The Naga City Literacy Agenda:

Developing the FULL POTENTIAL of every Nagueño and

enabling them to PARTICIPATE in building a LIVABLE CITY

Part 1

Naga, for two consecutive years now, has been named by the National Competitiveness
Council as the Most Competitive Component City in the Philippines. This, despite being a
small, landlocked city with a population of less than 200,000 in 2015 and with very little in
terms of natural resources.

Key to Naga’s growth from a backwater city in the 1980s into one of the most dynamic
areas in the country today is what the city touts as its best resource—human capital—a
resource base that has turned Naga into the education, cultural, trade, finance, tourism,
entertainment and IT/BPO center of Bicol and Southern Luzon, and above all, into a leading
local government center of good governance.

Part 2

The challenge to any city leadership since the 1980s, however, is being able to ensure that
Nagueñ os continue to have the capacity to meet the demands of changing times so that they
can participate in building a Maogmang Lugar— the city’s vision of an economically-
dynamic and livable city which enables an individual’s pursuit of happiness.

The City government’s literacy initiatives, both basic and functional, address this challenge.
These are in the context of the H2ELP your City development agenda introduced by Mayor
John Bongat when he first assumed office in 2010.

Part 3

In basic education,

Naga has instituted programs that address education issues starting from pre-school until
the tertiary level.

The city has 76 Educare centers that combine the Montessori system of teaching and
traditional day care services to prepare pre-schoolers for K+12. There are 3,200 children
currently enrolled. And there are Educare centers even in the city’s mountain barangays.

An accreditation system mandated by Executive Order 2011-014 establishes standards for

physical facilities, teacher competence, pupil participation and over-all center
performances. This ensures the quality of pre-school learning. Of the 76 centers, 61 are
currently considered as Level A Educares.
On top of all this, the City Mayor’s Executive Order 2015-036 initiated the Pre-School
Teacher on Foot program which deals with the need for an educare system in the remote or
problematic areas of the city. This strengthens inclusivity and student participation, and
affords equal opportunities and access to all pre-school children regardless of economic
status and distance. To date, the city has established a total of 5 temporary classrooms in
remote areas.

Part 4

Aside from the usual support expected by the Department of Education from a local
government’s Special Education Fund, the city government has instituted programs meant
to increase participation, cohort survival and completion rate of students, especially those
belonging to poor families.

The QUEEN and SANGGAWADAN programs take care of students’ payment for DepEd’s
authorized fees and provide school supplies and bags. More importantly, they provide
incentives to parents to get involved in school activities; thus enhancing a child’s chances of
finishing school and having a bright future.

Nutri-Dunong is a feeding program for undernourished children in Grades I to III designed

to reduce absenteeism and improve school performance.

The Summer Enrichment and Enhancement Program (SEEP) improves cohort survival by
focusing on elementary pupils whose grades in English, Math and Science range from 75 to
79. For high school students, the Drop-out Reduction Program provides counseling to
affected parents thru the PTA and transportation allowance to students at risk of dropping
out due to financial constraints.

RESULTS of SEEP and DORP to be shown in a table in the AVP

Part 5

To encourage out-of-school children, youth and adults (or OSCYAs) to finish basic
education, the city government works closely with the Department of Education to
promote the Alternative Learning System (ALS). This is done through eSkwela centers that
are operated by the barangays with support from the Education, Scholarships and Sports
Office (ESSO) of the City Government; a program institutionalized through Ordinance 2011-
050. From 20 centers in 2010, this number has grown to 25 in 2015. In 2010, there were
855 ALS students that took the A& E examinations with a low 33.94% A & E passing rate.
With more focused interventions, the number of A & E passers grew to 462 (out of 836
takers) in 2015, equivalent to a 56% passing rate, an all-time high for Naga.

In 2012, through Executive Order 2012-025, the city government started deploying
Barangay Literacy Workers who conduct household surveys to actively pinpoint OSCYAs,
encourage them to enrol either in formal education or ALS, perform as learning facilitators
of eSkwela centers within their own barangays, and monitor attendance in school of
QUEEN pupil beneficiaries.

This twin strategy further ensures that all Nagueñ os have basic literacy, at the very least;
and has contributed to the city bringing down the number of illiterates from 518 in 2014 to
292 in 2015.

Part 6

At the tertiary education level, Naga ensures that at least one member of each poor family
finishes tertiary or tech-voc education through the Iskolar kan Ciudad program. Through
Ordinance 2013-010, annual funding from the city budget is assured. In fact, from P5M in
2010, this was increased to P10M in 2011. In 2015, the scholarship fund grew to P 15M.
The fund has specific allocations for children of persons with disability and solo parents,
the top 3 graduates of public high schools (including SPED), the top 20 ALS A&E passers
and the youth who excel in sports. For school year 2015-2016 alone, this program is
sending 978 students to colleges and tech-voc institutions on scholarship, further
capacitating more and more poor but deserving young people to have access to higher
education.

