Sustainable development (Last Part)

NO HOLDS BARRED
Ike Señeres

Since financing is always the biggest problem of livelihood projects, I propose that bankers should be placed at the core of the human resources needed for livelihood delivery. This is also the other reason why I am suggesting that the DOF should be placed on top of livelihood at the local level. By bankers, I mean those coming from the private and government banks. Needless to say, the banks should be the focal points for livelihood delivery.

Since public safety issues almost always end up with a legal problem, I propose that lawyers should be placed at the core of the human resources needed for public safety delivery. The main focal points for the delivery of public safety should be the police stations where the actions of arrest are finalized, but this should also include the other focal points in the other four pillars of justice.

In a manner of speaking, the lack of livelihood is a justice issue, social justice to be exact, because it is poverty related. Directly or indirectly, the lack of livelihood could lead to crime, although I still maintain that poverty should not be taken as an excuse to commit crime. More often than not however, the poor people who are led to commit crime become the more intense victims of injustice, as they are unable to afford the high costs of justice in their defense.

Financing is just one aspect of livelihood, and it might even be the easier part of the challenge. The harder part I think is marketing, but this too has a financial dimension, because livelihood projects need the financial muscle to be able to finance not just the costs of production, but also the costs of marketing, inventory costs included.

The subject of sustainable communities implies that it should be local in scope, the more local the better. Geographically speaking, this should mean that the smaller the community, the better it is in terms of planning for its long term sustainability. Having said this, it would be best if planning is focused at the village level, meaning that it should really be below the barangay level, given the fact that there could be several villages within a barangay. The situation could be different in the provinces where a village is practically synonymous to a barangay.

I also understand that there are many kinds of banks, ranging in size from universal banks to rural banks. Regardless of the size of the banks however, I think that it should become the culture of these banks to go down to the level of the villages to look into their livelihood needs, and to check on ways through which they could help in financing. This culture formation should be encouraged by the DOF among the banks.

As a service to the nation, the United National Integrated Development Alliance (UNIDA) has been reorganized so that each of the alliance members could lead in three priority concerns namely health, education and social services.

The lead organization for health services in the alliance is now the Inter-Charity Network (ICN). The lead organization for education services is now the University Consortium (UNICON). The lead organization for social services is now the Philippine Foundation for the Prevention of Crime and Injustice (PFPCI).

The National Statistical Coordination Board (NCSB) defines social services as programs that are designated to provide meaningful opportunities for the social and economic growth for the disadvantaged sector of the population in order to develop them into productive and self-reliant citizens and promote social equity. This fits very well into the original purpose of the Foundation which is social justice.

Under this new reorganization, the Foundation shall now lead in self-employment assistance and practical skills development assistance, as defined by the NSCB. In addition however, the Foundation will also lead in legal assistance and housing assistance, also two of the original purposes.

In coordination with the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), the Foundation will now train, certify and deploy volunteer paralegals to courthouses, police stations and barangay halls all over the country, the latter in support of the barangay justice system. These paralegals will act as deputies to the organic and volunteer lawyers of the PAO.

In coordination with the Department of Health (DOH), Inter-Charity will now will now train, certify and deploy volunteer paramedics to the school clinics, health centers and public hospitals all over the country. It will also coordinate with Our Barangay Inc. (OBI), an organization that is committed towards supporting the school clinics, health centers and public hospitals.

In coordination with the Department of Education (DEPED), UNICON will now train, certify and deploy volunteer teachers to the school libraries and Alternative Learning Centers (ALCs) of DEPED. It will also coordinate with OBI, given the fact that OBI will now also support these school libraries and learning centers.
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