses and majors are strictly arranged. For freshmen BSDC students, their introductory courses are DEVC 10 and DEVC 11. Students are then introduced to the four Devcom fields of specialization in the first semester of their second year. The courses Devcom students take in this semester include DEVC 20, DEVC 30, DEVC 40, and DEVC 50. It must be noted however that although these courses are more specific, they are still recognized as core courses, which means that students are required to satisfy them. Afterwards, they can then choose their preferred major and specialized (technical and social science electives) courses. As for the technical courses, the basic foundation courses of a certain field must be taken first. For example, if the student wants to take FBS 21 (Taxonomy of Forest Plants), he must first take BOT 1 (Introductory to Plant Science). On the other hand, because only three social science electives are required, the number of prerequisites is smaller. Most of these social science electives have a RGEP course or COI (Consent of Instructor) as their prerequisites such as SOC 135 (Attitudes and Persuasion) which only needs SOSC 1 (Introduction to Behavioral Sciences) as its prerequisite.

The theories and concepts of development, communication, and development communication are first taught (DEVC 10, 11, 20, 30, 40, and 50). After which, major courses teach students the adequate media skills that Devcom students need to be equipped with depending on what major field he chooses. DEVC 70 and DEVC 80 are offered in the third year (prerequisite: Junior Standing) perhaps because they require a higher level of thinking. Finally, DEVC 180 (Communication Campaigns and Programs) is placed at the end of the core courses because it is the integration of the devcom courses taken by students. It can be noted that this course requires BSDC students to have taken all major courses. Foundation courses are sequenced based on prerequisites. MATH11 is the prerequisite of ECO 11 and STAT 1, while CMSC 2 is a prerequisite of higher CMSC technical courses students may opt to take. Major courses are arranged in such a way that the basic major courses are offered first before providing advanced major courses that require knowledge and skills provided by the previous major course/s. Assessment Based on the description mentioned earlier and using the criteria set by the researcher, the BSDC curriculum is well-sequenced. The Major (plus core courses DEVC 20, DEVC 30, DEVC 40, and DEVC 50) courses are arranged from theoretical to practical. The Technical courses are offered from general to specific.

Articulation/ Continuity Description Articulation/continuity refers to the smoothness of the sequencing of courses and the absence of disruptions. Disruptions are sudden breaks or gaps in the sequence of the courses as arranged over time. According to Henson (2001), a curriculum may have good sequence but poor articulation if there are disruptions. The researcher observed a disruption in the curriculum. According to Sowell (2005), because most students do not grasp an idea in one experience, several iterations must be presented before the notion becomes clear. There is a gap between the time students take MATH11 and STAT1. In this gap of three semesters, BSDC students may forget the adequate solving techniques when they finally take STAT1. On the other hand, All DEVC courses are privileged with good articulation in the curriculum. These courses have smooth continuity. The researcher has observed that in each semester, there is at least one DEVC course in place. Assessment Based on the description mentioned earlier and using the criteria set by the researcher, the BSDC curriculum has smooth articulation of DEVC courses; however, there is an unsmooth articulation of computational foundation courses, particularly MATH 11 and STAT 1, as they are separated by three semesters.

Scope In examining the curriculum in terms of scope, the following discussion is divided based on the curriculum components mentioned earlier.

RGEP Although this component advocates the acquisition of knowledge among UP students from different fields aside from oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s own, students are actually limited to a few RGEP choices. A BSDC student cannot take all RGEP courses since UP requires only five courses from each domain (AH, SSP, and MST). Nonetheless, since there is a wide array of different fields to choose from, students can still widen their knowledge by taking extra RGEP courses. Core courses DEVC10 introduces development communication to BSDC freshmen. The course includes topics such as historical perspective of development, development issues and problems, definitions of development, process of human communication, models, media, roles, issues of communication, definition of development communication, core values, domains, and professions in development communication. DEVC 20, 30, 40 and 50 all share a narrow but more focused scope, since fundamentals are being covered in these courses. Meanwhile, DEVC 70, 80, and 180 have a wider scope of topics for discussion. However, DEVC 197 seems to lack topics on communication theories and other research designs that can be used and applied to research. Major Courses Since the curriculum follows a specialized track, the scope of practice that a BSDC student acquires is limited only to his respective field. However, the curriculum allows students to also take courses offered by the other majoring fields.

Foundation Courses The original 1970 curriculum contained different foundation courses such Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Philosophy, History, and Humanities (Literature, English, and Theater). However, with the introduction of RGEP in 2000, most of the foundation courses 67

were removed, leaving only those that do not have corresponding GE courses (Math11, Econ11, Stat1, and CMSC2). Technical and Social Science Electives BSDC students are given the freedom to choose technical courses from different colleges. In terms of the coverage of technical subjects, it can be said that the BSDC curriculum covers almost all fields in UPLB (Forestry, Agriculture, Economics, etc). However, since only 18 units are alloted for technical electives, the technical scope of a BSDC student is limited to at most three fields. It can be observed that BSDC students, while planning their coursework, are required to follow a certain proportion of technical courses. These are: 2:2:2 or two courses from three different fields, 3:3 or three courses from two different fields, or 4:2 or four courses from one field and two from another. Also, considering the prerequisites of most technical subjects, students are not able to take courses they truly want due to their prerequisites. Instead of using the 18 units for courses from diverse fields, the units are mostly devoted to subjects from just one or two fields The same thing goes for social science electives. Because this component has fewer allotted units, there are fewer social science electives offered. The scope of these electives is only limited to Sociology, Psychology, Agricultural Extension, Human and Family Development, Social development, Social Forestry, Political Science, and Education. However, Educational Communication majors are required to take EDUC 102 (Theories and Principles of Education), allowing them to choose just two social science electives. Science Communication majors, on the other hand, are required to take AERS 142 (Concepts and Processes in Agricultural Knowledge Systems), and HUM 160 (Science and Technology in Literature) as social science electives, thus limiting them to just one social science elective choice. Assessment of the Overall scope of the Curriculum Based on the description mentioned earlier and using the criteria set by the researcher, the BSDC curriculum has very extensive scope. Summed up, the number of technical, 68

foundation, and social science courses total to 32 coded courses. As for the adaptability criterion, the Assessment will be presented later.

Balance Balance refers to the distribution of courses/contents in a curriculum. In this study, unit allotments and content were the bases for balance assessment. RGEP has the largest distribution of units. The core courses have the second largest unit allotment, followed by the majors. This is expected because the heart of the development communication teaching lies in these core courses. There is an uneven distribution of unit allotments between technical courses and social science electives. Just as what was raised in the 2007 CDC Curriculum Workshop, â&#x20AC;&#x2022;there is a seemingly imbalanced distribution of specialized courses, i.e., 18 of technical courses vis-Ă -vis only 9 units of social science electives considering devcom is an applied social science course.â&#x20AC;&#x2013; In terms of content, there are more communication and media-oriented courses than courses, which tackle the concept and practice of development communication. Table 5 below presents the allocation of units per course componen

Table 5. Distribution of units among course components in the existing curriculum and the proposed curriculum (CDC Curriculum Workshop, 2007) Courses

Existing curriculum (2002)

Proposed curriculum (2008)

RGEP

Core

Major

Specialized

Technical

Social science

Foundation

Legislated

148

154

Total

Assessment Based on the description mentioned earlier and using the criteria set by the researcher, the BSDC curriculum is skewed. Between core courses and majors, core courses are alloted 37 units while major courses, only 24. Among the technical, and social science electives, there seems to be a bias for technical courses (18 units) as opposed to social science electives (9 units). In the case of Science Communications Majors, they already have 2 precribed courses in their social science electives; HUM 160 (Science and Technology in Literature) and AERS 142 (Concepts and Processes in Agriculture Knowledge Systems), thus reducing the free slot of choosing a social science elective to one course only.

Development Issues Addressed by the BSDC Curriculum

After identifying the key development problems and issues from the key informant interviews, the BSDC curriculum was then assessed if its coverage encompasses these development issues, as indicated in the course outlines. Course outlines of core, major, foundation, and specialized (technical and social science electives) courses were analyzed. Core and major courses came from the College of Development Communication (CDC). While syllabi of specialized (technical and social science electives) courses offered by the College of Human Ecology (CHE), College of Economics and Management (CEM), College of Agriculture (CA), College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), College of Forestry and Natural Resources (CFNR), and the College of Public Affairs (CPAF). Topical outlines of courses which belonged to the College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT), and Veterinary Medicine (CVM) were not gathered as none of their courseswere offered in the BSDC curriculum. Analyzing the course outlines vis-à-vis development problems and issues involved examining the topics in the course outline to find out if a certain development problem or issue is within its coverage. POVERTY (as identified by NEDA, DSWD, UNDP, TWSC) The topic of poverty was found to be explicitly outlined in Economics, Sociology, Human Ecology, and Social Development Services courses offered by CEM, CAS, and CHE. More specifically, it is included in the topical outlines of these particular courses: DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION 10 (INTRODUCTION TO DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION). Poverty is included under the section ―Major issues, problems, and trends of development and underdevelopment‖ under Chapter 1, ―Overview and historical perspective of development and underdevelopment.‖ 71

ECONOMICS 185 (DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS). Poverty is included under the chapter of ―The Unevenness of Development Process.‖ SOCIOLOGY 170 (SOCIAL PROBLEMS). The issue is covered in this course, particularly under the chapter of ―Problems of Inequality and Power (The Haves and the haves-not).‖ SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES 30 (DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT OF TRAINING PROGRAMS). Poverty is discussed in the introductory part of the course under the chapter ―Overview of Social Development Problems.‖ HUMAN ECOLOGY 103 (SOCIAL POLICIES). The issue is included in the chapter ―A Setting for Social Polices: Philippine Social Realities.‖

POOR QUALITY OF EDUCATION (as identified by NEDA, UNDP) The issue of education, as a development concern, is most likely discussed in Sociology, Education, and Social Development Services courses. SOCIOLOGY 170 (SOCIAL PROBLEMS). The issue is tackled in this course, particularly under the chapter of ―Problems of Inequality and Power.‖ EDUCATION 102 (THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION). A chapter towards the end of the course is devoted to the problems of Philippine education. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES 11 (COMMUNITY STUDY IN HUMAN WELFARE). It is included in a subtopic on educational systems under the chapter on ―Community Systems at Work.‖

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES 113 (FILIPINO VALUES AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT).This issue is likely discussed under Chapter 1, ―Review of Social Development Concepts‖, particularly in the subtopic ―Issues and Problems in Social Development,‖ and in the Chapter 2, ―Understanding Values in General‖, under subtopic ―Factors affecting Values‖, topic ―Educational System‖.

UNEMPLOYMENT (as identified by NEDA) Likewise, the issue of unemployment is more likely discussed in Economics, Management and Sociology, and slightly tackled in Social Development Services. DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION 10 (INTRODUCTION TO DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION). Poverty is included under the section ―Major issues, problems, and trends of development and underdevelopment‖ under the Chapter 1 ―Overview and historical perspective of development and underdevelopment‖ ECONOMICS 101 (INTERMEDIATE MACROECONOMIC THEORY). Two chapters are allotted in the discussion of unemployment: 1) Chapter Five: ―Wages, Prices, and Employment,‖ and 2) Chapter Six: ―Inflation and Unemployment.‖ ECONOMICS 181 (HUMAN RESOURCE/LABOR ECONOMICS). The whole course is devoted to studying labor; however, the unemployment issue is more likely focused on in the section ―Some Labor Problems.‖ MANAGEMENT 1 (INTRODUCTION TO ENTERPRISE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP). Unemployment (or lay-offs) is likely covered in Chapter 3, ―Management Development‖ under ―Statistical Indicators describing the enterprise environment‖.

MANAGEMENT 101 (CONCEPTS AND DYNAMICS OF MANAGEMENT). Discussion is more likely to be in the managerial perspective. Unemployment is implicit in the section on ―Issues in Human Resource Management‖ under the Chapter ―Human Resource Management.‖ SOCIOLOGY 119 (INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY). As provided in the course description, ―formal and informal organizations in the industrial setting, analysis of work groups and other relations to the community and larger society‖ are discussed in the course. SOCIOLOGY 170 (SOCIAL PROBLEMS) -The issue is definitely included in this course particularly under the chapter ―Problems of Inequality and Power.‖ HUMAN ECOLOGY 103 (SOCIAL POLICIES) The issue is included in the Chapter ―A Setting for Social Polices: Philippine Social Realities.‖

INDUSTRY AND SERVICE SECTOR (EXPORTS, OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS, BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING) (as identified by NEDA) These concerns are likely lectured in Economics classes such as: ECONOMICS 141 (INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS). This issue can be found under the Chapter 3, ―Open Economy Macroeconomics.‖ ECONOMICS 181 (HUMAN RESOURCE/ LABOR ECONOMICS). This issue is discussed under the introductory part, ―Overview of the Labor Market‖, and in Chapter 5, ―Some Labor Issues: The Philippine Setting.‖

LACK OF INVESTMENTS AND INFRASTRUCTURES (as identified by NEDA) These concerns are also likely lectured in the Economics course ECONOMICS 151 (PUBLIC FINANCE). A good chunk of the course is devoted to the discussion of public expenditures and the role of government in investing to public goods.

LOW CAPITAL STOCK (as identified by NEDA) This concern is also likely discussed in Economics courses like: ECONOMICS 101 (INTERMEDIATE MACROECONOMIC THEORY). This issue is included under the section, ―Monetary Economics.‖ ECONOMICS 121 (MONEY AND BANKING). This issue is covered in Chapter 5, ―Financial Markets and Institutions‖.

LOW AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY (INFRASTRUCTURE, FINANCE, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE) (as identified by NEDA, FAO) Agricultural issues are naturally discussed at length in Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Extension and Rural Studies courses. AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 111 (FARM MANAGEMENT). Discussions include an ―Overview of Philippine Agriculture,‖ wherein the issue is discussed in the section ―Agriculture in Philippine Economy.‖ AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 130 (AGRICULTURAL FINANCE). The course covers the ―history, development, and mechanisms of agricultural financing in the Philippines; organization and operation of financing institutions serving agriculture; credit appraisal and evaluation.‖ Also, in Chapter 12, ―Agricultural Credit and Monetary Policies,‖ a section on the ―Impact of Agricultural Credit and Monetary Policies on the Financial System and on the Agriculture Sector‖ is included. 75

AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND RURAL STUDIES 160 (RURAL SOCIOLOGY). The concern is discussed under Chapter 6, ―Structure of Philippine Agriculture,‖ particularly in ―Contribution to overall GDP.‖

PROGRESS IN GEOTHERMAL ENERGY (as identified by NEDA) The topic of geothermal energy as another source of renewable energy is within the scope of COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT RESOURCE PLANNING 11 (MATERIALS AND ENERGY FLOWS). This is discussed in the Chapter Seven: ―Material and Energy Utilization and Conservation.‖

PROGRESS IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (as identified by NEDA) This concern is discussed in Development Communication such as in the courses DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION 50 (INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE COMMUNICATION). New communication technologies and its applications are included in the outline, particularly in the discussion of Communication of Science with the Aid of Technology. DEVC 134 (INTRODUCTION TO PHILIPPINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS). As suggested by the course title, DEVC 134 tackles ICT and its applications in development communication.

SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS ENTERPRISES (as identified by NEDA) Development in the context of SMEs is discussed in Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness Management, and Management courses.

AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT 171 (ORGANIZATION OF SMALL BUSINESS). A whole course is devoted to the study of small business ventures. MANAGEMENT 1 (INTRODUCTION TO ENTERPRISE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP). An introductory part is allotted to this topic, under the chapter ―The Small Business Sector and the New Business Venture.‖ AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 130 (AGRICULTURAL FINANCE). The issue can be discussed under Chapter 7, ―Micro Credit Programs.‖

FOOD INSECURITY AND HUNGER (as identified by FAO, DSWD, UNDP) The issue of food security and hunger is more likely discussed in the courses on Human Nutrition and Food, Agriculture, Economics, and Sociology. HUMAN NUTRITION AND FOOD 21 (FOOD AND NUTRITION). Hunger and food security are discussed in ―Current Issues in Food and Nutrition.‖ HUMAN NUTRITION AND FOOD 124 (NUTRITION EDUCATION). This course teaches designing nutrition education programs that can help address the issue of hunger and food security. AGRICULTURE 121 (INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGICAL AGRICULTURE). Towards the end of the course there is a chapter on ―Key Issues and Concerns in the Implementation of Ecologically Sustainable Agriculture,‖ Where food security and hunger are discussed. HUMAN NUTRITION AND FOOD 151 (FOOD AND NUTRITION SYSTEMS). Hunger, as well as food availability, is discussed in Chapter One: ―Agriculture, Food, Nutrition, and Health.‖ ECONOMICS 185 (DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS). Hunger is included under the chapter ―The Unevenness of Development Process.‖ 77

SOCIOLOGY 170 (SOCIAL PROBLEMS). This issue is definitely included in this course particularly under the chapter ―Problems of Inequality and Power.‖

DEFICIT BETWEEN FOOD PRODUCTION AND FOOD DEMAND (as identified by FAO) The issue of insufficiency of food supply to cater to the needs of the growing population is most tackled in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Management. AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT 103 (INTRODUCTION TO AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT). In this course, there is a chapter devoted to the topic of ―Agribusiness Commodity Systems.‖ AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 120 (AGRICULTURAL MARKETING I). An overview of the Philippine agricultural marketing system, demand and supply, and marketing efficiency, among others are being taught in this course. AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 121 (AGRICULTURAL MARKETING II). Practice of market research is taught to course-takers, thus enabling them to identify demand and supply gaps in food and agriculture.

CLIMATE CHANGE (as identified by FAO) Climate change is one of the hot issues recently. Talks and strategies in and out of the countries are thriving to be able to offer solution to this problem. Climate change issues are discussed in fields such as Forestry and Environmental Science. COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE PLANNING 122 (CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES). This course is focused on strategies on conserving the environment. Climate change issues are studied in the course. 78

COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE PLANNING 140 (FUNDAMENTALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS). This course provides students with economic techniques in assessing environmental problems. BIOLOGY 151 (ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT). A subtopic under the ―Issues and Concerns‖ chapter is devoted to climate change. SILVICULTURE AND FOREST INFLUNCES 161 (INTRODUCTION TO FOREST INFLUENCES). Towards the end of the course, there is a chapter solely devoted to the discussion of global warming and climate change.

FORESTRY ISSUES (ILLEGAL LOGGING) (as identified by FAO) Forestry issues such as illegal logging are not stranger to us. Obviously, Forestry courses tackle this issue. SOCIAL FORESTRY AND FOREST GOVERNANCE 111 (FOREST CONSERVATION). Discussions on the conservation and exploitation of forests are included in this course. FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 100 (INTRODUCTION TO FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT). The course covers basic forestry concepts and management techniques. FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 110 (FUNDAMENTALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL FOREST MANAGEMENT). Here, management of the forest, decision making tools, and strategies are taught. FORESTRY 1 (GENERAL FORESTRY). Towards the end of the course, there is a chapter on Philippine Forestry, under which forestry issues, problems, and challenges are covered.

FOREST BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE 36 (FUNDAMENTALS OF FOREST ECOLOGY). A chapter toward the end entitled, ―Man‘s Impact on the Forest Ecosystems‖ satisfies this development concern.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY (as identified by FAO, UNDP) These concerns are discussed in Forestry, Environmental Science, and Community and Environmental Resource Planning. DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION 10 (INTRODUCTION TO DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION). Environmental issues are included under the section ―Major issues, problems, and trends of development and underdevelopment‖ under the Chapter 1 ―Overview and historical perspective of development and underdevelopment‖ COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE PLANNING 11 (MATERIALS AND ENERGY FLOWS). Alternative energy is discussed under Module 7, ―Material and Energy Utilization/Conservation.‖ COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE PLANNING 122 (CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES). This course is focused on strategies on conserving the environment, thus environmental sustainability strategies are covered. COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE PLANNING 140 (FUNDAMENTALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS). This course provides students with economic techniques in assessing environmental problems. SOCIAL FORESTRY AND FOREST GOVERNANCE 111 (FOREST CONSERVATION). The whole course is devoted to forest conservation, factors, approaches, and ethical issues in forestry. 80

FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 100 (INTRODUCTION TO FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT). The issue of Sustainable Development and Renewable Resource is included under Chapter 7, ―Basic Forestry Concepts.‖ Afterwards, Chapter 8 further discusses ―Current Programs, Policies, and Practices in Forest Management.‖ FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 110 (FUNDAMENTALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL FOREST MANAGEMENT). Here, decision making tools, such as eco-profiling, land-use suitability analysis and environment impact assessment, and strategies, such as community-based forest management, integrated social forestry and watershed management are taught. FORESTRY 1 (GENERAL FORESTRY). A chapter on basic management concepts in relation to natural resources satisfies this development concern. BIOLOGY 151 (ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT). This course is a basic environmental biology subject that encompasses not only forestry but all other ecosystems as well. ECONOMICS 171 (INTRO TO NATIONAL RESOURCE ECONOMICS). The whole course is devoted to resource economics, sustainable development, and economics of resources.

HOUSING PROBLEMS (URBAN) (as identified by DSWD) These housing problems are discussed in Sociology classes. SOCIOLOGY 120 (URBAN SOCIOLOGY). Problems and issues of urban areas are discussed in this course. SOCIOLOGY 170 (SOCIAL PROBLEMS). The issue of housing problems is addressed in this course, particularly under the chapter ―Problems of Inequality and Power‖ (Cities in Crisis). 81

FAMILY PROBLEMS (as identified by DSWD) The fields that discuss these problems are Sociology, and Human and Family Development Studies. SOCIOLOGY 170 (SOCIAL PROBLEMS). Family problems are discussed in the chapter ―Problems of Well-Being.‖ HUMAN AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT STUDIES 21 (FAMILY AND SOCIETY). The whole course is devoted to understanding families. This course tackles the dynamics of families and their interaction with the society.

PROBLEMS OF CHILDREN, THE YOUTH, WOMEN (GENDER EQUALITY), THE ELDERLY, AND THE DISABLED (as identified by DSWD) Most of the courses in Sociology and Human and Family Development Studies tackle these problems. SOCIOLOGY 170 (SOCIAL PROBLEMS). Problems of children and the youth are discussed under the chapter ―Problems of Human Diversity,‖ and ―Problems of Well-Being‖ HUMAN AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT STUDIES 13 (CHILD PSYCHOLOGY). This course in child psychology covers the behavior of children and how they deal with social problems at an early age. SOCIOLOGY 107 (GENDER RELATIONS). As provided in its course description, the subject tackles the ―structure, dynamics and issues of gender relations.‖As such. discrimination and empowerment of women are likely tackled here.

SOCIOLOGY 170 (SOCIAL PROBLEMS). Problems of women and gender issues are discussed in the chapter ―Problems of Human Diversity (Gender Equality, Sexual Orientation).‖ HUMAN AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT STUDIES 121 (HUMAN SEXUALITY). The course contains topics related to sexuality issues. Issues, problems, and concerns related to human sexuality are taught in the Chapter 5, ―Contraception, Population Issues and Problems.‖ HUMAN AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT STUDIES 114 (ADULTHOOD AND AGING). This development concern is covered in the ―Issues on adult development and aging‖ chapter towards the end of the course. .

HEALTH CARE AND ILLNESS (as identified by UNDP) Since there is no medical course available in UPLB. The only available course that likely discusses this is SOCIOLOGY 170 (SOCIAL PROBLEMS). Health Problems (maternal health, child mortality, and HIV/AIDS) are included under the chapter ―Problems of Well-Being.‖

GLOBALIZATION (as identified by TWSC) Issues in globalization are usually discussed in Economics, however the Social Development Services field also tackles this. ● DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION 10 (INTRODUCTION TO DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION). Poverty is included under the section ―Major issues, problems, and trends of development and underdevelopment‖ under the Chapter 1 ―Overview and historical perspective of development and underdevelopment‖ 83

● ECONOMICS 141 (INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS). International trade and trade policies are discussed in this course. Such topics are few of the major aspects of globalization. ● SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES 113 (FILIPINO VALUES AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT). Globalization occupies a sublevel under the chapter ―Factors Affecting (Filipino) values.‖ ● AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT 103 (INTRODUCTION TO AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT). This development concern is discussed under ―Market Globalization‖ in the Introduction chapter.

AGRARIAN REFORM (as identified by TWSC) A degree program is devoted to Agrarian Reform Studies. BSDC students may take two agrarian reform courses as specialized electives. The course outlines of these subjects, however, were not acquired by the researcher. AGRARIAN STUDIES 1 (FUNDAMENTALS OF AGRARIAN REFORM). AGRARIAN STUDIES 115 (POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AGRARIAN REFORM)

EXISTENCE OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS (as identified by TWSC) Social movement is tackled in SOCIOLOGY 180 (COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR). How a group of individuals cooperates to achieve a common goal is one of the discussions in this course that is related to social movements..

GOVERNANCE (as identified by TWSC, UNDP) In dealing with the issue of governance, Political Science, Sociology, and Social Development Services are some subject areas that likely incorporate the topic in their curricula. DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION 10 (INTRODUCTION TO DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION). Poverty is included under the section ―Major issues, problems, and trends of development and underdevelopment‖ under the Chapter 1 ―Overview and historical perspective of development and underdevelopment‖ POLITICAL SCIENCE 10 (PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS). The course is described to include ―Principles and concepts of political science especially as they apply to the Philippines…‖ POLITICAL SCIENCE 141 (CONTEMPORARY IDEOLOGIES). As in the course description, the subject deals with ―Theoretical foundations of democracy, socialism, communism, political elitism and nationalism relevant to contemporary political problems.‖ POLITICAL SCIENCE 165 (CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE POLITICS). The course is described as an ―analysis of current problems and issues in the Philippine politics.‖ SOCIOLOGY 112 (SOCIOLOGY OF POLITICS). Looking at the course description, the course is described to include ―the analysis of social bases of power and policy formulation.‖ SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICE 10 (INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT). Local governance is included in the section ―Governance‖ under the chapter ―Important Components/Aspects of Social Development.‖

HUMAN ECOLOGY 103 (SOCIAL POLICIES). There is a comprehensive coverage of social policies in this course aptly titled ―Social Policies.‖ Some topics include analysis, frameworks, and approaches.

HUMAN SECURITY (as identified by TWSC) Human Security is mostly tackled in the Human Ecology and Social Development Service fields. HUMAN ECOLOGY 103 (SOCIAL POLICIES). It is tackled on Chapter 1.2 ―Basic Human Needs and Social Policies.‖ Under it is a section on ―Security Needs.‖ SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICE 10 (INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT). Human security and welfare are likely discussed in Chapter 2, ―Social Development Perspectives,‖ section 3, ―Essential Components/Aspects of Social Development.‖ SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES 11 (COMMUNITY STUDY IN HUMAN WELFARE). An analysis of the community system is provided in Chapter 2, ―The Community as a Social System.‖ This chapter may explain how definitions of what security vary from community to community.

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (as identified by UNDP) MDGs encompass most development problems such as poverty, hunger, health, environmental degradation and education. POLITICAL SCIENCE 112 (POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT) is more likely to discuss MDGs. In addition, DEVC 10 (INTRODUCTION TO DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION) includes the MDGs in the discussions.

GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT (as identified by UNDP) ECONOMICS 101 (INTERMEDIATE MACROECONOMIC THEORY). Towards the end of the course, a chapter on International Linkages is presented. International linkages refer to the connection and partnership among countries. POLITICAL SCIENCE 112 (POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT). (Course Outline not available.) Global Partnership for development is Goal 8 in the MDGs. The course addresses the MDGs as stated in the course description: ―The political implications of development; the process of political growth in developing countries, with focus on the Millennium Development Goals…‖

PEACE-BUILDING (NEGOTIATIONS AND RECOVERY) (as identified by UNDP) The issue is mostly tackled in the Sociology and Human Ecology fields. SOCIOLOGY 170 (SOCIAL PROBLEMS) – A section on ―Conflict and the World‖ discusses conflicts and war. HUMAN ECOLOGY 103 (SOCIAL POLICIES). Analysis of policies may perhaps help in understanding the peace-building process.

Table 6. Courses that are addressing development issues DEVC courses

DEVC 10 DEVC 50 DEVC 134

Non-DEVC courses ABM 103 ABM 171 AECO 111 AECO 120 AECO 121 AECO 130 AERS 160 AGR 121 AGRS 1 AGRS 115 BIO 151 CERP 11 CERP 122 CERP 140 ECON 101 ECON 121 ECON 141 ECON 151 ECON 171 ECON 181 ECON 185 EDUC 102 FBS 36 FOR 1 FRM 100 FRM 110 HFDS 13 HFDS 21 HFDS 114 HFDS 121 HNF 21 HNF 124 HNF 151 HUME 103 MGT 1 MGT 101 POSC 10 POSC 112 POSC 141 POSC 165 SDS 10 SDS 11 SDS 30 SDS 107 SDS 113 SFI 161 SFFG 111 SOC 112 SOC 119 SOC 120 SOC 170 SOC 180

Assessment Adaptability From the list of the 27 contemporary Philippine development issues (as identified by the agencies), 26 were addressed by the BSDC curriculum, mostly through the specialized courses (technical and social science electives). To measure curriculum adaptability, the following computation was used: This is the developed measurement:

Where:

This is the computation:

16% corresponds to poorly adaptive in the scale. This shows that the BSDC curriculum is poorly adaptive in terms of addressing contemporary development problems and issues of the Philippines. Although all but one of the 27 development issues were addressed by the curriculum, the BSDC curriculum is poorly adaptive and needs to be improved. Core and major DEVC courses, in particular, need to be enhanced more to reflect the contemporary development issues of the country. A bulk of the courses that address these development concerns are specialized courses but the problem is, BSDC students are prescribed only 27 units for specialized courses, thus limiting their chance of enrolling in courses that address Philippine development issues. In terms of development issues addressed and included in the scope, poverty, education, unemployment, food security and hunger, and environment (sustainability and degradation) were the development concerns covered mostly by the courses. This goes to show that the different areas of study recognize these existing development issues and tackle them from different perspectives. Even small packets of issues as seen by only one or two development agencies in the study were found out to be addressed in a particular technical or social science elective. For example, lack of infrastructures (as stated by NEDA) was found to be discussed in the area of Economics, specifically ECON 151 (Public Finance) It must be noted, however, that, although these development problems and issues were explicitly written or even implied in the course outline, far be it to conclude that the discussions of these concerns are deep enough for BSDC students to grasp â&#x20AC;&#x2022;the big picture,â&#x20AC;&#x2013; so to speak, In this study, it was realized that the BSDC curriculum, with its extensive list of technical and social science electives, covers many development issues. However, due to the prescribed number of electives students are allowed to take, as well as required courses, BSDC students are limited from actually learning all these development issues.

CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary This study reviewed the UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum vis-Ă vis contemporary development problems and issues of the country. Specifically, the study aimed to: 1) find out the development problems and issues the country faces today; 2) describe the nature of the current BSDC curriculum in terms of scope, sequence, continuity, articulation, and balance; 3) find out the contemporary development problems and issues addressed by the current UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum; 4) find out the contemporary development problems and issues not addressed by the current UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum; and 5) propose enhancements to the UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum in terms of structure, coverage, and depth. The study was divided into two phases. For Phase 1 (Objective 1 of the study), key informant interviews were conducted among five development agencies, namely 1) National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), 2) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 3) Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), 4) Third World Studies Center (TWSC), and 5) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Secondary data such as annual reports and statistical bulletins were also consulted. For Phase 2 (Objectives 2-5 of the study), the researcher gathered various BSDC curriculum documents, including 1) BSDC curricula (old curricula and the current), 2) course outlines of courses included in the curriculum, and 3) reports and other curriculum-related documents provided by CDCâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Curriculum Committee. Data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The following are the key findings of the study:

Objective 1: Find out the development problems and issues the country faces today It was found out that poverty and food insecurity and hunger were still the most prevalent development problems of the country, as identified by the development agencies (NEDA, DSWD, UNDP, TWSC for poverty; FAO, DSWD, UNDP for food insecurity and hunger). Other contemporary development problems and issues of the Philippines include: unemployment, poor quality of education, lack of investments and infrastructures (ICT and Transportation), low capital stock, low productivity in agriculture, gap between food production and food demand, climate change, environmental sustainability, governance, globalization, and social problems of children, youth, women, elderly and person with disabilities. Other concerns with much needed attention were the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, progress in the service sector (Business Process Outsourcing Industry and overseas Filipino workers.), progress in harnessing geothermal energy as an alternative source of energy, good performance of the fishery sector, peace-building and conflict prevention, and human security.

