The Fundamentals o Community Organization an People Empowerment Dyn To a1 ety | mela |Philippine Copyright 1993 by Agrinelda Nelmida-Miclat All rights reserved, No part of this book may be reproduced, photocopied, mimeographed or printed without prior authority from the author, ISBN 971-8752-03-X Cover design — Al Manrique EXCLUSIVELY DISTRIBUTED BY: : nila 801 A. Papa St., cor. Sergio H. Loyola St. Sampaloc, Ma epee yal Noe 142316 0 742321 ‘Scanned with CameannerACKNOWLEDGEMENT This book was written in response to the clamor of social work edu- cators, students and community organization (CO) practitioners for a book on the fundamentals of CO to enrich their knowledge and practice. With the devolvement of social workers under the Department of Social Welfare and Development to the local government units as mandated by the Local Government Code, it had been foreseen that the social worker's rele- vance would be as a CO worker to assist the government’s thrust in country- side development and people empowerment. The NGO's and religious sector have also given priority to community work, These groups had therefore inspired the writing of this book and hope that their concerns are met and their positive experiences are shared. My unending gratitude also goes to the following for their invaluable contributions, assistance and encouragement that helped make this book a teality: 1. Bagong Barrio Birhen Ng Lourdes Parish 2. Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO) 3. Elma Sano Head of Bagong Barrio Parish Program Committee 4. Rosario Sespefte ZOTO Alliance Worker 5. Mila Suarez Former ZOTO Health Worker 6. Augusto N, Miclat, Jr. — for editorial work 7. Al Manrique — for cover design and graphic illustration 8. Agatha N. Miclat-Gatbonton — for providing resource persons & materials, Agrinelda Nelmida-MiclatCONTENTS Introduction Chapter 1 THEORETICAL BASE OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION (CO) Definition of Community and Organization . , Two Concepts of Community ......... Two Types of Problems: The Concer of CO The CO Process ... soa Definition of Community Organization Philosophy of Community Organization . Values of Community Organization... , Assumptions of Community Organization . Focus of Community Organization . , Purposes of Community Organization . WCaARANARAAA Chapter II GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Differentiation of tasks goals, process goals and relationship goals Chapter IL] THE THREE MODELS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Definition of the three models of community organization and how each differ from one another, ..........,,,, . 18 Brief illustrations of each models and their strategies... ,, » 24 Chapter IV THE ROLES, FUNCTIONS, TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES OF A COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION WORKER . 33 . 35 Roles and functions of the CO worker ,,..+6+ Knowledge and skills Tequired of a CO worker .. ‘Scanned with CameannerDefinition of technique and strategy ............. ie ee Illustration of each CO technique and strategy»... 6.6.0. 36 Chapter ¥ WORKING WITH COMMITTEES AND OTHER GROUPS Definition of group process . . Forces operating ina group ,.,. Principles of group process ...... Factors for effective group working relationship , . . Use of questions as technique in handling group discussions and how used asa technique . -Chapter VI THE PROCESSES FOR PEOPLE EMPOWERMENT Definition of people empowerment . Sources of power oe _ How people can be empowered | |. The blocks to people empowerment and nl Now they canbe removed ....... peter ene 80 a PART TWO INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION PRACTICE Case One : The Lutayan Settlement Project... 2.0.0... ee ee a7 Case Two : Baranganic Approach in Barangay . BER ocean ioncnaiN ae FaTET Twa 96 Case Three: Bagong Barrio : A Basic Christian Community , , beste cereeeee el Case Four: The ZOTO Experience, ,,..., ET. ‘Scanned with Camearner eee |INTRODUCTION Community organization as a method of social work is the least known and inadequately taught in the schools of social work in the Philippines. But with the changing times that had ushered in multi-faceted problems in larger seale and the government's development thrust in the countryside as well as in the urban centers, the time of the practice of community organization (CO) in the Philippines has come. The social work profession thus needs fo project and delineate its area of practice. Its expertise in community organization have also to be honed and made more relevant to present reali- ties in the country, Moreover, there is a need to review and redefine the CO basic theories, concepts and principles as well as the roles and functions of the CO worker based on our own experiences and present realities. While there are varied CO concepts and theories formulated by the different leading authors on community organization in the United States, it would be more realistic for us to adopt the more relevant ones and indi- genize them for local application, We can also innovate and create our own theories based on