STRAIGHT FROM THE BIG CITY

Ike Seneres
Cleaner and greener

MANILA -- “Clean and Green” has long been a very popular slogan in the Philippines but sad to say, it still remains just as a slogan in many parts of the country. Soon however, the slogan will take on a new meaning in Barangay San Antonio in Tondo, Manila, as the Barangay Captain there has agreed to host the pilot project of K4 or APATNAKA, short for “Kabuhayan, Kalinisan, Kalusugan at Kaalaman”.

A new meaning it shall be, and it might even be known this time as “Cleaner and Greener”, with the project results eventually giving substance to the superlative. I think that nobody has really officially defined what “Clean and Green” really means, but this time around, we are going to give it the new meaning of “Clean” as in “Kalinisan” and “Green” as in “Kabuhayan” by way of agriculture, a sure way of earning “green bucks”.

APATNAKA is now the simplified name of HEALER, a project that I introduced in a previous column, short for Health, Environment, Agriculture, Livelihood, Education and Recreation. In the new name, agriculture is now subsumed under “Kabuhayan”, and recreation is now subsumed under “Kalusugan”.

Tomorrow (Feb. 9) I will speak before the Rotary Club of Ortigas about APATNAKA, upon the invitation of Atty. Jess Paredes, my fellow anchor at the Global News Network (GNN). By the way, look out for GNN in your local cable networks, as it is now going nationwide.

As I discussed in my write-up about HEALER, I am looking for a way to implement and document the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the village levels here in the Philippines . Hopefully, a Barangay in Pasig will become another site for an APATNAKA pilot project, in addition to the one in Tondo.

The Tondo and Pasig sites will form the core of our urban experiments, while the previously announced Bukidnon and Zambales sites will form the core of our rural experiments. The Bukidnon project will cover an ancestral domain of the Talaandig tribe while the Zambales project will cover an ancestral domain of the Negrito tribe.

As defined by UNDP, the HDI measures gains in per capita incomes, life expectancies and literacy rates. As conceptualized, APATNAKA will aim to increase per capita incomes by way of “Kabuhayan”, increase life expectancies by way of “Kalusugan”, and increase literacy rates by way of “Kaalaman”.

Even if the HDI covers only the original three concerns, I decided to include a fourth concern which is “Kalikasan”, largely influenced perhaps by my involvement in the La Sallian Institute for the Environment (LIFE). This foundation has already done a lot of work for the environmental cause, and it is about to launch a “Save the Manila Bay” (SMB) movement.

As I see it now, “Kabuhayan” will address the problem of poverty, “Kalusugan” will address the problem of diseases, and “Kaalaman” will address the problem of ignorance. With the entry of “Kalinisan”, it will address the problem of hunger, because not unless we could preserve and reclaim our environment, we will not have water, a key resource to produce our food requirements.

As agreed upon with Barangay San Antonio, they are going to source some funds and they will also solicit donations so that they could buy a special truck that will vacuum the congested canals and the other waterways in their community. They will also build a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) within their community, in an attempt to finally implement a real honest to goodness “Zero Waste” program.

“Clean First, Green Later”. This is going to be the theme of the San Antonio project. After the canals and land areas are cleaned, they are going to plant vegetables and flowers that are going to be processed as raw materials for herbal food supplements and for perfume essences. Herbs Best, an herbal products manufacturer has expressed an interest to buy as many Moringa (Malunggay) leaves and Ganoderma mushrooms that they could produce. The French Chamber of Commerce has expressed an interest to buy the perfume essences that they could produce, for export to France , thanks to Henri Ortiz of the French Chamber.

In an attempt to give new life to the waste segregation objective, Barangay San Antonio will also try an innovative barter program that will exchange trash for cash or rice rations depending on what the participants want. Community residents will segregate paper and plastic in exchange for cash or rice. I have already gotten in touch with the National Food Authority (NFA) to secure rice supplies. In the long run however, the rural project sites of APATNAKA will be able to supply the rice requirements of the urban sites. This is along the “Prosumer” concept that I am also promoting.

Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text me at +639293605140. Watch my TV show “KA IKING LIVE” every Friday from 930 to 1030 PM in Destiny Cable Channel 3. Tune in to “KAPIT-BAYAN” in DWIZ 882 KHZ 5 to 6 PM Mon to Fri. Join the APATNAKA Movement. Form your local chapter.