The scholarship program is complemented by:

1. Ordinance 2010-063 which mandates that barangay governments allocate their own
scholarship funds from the Youth Development Fund, effectively increasing the number
of city scholars by 600 in 2015;
2. The local government’s own City College of Naga that offers health-related college and
other technical-vocational courses
3. The Happy Youth Movement in Naga (HYMN) project under Executive Order 2015-014,
which encourages out-of-school youth to undergo non-formal skills training or take up
tech-voc courses, or to go back to formal school; and
4. The Special Program for the Employment of Students, done with the Department of
Labor and Employment (DOLE), which, annually provides financial support through
work to 300 students who are about to enroll for the first time or are currently enrolled
in college and technical-vocational courses.

Part 7

As part of its human development focus, the city government has education and literacy
efforts for the disadvantaged.

The Naga City SPED and HELP Learning centers cater to children with special needs,

The Resource Center for the Blind provides computer-based learning for children and
adults with visual impairment.
The Naga City Children’s Home takes the “boy’s town” concept by ensuring the physical,
academic, social and spiritual preparation of street or abandoned children and children in
conflict with the law. The Education, Sports and Scholarships Office, likewise, provides a
sports development program that has produced athletes in children from the Children’s
Home who compete in city sporting events.

Part 8

While the city’s education programs guarantee the future of Naga’s youth, the local
government continuously addresses the challenge of developing resilient and responsive
Nagueñ os through dynamic literacy and capacity-building efforts that fuel the H 2ELP your
City agenda.

Part 9 (Health and Nutrition)

Aside from health programs spearheaded by the Department of Health, the city
government implements initiatives to meet the specific needs of its own constituents.

A special program on anti-dengue engages barangay workers and leaders in efforts to

eradicate dengue within the city.

To provide sustainable and accessible health care to persons with disability—including

those with intellectual disabilities, children with autism and spectrum disorders, adults
with traumatic or acquired brain injuries and frail elders— the city government, through
EO 2014-024, deployed barangay-based Community-Based Rehabilitation Specialists. A
CBRS is trained by the Department of Health and other private organizations. They also
train and mentor relatives of PWDs thus, enhancing the quality of life of these people with
special needs.

The City Population and Nutrition Office’s Pabasa sa Nutrisyon is a literacy program that
targets pregnant and lactating mothers, as well as those with malnourished children. This
has contributed to a decrease in malnutrition among pre-school children—from 3.1% in
2015 to 2.1% this year.

Part 10 (Housing and the Urban Poor)

Apart from the Kaantabay sa Kauswagan program that has provided housing solutions to
more than 9,000 informal settlers since 1989, the city government, in 2014, thru Executive
Order 2014-019 started the Guinhawang Nagueño program, aimed at addressing the basic
needs and building capacities of families in so-called Least-Economically Resilient
Communities (or LERCs) and, in the process, streamlining efforts to provide more intensive
and extensive government interventions to the poorest of the poor.

The latest CBMS data show that there are 576 LERC families living in 25 communities.
Guinhawang Nagueño provides housing, medical, sanitation and education assistance to
LERCs. An intensive literacy program focuses on forming values, organizing communities
and increasing LERC capacity for implementing self-sustaining livelihood projects to get
families out of poverty.

Part 11 (Livelihood and Employment)

On the economic and family income side, the city government’s literacy initiatives, which
have so far benefited more than 3,000 firms and individuals, are designed not as single
training sessions but a continuum of learning and capacity-building activities whose goal is
to increase the incomes of enterprises and families.

For instance, the city’s GROW Negosyo focuses on providing interventions suited to a firm’s
or sector’s needs over a span of one to three years until an enterprise “graduates” and is in
a position to take advantage of opportunities offered by other government and private
institutions on its own. This has led to a 30% increase in target enterprises’ additional
revenues; and covers financial literacy, marketing support and information, management
and worker skills training, product trends and product development coaching and
improvement of production facilities. Starting from only 9 enterprises in 2010, the number
of beneficiary firms and individuals grew to 54 in 2013 and nearly 100 in 2015.

In agriculture, the SARIG Naga program provides training sessions then continuous
technical assistance by the City Agriculturist’s Office to, ultimately, increase farmers’
productivity and incomes. In rice production for example, yield grew by 28% in 2015
compared to the previous year—from 4.05 to 5.2 metric tons per hectare—earning for the
city a National Rice Achievers Award. Naga is also a National Quality Corn Achiever
awardee.

For tourism, the Arts, Culture and Tourism Office, with the Public Safety Office, regularly
conducts not only training but continuing mentoring sessions in service improvement and
tourist safety that have led to better tourism services and facilities and expansion of
tourism establishment operations. This is in support of the Naga-X tourism campaign that,
in 2014, brought in 960,000 local and international visitors. In 2015, this number to
1.057M, nearly equal to the tourism numbers of Legazpi City and the whole province of
Albay, combined.