our culture, values and experiences working with our own communities, Theories and practice need to be modified in the process of environmental change if they have to be relevant and responsive to the needs of the changing times, In doing so, we have first to identify the concerns of CO or the kind of problems it has to address itself and its arena of operation. The two kinds of problems identified by the social work profession which the CO worker need to address itself are the following: 1, Residual problems These problems are brought about by the operational break- down of either the producing system or the consuming public, This breakdown results to gaps in services and lack of resources. When our population increases for example, its demands on the producing systems as well as on the labor market increases. If we fail to produce adequate food, clothing, shelter, new jobs and establish basic social facilities for our increasing population, these gaps in meeting consumers’ needs manifest itself in social problems, crimes and delinquency, It also breeds social unrest. 2, Institutional problems This refers to the irrelevant or defective social policies and community decision-making process which need to be changed or modified as they adversely affect the interests and welfare of the majority of the people, When the interests and welfare of the majo- rity are in jeopardy, the:situation is likely to breed social problems, unrest and instability in the society. ‘Scanned with Camearner¢ grave outcome of these residual and institutional prob- lems. Te fo iol to operate in the threatened community to orga- nize and mobilize the relevant forces and strategies that would stave off the dire consequences which said problems would engender, She has also to enlarge her arena of operations as suggested in this book. ; , ‘There are a lot of community work being done by various organiza- tions in pursuit of varied goals, objectives and concerns using different approaches, Social work practitioners in CO can learn from their valuable experiences and may adopt some of -their effective strategies, techniques and approaches that had not yet been tried by the profession. These indi- genous strategies, techniques and approaches can be made more effective with technical inputs from the social work's body of knowledge, Case studies on some of these community organization work by other groups are included in this book as leaming tools, This book has limited the treatment of its materials and discussions on the community organization method of social work, Its basic theories, prin- ciples and practice are discussed and illustrated in detail in the succeeding chapters to delineate the CO professional practice of social workers from which other groups can also learn from, Community organization as a method of social work have these dis- tinctive features: 1. Its practice is based on a body of knowledge and principles, 2, It is practiced by professionally-trained social workers, 3. Its helping process proceeds from the analysis of baseline data on the community problems and needs with the participation of the people who are involved from the stages of problem/need identi- fication, planning their solutions, implementation of the plans, Monitoring and evaluation, 4. Its goal and objectives are to empower the people so they can attain a self-reliant and self-managed community, “<-_ 3, It adheres to the concept of integrated and coordinated efforts with other sectors of the community and in employing inter- disciplinary approach for effective results, While casework and social groupwork which are the other methods of social work focuses its concern with the individual's dysfunction, commu- nity organization's concern is with the system’s dysfunctions, the elements ,in the environment that had made the individual’s life stressful which led to their dysfunctioning, The CO intervention therefore consists in bringing - about necessary changes in the functions, policies, programs and services oF practices of existing organizations and institutions rather than engaging in clinical treatment, It consists also of mobilizing the affected populace and ‘Scanned with Camearnerorganizing them for problem-solving and decision making. Through this pro. cess of citizen participation and involvement in community affairs and national concerns can people empowerment be attained, Consequently the system's dysfunction can be dealt with more effectively. , Since the early part of the ‘70s, bottom-up planning had been advo. cated by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), our country’s premier planning body, Yearly, it went through the Process of bottom-up planning where plans from the barangays are forwarded to the municipal development councils where they are justified and approved and later forwarded to the provincial/eity development councils and the regional development councils \ndergoing the same planning process of justification, integration and approval, The regional development councils justify their regional plan which integrates the local government's plan and the plan of the national department line