Objective 2: Describe the nature of the current BSDC curriculum in terms of scope, sequence, continuity, articulation, and balance In terms of sequence, it was found out that the BSDC curriculum is well-sequenced in all of its components. DEVC courses, both major and core courses, were sequenced from theoretical to practical. Technical courses and Social Science electives were arranged from basic to advanced and highly technical. For articulation and continuity, it was found out that the BSDC curriculum has smooth articulation if all DEVC courses are considered. All semesters have at least one

DEVC course. However, there is unsmooth articulation of computational courses particularly MATH 11 and STAT 1. For scope, it was discovered that the BSDC curriculum has a very extensive scope. There are 32 course codes (e.g., DEVC, ECON, SDS, SOC, FRM, etc) from which students may choose their technical and social science electives from. For balance, It was found out the curriculum is skewed. There are more units allotted to technical courses compared with social science electives, which is perhaps not adequate since Devcom is a social science.

Objective 3: Find out the contemporary development problems and issues addressed by the current UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum Out of the 27 development problems and issues listed, 26 (96%) were present in the course outlines considered in the study. Most of theses course outlines were from specialized (technical and social science) courses. Very few DEVC courses seemed to include the development problems and issues identified (DEVC 10, DEVC 50, DEVC 134). It was particularly DEVC 10 which covered many development problems and issues. Although almost all of the development problems and issues were somehow addressed, it was found that the curriculum was found to be poorly adaptive to these development problems and issues. Only a few DEVC courses tackle development problems and issues, based on the course outlines. In terms of specialized courses, the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; freedom in choosing their desired electives and the prescribed number of units for these courses (27 units) are two factors that may limit them from taking as many electives that address contemporary development concerns.

Objective 4: Find out the contemporary development problems and issues NOT addressed by the current UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum It was only the concern on the progress of the fishery sector that was not addressed by the BSDC curriculum, since it was not found out in any of the course outlines.

Objective 5: Propose enhancements to the UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum in terms of structure and coverage Please see Recommendations.

Conclusions

Based on the results of the study, the following conclusions were arrived at: 1. Unless the country become a third world no more, there will still be problems and issues related to development and underdevelopment at hand. Almost all development agencies, both international and national agreed on one thing: poverty is still at large. Though they may have different standpoint and uses different lenses to see at the problem, they all have the consensus on poverty-reduction as being the top priority at present. Other development problems and issues were found to be interrelated, such as hunger, food insecurity, low agricultural productivity, and low investments in agriculture. In the end, Development Communication activities are highly needed. These interventions would help address the problems and issues of development of the Philippines.

2. Although the BSDC curriculum is well sequenced, it has an smooth articulation on all DEVC courses but unsmooth articulation only on computational courses. It is good to know that the BSDC curriculum has a very extensive scope, and that Major and Specialized courses have good depth. However, the curriculum is skewed, allotting more units on Technical Courses, and more DEVC courses on media and communication activities. 3. It is also good to know that the BSDC curriculum can address all identified development problems and issues, since these are all seen in the course outlines, particularly in specialized courses. However, according to the adaptability criterion, the curriculum was poorly adaptive. The reason for this was that not all Specialized Courses offered to the BSDC students are not taken by them. There are factors involved such as the students‘ freedom of choice and number of courses only allowed. In addition, there are only few DEVC courses (DEVC 10, 50, 134) that include development problems and issues in their course outlines. This may be the reason why when BSDC students are asked for a development topic for their outputs they seem to think of topics not actually development-oriented. 4. The reason why the BSDC curriculum does not address or does not have “improvements on the fishery sector” is that there is no course in UPLB that teaches anything related to fisheries. It was with this simple fact that it can be concluded that the number and kind of courses offered by UPLB determines the specialized and foundation courses included in the BSDC curriculum, which in turn determines what development problems and issues can be addressed.

Recommendations

Policy implications Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are offered for the enhancement of the BSDC curriculum.

1. Problem area: Although the (2002) BSDC curriculum covers many development problems and issues, particularly through its specialized courses, students may not take all the possible courses from almost every field of study to gain a broad understanding of these development concerns. Strategy: The College could explore adopting a generalist track. Devcom students are very much expected to have a basic knowledge from different fields, from which development issues arise. By adopting a generalist track, BSDC students may take more technical and social science courses, thus increasing their capacity to understand development problems and issues more. More foundation courses such as BIO 1, BOT 1 and CHEM 15 may also be added to provide the prerequisites for higher technical courses or advanced foundation courses such as SDS 10 (Introduction to Social Development), STAT 166 (Statistics for the Social Sciences), and SDS 120 (Techniques in Community Organizing). 2. Problem area: There is also a disruption between MATH 11 and STAT1 which somehow affects the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; performance on the latter. Strategy: Bring MATH 11 and STAT 1 closer with each other. Place another STAT course, particularly STAT 166 (Statistics for Social Sciences) before DEVC 197 or DEVC 198 to enhance the analytical and statistical skills of BSDC students in quantitative analysis in communication research.

3. Problem area: Unequal distribution of social science electives and technical courses. Strategy: Study the possibility of re-allocating more units to Social Science electives, since development communication is a social science. Thus, there must be enough number of courses from social sciences that BSDC students can include in their coursework. 4. In the interviews, the researcher asked the key informants what needed skills they considered Development Communication students to have in order to help address those Development Issues. For NEDA, Development Communications should be skilled in popularization. DSWD stated the importance of communicating with policymakers and government officials as a necessary skill. UNDP, FAO and TWSC emphasized the need for community engagement as one of the best learning experiences Devcom students could have. Strategy: Strengthen the DEVC course in relation to the particular skills identified by the development agencies. 5. BSDC students need to take up SOC170 (SOCIAL PROBLEMS). This course tackles most of the development issues mentioned earlier. This shows that this particular course has a wide scope of social problems to tackle and may help BSDC students identify and help solve these issues. 6. Problem Area: Some development issues and problems are not discussed in any courses offered within UPLB. Strategy: CDC could consider adding more specialized and foundation courses aside from the one prescribed. CDC could also tap other UP campuses that have courses only offered by them, at the same time relevant to the BSDC curriculum.

Future Studies Based on the results, the following recommendations are offered for future studies: 1. It is highly recommended to expand more on the viewpoints of various development agencies, either by adding more agencies to the sample. The goal is to gain a holistic view of the current Philippine development scenario as much as possible by interviewing more agencies. 2. It is highly recommended to tap communities for their own views of development issues and problems. This way their voices are considered. 3. It is also recommended for future curricular researchers to seek for other means of evaluating the curriculum, such as by surveying faculty to find out how they discuss development issues, or by actually sitting in the different classes to find out the extent of the discussion of development concerns. 4. Also, one can study the curricula of other universities and colleges and compare it with the UPLB BSDC curriculum to find out how do these different colleges and universities teach development communication in terms of the scope, sequence, articulation etc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Andres, T. Q. (1989). Curriculum Development in the Philippine Setting. Manila: National Bookstore Inc. Aquino, G. V. (1986). Curriculum planning for better schools. Quezon City: Rex Printing, Inc. Brady, L. &. ((1999)). Curriculum construction. London: SAGE Publications, Ltd. Burns, R. B. ((2000)). Introduction to research methods (4th ed.). London: Sage Publications, Ltd. Burton, N. &. (Ed.). ((2001)). Managing the curriculum. London: Sage Publications, Ltd. Calaycay, E. (1993). The BSDC Curriculum Revisited: How Professional, Social, and Technical. Unpublished undergraduate research. Craig, R. T. (Ed.). (2007). Theorizing communication: readings across traditions. California: Sage Publications, Inc. Delfin, D. Z. (2004). BSDC graduates' perception of the usefulness of the BSDC curriculum in their professions: Implications in the development of a generalist vs specialized curriculum. Unpublished undergraduate research . Department of Social Welfare and Development. (2007). DSWD Annual Report 2007. Quezon City. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Philippine National Statistics Office (PNSO). (2007). Food Insecurity Assessment based on food consumption statistics dervied from 2003 Philippine Family income and expenditures survey. Manila. Gibas, I. P. (1984). Evaluation of the Bachelor of Science in Development Communication Curriculum. Unpublished undergraduate research .

Henson, K. T. (2001). Curriculum planning: integrating multiculturalism, constructionism and educational reform (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. Hoy, W. K. (2005). Educational administration: theory, research, and practice. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Librero, F. ((2005)). Status and Trends in Development Communication Research in the Philippines. Media Asia , 32 (1). Manyozo, L. (2006). Manifesto for Development Communication: Nora Quebral and Los Banos Schoold of Development Communication. Asian Journal of Communication , 79-99. Maslog, C. (Ed.). (2007). Philippine communication today. Quezon City: New Day Publishers. Matulac, L. A. (2007). Curriculum Workshop Highlights. UPLB, Laguna: College of Development Communication. McNeil, J. (2006). Contemporary Curriculum: in thought and action. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Mooney, L. A., Knox, D., & Schacht, C. (2002). Understanding Social Porblems. United States of America: Wadsworth Group. National Economic and Development Authority. (2004). Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan 2004-2010. Manila: NEDA. ______________. (2007). Philippines Midterm Progress Report on the Millennium Development Goals. UNDP and the Government of the Philippines. Porter, L. P. (2004). Developing an online Curriculum: Technologies and techniques. Hershey: Information Science Publishing. Quebral, N. C. (1988). Development Communication. UPLB: College of Agriculture.

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Sowell, E. J. (2005). Curriculum: an integrated introduction. New Jersey: PEARSON Merill, Prentice-Hall. United Nations Development Programme. (2008). Capacity Development: Empowering People and Institutions annual report. New York: UNDP. United Nations. (2008). The Millennium Development Goals Report 2008. New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. UPLB Catalogue of Academic Programs. (2006). College, Laguna: UPLB

List of Key Informant Interviews

Arroyo, Dennis M. (2008, October 9) Pasig City: National Economic and Development Authority. FAO informant. Former Assistant Country Representative. (2008, October 24) Makati City: Food and Agriculture Organization – United Nations. Meyer, Renuad. (2009, February 3) Makati City: United Nations Development Programme – United Nations. Navida, Victorina. (2008, November 4). Quezon City: Department of Social Welfare and Development. Tadem, Teresa. (2008, November 28) Quezon City: Third World Studies Center – University of the Philippines – Diliman.

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

Sample letter for development agencies Sample letter for institute directors or department chairs of different UPLB colleges Sample letter for the UPLB CDC Curriculum Committee Chairperson Sample letter for the access of UPLB Catalogue of Academic Programs

COLLEGE OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION UNIVERSITY of the PHILIPPINES LOS BAÑOS College, Laguna 4031, Philippines Tels.: (63) (049) 536–2511 (63)(049) 536–2433 (63)(049) 536–3356 Fax: (63) (049) 536–2429 Email: mail@devcom.edu.ph Website: http://www.devcom.edu.ph

_____________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________

Dear __________________:

I am Hanzel F. Gapayao, a B.S. Development Communication student of the University of the Philippines Los Baňos. As part of the requirements of the course, I am currently conducting my undergraduate research entitled A Review of the BSDC Curriculum vis-à-vis contemporary Philippine Development problems and issues. My research is a case study wherein I plan to examine current Philippine development issues and their implications to the enhancement of the UPLB BS Development Communication curriculum. For my data collection, I intend to interview key informants from different development agencies/organizations to find out today’s current development issues and concerns. I have included the (name of organization) as part of my sample because I see it fit to include an agency whose mandate and purpose tackles human development. I also see (name of organization) as the appropriate research organization, which can help me understand and describe the current social issues in the country today. In this connection, may I sit down with you for an interview regarding my topic? We could set it at a date, time, and venue most convenient to you. I have attached in this letter a list of sample questions I will be asking you should you grant my request. Rest assured that everything that transpires in the interview will be cited accordingly and used solely for this research. If you have questions, please do contact me by email: hanzelgapayao@gmail.com or by mobile phone (0916 – 578 – 4211). Thank you and I will contact your office again for your hopefully favorable response. Respectfully yours, Hanzel F. Gapayao Researcher

Noted: Aldo T. Lim Adviser

______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ University of the Philippines Los Baños College, Laguna

Dear ___________:

Greetings! I am Hanzel F. Gapayao, a B.S. Development Communication student from the College of Development Communication (CDC). As part of the requirements of the course, I am currently conducting my undergraduate research entitled A Review of the BSDC Curriculum vis-à-vis contemporary Philippine Development problems and issues. Part of the research is a curricular study of the BS Development Communication curriculum where I am going to examine the course syllabi of courses taken by BS Development Communication students. In this connection, I would like to request a copy of the following syllabi: (list inserted) Rest assured that these syllabi will be used solely for this research. For any questions, my email address is hanzelgapayao@gmail.com, and my mobile phone number is 0906–315–0891. Thank you very much. I hope for your favorable response. Respectfully yours,

RECOMMENDING APPROVAL:

HANZEL GAPAYAO Researcher

MADELINE M. SUVA Chair, Dept. of Development Journalism

Noted:

ALDO T. LIM Adviser

CLEOFE S. TORRES Dean

_________________ PROF. RHODORA RAMONETTE M. DE VILLA CHAIRPERSON Curriculum Committee, College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños College, Laguna

Dear PROF. DE VILLA:

Greetings! I am Hanzel F. Gapayao, a senior B.S. Development Communication student. As part of the requirements of the course, I am currently conducting my undergraduate research entitled A Review of the BSDC Curriculum vis-à-vis contemporary Philippine Development problems and issues. Part of the research is a curricular study of the BS Development Communication curriculum where I am going to examine the curriculum itself, its evolution, evaluations, and reviews. In this connection, I would like to request an access to the documents that can be of help to my research. These documents can be past curricular reviews and reports, minutes of the meeting (curriculum committee), and progress reports. Rest assured that these documents will be used solely for this research. For any questions, my email address is hanzelgapayao@gmail.com, and my mobile phone number is 0906–315–0891. Thank you very much. I hope for your favorable response.

Respectfully yours,

HANZEL GAPAYAO Researcher

Noted:

ALDO T. LIM Adviser

RECOMMENDING APPROVAL:

CLEOFE S. TORRES Dean

______________ DR. BENJAMINA FLOR College Secretary Office of the College Secretary College of Development Communication University of the Philippines Los Baños College, Laguna

DEAR DR. FLOR:

Hi, I am Hanzel F. Gapayao, a senior B.S. Development Communication student. As part of the requirements of the course, I am currently conducting my undergraduate research entitled A Review of the BSDC Curriculum vis-à-vis contemporary Philippine Development problems and issues. Part of the research is a curricular study of the BS Development Communication curriculum where I am going to examine the course syllabi of courses (technical and social science electives) taken by BS Development Communication students. In this connection, I would like to request an access to the UPLB Catalogue of Academic Programs and permission to photocopy some of its parts as a supplementary document for my study. Rest assured that these documents will be used solely for this research. Thank you very much and I will contact your office again for your hopefully favorable response.

Respectfully yours,

HANZEL GAPAYAO Researcher

Noted: ALDO T. LIM Adviser

APPENDIX B

Key Informant Interview - Interview Guide - Transcriptions NEDA FAO DSWD TWSC UNDP

Key Informant Interview Guide Questionnaires Objective 1. Find out the development problems and concerns that our country faces today. 1. Let us set the context first, from the eyes of the department (DepEd) , what is really happening out there in the country? (Holistic view) 2. Based on the studies and researches made by the department (DepEd), what are most pressing issues apparent in the country as of now? What are the root causes of these? What are the effects of these? Are they connected from each other? Objective 2: Find out the current development concerns of different sectors of the Philippine society. 1. Who are your immediate stakeholders? 2. What do you do exactly to cater to your stakeholders? 3. What are the most pressing needs or concerns of the different sectors of people? Which of these needs or concerns needs to be addressed first/ prioritized? What would be the effect of most of these sectors‟ needs, concerns, and issues are neglected? What do you do exactly to cater to these people? 4. If all of the research center‟s plans go well, how do you foresee the situation of these sectors years from now? (Or, how do you see the attainment of these MDG‟s by 2015?) Additional: The BS Development Communication curriculum of UPLB is made to train students to help address these issues by means of strategic communication planning, designs, and implementation. If you were to be asked, what development issues and concerns should be highlighted in the curriculum? What skills and knowledge (technical or informational) should undergraduate devcom students have to be able to help address these issues?

