STRAIGHT FROM THE BIG CITY

Human settlements
IKE SENERES

MANILA -- Contrary to popular belief, the human settlements concept is not an invention of former First Lady Imelda Marcos. It is actually a development approach that is practiced up to now in many countries, being another term that describes integrated area development. Unfortunately, the concept became a victim to political decisions in the Philippines , simply because it was identified with the Marcos regime.

In a remote village somewhere in the mountains of Zambales, the human settlements approach is about to be reborn in this country, thanks to an initiative led by a patriot named Manueldatu (MD) Rebueno. Simply put, the project will apply appropriate technologies so that the basic needs of the villagers could be provided, thus enabling them to have a sustainable way of life.

I remember from the old days of the Ministry of Human Settlements that former Director General Chitang Nakpil of the Technology Resource Center (TRC) said that technology is simply a “better way of doing things”. How right she is, because technologies need not be “high-tech” always, as long as it is used as a means of doing things in a better way.

In the project initiated by MD, the organizers are going to put in place a village cooperative that will go into the business of providing gas, electric, water, internet, cable TV and telephone services, among others. It will also go into the business of producing and selling organic feeds and fertilizers, organic poultry and livestock and organic fruits and vegetables.

The role of the village cooperative in this project is very crucial, because it is going to be the instrument for creating wealth among the villagers, which is a way for them to build and sustain their economies in the family and village level.

The anchor component of the project is a centralized biogas production facility that will produce gas and electricity, and will in turn power the water filter plant and telecoms infrastructure. All told, the mix of utilities will make the village partially self-reliant from the outside world.

There are more basic community needs aside from what the project is initially addressing, but suffice it to say that this is already a good start. In a world of show and tell, what is important is to build a proof of concept, so that other communities will later on be convinced that it is a good thing to do. Good luck to MD and to all the other organizers.
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A three in one package of benefits awaits local communities that would have the wisdom to appreciate it. By planting cassava and sorghum as a tandem of crops, they could produce not just ethanol, but also flour and feed ingredients, all money making products with proven demand. By some stroke of scientific luck, both crops could produce the three products, actually making it a six in one package if planted together.

Although this might sound like a trivial matter to some people, the significance of this opportunity could be measured in terms of the potential value of substituting our importation of oil, wheat, corn and soybeans, all ingredients for producing gasoline, flour and animal feeds. Saving money from the importation of these goods is one thing to consider, but on top of that, the package could potentially strengthen not just our food security, but also our national security in terms of our energy supply.

I say that this is an opportunity for local communities, but I say that with a wish that our national government agencies would also discover the benefits of this package, for the good of the nation. Since this opportunity cuts across multiple concerns such as energy, trade and agriculture, this should perhaps be taken up in a cabinet cluster, or perhaps even in the National Security Council (NSC).

The opportunity to produce flour locally also opens up yet another opportunity of producing rice substitutes such as noodles and buns, considering the many health problems that a pure rice diet brings. This being the case, it may be a good idea for the Department of Health (DOH) to join the cabinet cluster that would talk about steps to be taken.

On top of all the benefits that could come out of this package, there is also the prospective benefit of producing organic flours that will in turn produce organic breads, aside from producing organic feeds that will in turn produce organic meats.

One might say that this package of benefits is too good to be true, but it does not take a scientist to prove that this is for real. It also does not take a genius to discover that this is do-able, if only the local communities and the government agencies would realize the simplicity of these technologies.
In whose hands could we entrust these opportunities? Following the norm in the other countries, we should fund our universities and task them to turn these ideas into realities for all of us to take advantage of.