agencies field offices with the National Economic and Development Authority in joint hearing with the Budget Commission. In the final outcome however, it was the different national department’s budget that reflected the head office’s preference as to the type of programs and services that have to be implemented in the field and the amount of budget allocation for each regional office that prevailed through the years, Hence, grassroots planning or bottom-up planning were misnomers in actual Practice. With the enactment of the 1991 Local Government Code however, there is now a bright promise for People empowerment and countryside development. The practice of community organization’s time has come, Much of the promise for people’s empowerment and countryside deve- lopment hinges however, on the political will of the local executives, Their new-found power should not also be misused for their own political agenda; otherwise our long-held dream for the upliftment of our disadvantaged people will continue to remain an elusive dream, Should this situation happen, CO workers need to take a stand with the people which calls for social action. It is high time that social workers be known for their professional competence and commitment to the purposes, values and principles of their profession by acting with resoluteness whenever the need of their intervention arises, The process of development and problem-solving does not constitute trial and error approaches nor through the traditional way of giving pallia- lives, A change for the better requires a purposive, scientific and determined way of effecting positive change, This can be attained through the processes, techniques and strategies of un indigenized community organization method since different disciplines and groups of different persuasions and agenda have to be brought together to work for a common goal through their unified efforts and resources, This is the CO worker's area of expertise and whose arena of practice continue to expand as problems and needs become aoe complex and multiply with the passage of years that had not been adequately Planned and prepared for, ‘Scanned with Camearneré CHAPTER I ‘THEORETICAL BASE OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION i i zation (CO) as a social worker can practice community organization ( a dutuet ae the social work profession he/she should be well-grounded on its basic theories and functions. He/sheshould also have a clear understanding of her arena of operation and the kind of problems community organization has to address itself. This chapter will therefore provide the professional basis for the practice of CO, What is a community? . Arlene Johnson defined a community as ‘‘a group of people gathered together in a geographic area, large or small, who have common interests, actual or potentially recognized in the social welfare field,”” What are the two concepts of a community? - Roland Warren developed the concept of community as a multitude ” of systems many of which were influenced by their vertical relationship ‘than by their horizontal relationships. As a social system, the community may be either geographic or fenctional in nature. A geographic community “refers to the people in a specific geographic arca as the village, barangay, Sitio, district, municipality, city, province, region, nation or the world. Thus we refer for example to our world as ‘a community of nations”, A functional community on the other hand is composed of the people who hold common values, share some common functions or express some common interest such as education, health, livelihood, labor, welfare or ~ recreation, Example of this concept is the community chest, the professional community, the fisherfolk community, the banking community, etc. + How is organization defined? a Organization has been defined as the orderly arrangement of group ~effort to provide unity of action in the pursuit of common purpose, What is community Organization? Murray Ross defines communit is identi ‘i Y organization as a process of identi- he Problems and needs, prioritizing them, formulating solutions in solving problems/attaining needs and implementing them through cooperative and _Sollaborative efforts which results to improved capacity in community ‘Scanned with Camearner siproblem-solving process and com: munity integration, Arthur Dunham however defines CO as the Process of matching needs with resources and as a conscious process of soci; ion concerned with three types of objectives which are task goals, process goals and rela tionship goals, Perlman and Gurin on the other hand defines CO asa process of finding solutions to social problems by redistribu ting resources, functions and deci sion-making power, Integrating Ross, Dunham's, Perlman and Gurin’s foregoing definitions with other concepts, community organization has therefore been defined “as a method of social work that uses the conscious process of social interaction of mecting any or all of the following objectives: 1. the meeting of broad needs and bringing about and maintaining adjustment between needs and resources in a community. 