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KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEW Dennis Arroyo, Director, National Planning and Policy Staff October 2008 DA: Well, the world challenge is to fight poverty, to reduce the number of the poor… that entails providing more employment, raising the incomes of people, then transferring people from low productivity, from low income sectors to high-income centers, therefore from agriculture… to service then to industry… the structure changes, so… that entails a lot of things. It is a whole complex panoply. One, it will require education for all, upgrading access to… education. Right now, we are poor in quality in the elementary and even in the high school. This wide access is, in fact, we‟re admired for our curricular access on the world but… this be greater need for quality… we need more classrooms, upgrading instructional materials, improving scores in English, Mathematics, and Science be worth competitive. So education is one field, then also in industry, try to get, trying to have more investments, while the main problem of the Philippines is that kulang tayo sa investments to create more jobs, we need more investments, which links to… so why is investment low in the first place, there are various problems, various factors. One is the lack of infrastructure compare to our neighbor kulang tayo sa infra-. So now we‟re addressing the infrastructure challenge… Also, we hae expensive power (kuryente)… In peace and order problems, that‟s a deterrent investment… and even the phone‟s can be improved at least landline-wise… kulang tayo sa network ng landlines… and improving infra-, so we can have a holistic logistic system which transfer goods from factories to the markets. Now, kasama dito yung job creation. So on a micro-level, we have microfinance extending small loans to, then assistance to SME‟s… we‟re trying to turn Clark and Subic into the regional logistics hub… kasi they were former bases from the U.S. so they were world class facilities for naval, for sea and air… We need to deepen our capital market, compare to our neighbors, our stock market is so tiny, so we need to delve that to provide capital, funding for other companies who‟ll be needing it… HFG: How can a small capital stock affect a country such as the Philippines? DA: To employ more people, you need to invest more… and then, so companies can raise money by issuing share stock… for example, ako si Ayala, I sell stocks to you, so you give money to me, then I use my money in upgrading my factories, my facilities, in exchange, I will be paying you over time… so dyan darating yung stock market, so its very small regionally, so we‟ve to improve that… and I mention the need for more transport structure… do you remember yung SONA projects? Yung super regions, the idea is that you connect, within Luzon, NCR to the north, Clark and Subic, and to the south, CALABARZON… so that goods manufactured in CALABARZON can be transported to Clark and Subic for export… the need for North Railway, South Railway, and all MRT‟s, extend LRT to Cavite, halimbawa, one going to Bulacan, one going to Quezon… still on the pipeline stage but these are all programs… Also, we have one challenge right now. Yung bagong challenge is ICT. Formerly, maybe years ago, hindi gaanong mahalaga yung ICT, but now it‟s a very big factor… the software exports, I think we‟re number two in Asia, after India in software exports, and yeah were no.1 in he world‟s Business Process Outsourcing, yung call centers. So upgrading ICT and 110

strengthening our edge in ICT are important because anything which can be email-ed can be outsourced… have you read the book The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, sabi niya, the internet is a big goldmine for the Philippines, because as said everything which can be email-ed can be outsourced… for example, I am a firm in New York, what can I do tosave money,I can send my financial dara to a firm in Makati, and thre, they supply with a report (a full blown report). It is cheaper for me, the New York firm, to do that way than to hire an expensive New Yorker to work on that… It is much cheaper… from the American point of view, and at the same time, from the Pinoy point-of-view, its lucrative… Outsourcing is beyond call centers.. you can do it in engineering plans, you can email the engineering plans, or you can do medical transcription. Its all a matter of creativity… Its all a matter of what can be email-ed… sa email, the internet brings the big bonanza for us so we should exploit that… HFG: Since the outsourcing industry is a big boom, can the Philippines just focus on that for development purposes? DA: It can be an edge for the Philippines because lamang tayo sa English... that‟s why pumapasok ang mga investors to put up call centers… As I said, its more than call centers… since we are much cheaper than the rates in New York, or the U.S., it makes sense for them to let us do the work. So they can do it, we can also do it… So its something we should emphasize, our edge in outsourcing. By 2010, the revenues of outsourcing will be almost as big as all the revenues of OFWS inn 2005… see, its so huge. It will be like having two armies of OFWs in effect. HFG: If we have a chance in outsourcing, can we lessen the effect of brain drain made by the OFWs? DA: We are also looking at it, the nice thing about outsourcing is that we can earn dollars, or in dollar equivalents, and still you can stay home… There is also the counter argument of brain gain. That is, for example, may malaking demand for nurses abroad, and right now, we have a surplus of nurses. So magkakaroon, imbes ng brain drain, ng brain gain… We have a lot of nurses because of the nerollment. In some way, it is also a phenomenon in African countries… example, sa World Cup contenders, ang nangyayari, the best players would play in the European Games sa soccer, football teams, so you think that‟s a brain drain, or talent drain, sa African countries. But what happened is that it made the sport so popular that many took up the sport, so now dumadami ang kanilang supply ng athletes, ng soccer players, so what happened, Ghana became a soccer power. Initially, magkakaroon ng brain drain sa nurses, sa pagtaas ng employment, so you now have a brain gain… so that describes the development in OFWs. HFG: Among these issues, what is the most pressing? For instance, are we affected by what happened in the US? DA: Yung ibang bangko, hindi… Because our banks here, they have little expansions, very little assets in Limmen Brothers. Wala pa yatang 1% ng kailang assets are in those troubled assets so hindi problema yung ating banking system, so the problem is really more on exports, kung magi-slide yung US economy, therefore, there will be less demand for exports, therefore less export revenues…

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HFG: I think even before our exports are low, can we expect even lesser exports? DA: Actually, 64% of our exports are electronics, the highest ratio in the world for electronics exports. With the US going down, so therefore, hihina ang demand for computers, laptops, notebooks, and all that… so we‟re affected… HFG: Does the country manufacture software products? DA: People don‟t realize… for example, cellphone, yung pinaka-utak ng cellphone, the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip, lahat ng NOKIA phones in the world, yung DSP chip galling sa Philippines… and even, we export half of the world‟ 2.5 inch hard disk drives… people don‟t know that. Tayo yung no.4 exporter ng laptop and notebooks in the world. Lagi lang natatabunan ng balita, with politics, with bad news, kasi sa mga bagay na ito, people don‟t realize these. HFG: About imports, for example, agricultural goods, how do we stand on this? DA: Actually, for imports, we import raw materials, oil and capital equipment. Konti lang ang iiimport na consumer goods, mostly capital equipment, oil and raw materials… We actually export more to China than we import. People do not see, for example, in Divisoria, that maraming Chinese goods, but actual fact is that we export more to China, than we import… HFG: What about agricultural production in the Philippines? DA: Its been lagging due to low productivity… because low investments in irrigation, low investments in farm mechanic loads, or in superior seeds… different factors… In fact, fertilizers used to be double the prices, mahal ang fertilizers, high-post-harvets loss of rice. Ang nature ng agriculture, ang stress ay nasa irrigation, kasi yung walang irrigation, kung tag-ulan, wala kang trabaho, wala kang production. Low cropping intensity, lack of diversification. These are now addressed by the Fields program by Department of Agriculture (DA). I think ng-invest ng P43B peso for the Fields sa mga 44 rice provinces... its much cheaper to rehabilitate clogged irrigation canals than to consult new canals, that‟s why irrigated hectarage is the highest use, that‟s in the FIELDS… HFG: Does NEDA conduct researches on the country’s conditions? DA: Well, that‟s being done by PIDS… and the various sectors, staffs, like the AgriStaff, or Trade Staff, they also do their own research… HFG: Who are NEDA’s stakeholders? DA: In general, we do an analysis for the President in Malacańanf, for the House, and for the Senate, and other departments and agencies, these are requests… for the government, and also sa academe, it‟s a whole multi-stakeholder environment… HFG: Does NEDA directly address the problems of the people in the grassroots level? DA: The one that handles that are the regional NEDA centers… So sila ang mas in touch sa grassroots, well, kami yung central, so we just get the info around the country. Mas sila mismo ang in touch… HFG: What do you think are the needs and problems of people (Filipinos)? 112

DA: I think, in all region, poverty is no.1 and syempre, there are many dimensions to that… hindi lang simple yun… Maraming requirements to solve this. It will require agricultural productivity, infrastructure support, education and human capital, health interventions, more organizing work… madami… many interventions need to work to fight that one enemy of poverty… HFG: What if NEDA is not doing for these issues? DA: Actually, we have been doing something, income has been rising at that time… There‟s been an increase in purchasing power… And dami ng malls diba? Because, if we are so poor, we‟d be…. It‟s the rising income which help build such rising malls… its one indication, since people have more money in their pocket any one working in the middle class… kung walang NEDA, walang gobyerno… walang mag-o-orchestrate nyan, kumbaga, we‟re the maestro coordinating with the agencies of the government… HFG: What’s the current economic condition of the RP, is it better or worse? DA: It‟s rising, walang recession. A recession means yung GDP, going down. Here, it was up and up and up and up, although lately, it was slowing down… but not a recession… GDP‟s growth is rising over time, which unlike other countries with recession. I think that the U.S. has now a recession, they have a negative GDP growth, but tayo, it is all been rising, since I think 2001, walang patid, pataas ng pataas ang GDP growth, the worst is a slow-down but not a recession… HFG: What about inflation? DA: Inflations were caused by high oil prices, globally. Yung crude prices, it shot to the roof. Ang reason dyan you‟ve China and India which have such big populations, and now, they growing very fast, ganun din ang GDP, so yumayaman yung kanilang population. So they‟re demanding more oils, driving more cars, so sila nagpapataas ng global oil prices, and same thin with the food prices… what happens is that as more people enter the middle-class, they demand more meat, hindi lang fish… more grain being devoted to feed the livestock… so na di-divert yung rice production to give for their livestock production, so tumataas yung price ng grain, basically yung 2 yan ang behind ng high oil and fuel, but way be caused by geo-poltical conflict… global things… HFG: What about energy? DA: Now, we‟ve this biofuel law, requiring 5% ethanol blend and one percent coco diesel blend in diesel engines, that happen gets a measure because that‟s dependent on external fuel, at least we can rely on our own sugar crop for ethanol or on our own coconut for diesel. That helps, and even more works sa geothermal. You know tayo ang no.2 sa geothermal, after the US… now, more investments are coming in to geothermal. And we may be no.1 when these investments bear fruits. HFG: Don’t they try to build the Malampaya oil before? DA: Because of inflation, kasi last year 2007, 8% lang ang inflation, pero ngayon mga 12%... so people have been in a pinch because of the high oil, high fuel… and unfortunately, yung oil, yung global crude oil, and rice price, are again is control, so what we do is odd productivity to all fields to ease the burden of inflation… 113

HFG: Does NEDA follow the goals of MDG? DA: yeah, for one thing, we monitor the MDG progress, ang nagmomonitor dyan ay yung social development staff (SDS) HFG: What if all plans of NEDA and the government goes well, how will you foresee the situation of the Philippines many years from now? DA: I think we should really try to exploit our edge sa ICT and in BPO. I think we need have a more hi-tech economy to give all supplies, at the same time, by having the OFWs spread out easily. There will be a source for sustained growth, and make sure na hindi nagre-recession ang Philippines and I think isang factor nyan ang OFWs because patuloy pa rin ang kanyang income see what happens.. we‟re still afloat. HFG: You said that you give advice to different government agencies DA: Yes, every six years we compile the MTPDP. We have inputs from the various agencies and then kami may final say, we collect everything and come up with a plan, and set targets for that plan, and every year, we have the socio-economic report, which compares the target and actual performance of agencies, so that‟s been used by the Congress to evaluate (them)… HFG: What skills or knowledge that we devcom, should have to help address these issues? DA: Have you heard Marchall McLuhan, uulitin ko lang yung phrase “intellectual dynasty”… Now, these intellectual A writes a thesis na binabasa lamang ni Intellectual B, C, hanggang dyan lang sa itaas, sila lang yung audience, to make development media effective, kailangan maunawaan ng mga taong bayan at the bottom, that creates pressure for the people who are voted, elected leaders and politicians who are sensitive to opinions. So isang skill, sa palagay ko, is how to laymanize these issues from being arcane, high-falluted into a more laymanized na maiintindihan ng taong bayan, because that creates pressure… when an informed citizen can react to the issue, can pressure politicians, “ito and gusto namin,” the talent to laymanize, aside from the general economics, is suppose one skill na kulang… <end of interview>

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KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEW Former Assistant Country Representative, Food and Agriculture Organization October, 2008 HFG: What’s the whole situation of the country right now? AC: Actually, well, this (food security) is a major issues, not only for the Philippines, but global, I think there are about 35 to 37 countries that are severely affected by the showing food crisis, by the lack of supple, including the Philippines, we felt it in the Philippines in early part of 2008, actually it started last year (2007), and I think sometime in March this year, so the present situation of the country, as the biggest rice importing country (now) in the world, the projected deficit, or should I say the RP has imported about 2.4 M metric tons already from the information received from our contact in the Bureau of Food and Agricultural Economics. I think about 1.7 M metric tons have already arrived and we‟re still importing, I think by December. Total contracted importation could be particularly in Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, even in Cambodia, will be arriving in the Philippines. Well, its major problem because instead of using the money in deportation of the deficit we could have used that for other development purposes but now the Philippines has prepared rice self-sufficienc plan 2009-2010. This was developed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) through PhilRice with the expected technical support from IRRI. It‟s a growth program and I think… Also, it needs a lot of money, I think the… plan needs about Php45 B for the implementation of various interventions including subsidy, purchase and distribution of seeds (high-yielding varieties) including fertilizers, and also salaries of technical people who will be implementing the plan. HFG: If we import large volumes, does it mean that we consume large volumes too? AC: No, the RP does not mean as the biggest consumer of rice, it could either be China or India, well, I think, China now has the population of 1.2 B, India has a population of 1.1 , roughly equal to that of China, RP has, as of now, about 90M, but in terms of production, demand and consumption in the country… We‟ve the biggest gap, basd on total demand and total production within the country, so where are we going to get the deficit? Of course, there as well… through importation or production of other crops, like root crops, corns, kamote, cassava, and other starchy foods, etc HFG: In terms of hunger, is the Filipino still hungry? AC: I think, hunger incidence is about 34% now, there is a quarterly survey being done by the social weather station, being published at the newspaper every 3 months, and I think at that question… there are sample, I think, about 1, 200 all around the country. I don‟t know if by telephone or by visits and I think the question is about the perception, like “do you feel hungry?”, “how many times did you think you were hungry?” something lie this… 34% hunger incidence is very high, I think the government is trying to reduce thus by 50% by 2015 which is in line with the UN MDG… to reduce hunger and poverty to 15

