In the hope of widening their knowledge and understanding of the socio-economic, political and cultural issues in the islands of Panay and Guimaras, the whole organizational staff of PRDCI went on an educational tour of the provinces of Capiz, Aklan and Antique on March 13-16 and Iloilo and Guimaras on March 23-24, 2006.

Before the educational tours, PRDCI also requested for an orientation with the regional office of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in Iloilo City on February 24, 2006 for a comprehensive regional overview of the same issues.

From the orientation and educational tours, a common observation made was that Panay and Guimaras remain rich in agricultural, forest and fisheries resources. But harnessing these resources towards sustainable development remains very limited because of the lack of capital, technological and policy support from the government. Based on the data given by NEDA, Region VI presently gets a sizeable income mainly from the service industry.

NEDA OIC regional director Arturo Valero said that the demand for services in education and tourism in the region has steadily risen in the past several years.

“Iloilo City has become the center of education in the Visayas because of the big number of private and public schools here. That is why many young people even from Cebu and Mindanao come here to study,” he said.

The same is true with the beach resorts in Guimaras and Antique, and especially in Boracay, Aklan where tourists both local and foreign flock to enjoy the fine white sand beaches.

“Employment opportunities also increased because of the demand of call centers,” he said. But these kinds of employment are largely dependent on investments which is not stable, and how long they are able to provide employment, the public cannot determine.

A significant learning from the educational tours was the importance of a strong and dynamic cooperation between the local government and non-government organizations (NGOs) so that development projects can best result to improve the lives of a bigger number of people. The local government and NGOs of the provinces of Iloilo and Antique have shown this dynamism, with the Iloilo provincial government having established a system to ensure the participation of civil society organizations (CSOs) in preparing plans and budgets of development projects. In Antique, the provincial government allotted a budget of P500,000 this year for project proposals submitted by NGOs.

Antique Federation of NGOs (AFON) coordinator Romy Baldevia said that his organization can hardly take care of their several activities now because they are always called on to attend development consultations and planning sessions by the provincial government.

“Projects are easier to implement with the help of government,” he added.

It’s different with the case of PINA Foundation in Aklan and the Capiz Code who seem to be situated opposite of their respective provincial governments.

Capiz Code’s Bing Sanchez said they are not well-motivated to work for accreditation with the provincial government, “because government support and development resources are mainly given to the more dominant Gerry Roxas Foundation anyway,” he said.

Moreover, Capiz Code’s legal papers were destroyed when their office got burned about two years ago.
“Reconstituting our organizational papers takes a lot of time and effort,” he said.

On the other hand, political rivalry is the major reason for the marginalization of PINA Foundation.

“We are beyond the graces of the political party presently in power,” executive director Mel Sauza said.

Despite this, however, he said that PINA’s advocacy on sustainable agriculture and for the grassroots’ proper access to electricity has managed to take off in selected barangays in the province.

It’s easier for the KASAMA mangrove reforestation project in Old Buswang, Kalibo where coordinator Atty. Allen Quimpo continues to hold a strong clout over the local government as former Kalibo mayor and Aklan congressman.

Accreditation with the provincial government has facilitated financial support for the project even from foreign sources.

Compared with the other provinces, Antique and Guimaras were in the list of 20 poorest provinces in the Philippines in the past decade. Reason why they were recipients of the bulk of development assistance programs of international donor agencies like the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) that are presently implemented in these two provinces. These projects are mostly focused on the nutrition, health and education of poor children and their mothers.

But noteworthy is the micro financing project implemented by Ahon sa Hirap, Inc. (ASHI) among women of low-income households in Hamtic, Antique. The project gives out small capital loans to housewives so they can earn some money to spend for their families’ day to day needs. They have also devised a way to ensure that all loans are paid on schedule so the money can be used again by the other members.

On the other hand, the province of Capiz exhibited the importance of a strong and able leadership in initiating development, resulting to government employees having a substantial knowledge and capability in exercising their functions. The provincial capitol of Capiz boasts of a high tech Geographic Information System (GIS) where the facilities used by their engineers were acquired from the province’s own savings and not through any grant or loan from outside agencies.

The provincial government of Capiz also provides substantial support to its employees to encourage them as well to provide good service to the public. One example is the housing project in Lanot, Roxas City for all its employees – from the highest in rank like the governor, to the lowest like the driver.

The province of Aklan appears to be richest in livelihood resources with its forests, rice farms, fishponds and beaches. But according to Gov. Carlito Marquez, the province’s thrust towards manufacturing and industrialization is seriously hampered by inadequate power supply that the province has suffered from since the early 1990’s. The provincial government has long been planning to put up a hydro-electric power plant in the mountains of Madalag, Aklan but this needs substantial capital support from the government. A hydro-powered electric plant would mean cheaper and cleaner energy for consumers but the national government has declared that it could not afford to finance such an expensive investment at the moment.

The educational tour culminated in Guimaras where the group stayed at the UP Marine Biological Station in the island of Taklong to unwind and discuss their learning from the whole tour. Taklong itself is an experience in community development where for years, inhabitants around this very small island found it hard to understand why they had to be prohibited from fishing in their traditional fishing grounds after the island was declared a marine reserve in 1994. The waters outside Taklong have suffered from decades of exploitation not really by the local fisherfolk but especially by big commercial fishers in Panay Gulf on the right and the vast Sulu Sea out in front.