2. helping people to deal more effectively with their problems, needs and aspirations by helping them develop, strengthen and maintain qualities of participation, self-direction, cooperation and integra. tion of efforts, 3. bringing about changes in community and group relationship, in policies and in the distribution of decision-making power, It deals with problem solving in response to problems and needs, It seeks social change for the greater good. It involves the process of social interaction, It involves people’s participation in planning and implementation of plans.” What is the philosophy of community organization? The following is the philosophy of community organization; “Acceptance of the right of the community to decide what it wants rather than hai the organizer's views imposed upon it, belief on ue say city of the people to find richer and more satisfying ways of living if eich helped to use the resources within themselves and their environment are and could be made available to them.” ‘ ‘Scanned with Camearner‘What are the values of community organization? ‘The values of community organization as a method of social work are: na yey A commitment to democratic processes and goals, ‘The right of a client community to self determination, Belief on the capacity of people to change, Belief on the innate dignity of the individual in the communi The commitment to seek social justice,” What are the assumptions of community organizations? 1, The assumptions of community organization are: “Changes in which individuals, groups and communities determine their own destiny in a democractic process have a better chance of enduring than changes that are imposed,” This means that the people should undergo the process of identi- fying their own problems and needs; analyze and solve them by Participating in the problem-solving and decision-making process so that the changes sought for would be a felt need and the resul- ‘tant change would endure and not just be ningas cogon, “Readiness to change is a variable which affects the potential and the rate of community change obtainable at a given time,” This would entail people's social preparation for change, It ean be brought about through consciousness raising, education, informa: tion dissemination, demonstrations, ete, “Skills in participating in democratic process can be taught and learned by individuals and groups.” People’s involvement in problem-solving and decisionmaking in ‘their own community problems and needs would enable them to learn how to participate in democra tic Processes even in a national scale, “Society can provide ways to achieve maximum compatibility of individual and community interest,” The greater good for the greatest number is the primary goal Uf every society, Thus individual interests should be harmonized & ‘Scanned with Camearnerwith society's primary goal wherein the majority’s benefit and interests override any individual's self interest. We have therefore Jaws as the Land Reform Program which distributes land ownership to a larger number of families which are owned by one or a few families, This is being done as this Unjust situation causes social unrest and would therefore be inimical to the welfare of society asa whole, “Social welfare provisions, services and programs can enhance human welfare and prevent and reduce social ills.” The livelihood programs as providing capital for income-generating projects, family life education, primary health care, establishment of day care center for pre-schoolers, cooperatives and recreation facilities are examples of these social and human welfare Programs designed to prevent and reduce social ills in our society. “Planning, coordination and integration of social welfare Provisions are by individuals; social ills are inter-telated, and social welfare Provisions are inter-dependent,” Society can derive maximum benefit when social welfare programs and services are integrated and coordinated among existing welfare agencies working in the communities since social ills are inter- related and social welfare provisions are inter-dependent, An example of inter-telatedness of a social ill is graphically shown hereunder: Poverty ———» Causes — due to unemployment/underemployment - due to poor health, sickness — due to lack of education, lack of required skills — lack of opportunities for employment; pala- Rasan system — exploitation of employees on wage benefits, fringe benefits — due to social injustice as land-grabbing which dep- rive affected families their sources of income = due to lack of provisions for poverty alleviation — due to lack of institutions catering to the needs of the poor ‘Scanned with Camearner- due to lack of political will to implement existing social welfare provisions such as the Land Reform Program and the National Reconciliation and Deve- lopment Program — due to people's ignorance in electing the more quali- fied and pro-poor candidates for proper governance in their respective localities and nation The causes of poverty as graphically shown is inter-related with other social ills as unemployment, sickness, ignorance, social injustice, etc. Thus in