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M within how many years, from now, we still have seven years, it could be done, provided that there‟s firm commitment in the part of the government… HFG: What’s the progress in MDG? AC: Some, in the government said that it could be attained… HFG: Aside from hunger, are there issues that are not seen/ felt immediately but are existing? AC: Actually, for the last several years, I think the government had rejected agriculture. Investment in agriculture is not increasing, unlike other areas like industries and services. I think the government neglected agriculture, and also there‟s diminishing investment per capita… for example, in the case of water resource and development, the most critical factor in food production is water. You produce rice, you need water. You produce anything, you need water. I think the development in water is not only big irrigation but also small scale irrigation… should been given importance, I think not only by tis administration but by previous administrations. There is, I think, increase in food production in the country is lagging behind than other countries like Vietnam, Thailand or Indonesia… HFG: What about the environment? (climate change issues) AC: Yeah, well, definitely, climate change will affect food production and also the livelihood of people, like a country of the Philippines where we have so many islands, well, climate change; temperature‟s increasing so if… ice melts in the northern hemisphere, it will increase the sea level, and so many coastal areas would be flooded, at the same time, not all effects of climate change will be bad, there could be some benefits, like for example, okay you have big water, that means, you have more fish and other marine products… HFG: What about fisheries and forestry? AC: In the case of the Philippines, well, fishery is, we have outstanding achievement in terms of fisheries, particularly aquaculture. I think, the effect of aquaculture… The RP is now one of the countries, now in the world, reach big production coming from aquaculture. I think the effect of aquaculture, like for example, Tilapia, Bangus, on the livelihood f the poor people, for example, as a source of protein, is tremendous. I think this is a great achievement… But I thinko what extent it can be obtained is another problem. Now, we have lots of problems, question of pollution where they are producing cultured fish, example, Laguna Lake, it is unsustainable. When it comes to forestry, we have to reforest, because the service of water, we have to do something about it, now, the, eventhough there us (inaudible) on cutting trees, I think, there so many people cutting trees illegally, and sometimes, with the consideration of local officials, military men, and also maybe officials concerned with the enforcement of forestry rules… HFG: What about sustainable agriculture? AC: Some sectors say that organic farming is the answer for sustainable agriculture, but you know you have to have a balance between food production and at the same time environmental degradation, because (I think, from experience) I don‟t know whether we 116

have enough materials to sustain the neuter requirements of plants, because organic fertilizers contains, at the maximum, only 7% nitrogen, when you produce rice you need something like 130-180kg of nitrogen… Well, of course they say that continuous use of nitrogen will make the soil acidic. But I think to me, you have to have he balance between demand, supply and at the same time pressuring the environment. To me personally, what I recommend is more balance of fertilization, which I think now, the government is implementing because you could not avoid using inorganic fertilizers to supplement hat could you apply from organic measures if you want to produce food that will meet total demand of the country. HFG: Based on the researches made by FAO, do you have any projections on RP’s future? AC: I think the country has the potential and we have lots of man power; young people who are willing to change the direction of the country, who are actually dynamic and dreamers. But I think to put that into reality is another problem and also how to harness the potential of these people (these young people). And we have the resources, we have lots of agricultural schools, the only thing is if we could get firm commitment from the top, I don‟t think we‟ll have a problem. These young people will follow. The problem is nobody wants to go to agriculture now. It is not a paying enterprise. Based on what‟s happening and also most parents especially when they‟re farmers, “ I don‟t like my children to be like me in the farm. It is not an easy job.” Because the average farm holding in the RP is 1.2-1.3 hectares nowadays, and with that if you have a family of five, it may not be easy to support them… But in some countries, its very productive. Taiwan, it has much small land being cultivated for agriculture but its very productive. Japan, even China, the average land is less than what we have in the RP. Also the average age of farmers is increasing. SO you know to retain young people to the farm and also to do farming is another story… HFG: I think there is a wrong notion of what is BS agriculture among young people is AC: Its true that you could be a “magsasaka” but you could apply to appropriate technologies that you have learned from your lesson. HFG: I have observed that the practice of farming is not effectively transformed from parents to children… some children would not like to be a farmer and instead go to the city and study… AC: In some way, I think, that will help agriculture, because based on studies, the no.1 factor for improved status. To improve farming status is education. You know, it does not matter whether you work in the farm ir bit but I think in the RP, family values… Those who are earning, helping back the family and if we could only harness savings and investments of the members of the family to improve agriculture is indirectly… well, those who attained specific education or higher education earning more, investing back in the farm will help agriculture, for example, how many overseas foreign workers, think roughly 8-10M remittances, we have the spending remittances, look all over the RP, you have SM, Robinsons… Malls, why are they thriving and why are they making more money? Its because of remittances from OFWs, and the no.1 of these earnings are being used in buying consumer goods other than investing, well, you could not prevent them 117

from buying consumer goods at the same time. There should be a program encouraging them to invest in agriculture because most of them came from rural areas. HFG: So you say that by investing back in agriculture we can improve its status? AC: Precisely, well, this is to complement what the government is doing because, although agriculture is a private investment, I think government should provide the necessary environment. It must have the catalytic support to encourage people to invest more if they provide the right infrastructure, irrigation facilities, farm-to-market roads, proper marketing activities maybe then that could no be done by small farmers in terms of marketing, I think, there‟s where small farmers could be helped by the government, in marketing, for there to have the right prices for their produce, and also mobility, you know now with the price of oil, it is not easy to transfer from the farm to the market center, this where the government should come in… farm-to-market roads, post-harvest, and right marketing environment… HFG: Regarding the FAO, what basically have you been doing? AC: To put it like this, one basic principle, when we are ina country, like the RP, we only do what the government wants us to do, we are working with at least three departments of the government: DA, DENR, and DAR. In addition, state colleges and universities, well, some NGO, well to some extent DOST, PCARRD and also DOE. We are also working with, not only with IRRI, but with the whole CGIAR system, I think 16 members all over the world. So FAO is doing collaborative efforts, providing small budget, But, here in the RP, we are in an emergency operation after the disasters, but we are trying to do away with this provisions of direct inputs. We are trying to train farmers to be self-sufficient and also not to mitigate the impact of effect of disasters and typhoons, floods and drought, we are trying to capacitate it in terms of providing various options that would enhance farming activities like for example in terms of changing the planting calendar, cropping patterns and also for them to raise livestock, for them to mitigate the impact of disasters but we are working closely with the DA and bureaus and agencies and also when it comes to priorities, we don‟t set priorities, we discuss priorities with other department and those departments are guided by the MTPDP which is the basic… the guiding bible of all departments.. but some, there are direct orders from the president that have to be given priority by all departments.. HFG: If the government is not committed, what can happen? (let’s say 10-15 years from now) AC: There are things that could be done by the farmers themselves, there are things that could not be done by them… They need support from the top, like I said, infrastructures, farm-to-market roads and other support services that could not be provided by the farmers themselves. If we‟ll be lagging behind on there, and there is under investments in the part of the government, with the rapid increase of the population, about 3.1% and our food production increasing only 1%, there is a gap f 2% between food production and population so in 5years it will magnify, it will increase tremendously. HFG: What does the gap imply?

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AC: Not necessarily 2% in 10 years, it could be 20 percent. Deficit in food production would be 20% but these are those who are not eating 3x a day, maybe once a day, only eating small portion of the total nutritional requirements of the person. They are supposed to to eat 2000 calories per day, maybe some are just eating 1000- 1200 calories per day. HFG: Who are FAO’s stakeholders? AC: Well, of course, we have to talk with policymakers in different sectors, and well, mostly, government officials from 3 departments and we work directly with the farmers, fishermen, forest dwellers, women… HFG: What are the concerns of these people? AC: Well, the concern of these people is to survive, where to get their meals, because you know unemployment in the country is very high, for some extent our assistance is not only centered on food production but also providing them some options in terms of alternative agribusiness livelihoods, well to complement their income, since for example rice farming is not occupied throughout the year… HFG: What about the policy makers? AC: We don‟t provide policies, but actually we suggest policies that could be adopted by our senior policymakers… sometimes they request from us. Like for example, recenty, the Anti-Poverty Commission requested FAO to support them in strengthening the government accelerated hunger mitigation program so we provide small support to determine what are the causes of hunger in the country, and also how this could be solved and enhanced… So after the study, there was service consultations attended by senior government officials together… and recommendations were provided in terms of what will be the policy of national government , with comes to people who are hungry, there are recommendations, but we could not impose. You know, when the government asked us to do something, we provide them. “if you do this, these are the expected outputs, if you don‟t, we‟ll be expecting these outcomes.” Its up for them to do that, like fro example, technology transfer, minimum employment per year of the disadvantaged group, it‟s up for the government… HFG: If all plans go well? AC: I think. Just to have enough food for the population and then the money used to support the food we need, which I think 1-1.5B USD (inaudible) absorptive capacity is higher. There is a bright future for the country, but to attain (inaudible) is a different reason. We have a good Medium-Term Development Plan but the problem is the implementation and the provision of required modularly support by the government. I think what is necessary is the firm commitment from the senior policy makers. “I want to support Agriculture!” They really support in terms of programs that‟d be implemented, funding, and also different interventions that are necessary to attain specific goals. HFG: What skills and knowledge should we have (Devcom) to help address these issues? AC: There should be I think field immersions of graduating students. 1-3 months. Because, I think, you could not learn development in the book alone, and also you could not learn 119

the problems, you‟d appreciate the problems more if there is field immersions, actual involvement or if they are exposed to actual situation in rural areas, to know what are the problems being faced by the poor people; fishermen, and for them to see and observe what are these problems, so that when they go out of the university they will see the real situation, most of the things that you‟ll be doing when you graduate could not be learned. You are prepared to be open. Assess what is good and bad, but I think actual situation in the field could not be learned in the school room, and also there should be exposure with the poor people, policy makers, and even with local government officials. <end of interview>

Key Informant Interview Ms. Victorina Navida, Division Chief, Planning Division, Policy Development and Planning Bureau, Department of Social Welfare and Development November, 2008

HFG: Basically, as the department sees it, what is the current condition of the country? VN: Personally, and as for our program, the DSWD is responding to this actual situation, siguro if we compare it to ten years ago, iba talaga buhay ngayon, based on statistics tumataas yung ncidence ng poverty, and hunger. Actually, yung hunger, nagse-season, minsan mataas, based on sa SWS surveys, and the department is working on these premise, diba may mgae programs for poverty reduction? HFG: What does this rise in poverty and hunger incidence mean? VN: Mas dumadami siguro and naghihirap kasi nga, hindi lang nman sa country natin nagkakaroon ng problema, but we are affected by the recession outside the country so in everything, affected ang mga mahihirap. Mga mahihirap, lalong humihirap, lalo na ang mga walang hanapbuhay, and kahit na may ano pa tayo, kalayaan magmi-migrate, yung OFWs, hindi parin maiwasang magkarron ng problema tulad ng OFW phenomenon… nagcre-create pa rin sya ng another problem, which is sa parenting,, nabre-break minsan yung family, affected yung mga anak pati yung huseband and wife relationship, so maraming bagay na nagco-constitute sa pagiging mahirap like yung mga, halimbawa, dumadami yung numbers ng family, that‟s why we are an advocate of responsible parenting. HFG: DO we have small-scale issues that exists but are not felt by everyone? VN: Yung mga packets of problems, sikat sya, like what we seen sa urban areas, yung families that live in carts, they call them K or kariton family, yung mga nakatira sa ilalim ng tulay.. yung mga ganun, urban dwellers, urban poor dwellers, na walang sariling lupa‟t bahay, walang bahay na disenteng matirhan. Actually, in highly urbanized areas, outside of Metro Manila, nagiging ganun narin yung problem, and visible naman sya, kaya lang hindi well orchestrated yung ginagawang pagpaplano on how to relocate 120

them, how to provide them with soial services since there are a lot of families in the street. HFG: How about in the rural areas? VN: In rural areas… may mga areas din na walang (bahay) kasi wala ngang sariling lupa eh, nakikitira lang sila sa lupa ng amo nila, halimbawa, land owners pero talagang may problem din ng ownership, that‟s what our programs addressing now, especially our “Pantawid-Pamilyang-Pilipino program” Talagang hindi naabot ng serbisyo sa families which are really the poorest families, yun talaga yung natutulungan, so other example, is what we lead in region II, in as far as Isabela, may mga baranggay dun o munispyo na hindi pa naabot ng any kind of services.. yung Pantawid_pamilyang-Pilipino kasi is cash… If there should be a bank where they are to withdraw money is that yung area walang bangko. Its really difficult to bring there money, yung mga ganung intricacies, and yung mga isla, food-for-school program, it‟s a government program for hunger mitigation and we‟ll provide 1 kilo of rice per child in public schools (elementary), pag ganun lugar di hindi naabot madalas ng government but in this project naabot sila… difficult really to travel, isa rin talaga sa problema yung sa transportation, hindi nga naabot ng serbisyo because mga isla tayo eh, it will take parang mga years bago maabot yung mga serbisyo, so geographic problem, kasi kung isang isla lang tayo, hindi masyado problema, pero if it‟s a remote island, yung mahirao mapuntahan, yun usually yung nakakaranas ng deprivation… HFG: Based on the situation, what is the most pressing issues that is in dire need of attention and action? VN: Still, poverty parin, malawak talaga yung poverty, most of our programs… social welfare programs in addressing poverty kasi un naman talaga ang kailangan… ang cause, malawak din, kulang sa edukasyon, walang hanapbuhay, pag di makapagaral and magulang, forever na silang ganun yung mga anak… kaya nga dapt yung mga programs ay really dapat holistic… now which is the National Social Rights Commission natitignan yung social welfare programs na maaring ayusin but eventually addresses poverty… HFG: What can you say about the future situation of the RP in case these issues continue to exist? VN: I think its… yung political will ng mga leaders can do something about the situation of the Philippines, kung meron talaga tayong political leaders na maasahan mo… Kailanga ng mga Pilipino na maging maayos, kasi ang problema nating ngayon, mga politicians natin ngayon may sariling interest, tingin ko lang personally, kasi kung ganun pa rin ang pananaw ng mga politico, wala pa ring mangyayari 10-15 years from now. Ang mga tao naman, nakikita na nga yung mga anomalies, I don‟t know, may stigma na yata ang mga pinoy. HFG: The next series of questions will dwell about the stakeholders or clients that you serve… first, for the children, what is the most pressing issue of this client? VN: Pinaka-mataas pa rin yung sexual abuse na problem kasi before madaming unreported cases, hindi kagaya ngayon na lumaabas na sila, kaya arang madami o dumadami pero 121

we believed na kahit before pa madaming cases, hindi lang nare-report, e ngayon diba? Mas marami tayong structure sa ibaba that allow them to report… HFG: What do you think are the causes? VN: Ng sexual abuse? Wala pa naman tayong study na nagco-correlate na poverty ang cause… however, yung sa battery o physical abuse, verbal abuse, usually yun yung isa sa mga dahilan, but you cannot categorically say that yun yung dahilan, poverty because siguro, nahirapan sila to meet their needs, walang mapagbalingan kundi yung bata. Sa sexual abuse, I think its more on media, what they see, sa mga pinapalabas na restricted, kasi kung meron pa rin na napapanood o babasahing ganyan… o kaya naman minsan marital problem ang cause diba? HFG: What does the DSWD do to address these issues? VN: Hindi lang kami, but it‟s a campaign, by all agencies involved in children‟s rights…So kahit schools, they teach how to take care of oneself… Yung Children‟s Rights Campaign (CRC) yun naman talaga yung pinagbabasehan ng mga advocacy natin… all agencies and institutions are helping out to advocate the rights of children, and we have parent education sessions… kailangang ma-educate ang mga parents, evenas youg as day care, pinaguusapan na ang rights ng children, sometimes you hear children say, isusumbong kita sa Bantay Bata… HFG: As of now, what is the current situation of children in the country? VN: In terms of caring, the parents and the public do know about early childhood care, caring for their own children, yung mga advocacy natin, a family that cares for its children, however I cannot categoricall say na mas maayos sila ngayon, kasi andaming threats sa ngayon na wala dati like cybersex, trafficking, hindi naman yan problema nung araw pero ngayon yun na yung nagiging problem, at ang mga bata talaga yun yung usual na nabibiktima… wala pang internet nung araw, although merong pedophile, pero critically, they come here, kahit ano na lang, sa internet na lang… HFG: What about the youth? VN: Actually, ang program naming ay for the Out-of-School-Youth, kasi syempre hindi lang in school na yan, hindi na masyado kailangan ang intervention kasi nga ang binigibyan lang naming ng intervention ay those who are in need or at least vulnerable to problems… Yung out-of-school youth, yun talaga yung target namen, and we organize them sa tinatawag naming “pag-asas youth” association. So at the municipal level up to the provincial hanggang regional federation and national federation we have representations from these clusters; Luzon, Visayas, at Mindanao na nandito ngayon naka-house ditto sa program management bureau. They look on the issues and concerns of the out-of-school youth of the OS we connect them with the existing programs that we have like sef-employment assistance, skills course trainings, i-kino-connect naming sila sa TESDA, and other livelihood activities, sa ngayon, education syempre pagkakakitaan, employment, others are encouraged to participate in community affairs… HFG: What about threats? 122

VN: Ngayon may mga tumatawag sa amin, its difficult na nga daw, minsan gusto nila iparehab. Parang gusto nilang isurrender yung mga teenagers nila… Kasi diba yung mga difficult years talaga yung teenagers… yung transition kasi from childhood to yung adulthood nababarkada, matitigas daw ang ulo. Gusto nilang i-surrender but an fineexplain namen these children does not nee to be housed in a center, kasi wala nman silang pagkakasala or nagawa against anybody, but all they need is counseling . ung mga counseling na binibigay naman n gaming mga regional offices kasi minsan may problem sila sa family hindi nila masabi sa family nila so they cannot cope up with the demands of the family and their peers, and minsan hindi yun maintindihan ng mga magulang itinatawag dito yung mga ganitong problem, kung pwede daw bang isurrender yung mga pamangkin nila, anak nila, sabi naming hindi yan isinu-surrender kasi hindi naman yang mga centers ay they don‟t operate because of a problem of a child na may family naman sila, mga centers naming are for children who do not have a family… HFG: What about those children in conflict with the law? VN: In fact, yung sa law nga… 15 years old and below, hindi dapat sila makasuhan or anything… we believe yung mga ay victim of consciousness HFG: About women? VN: Ganun din, mga battered women, so useual parin na we have centers for them, in case hindi nila pwede sa famly meron silang mapupuntahan. So may alternative, we provide the alternative kung hindi pwede sa family or sa community. HFG: About Elderly? VN: Ang concern kasi ng mga older person, there‟s a law yung 9357, Senior Citizen‟s Act, na yung sa kanila mga 20% discounts nila on major services; medical, medicines, discounts in restaurants, amusement centers, theaters, transportation, tsaka yung primary commodities. HFG: Do they have other problems aside from access to services? VN: Halimbawa, yung mga pamilya, yung mga walang mapuntahan, we have centers like Golden Acres… HFG: Threats? VN: PAg wala silang family, syempre, hunger, ay e naghahanapbuhay habang matanda kaya we support the bill on providing for older person na walang pension, pero meron kaming isinusulong na ,as comprehensive the bill parang caring for the aged. HFG: What about person with disabilities? VN: There‟s an agency responsible for that, yung National Disability Affairs (NDA) under the Office of the President peo kahit kami meron, for children we have Tuloy-Aral, Wlalang Sagabal na kung noon yung mga batang preschool age, ngayon ay regular daycare, of course we provide mga equipment like wheelchair, may mga ganun HFG: What are their concerns?

