ASEAN 2015 and Mountain Province

HAPPY  WEEKEND

By Gina Dizon

The directions of  ASEAN  (Association of South East Asian Nations) 2015 is too good to be true.  With free flow of goods meaning zero tariff, free services, free flow of investments, skilled persons and visa- free mobility within ASEAN countries,  life seemingly shall be good and well.

So we expect our woven products from different parts of Mountain Province and  the wider Cordillera, coffee Arabica from Sagada,  barako coffee and potatoes from Benguet, jams and jellies,  balatinao and other varieties of  heirloom rice  freely circulating out from the country to reach other ASEAN  countries and so with ASEAN products freely coming here.

Yet Manang Raymunda who manages a weaving enterprise is wary and  hesitant of other products coming in and swallowing woven products  in the locality. 

Department of  Trade and Industry  (DTI)director Juliet Lucas, in a press conference with the Montanosa  Press Club  (MPCI) said  the quality of our products is the edge.

And if the quality of other products is equally as good, that is what ASEAN 2015 expects, competition.

Customers  will look for what is either durable, cheaper or more unique. Competition then means packaging.  And  with packaging, the better and the more saleable  with the flare and popularity of the product gets more sales. Are Mountain Province  products being packaged good and soaring.

Mountain Province being a ‘weavers’ paradise, an Arabica coffee center of the north, apart from being a  watershed cradle’ sells woven products and yes the most trumpeted  Arabica coffee.

Volume is the question. Are we producing enough? While there is no study to note if Mountain Province is producing  a lot  for outside buyers along with buyers’ demand, a  quick look at coffee- producing  farms and weaving enterprises  note  that some enterprises  run out of volume while others have products stashed up their  shelves. Generally, volume is a question.

Ms Juliet Lucas said skilled workers  are needed. A weaving  enterprise  manager  here in the tourist town of Sagada for example said she wants her  weavers to stay with her. Surely, when one is already skilled in weaving and another skilled in sewing those precious bags and wallets, a manager will not like her to leave her business. And weaving enterprises here are flourishing with already 15 of them from the 1980s’ lone Sagada Weaving. More weavers are needed. And not only weavers but skilled weavers. Weaving being a manual job takes hands to do this day in, day out.

Capital is equally a need among emerging entrepreneurs in food processing, souvenir items making, silk screening, T-shirt printing/painting,  etag production, muscovado production, jams and jellies, aside from weaving and coffee production which needs roasters. Surely, capital is a need to let initiatives kick off and existing ones be  equally supported.

Interventions from  government  comes as a much needed  ingredient in forms of capital and skills trainings including marketing.   DTI has its  training  and marketing  support. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) provides   equipment. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)  provides capital and so with other  government interventions. With this and the government’s thrust to  yank poverty out from millions of its inhabitants from this poverty ridden country, it is equally  expected that their interventions  are delivered in quantity and quality so to see realization from what  goals and visions say.

Which reminds me of the intentions of the National Alleviation Poverty Commission (NAPC) in partnership with the Department of Interior  and Local Government  (DILG) and other line agencies supporting programs budgeted  by local government units and  civil society organizations  (CSOs) in what is called bottoms up  budgeting or BUB to alleviate poverty and spur economy.

A quick look at  Sagada local government unit on where it puts BuB processed funds goes to a big bulk in farm to market roads (FMRs )and pathways seemingly with the future seeing more and more roads and pathways, as if roads and more roads and pathways is the answer to poverty.  What more, with the Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource Management  Project (CHARMP) and the PAMANA program of the Office of the Presidential Assistant in the Peace Process (OPAPP)  already providing  FMRs  apart from other programs of the Department of  Agriculture and regular funds of LGUs,  FMRs is a much abused project. You will wonder why and of course know  the answer why, so that is why President Noynoy Aquino pushes his slogan Matuwid na Daan. 

With the very  limited  BuB identified funds for Sagada LGU for one, FMRs took a big slice in the 2013 to 2014 BUB itemized projects Next came  waterworks  and  schools as if there is no budget from the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) and the Department of  Education (DEPEd) to be sourced from.

The first  P8 million in 2013 itemized the biggest chunk of  P3 million for  FMRs where some funds went to an already budgeted P3.5 million Ato-Engan FMR and an already budgeted P3.5 million Canipawan-Mabbay  FMR  sourced from a questionable realigned P10 million from a P15 million PAMANA  funded  Tanulong-Madongo road.

Another  P2 million for water pipes from the same 2013 BuB funding  added funds to the already allotted  36 million peso Boasaw works  sourced from  CHARMP’s  P18 million and  P18 million from the Priority Development Assistant Funds (PDAF) of Senator TeofistoGuingona,  and only  P2.5  for improving   small scale business. The NAPC  funds here became a  ready source for  standing projects which are either poorly budgeted or an appendage budget raising questions of NAPC funds  being a ready source for double funding.

Not contented with the  P3 million FMRs, the LGU of Sagada  budgeted  P7 million for FMRs, 2 million for school buildings,  and only 800 thousand pesos for  scale scale business from the 15 million NAPC funds of  2014. And a  zero budget for  small scale industries  in the 2015 budget. It is interesting to note if the small scale industries and the civil society organizations and peoples organizations participating in the BUB are happy with the itemized projects.  

Authorities monitoring and managing the BuB funds however are not happy. They came out with a circular for 2015 Bottoms Up Budgetting  slashing farm to market roads, school buildings, training centers, multipurpose buildings, rescue equipment and  directed that what the funds are meant to be for projects that generate jobs and alleviate poverty.

The 2015 budget  of  the 15 million BuB funds  for Sagada then itemized  P4 million flood control projects, P5.5 million for irrigation canals, P1.4 million for waterworks and P1.9 for core roads and a ZERO budget for small scale industries.

What does NAPC and DILG think about these  flood control projects which can be funded by  the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH),  waterworks which can be funded by  WATSAN and irrigation projects which can be funded by  the DA and the National Irrigation Authority. These to add to the LGU’s regular 20% development fund from its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).  

It's a long way for ASEAN 2015 and its ideals to see these blooming in Mountain Province for one. Talk about  volume of products, number of workers,  availability of capital, marketing opportunities, buyer’s preference, and coherent and consistent decision making and  implementation of  government interventions  leading to same directions.