order to reduce poverty the different social welfare institutions need to coor- dinate with one another in planning for poverty redressal. These institutions are the Departments of Social Welfare and Development, Health, Education, Labor, Agriculture, Interior and Local Government, Agrarian Reform, Housing, Justice and the NGOs, _ What are the focus of community organization? The focus of community organization are the following: 1. “Removal of blacks to growth.” Identified blocks to growth are ipnorance, negative values as bahala na, ningas cogon and maniana habit, exploitation of the weak and ignorant and some oppressive social structures. “The release of potentialities in the individual, group and commu. nity as a whole,” This can be achieved through people’s participation in com- munity activities, projects and especially in the problem-solving, and decision-making process, The people have also to be recipients of training programs like leadership training, seminars on coopera- tives, nutrition, primary health care, livelihood programs, skills training, disaster preparedness, etc, “The development of the capacity of indigenous leaders to lead, to menue and function in their assigned social roles in the commu- nity, | Indigenous leaders’ capacity to lead can be further developed if given important and challenging roles as committee chairman or to take charge of a community activity or project. He should be given wide latitude in making decisions and the proper orienta- tion ‘and training for his assigned role, Learning by doing is at eine method of developing the leadership potentials of an indi- wal, ‘Scanned with Camearner4 “Developing the ability of different sectors in function as an integrated whole,” This can be done if all sectoral plans and activities are inte- grated in one community plan and when the implementation of said plans and activities are done through the cooperative and collax borative efforts of the different sectors involved in planning with the people. Thus the plans of the government sector, the private sector, (NGOs, civic and business organizations) and the religious sector need ito be integrated into one community plan to avoid Competition and duplication of services and activities involving the same target client system. the community to “Strengthening people’s capacity for problem-solving, decision- making and cooperation.” The people should not be mere recipients of development efforts. They should be involved in planning activities that affect their lives from problem/need identification, analyzing their iden- tified problems/needs, planning for their solutions, implementing said plans and in monitoring and evaluating their implementation, People’s participation in these community activities would develop and enhance their capacity to solve their problems and meet their needs in a cooperative manner. “The full use of inner indigenous resources before tapping extemal resources,” A selfreliant and self-managed community is the primary goal of community organization, Thus the people should learn to tap and make full use of their own resources before tapping exter- nal resources, A community, no matter how depressed, has its own inner resources to tap as human resources and natural re- sources like springs for water supply, raw materials such as forest products like rattan, nito, wild fruits, wild honey, marine products, clay, ete. The value of self-reliance need to be inculcated as depen- dence on others resources stunts growth and only delay the com- munity’s development. What are the purposes of community organization? The purposes of community organization are the following: Ll. zh a. To solve certain problems and meet needs, To achieve selected social goals, To strengthen the people’s capacity in dealing with their problems, needs and aspirations, ‘Scanned with Camearner| { | | Through organized efforts, community organization aims to solve \ certain problems that the people consider of great priority or attain their community's pressing ‘need and aspirations. It may be their problems on housing, drug abuse, street-children, on crimes and juvenile delinquency cor the need for a water supply system, primary health care, etc. The orga- nized efforts may be composed of a neighborhood welfare council, ad hoe committee, task force wherein the government, the private and religious sectors are represented, committee, study group and the development council depending on the kind of problems/needs to be solved or met, The CO worker is therefore required to possess skills in organizing, coordinating and | intergroup relationship, if she has to effectively enable the people to solve ‘certain problems and needs with their active participation, { The CO worker is expected to help the community to achieve some ‘Selected social goals and objectives. It may be their aspirations for a better life through ownership of the land they till as tenants or the electrification ‘of their community to boost economic productivity. In this case the CO worker need to act as broker with the landlord, the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Department of