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VN: For some of them, may kailangan ng treatment… may mga law na rin on people with disability (PWDs), they are entitled to services and discounts on major establishments and other service providers. HFG: Are these children, youths, women and elderly taken care of? VN: Kasi naman yung mga programs and services naming are addressing the needs of the present times. Wala talaga tayong mga centers kasi hindi pa masyadong problema to noon… may pagbabago din, before hindi accepted yung single-parents diba? But now more or less, naging open naman nag society for unmarried women, so parang nawawala naman masyado yung stigma, although ngayon syempre kailangan, we promote the institutionalization like as much as possible children should grow in a family environment, so yung pagbui-build up ng mga centers for abandoned children, we don‟t encourage sana, but we encourage LGUs to build centers fro children for safety of the child. HFG: What if their concerns are neglected? VN: That‟s why we advocate, at saka yung ginagawa naming policies address social problems like the ones being experienced by the needy sectors… at saka we develop programs that address the need of these sectors. Unless na lang na hindin makarating sa amin ganun kasi halimbawa, we don‟t, there are times na hindi naman namin alam dib a? so the public or anybody can report that incident in the family to us or to other field offies actual kasi dapat nga services na rin dapat pang local government units nga e, kaya lang ang tingin namanng public talaga, its really DSWD… The truth is dapat talaga yung local officers should be the one to look after the needs of these sectors, kasi sa ngayon,, except for pilot testing of programs, we assigned the resources of these LGUs… HFG: If the LGU is the one who should really… VN: Alam mo yan talaga yung kailangan na mag-ano, in-advocate ng LGUs, local chief executives should be the one to look after the needs of their constituents, it is not really DSWD… HFG: If the LGUs should be the one looking after them, what’s the real role of DSWD? VN: We provide technical assistance, we set standards, we accredit their services, we pilot test programs for dissemination for local government units, kasi na test na naming yug program na yan, halimbawa, if it‟s a god program, then we disseminate and you should adopt. Yun yung kailangan talaga ngayon, and even the public should be educated that all the programs, yung makikita no halimbawa na mga families in the streets, the LGUs should address that. It is not really DSWD, housing problems? It should be the LGUs in partnership with NHA for example. Sila sila dapat, but sometimes, it happens that yung local DSWD is under them, its one of their departments. Kaya yun yung tingin ko na kailangan talaga that Devcom will also look at that like DOH in service ng health… it is really the LGU din eh… yun yung aspect that the public does not have the grasp kasi par may problemang ganyan, ayon oh DSWD, like the facilities for senior citizens, its LGUs, but kami, there is a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the law, that‟s where we alternate. Head kame ng National Monitoring Board and the implementation 124

of this law, so lahat ng issues sa amon pa rin, nare-resolve back naming yan sa LGU kung concern nila, or sa aming field officer, like halimbawa may mga drugstores na hindi nagpro-provide ng 20% discount on medicine, ayon may local government offices naman sila, ayun nagpupunta sa national agency. Kasi ang tingin ng mga tao, parang mas malawak yung kanilang influence siguro pag ganun. Pag secretary na yung kausap, mas matutulungan, anun yung pananaw ng mga tao. Pero it should not. Tulungan natin ang mga tao to demand for social services in their local government units… The national agencies do not have the funds anymore, it is really the LGUs who have the money, kasi may tinatawag tayong Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) na dinadagdagan ng National Government for themto spend for social services which. I don‟t know if they do, kung meron naman siguro, kakaunti. Sa sabi ko nga dapat ang advocacy ng iba is to teach the people to demand for social services in their LGUs. Ang nangyayari kasi they demand services from the central offices, from the national agencies, an hindi naman matutugunan dahil devolve functions… I think Devcom should look at this. HFG: If all the policies and plans of DSWD together with firm commitment from the government pushed through effectively, how would you see the situation of the country years from now? VN: May hope naman, basta talagang ano, gawin nating concerted effort, hindi pwedeng isang sector, there is a need for everybody to work together para ma-achieve natin kung ano yung gusto nating buhay para sa ating mga kababayan, lalo na yung mahihirap and we look up to the U.P. system, the structure that can make a difference… HFG: What about the poverty incidence, will it decrease still? VN: hmmm… it the near future I think, the government should look at its priorities kasi diba kung ang mga tao ay may hanapbuhay, syempre hindi sila maghihirap, diba? Policies should be directed at creating more jobs, kasi ang nangyari ngayon marami tayong OFWs, kaya hindi masyado maramdaman ang hirapng buhay diba? Kasi maraming naghahanapbuhay kaya lang ang effect naman ay distorted family… <End of interview>

KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEW Dr. Theresa Tadem, Director, Third World Studies Center November, 2008

HFG: One of your thematic programs of your research center is globalization, what is your focus on globalization basically TT: Kasi its more of political economy… you cannot separate the politics from the economics so yung globalization, yung issue nyan ay what has been the effect of globalization on communities, for example so the effect on communities, yung sa study namin, sa book, “People, Profit and Politics” that was the impact of globalization on the economic sector, so paglabas sa vegetable industry, ung globalization, napakita mo na we import vegetables, namatayan ng mga livelihood yung mga farmers sa Benguet, si 125

Gov. Dangua or congressman Dangua, yun nga sila ut they did not really know what is globalization, they approve it, but they never see that namamatay yung livelihood ng farmers nila, mawawalan sila ng boto sa eleksyon, so now they start trying to answer ano ba „tong globalization, so that‟s one sector, then on the other sector was the hog industry. Yung hog industry is earning a lot of money kasi on the average of 15 years, Filipino loves pork, so yung hog industry, natatakot na din sila na nababawasan yung kita nila kasi yung importation of beef from India, so far, other than still earning money, nakikita nila na baka natatakot sila kung may mas murang pumasok sa Pilipinas na diimport, So yung debate noon. Yung sa garments, garments are still ore no.2 export earners, but they call it “sunset industry”, kasi tignan mo, ukay-ukay diba? Ukay-ukay, cheaper clothes from abroad, so pano yung garmentry natin? Which means ironically, its not only the workers being laid-off, but even factory owners having to close down in the sight of this problem. Yung profit… yun yung talagang kumita… Positive impact of globalization is in the telecommunications sector, you see, with the cellphone diba? HFG: So, it is not a totally negative issue? TT: No, not totally negative, so you‟ll have to see impact, So, from there impact of globalization in the Philippines, we have follow-up study na rin, impact of globalization on the communities. So yung community is rice-farming, lahat kasi my hybrid plants, so that‟s on a study we‟re doing now and the other study was on the impact on the production of Ilang-Ilang inTarlac, yung perfume, because of this, ini-import, pwede nating sabihing positive effect… and the third is the Rapu-rapu, and the impact of globalization… There we have a Thai counterpart, we have colleagues from Thailand, they‟re doing on the impact of Globalization and community identity. So you see different dimensions and then, yung question of piracy, Yung DVD‟s; is another aspect of globalization so ito tinitignan naming yung piracy, itong issue na to. But even with globalization… may book project kami ngayon na assessing the impact of WTO, which part of globalization, yung trade liberalization on Agriculture na lumalabas, but the Philippines kasi, kung sumali kasi tayo sa WTO, we‟ll have so many millions of jobs, I mean, if you notice are OFWs… mga engineering students, they say. “Ma‟am, why do we have to take engineering, manufacturing is dead… diba? Its dead. What‟s the point of being engineering when we‟re not manufacturing anything, so what do we have, we have service sectors, hotels and all that, Anong problema dyan we have call centers, one may say, its great that we have jobs, diba? And a lot of our graduates in UP mga cum laude, magna cum laude, lahat sila nag-call centers, mga walang trabaho e. But then there‟s another issues, the issues not just having jobs, what is the nature of the job? What time you have to sleep, you have to sleep from 4 in the morning to twelve in the afternoon, and you go to work from 2… and that makes a toll in your what, on your body, not only that. It takes a toll on your family, if you‟re married, how do you keep up, without having to see your children. So that‟ the whole point, you see oh, globalization will, but kinu-kwestyon mo rin kung anong nature ng work mo, and even scientifically, they show that the best sleeping time of a person is from 10 in the evening to 6 in the morning, if you don‟t sleep at that time, may toxins ka that goes out… if you are working on that time. Its cancerous... So may effect. So with all these, we‟re looking at it. So meron kami on agriculture which really show that talagang dun tumatak yung nagyari, we lowered our tariffs, ibig sabihin, wala tayong hina-harang, pag mag-import 126

sa namamatay yung ating industries dito… others naman, we have intellectual property rights yun, pinapatent yung ating mga halaman, its ours but we cannot use that; kasi may nakakuha na, oo sa, yun yung pino-pokus naming, na ano, and thenm yung isa pang inano ko, yun, “how do we negotiate”. Tignan mo, sinasabihan tayo ng US at Europe,babaan nyo yung tariff nyo sa agriculture, pero sila ayaw nila ibaba. Yung issue na yun, yung sa atin, we form coalitions with other developing countries and with that we‟re able to assert ourselves with in the negotiation, ngayon, yung problema ng Pilipinas, kasi yung policy natin mas liberal, “free market”, we lowered it so much we‟ve nothing to negotiate anymore, kasi binababa na natin. Yung ibang bansa, tulad ng india, China, mataas pa rin sila, so nag-nenegotiate sila. Sa atin talagang mababa na, but it did not prevent us from joining forces with other countries like India, China, Brazil against U.S. and Europe, so yun yung dynamics that are covered by globalization. HFG: How does WTO work by the way? TT: Are you familiar with Neo-Liberalism? Yun kasi says that dapat free market. Yung state dapat hindi mag-i-intervene, so free flow of capital. Kita mo yung hypocritical aspect of this is that they don‟t like free flow of labor, kung may free flow of labor, hindi tayo hihingian ng visa, diba? Ang hirap pumunta sa Europe, lalo na kung Pilipino ka, see, ho hypocritical they are! They want our capital, our good, but they do not want our labor, kung free market ka talaga, free movement talaga yung labor mo. HFG: For WTO, free market is goods and services in-out of the country? TT: Oo, parang for them, that will bring about profit so the state should not intervene, but then, labor, kita mo hirap pumunta sa States? Pipila ka mag-a-appointment ka for one month, so that‟s hypocritical part of it… How do you manufacture something, you need capital and labor, diba? And then what happens sa WTO, nag-collapse yung talk, kasi yung mga developing countries sinabihan yung U.S. at Europe, “bakit mo pinapababa yung aming tariffs, agricultural products, pero sa inyo pino-protect niyo?” Pag-protect nila, ayaw nilang ibaba yung product nilam yung kanilang tinapay, asukal, kasi yung mga farmers nila will complain, tignan mo yun, pero sa atin pinapababa nila, so yunh last meeting ng WTO, walang nangyar, and even our politicians now, si GMA, she was the one who sponsored the entry into the WTO, Mar Roxas, he was one who support, when Mar Roxas negotiated, nakita nya na it was unfair, so yun yung isang pinag-aralan namin yan, (global civil society society movement) there was this coalition – stop the new round coalition – this is to stop the new round of talks sa WTO… because it was doing negative for the developing countries… yung new round is the negotiation – “o sige, eto ibaba namin ung taxes para sa mais, ibaba niyo yung taxes para sa pork”, yan yung nag-nenegotiate ka, so yung developing countries… bakit naming ibababa yung tax naming kung kayo hindi nyo binababa. In other words, it‟s a progress but I would also like to point-out was that hindi rin naman yung Pilipinas ang may problema. In 1999, there was called the Battle of Seattle, there was a WTO meeting there, nagkaroon ng demonstration, very violent demonstration, 70 % were all whites, (Americans and Europeans). In others words, the people themselves do not agree with their governments‟ policies kasi kung ikaw you were working in an automotive company sa states mas mura yung labor sa Mexico, dalhin natin sa Mexico, that‟s globalization, mas mura kasi mas mababa nga sweldo ng mga Mexican, mas mababa sweldo ng mga 127