Continuous coaching by the Market Enterprise Promotions Office, as well as learning

interventions by the city’s partners, particularly the Metro Naga Chamber and the Naga City
Market Stallholders Federation, have transformed the once moribund public market into a
more dynamic enterprise now called the Naga City People’s Mall; and enabled the more
than 1,800 small stallholders to earn more and compete despite the growing number of
bigger malls and commercial complexes within the city. This can be seen in the people’s
mall’s growth in revenues—from P36M in 2010, to P49.8M in 2013, to 55.8M in 2015.

There are also programs for special groups.

Through training and the provision of facilities, the City has provided livelihood
opportunities for the blind and the marginalized. Blind masseurs now provide massage
services at Plaza Rizal. From one massage center provided by the city, another building has
been added due to the blind masseurs’s growing clientele. The housewives of a QUEEN
Parents Association were trained and are now earning as massage therapists at the plaza’s
gazebo and at a designated space at the city-owned Bicol Central Station.

The needs of overseas Filipinos and their families are addressed by the Migrant’s Resource
Center, one of only two (2) pilot initiatives in the country established as part of the Joint
Migration Development Initiative, that provides one-stop pre-migration, post-migration
and reintegration services. Implemented with PAMANA-- or the Pamilya ng Migranteng
Nagueno, an organization of families of migrants—as partner, the center provides capacity-
building interventions for migrants to prepare them for working and living abroad;
business, investment, financial literacy and livelihood and skills training for families left
behind so that they can build on the financial resources remitted by migrants; and
livelihood and skills training for returning migrants to facilitate their reintegration into the
local community.

Part 12 (Peace and Order and Public Safety)

The Central Communications Center is the flagship project of the city’s peace and order,
public safety and disaster response and management program. It provides the
infrastructure and framework for coordinating the efforts of local and national government
agencies responsible for maintaining peace and order, and ensuring public safety. For this
to work effectively however, a continuing awareness, capacity-building and engagement
strategy had to be put in place. This includes students, business establishments, private
and public sector employees, first responders and barangay leaders. This strategy of
capacity-building and inclusion has resulted to zero casualties during times of disaster,
tighter security for citizens and an emergency service that can respond to citizens’ needs in
3 to 5 minutes.

Part 13 (Cleanliness and Environmental Protection)

Aside from information dissemination and awareness campaigns for the general populace
especially focused on solid waste, the Naga River, the city’s watershed and Mt. Isarog
Natural Park, the city government has literacy programs for its partners in implementation
and monitoring.

A livelihood program for the 200 workers of the Balatas Materials Recovery Facility
Cooperative which takes care of solid waste disposal and street cleaning has resulted to
increased income for members from marketable products from trash such as school
supplies from used tarpaulin.

The City Environment and Natural Resources Offices provides continuous capacity-building
for the Mt. Isarog Guardians, or MIGs, the people at the forefront of the protection of the Mt.
Isarog Natural Park. This has led to the Naga portion of the natural being considered as
one of the best preserved in the country.

Part 14 (Transparency and Governance)

Participatory governance has been a cornerstone of city governance since the 1990s. This
started with civil society participation through the Naga City People’s Council and the
People Empowerment Ordinance; and was expanded to include participation by individual
citizens in government decision-making through the late Secretary Jesse Robredo’s i-
Governance program then Mayor Bongat’s i-Governance for Local Economic Development
or I-LED program.

And the mechanisms continue to expand—giving citizens the opportunity to learn about
how the local government operates and how decisions are made, thus, enabling them to
participate better in building a Maogmang Lugar.

The City Events, Protocol and Public Information Office, created in 2013, is the city
government’s main arm for disseminating information about local programs and policies
thus, enhancing the Nagueno’s capacity to engage government. It uses various media
including print, radio, television and the web. The office works in parallel with the i-
Engage program of the Sangguniang Panlungsod which also uses various media platforms
to disseminate information on local laws and encourage participation in discussions on
proposed legislation.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod also implements the Student Participation Program, or SP-
SPP, and the Empowerment and Advancement of Barangays in Local Legislation, or
ENABLE, program as primary mechanisms for education students and barangay leaders on
local legislative and parliamentary procedures, thus, capacitating them to become pro-
active partners in local governance.

The JMR Center for Good Governance, formerly the Naga City Governance Institute, initially
created via Executive Order 2009-004 of then City Mayor Jesse Robredo, was
institutionalized through City Ordinance 2015-055. The JMR Center is primarily
responsible for knowledge-sharing towards strengthening capacities for good local
governance not only within the local government unit but with external local and
international partners, as well.

These efforts have led to Naga being the only city in Bicol to qualify for DILG’s Seal of Good
Local Governance this year. Naga also is one of the only 4 cities in the Philippines to qualify
this year for the prestigious Blue Certification by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Part 15 (Conclusion)

Naga City has attained so much not because of its leaders! Naga City is what it is today,
because of its people! It is just right and fitting to pay tribute to these people by providing
them efficient and responsive services. Governance and leadership will steer us forward.
But in the end, it will always be the empowerment of the Nagueñ os that will lift us up!
Naga City was awarded 2nd place in the 2014 National Literacy Awards. This year, we aim
higher. Because with an engaged and empowered people behind us, there’s no other way,
but up!