Energy to help them attain their aspirations, She may also organize the people for a cooperative project as Consumers “Cooperative, Credit Cooperative and Cooperative Marketing. Strengthening the people’s capacity in dealing with their problems, needs and aspirations would require adequate training through relevant seminars and on the job training, Thus they should be allowed to determine what are their priority problems/needs and enunciate their own aspirations. ‘They should also be allowed to plan the solutions to their own problems and needs and implement these plans themselves with the guidance/assistance of the CO worker, In this way they acquire the capacity to deal with their own | problems/needs and enable them to become a self-reliant and selfamanaged | community, ‘Scanned with CamearnerCHAPTER IT - GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Without specific goals and objectives, a community worker would be like a traveler in uncharted seas, One cannot achieve anything worthwhile by just playing it by ear or cide as done a lot of times. Efforts and resources simply go to waste through mere speculations and the trial and error method, Professional CO workers have to have specific goals and objectives to guide them in their community work, What are the goals of community organization? Arthur Dunham had identified the following as the goals of community organization: 1, tasks goals 2. process goals 3, relationship goals How do you differentiate tasks goals, process goals and relation- ship goals? Tasks goals are concerned with concrete tasks to be undertaken ta meet specific needs and people's aspirations or to solve particular problems. Process goals are concerned with the process of helping people in a community or group strengthen their quality of parti- cipation, self direction and cooperation. Its concern is to help people grow und develop to prepare them for their specific roles in community building and develop- ment, Relationship goals are focused in changing certain types of rela- tionships and decisionmaking process in a commu- nity by diffusing power to a wider base, CO believes in participative leadership rather than in an authoritarian leadership since people's participation in community undertakings develops enlightened citizenry. be Tasks goals, process goals and relationship goals may achieved druiteasoteee is ‘one task or one community activity &s illustrated in Figure 1, (See page 12)- W ‘Scanned with Camearner“spaauy/suraj goad ss, Qnmunuoes ay) Surpuezer SuTZrUI VoISap 40} amy Auaoyine uo aouepuedap s,9]doad itm TAKE Smop pur speau/suia| -Qoad nowy YIU Sinpeap Uy FaYOUR aU yTEAN uoddns/drysuontyar sraiut dojesap OL “suonrsidse pur spaatt s,ajdoad ata urenie o pur! surajqord yo uoyt -ayyjoad ay 1usaaid pue SaSnea asOly WIEM [Bop Aayaz9u09 0} way, PAOW P[Nom 1eYI Spaau sula[qord passaidxa 1104} Jo slaajja put sosnea ayy jo arene aq 0} a{doad au asisse OL, al sisAjeur uonenis = — siskpeur wajqad = — smuyy Ajrunurues aya UO peut ypieasos puE Aanins ays wos pasayred se spaau pur susa[qord Ayunuiuoo pur Apurey possardxa 3134) 924] -eue ajdoad aui diay oy -suotiendse ‘s2ydoad ain Sumreue pue spaeu/sutajgaid may) Butajos ur ajdoad 9443 40 £1103 Je Wo! pur eate10q -pjjoo Enon Burpurys -Japun pue woresadoos aaplm sapuasus o | SUOISSNOS!p: dnaid pue suopesizatc> jeurojur! marariur Keains aut ysnaryy urotfy ssosdxa pur aznorues 01 ajqe aq pue suonendse 7p ‘spaau/swalqord ‘suontpuco Half] Jo alee 3q 01 ajdoad ayearou 01, “AWUNUIWOD 243 UO sdnos8/ssinuate wazayyp £q SpeUE SOIpNIS PUE S31] “1981S JO as *sUOISsMosTD dno ‘afdoad aip ts von, “BS1IAUNO [BULIOJUT - StapEa 3p SONI) UPI MaTAray oT “Kaqans jo asn Aq Suuayyed -ejep ySnosyp Ayunw ~UOD aif} JO ]WOUESSISS Y ai spor diysuonejsy spoon 882904 $1205 SRL Apsnoaunynug paraiyry 228 Seog dyysuOHe py PUE s]EON) Warddd ‘sJEOT YSEL, MOY WO VOR EASNT BeUlTyIs __ 12 ‘Scanned with CamearnerIn figure I, it had been shown how process and relationship goals can be achieved simultaneously with a task goal, When a group of people for example gather data to assess their community through interviews, informal conversations group discussions, research, etc., the process of data Bathering brings an awareness of the community's problems/needs and the people's aspirations and become a concrete reality to the people, Since the people were involved in the task of data gathering, they become not only aware of their problems but also the factors that have been adversely affecting their lives. Thus they are moved to do something about said problems, needs and negative environmental factors through cooperative and collaborative efforts among themselves, The second task given as example in Figure 1 is the analysis of the people's expressed problems/needs, As the people are being assisted by the CO worker in problem analysis, the people become aware of the causes and effects of the problems being analyzed, The acquired knowledge of the dire effects of an unresolved problem/adverse situation would prod the people themselves to act on them without being told to de so by the community leader who usually makes the decision and tells the people what to do. Thus the triplet goals of community organization are achieved through a task aimed to solve the community's problems/needs and aspirations with the people's own formulated plans and cooperative efforts; and in the process they learn to manage their community affairs by integrading all efforts from various sectors in the community who consequently become more self-reliant and self-propelling citizens. What are the objectives of community organizations? The objectives of community organization are: 1. To remove blocks to growth. 