Pilipino, kung kano ka mawawalan ka ng trabaho, so its like… but if you are the company owner, its bigger profit for you, so if I‟m the owner you‟re the laborer, you‟re the worker, who‟ll the government favor, diba? Why would the company? Why not the laborer? The government may not even tax the company kasi kahit isa pa to na NeoLiberalism, yung issue dyan the state should not tax, because so that the company can invest but the issue is ako „pag may so much profit, so the government‟s not taxing me, so ang expect ng government since malaki ang profit ko, I should open more factories and I will employ more people, but no, I decided to buy a mercedez benz, I decided to by these new houses in Florida, so it does not necessary mean bumabalik sa ekonomiya yan kasi, yung issue ng neo-liberalization, ayaw nila mag-intervene yung government kasi kung mag-tax yung state it is to get money to help people who are not well-off but yung perpective ng Neo-Liberalism hindi komo walang tax yung kumpanya, its up to the companies to decide where they want to invest and sigur this aspect is to show that part of globalization, they call it “corporate-driven globalization” people are getting rich but only a selected few, kunyari, sa Philippines na lang, pumunta ka sa malls, pumunta ka sa Makati, and then you‟ll see all these brand new malls coming up, and you‟ll say “kala ko ba mahirap ang tao, bakit andaming malls” because less than 1% who are ruch, who can afford are becoming riche, in other words, there‟s an economic gold but makakapunta lang sa kokonting tao. So yung globalization kasi not really distributive, there will be profit but they will not care about the distribution of the profit and they will say it should trickle down, but it is not trickling down. And yung second is the nature of globalization, yung Asian Financial Crisis nung 1997, shows the kind of what‟s not sustainable, kasi what happened was that kita mo daming buildings, real estates, it after you finish building a condominium it does not produce anything anymore, diba? Unlike when you are manufacturing a car, merchandising companies, tuloy tuloy yan, ditto after you finish a condominium, tapos na, wala ka nang trabaho, diba?... I‟m sure you are familiar with the U.S. Financial crisis, ano nangyari dyan, yung globalization kasi, where capital was they wanted it unregulated, so hindi maregulate ng gobyerno, and they were saying, kunyari ako im in a bank… its earning five percent if I lend money, then you‟re earning ten percent ang sabihin ng mga bosses, o bakit si ------ ten percent yung kinikita nya, bakit ilan five percent lang, so the higher the percentage you earn the riskier it gets. But unfortunately, yung story sa Asian Financial Crisis nung 1997, there were stocks, its not producing anything, its just producing money, so hindi sya nakaconnect sa economy money is not being made to produce clothing, food, housing… Its just made to produce money… why am I telling you thus, it‟s the nature of globalization (or Neo-Liberal Perspective) and isa pa „tong attitude is bakit bumagsak sa U.S. sa U.S. kasi consumerdriven, anong ibig sabihin nun? Kahit wala kang pera sa bangko, may credit card ka, pwede kang bumili ng bahay na worth 1M USD… but a month kailangan mo nang bayaran ng 10, 000 USD. In other words, you don‟t have a million dollars but pwede kang bumil ng worth one million dollars, as long as you can pay 10, 000 dollars a month, that‟s no problem if you have a job, but yung ginawa nila, since they‟re so greedy, they wanted to lend. If you are a bank, you just wanted to lend money. Yung lumabas dyan, they augmented the income of people, they do not really have the money to pay 10, 000… tinignan nila, but dinoktor nila na pwede… bumagsak yung economy because people cannot pay… and in the Philippines, the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation, they‟re the ones who guarantee na magbabayad ka, 70% did not 128

pay, nagcollapse! SO the banks ended up with houses… you would not want a house if you are a bank… so yung attitude, parang maglend ka ng maglend, and this is what happened sa financial crisis sa U.S. HFG: Nationally, what are the effects of this globalization? TT: What‟s going on now, people are spending on malls. Parang what kind of development is that if you go to places like Sorsogon, people do not have work and people just waiting for OFW‟s to give money. Bakit maraming OFWs, there‟s no employment here… and kasi yung globalization, tere‟s money (actually economic growth) but it is very selective… kia mo diba nagkaroon tayo ng food crisis, yung rationale ng NEDA is bakit pa tayo bibili ng bigas kung masmura mag-import, makes sense. But during the food crisis, Vietnam says we‟re not going to sell, wala tayong kanin. Okay, its cheaper, but we‟re very vulnerable, if countries refuse to sell, we will starve. Sa Africa, kita mo, during the food crisis, there was starvation in Africa. Why? How can they starve if its such a big land, because they are made to plant flowers, so the height of starvation in Africa, they were exporting flowers to Europe, diba, kasi kung may lupa ka naman di ka magugutom, kung pupunta ka sa probinsya hindi ka na magugutom… There is a big debate, we are planting ethanol or biofuel in arable land, which is suppose to produce food, and to do biofuel means hectares and hectares of land… so you‟re sacrificing food. Ano ba ang priority mo… it‟s a political issue. HFG: Who are exerting to lessen the (harmful) effects of globalization? TT: There were five case studies that we made which can answer your question. The first is yung movement for debt relief, kasi itong panahon ni Marcos, 300B debt, we‟re paying the interest lang ah… I think 40% of our GDP jus t goes to the interest alone, sa itong FDC (freedom from debt coalition), they were the ones who spearheaded the movement to monitoring, parang wag muna tayong magbayad hanggeg sa mkadevelop tayo… that 40% percent we‟re paying lang sa interest ng utang, we can use that 40% to develop first, and then we can pay, but it was local patriarchic-. Global Civil Society Movement, although it was a local movement, it got __________ repercussions, kasi they were talling IMF, yung IMF kasi they have what we call “structural adjustment progress” so sinasabi nila, “o sige magpapautang kami sa inyo pero yung public hospital dapat private na,” so may strings attached… so this is part of Neo-Liberalism, yung privatization , what happens id they don‟t have money? Diba yung mga private hospital ngayon, punta ka sa mergency, kahit mamamatay ka na, tatanungin nila kung may pera ka ba? In other words, masasacrifice yung social services, hospitals, kasi sabi nial part of neo-liberalism is privatization. State should not intervene… HFG: Do we have any small scale issues? TT: In other studies (case naming on global civil society movements) we have this fair trade movement, started when alam mo yung Muscovado Sugar, it was ok, parang from the outside, donors (on fair trade) are coming in and saying that maganda kung magproproduce kayong mga crops nyo at magtratrade kayo not on a commercial basis, so and narerealize nila its hard to compete with the biggest companies so you all have this small-medium entrepreneurs trading with one another… that‟s are actually efforts towards that yung sa fair trade movement. 129

HFG: How is fair trade different from free trade? TT: Yung free trade kasi, parang more access ng buyers, yung fair trade movement is more of its so hard to buy consumer goods, yung inyo expensive and in the end, parang yungprofit hindi sapat sa tao, so yung fair trade is community-based, you‟re cpmmunity maybe producing rice, banana, or so on.. pwede silang magtrade, community C maybe producing coconut, so magtratrade yan. HFG: How do you forecast all of these things at hand? TT: Two things, kung wala kang economic growth, you;ll have the socio-economic inequalities, you will continue to have elites ruling, you‟ll continue to have patronage party, and the corruption, grabe na yung sa corruption ah, bakit? If economic policies are not addressing the gap between the rich and the poor, ang lakas ng ating mga mamamayan, yung elites natin diba how can you get away with it? And if its nit Gloria, it will be another set of corruption will continue to be a problem, kia mo yung corruption natin, tututlak nanaman, then magiingay ung mga tao, the it‟ll go, then tutulak nanaman, but Marcos, got away with it.. it is just he was just able to get away with it. Ngayon atleast democracy tayo na may media, may civil society, may social movement, pwede ka ng mag-ingay but dtill nakikita mo yung panggagarapal diba? Scandal after scandal, well, one reason for that, the economic polices were not addressing the esonomic inequalities, if there‟s a gap between rich and poor, you‟re not going to be able to address these bigger issues of communism, corruption, patronage politics. HFG: You mean right now, economic polices cannot address the gap of socio-economic policies? TT: Hindi, kasi yung kailangan mo jan, is a redistribution of wealth because that‟s what agrarian reform, never really had agrarian reform. Yun ay naeexperience ng Korea, Taiwan, China. Korea and Taiwan… it was the U.S. who spearheaded the agrarian reform, kasi nakita nila, if they did not redistribute the walth, magkakaroon ng problema ang mga Koreans at Taiwanese and they might be easily conquered by the North Korea which is a Communist and China which is communist too… with agrarian reform, na reredistribute na yung wealth, and for socialist countries like China, they initiated the agrarian reform, yung distribution of land ng mga mamamayan… sa atin wala yun, yang mayayaman talagang mayaman pa rin… HFG: Don’t we have existing agrarian reform? TT: Diluted eh. Look at how you get around it. Typical case is Cory Aquino‟s hacienda Luisita, to escape agrarian reform, they changed it to a corporation, they give tax. But you know it‟s a way of escaping agrarian reform, and if you look at congress. 70% of Congress are landed. You‟re not going to have an agrarian reform if you have congressmen whose 70% are landed whether you are administration or opposition, diba? TIgnan mo yun, sa lupa nalang eh. The only way we gonna have agrarian reform is when we have a revolution for agrarian reform, for distribution of wealth… Otherwise, you‟re not gonna have it. There are agrarian reform programs, its just they were not implemented… In my dissertation, I studied cooperatives and rural development. There

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was one cooperative that the landlord filed cases against the tenants, against agrarian reform… at maraming approach yun, pwede ibigay sa anak ng anak nila… HFG: May possible pa bang solution? TT: Naku, very vibrant social movements or civil society, which is pushing and pushing and there‟s some ________, hindi naman talo, its much of a big struggle and I think I draw my inspiration from Latin America, 300M people are not _____________ socialist government, during this campaign they were made to decided eh, “ano ba gusto mo? Kaliwa or kanan? Kung kanan ka, you‟ll have neo-liberal economic policies, privatization, free-market, (and) globalization. Kung kaliwa ka, you‟ll have state intervention and redistribution… Sa atin, we don‟t have that kasi tayo personality, we can‟t even talk about economic policies kasi we‟re so overwhelmed with corruption, it became the major issue… we cannot stop social movements, people from the grassroots fighting it also… HFG: Is IMF for development purposes? TT: Yung INF kasi, gives loans. World Bank implements projects. But yung IMF kasi, it was IMF kasi who says you are credit –worthy. Actually, hindi malaki yung role ng IMF, but once they say the Philippines is credit worthy, yung mga bangko magbubukas… so governments function on loans eh, kasi kailangan magdevelop with the thought that parang ikaw ba kunyari, mag-uumpisa ka lang, gusto mo magtayo ng isang business, wala kang pera, pupunta ka sa akin sasabihin mo “uy, Prof. Tadem, I want to put up a piggery, I don‟t have money but I can assure you if you lend me, I will be able to have enough profit to pay back” and dapat may collateral ka, and my collateral us the land where the piggery will be, so parang may collateral kang ibabayad sa akin, so yun yung problema ng IMF. World Bank, particularly during Marcos, they were lending money and they knew Marcos was keeping the money. The argument of freedom from debt coalition is that why we should pay, bakit tayo magbabayad ng isang utang na hindi naman tayo ang nakinabang diba? It makes sense… HFG: (social movements) Can you please define this ‘social movements’… TT: Social movement is actually a flow of people towards a particular vision in a particular goal… May ideological bias ka which is the poor. So when you say social movements, (for example) for debt relief, so you may have Church groups, farmers, workers, all joining para magkaroon ng change sa society. Wala siyang structure unlike when you say NGO but NGO‟s can be a part of social movements… Kunyari Anti-Poverty Movement, Anti-globalization, maraming tao towards the goal of changing… or against WTO, IMF, World Bank… HFG: Are these social movements helpful at all? TT: I think the only hope there is, is actually social movements. Who‟s ging to fight the elites, you know what I mean. Who‟ going to organize for laborers, peasants, even the middle class… Let‟s supposed the Charter change, where you have the ZTE scandal, I mean that‟s the work of social movements… they have church people, academics, you have studentso wlala tayong particular structure yet people are galvanized towards a particular issue, or yung ousting kay Erap, yung people power, these are the works of 131

social movements, but in particular yung bias talaga ng social movement is for poor, yun ung ideological bias. HFG: (Democratic Governance) How this kind of governance affect the country? TT: There is good governance and bad governance, I think that the fact that you have thr president as what, negative… people are not happy with the way she is governing kasi yunf alam mo… yung term ng governance, when society is not yet complex, did everything but ngayon, that‟s wh they have the term “governance” they say it‟s now complex noe that the role og the government is to be able to get people to also work, you know what I mean, parang nagigi=kang enhancer, wala dapat yung expectation na government lahat, do mo kayang gawin lahat e, but in exchange you should have the ability to pull people to work, but under the current administration you don‟t see that kind of leadership they are generally busy with what? Corruption, patronage politics… the economy is not doing well, and if it is going well, it does not trickle down, so yun u=yung aspect. HFG: Are there still hope if the from of governance would change? TT: The leadership is bery important during the last election, the issue was not on governing na nga e, but on inspiring. We neef a president who can inspire us, kasi kung atitutde ng mga tao eh, walang kwenta naman itong pangulo… The tendency s they all just go abroad, diba? And I think that‟s one reason why walan tayong revolution hanggang ngayon eh, because Filipinos gound a way out; thay all go abroad. But in countries like Latin America they don‟t really have much opportunity (because they speak Spanish and not English), they are left behind, they are made to confront your intention, kasi nandun ka na eh… so ipaglalaban mo… Sa atin kasi, ang nangyari, umaalis na lang tayo, Sa kanila, wala silang choice… because they‟re stuck in a country, there‟s so much at stake paglalaban nila yun, kaya in a way, nagiging reactive yang social movements na yan. HFG: Will a new and inspiring leader attract the Filipinos back? TT: I think it would take more than the leadership. It would ake a redial socio-economic reconstruction in the society. The classic example is the 1986 People power revolution. You know Cory Aquino was so inspiring and at the end of the day, the politics change. It become from authoritarianism to democracy, but because the socio economic structure of society does not change, we still have the same problems, diba? Kasi pinalitan mo lang yun political but not the socio-economic structure… Tayo palitan yung leader, everything will be okay… Sa U.S., clear kasi, kung republican ka, its more of big corporations, kung democrats more of taxing more the corporations so yun can redistribute, but their ideological spectrum is maliit, kung pupunta ka sa Europe, malawak yung ideological spectrum nila, meron silanf French-communist party, French socialist party, more conservative, to liberal party… sa states, kaya di bumoboto ang mga tao, kasi it does not matter, but this time kaya bumoto sila because of the economic crisis… sa states, yung liberal for them is left, sa atin positive, sa kanila negative, it means this person is really to tax you and redistribute it… HFG: (Human security) What made human security one of TWSC’s programs?

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TT: We thought it would be a good idea to have a dialogical series on human security and various aspects of it. Kas we still want to know what is this all about, so we have “globalization and human security” first, that time the focus was on the scare in Iraq… There we realize what could be the impact of globalization on human security in the mining sector, kasi it opens up for multi-national corporations, then, the other was to look up at human security on locl governance, third, human security and conflict situation where you have the NPA in the peninsula, with the local government officials versus the the peasant farmers and the military… the idea was how do you actually define human security and then UNDP approached us and said “can you do human security index, how do you actually measure human security,” HFG: Is human security really about being safe? TT: Depende, it is about hoe do you look at a situation (i.e. conflict, having access to food, water, basic needs.) Human security is much more imdaute to a person,,, I think the challenge of this project is to find out from people how they define it… human security was gusting gusto yan ng Japan, Canada, Australia, but what was important was we find that the concept came from above, so itong project because it is from below, from people… instead of bering defined from above kunyari kung tanungin kita and concept mo ban g human security pareho sa amin, baka magkaiba, pareho ba iyon sa isang magsasaka, so I think the challenge of this project was for the communities is this study is to define fro themselves what is human security, rather than kame magdedefine or ibang country magde-define, or defined by UNDP. HFG: If you obtained the communities’ definition of human security, how would it help policy makers? TT: Kung magde-define ang tao what would make them secure, then it you were to do strategies for local government, pwede silang mag-focus jan, pwede sabihing it is the violence, then they can focus on it, halimbawa kung ang issue ay tubig at pagkain, pwede silanf magfocus sa tubig at pagkain, dine-define nyan, and then, alam mo as policy makers na eto pala ang kailangan ng tao, kasi nanggaling yan from bottom to top. HFG: (Culture and identity) What is the focus of TWSC on this? TT: Actually for me, that is one of the weaker (thematic programs), kasi yung focus of the TWSC is always on political economy and I think it would also reflect on the directors, out of the 6, four were from political science, one history, one sociology… but I think that is also important in a sense thart it is an assertion of who you are, and… kaya yun studies on piracy and memory, yung parang wag makalimutan ng tao what happened during martial law peiod, ganung kind of studies. It defines as of who we are kaya napansin ko with globalization, I had a fellowship on Thailanf, I stayed there, I studied social movements and democratization and I focused on the Anti-Asian Development Bank campaign, kasi after the 1997 financial crisis, ADB was the one who played the major role eh,,, do mas nagging present sila sa region but yng sa culture, napansin ko kasi sa atin masyado tayong westernized, oru relgion is Catholic, if you lok ar South East Asia its Buddism, Isalam, tayp lang ang Katoliko diba? Sa sa kanila, when you say globalization, western eh, corporate-driven, its from Europe and U.S., so nagrereact sila sa mga values for example. Tayo when wen say globalization, we have no problem 133

diba? Look at the both of us, are we wearing anything ethnic? No, do you see anyone in the office wearing ethnic? No. Pagpunta mo sa Thailand, makikita mo they wear Thai silk… So we‟re westernized, so we don‟t feel it to… When we say Identity, we say “kawawa yung mga tao sa Mindanao, mga Muslim, diba? Nawawala yung identity nila, pero tayo hindi. HFG: So for the Thai people, globalization is a threat because it’s a new kind of culture for them? TT: Find that that two dimensions, but it should not be mutually exclusive, globalization and the class issue, which means that, class issue is the richer getting richer and the poor getting poorer and its not just in us, a UN report came up and saying that ito na ngayon, and world leaders met, saying globalization is selective… you now have millionaires but its very limited to a few so you have the class issues then, you have the identity issue of globalization diba?... malls, it‟s a western concept diba? Or the first time that we have McDonalds and Jollibee, wow! Angaling parang nandun tayo sa states, then have you been to the states? No… You know what I mean, kung ganun yung ano, western yung values, you sense of nationalism mo, hindi malakas yan, I think that‟s why us so free to go abroad, malakas yung ating colonial mindset eh, diba? “oh, its great to be abroad…” even the way kids talk, diba? Nanonood lang sila ng TV, the way they speak English, kita mo and a lot of our kids wanto to go to anime, manga, diba? Alam mo yung Japan ngayon, yung cultural imperialism nila, now, (Filipino kids) don‟t play Philippine games, we‟re so computerized diba? It was nothing todo with… I don‟t know, it is also changing the way you think towards this particular perspectives… HFG: Are there still issues that we haven’t tackled earlier? TT: All of this, yung main concern talaga ng TWSC is poverty, socio-economic inequality and democratization process, so when we tackle these five themes, it is always in relation to these… it is just that through the years, before I joined TWSC in 1992, it is all socio-economic, pverty and democratization was studied under the framework of anti-dictatorship struggle. Now, its globalization perspective. HFG: What skills and knowledge should we have as devcom students to be able to address these issues? TT: I think its… yung skill is how do you communicate which is very important but I think what is actually more or equally important is the substance of what you are writing.. if for me, if you are based on Los Baňos, ano bang mga problema ng community? If you are focused on where you are coming from its easier for you to have a feel for it… I think it is that you should focus on, when you have this development, take note that agriculture is on your place, are you producing the right plant varieties? So I think the most relevant talaga is to focus on what your community needs, and as students you will have more affinity to it. More at stake, kasi focusing on a topic that does not have anything at stake will not be relevant, but look at your community… I just don‟t say micro, you pull it up to macro… I think that in developing the curriculum it should be linked to the community… its not just about focus on what‟s happening in LB, but you know what‟s the repercussions of this, nationally, diba?

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KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEW Renuad Meyer, Country Director, United Nations Development Programme February, 2009

RM: UNDP is one of the agencies of UN. UN has basically two main branches: one is to look at peace and security, another one is to look on development. UNDP belongs to the second pillar; it is an agency that provides technical assistance and capacity development supper for the government, NGO‟s civil, monetary, private sector. Here, in the RP, four major areas for helping the country achieve the MPG, 2) on democratic governance, 3) environment and energy, 4) peace building, conflict prevention and recovery… these are the areas where UNDP in the Philippines has projects. We do not execute our own projects; we believe that making sure the government executes the projects for its own development is in itself a capacity-building test. We help the stakeholders of development in the RP, that‟s government, non-government, private sectors, other development partners, assess the needs of the country, once the needs are assessed, the government tells us what kind of support they are looking for and based on our mandate, on our own capacities, on our own resource in the Philippines, we agree on a four-year work plan (programming cycle) and in that program cycle we are going to develop projects that will address the developmental needs of the Philippines so at any given time we have 50-60 on-going projects. We deliver between 15-20 million USD of development assistance to the RP. It is not much! But we try to make sure that the little money that we can provide we try to have an impact, to make a difference, this is why UNDP does not, anymore, do large-scale infrastructure work or it cannot afford to go out there in the provinces and do some ground work that made to connect X number of villagers to water pipes for example, because if we put our money on this, our impact would be only for those communities but not for the whole country. So believe the way can have greater impact is to influence policy that will be applied by the government in its action, and if the policies are correct then you already had solid basis for making sure you provide the right solutions for the RP. After this, of course, comes the problem of who are to implement those policies do they have the right capacities? Is it their political will to implement these policies? That‟s kind of another area where we do a lot of work is to ensure that the actors of actors of government whether if it‟s the government, its agencies, its department, its administrations (central, provincial, local) and all other stakeholders, especially the civil society; do they have enough capacities to ensure that the policies are well-implemented and benefit the people of the RP, as for the political will, the only way we can address this is of course through advocacy, we also do a lot of work, always under those four areas on advocacy, looking at what global and international standards that we believe the RP 135

should abide by either obligations because its surrounded by treaties, some international conventions, or because they are simply linked to universal declaration of human rights, child rights against corruption, extortion, you name them, all those international treaties and conventions, we derive from them best practices, global standards and we advocate so that our stakeholder s in the RP will follow those principles and the way they implement those actions.

HFG: For the MDG’s, has there been any changes now? RM: there have been changes, unfortunately, the changes are not good. Theyre not giving positive messeage what we see that the MDG that were less likey to achieve continue to be unlikely to be achieved. We have not seen any progess on the status of actiosn against those MDG‟s but even more those MDG‟s that we thought were on the right track. We do not see any progrees, we actually see detoriateion, based on latest data and statistics. We have to be prudent, we have to wait for the result of the on-going census, and understand that we are going to have those results by summer of 2008 but initial info that we receive is that poverty itself is actually growing, not decreasing, which is a very worrisome factor and fairly unique situation in Asia, because most of the countries in Asia, even those who are poor then the RP are able to atleast halt the progression of poverty here in the RP, it seems that the number of poor people is actually increasing; on hunger, there are regions in RP where the situations on hunger is also worsening, maternal health, you know, it‟s an issue on education, specially in pre-school is a very worrying are: HIV/AIDS which seemed to be in the right track to the achievement center of MDG: we have questions, we have doubts; we continue to believe that the prevalence rate in the Philippines is low but what we see is there are pockets of population that are at risk where there prevalence rate is increasing very fast: unless something is done now these might lead to a worrying trend, HIV/AIDS MDG will be likely achieved. The condition of environment continues to be very challenging there are several indicators: pollution, air, water pollution, the curve of biodiversity is also challenging. I think your assessment is correct, given the situation that is evolving very fast and that there are a lot of factors, both internal and external that are impacting the status of MPG, it is very urgent to have a reassessment of much of the MDG‟s, but for these we need data, good statistics, and good indicators, we look forward for having the results of the 2008 census to really give us enough material for data analysis that would lead to some conclusions.

HFG: Why did some MGD’s changed their course? RM: Well, because the economy… you know when you do analysis over some period of time, you have to take certain hypothesis. This hypothesis either they become real or they don‟t. we added growth rates (economic growth rates) for the past three years, if these growth rates go down, which is likely to be the case because of the economic downturn. Like the population growth rate continues to be the same, then you obviously have a gap,… so this is how poverty, the number of poor people is growing because the economic growth and performance of the economy is not sufficient to ensure that it compensates the 136

population growth rate especially … so the MDG assessment is to be taken on a regular basis if you want to keep track of exactly where we stand... some with HIV, You can have steady HIV prevalence rate for several years, then suddenly because of change of behaviors, because lack of sustained advocacy. People are just taking their seats. Because they think they know how to exactly protect themselves and therefore they pay less attention to their attitudes and behaviors on the sexual habits. Very little can naturally lead to major changes and this is exactly what we see. On the latest report on HIV/AIDS on the RP shows that it is actually among the young educated population on the urban areas where prevalence rate is growing the fastest and it is difficult to explain because you would think that they are well educated and they fully should know, they know are in urban areas. Therefore, they have forms of access to info, access to support, services, that can perhaps fully understand the epidemic and despite this, their behavior seems to lead to very fast increase on the prevalence rate, so there is a problem there and this is something that is very worrisome and this is why UNDP is scaling up on work on its HIV/AIDs prevention because unless it is done now, the more you wait, the larger the numbers those that are being infected.

HFG: What goal is highly prioritized? RM: The number one is kind of the matter goal, and yes, it does require a lot of attention, and goal number two, three, and five, are all also extremely important and you know it traditionally. The weak goals in the RP are continue, and attentions to them are extremely important, but hten again, the MDG, is very difficult to differentiate one MDG from the others, all of them are extremely important. You also have other elements that are not even captured in the MDG‟s but are embedded overall the millennium declaration, which is the overall deterioration that the governments‟ had adopted, the MDG‟s is just one tool to implement the millennium declaration and here, there are issues of governance which everyone agrees the number one issue in the RP, it is very difficult to understand historically why a country which has a good very well educated population lot of skills; lot of hardworking; the country that has so much resources (natural resources); and the country that has a very open economy; very open society why isn‟t able to achieve better growth, better progress on human development, the key answer to this.. suddenly tends to the governance level of all „natural resources‟ managed; how are those populations and skills managed, how are those factors interrelated and intermanaged; so it‟s real to look at how from the private sector, public sector, what kind of governance is being applied here at the RP and that‟s probably another area that would deserve a lot attention and that is not captured in any of the goals, so I think, I will recommend that people, especially students and young people only look at the MDG‟s as an indicator for the development of the RP. You can use the MDG as one of the main indicators but there are also other areas that still need to be studied, reviewed, assessed, if you want to have a thorough and comprehensive picture of what context of development here in the RP.

HFG: (democratic governance) What about this? 137

RM: UNDP first of all, is acknowledging the many reports that are made available by NGO‟s that simply shows that the institution of corruption is indeed worsening. We are just acknowledging this, we‟re saying is that the context that we have in front of us which is the combination of econmonic downturn and… we believe that this context would likely to lead to more opportunities for corruption we‟re not saying that it‟s gonna happen, we‟re saying that we should pay even more attention because the poor people are getting poorer while big companies are facing the risks of having to lay off hundreds of employees…

(TAPE BROKEN)

RM: well yes, it‟s getting crucial in our effort in anti corruption. We provide support to other institutions within the RP that could mandate the fight for corruption . of course, the Ombudsman, there‟s one, but not the only one; and we‟re much closer to help fight corruption. We help with the commission on audit, make sure that they have the full capacity that they need for their mandate. We just had a very important event linklling corruption with the commission on human rights. There‟s lot of work to ensure that the commitment in fighting corruption is at the highest level that inc policies in place are not only good policies but fully implemented at the different bodies of the government and institutions that has increased its capacity to fight corruption has the means and the abilities… so on the government‟s side, anti-corruption is very strong, strong enough to ensure that people who have rights are actually aware of these rights who have access to tools policy that would protect those rights so it‟s a whole issue of actions suggested and when you go to the very remote areas of the RP, when you go to population which are traditionally underserved, such as the indigenous population, we make sure that they are aware what their rights are and that they are provided access to the judicial system from their perspective, access to judicial system means important public administration, reform, increasing efficiency of the whole (political) governance, looking at the institutions, how they are performing, how can they improve their efficiency, human rights; advocacy for human rights, empowering the institutions who mandate is maintaining rights.. we are doing very interesting work with the PNP right now in ensuring that all the policemen are aware of the human rights, mainstreaming these rights with the practices of the police, with the AFP, there are other areas where UNDP is engaged in dialogue with the government.

HFG: Are they accepting some of your advice? RM: Not only they are accepting them, they are requesting them which is very important, you know it‟s not an issue of confrontation, it‟s an issue of collaboration with the government in improving governance in the RP, which is a very good situation. There is an acknowledgement that there are some witnesses and there is a trust that UNDP can help and bring support to them therefore the issue is not what we do, but to actually increase what we already do to make us more efficient so by then, to have more resourse to be able 138

to up scale more programs, to be able to make programs benefit more people, multiply the number of beneficiaries and we always have a very constructive partnership with the government on very sensityive issues

HFG: (ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT) although it already on the NDG, why does UNDP srtill have this as a focus area. RM: Well, RP has a numerous natural resources and is also prone to natural disasters which is a very intense country in terms of the environment. UNDP is focused at one hand to focus RN and its management and making sure that those resources are used in a sustainable way, also for the benefit of population that lives on those natural resourses and at the same time to see how we can mitigate all negative impacts on the same population of resources as they occur. This is giving negative impact by the issue of acknowledging the poor which has a trend in increasing the number of calamities or natural disaster because of the change in climate patterns, number of typhoons, or tropical storms are increasing, the impact are being felt by more people it has very negative consequences in economic performance, state of livelihood, you know it has the potential to have real threat to the achievement of human development in the RPâ&#x20AC;Ś Looking at the mitigational climate changes is extremely important, making sure that the country depends less on traditional sources of energy and more towards renewable energy sources, also another area that we are looking at with are partners especially the DOE. All can we done with the right policies, right commitments, right preservation of the general public and you think it is a trans from the very natural gift of the RP with its biodiversity and to some thing that can actually improve the lives of the peopleâ&#x20AC;Ś

HFG: (Peace building) Is this involved with the conflict on Mindanao? RM: Yes of course but not only. Unfortunately, the RP are affected by many conflicts that are long lasting by nature there is the conflict in Mindanao (MILF), there is the conflict of the poor of the country (NPA), this requires approach: require to have the government all the stake holders of the conflict to understand how best to implement the peace process from concepts to negotiation skills to dialogue to participatory approaches, Peace buildings all there areas that work for UNDP, and then when unfortunately population suffers from conflict then how we can alleviate the suffering of the population that are affected by the conflict, helping them during the conflict to meet their basic need. (Humanitarian Assistance) and once the conflict is either stopped or decreasing or its intensity then we can start helping the refugees to return to their community, help them rebuild their lives, livelihoods, find jobs for them, go back to the field and restart their economic activity this is what we call recovery. Recovery is applied not only in the post conflict but also post ND so when a typhoon hits us wee have to evacuateâ&#x20AC;ŚIf possible, we have to help them go back to their normal livelihood and rebuild what they have lost. Recovery applies to nature conflicts not only human conflicts.

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HFG: Can UNDP forecast what will happen? RM: If we can, it will be beautiful. No, we cannot forecast… we do not have a crystal ball to look at the future. What we do is talk to many people as possible representing as many different sectors of society, have a dialogue with them and understand their aspirations their motivations their hope to happen to themselves for their children, for their future and then observe what the global context is, natural context is, understanding the evolution of the Filipino society, what influence it understanding the impacts of society if we put all this together, then yes, we can have an analysis on what would likely to happen in the RP. Again, these are only hypothesis, then some of them can be confirmed, well nothing is ever guaranteed. We always have to keep our eyes open and ears wide open and if possible use dialogue. This why UNDP is so fundamentally attached to what we call participatory approaches, not only dealing with one partner but involving more partners in anything we do, which has cost, either higher or lower, either way it is also an insurance that the solutions that‟ll emerged will be sustainable… has the potential to benefit as many people as possible therefore can be adopted…

HFG: What is your opinion on the attainment of MDG? RM: Yes, there‟s still hope. Everything‟s possible. It‟s all a question of how much we are able, all of us, government, civil society, to understand what needs to be done; how much are we able to decide on the right policies, on the right actions that needs to be in place, and how much money are we able to mobilize to fund initiatives that would make it possible to achieve all the MDGs. Is it likely to happen? I certainly hope so. If I didn‟t hope so, I would not be here in the first place, I think it‟s possible but it requires a lot of work.

HFG: what skills and knowledge should a devcom student have to help address these issues? RM: Well, I think your generation represents the solution of the RP. Looking at the demography of the RP, it is stunning to see a population made up of young people. And they are still studying or are in a learning process… You, honestly, the younger you are. You have more chance of improving that knowledge. You see, you have a key role to play, and the first thing that I would urge the young generation to be commited in improving the conditions of the liver of yourselves, your family, your friends, your fellow citizen in the RP and to engage, not only to observe and observe and talk about these, to actually take action, anybody can take action in their own level: based on his/her own ability. You can do this by growing a garden in your backyard and that is a very small activity that will improve the livelihood of your family, your neighborhood, because greener and that it will have an impact. I believe in the contributions of commitment. It‟s too easy to give up because it‟s difficult, because it has no hope, it has too much criticism. If your not happy with something, roll up your sleeves and go change it. Don‟t sit there and complain. That‟s never been the solution, and will never be. The fact that you 140

complain, it‟s already a good thing, it shows that you have interest and that you are able to analyze that the situation is not agreeable. Then, what would you agree with? What do you think are the better options? What prevents you from taking actions? So as a student, you engage in the life in the life in your campus, make your study conditions make a comprehensive content of what you‟ve learned and make an outreach to those who do not have the chance. Make sure the people of your age who do not have the luxury of being able to study, instead being able to work. How can you engage them? motivate them? How can you bring them hope? Think of your responsibilities and what chance you have in life, the more you should give back. There are many NGOs (volunteering ways to engage)…<end of interview>

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APPENDIX C

Archive of the BSDC Curricula (1965 - 2008) Course Outlines of DevCom Courses Selected Course Outlines of Technical and Social Science Electives.

APPENDIX C1

Archive of the BSDC Curricula (1965 - 2008)

APPENDIX C2

Course Outlines of DevCom Courses

APPENDIX C3

Selected Course Outlines of Technical and Social Science Electives.