2. To release potentialities and bring about people’s empower- ment, 3. To develop the capacity of indigenous leaders to manage community life and be self reliant, 4. To develop the ability to function’as an integrated unit. 5. To encourage the full use of inner or indigenous resources for community development before tapping outside resources. 6. To change/modily existing policies and programs that wre oppressive and irrelevant and to propose needed ones. 13 ‘Scanned with Camearnerf How are these objectives achieved? ‘These objectives oan be achieved in the following manner: 1, Remdval of blocks to growth What are these blocks to growth? As identified by many . community leaders and CO workers in the Philippines based on experience, the following are the existing blocks to growth: 1) ignorance 2) negative social values/patterns/ attitudes as the ningas cogon attitude, maniana habit, bahala na, palakasan, utang na loob, fatalistic attitude as attributing poverty or poor health to God’s will, etc, 3) regionalism/factionalism as electing only candidates for leadership roles belonging to one’s region or religion without considering their competence and qualifications for the position r 4) oppressive power structures that take advantage of the poor and the weak The Philippines takes pride to be one of the countries that have a high literacy rate. It is true majority of our people have gone to school but are considered ignorant especially when it comes to sigai- ficant issues and how these issues affect their lives, their community | and country as a whole, Such ignorance can be minimized if not eradi- | cated through continuing non-formal education, consciousness raising, a seminars, informal education as use of indigenous media, film showing | and participation in group discussions, community assembly, etc. a. Some negative values can be positivized as hiya, pakikisama, tang va loob, and buhala na, Hiya for example can be cited as a virtue | when @ person refuses to do wrong out of shame, He also gets to be in- volved in community activities out of hiya, The bakala na attitude as epitomized by Juan Tamad can be made positive when referred to as the willingness to take some risks for the betterment of the community instead of just leaving things to chance, Pakikisama becomes also a vir- tue When people get involved in community affairs out of camaraderie with their civic-minded neighbors and not for gaining favors for self- interest or joining boycott movements just to please some barkada, ‘Scanned with CamearnerThe ningas cogon and maniana habit can be di setting up time frames for a job or activity to be completed as using the Ghantt chart, The activities and plans for implementation should also be monitored closely using success/impact indicators as guide, lone away with by Regionalism and factionalism can be discouraged by organizing groups whose membership come from diverse places of origin, Even ‘groups for sports fest should be carefully Organized so as not to allow tribal groups to compete against each other as it would only engender factionalism, In electing also local leaders as council or committee chairman, it would be wise to provide the group or assembly the crite- ria desired for one to serve in such position and that the group will be evaluated based on their group effort to preclude any designs in sabo- taging the group chairman a member may happen not to like. To get rid of oppressive power structures, the community’s prob- Jem-solving and decision-making should be diffused to a wider base, The CO worker can also create new centers of power where the poor and the weak are well represented to safeguard their own interests, To Release Potentialities and Bring About People’s Empowerment Every individual, group or a community no matter how dep- ressed have potentials that can be tapped for their own development. All that need to be done is to provide the opportunities for the tapping of said potentials, This can be done by involving people to participate in community activities, group discussions, problem-solving and deci- sion-making sessions. They can also be given challenging roles in com- munity building and development starting from simple roles to the more difficult ones, For people empowerment,.the people should be given opportu- nities to acquire new knowledge and skills through informal education, seminars, skills training,field exposures and on-the-job trainings. They should be given the opportunity to think through a problem and for- mulate plans and decisions, They should be provided with a good supply of reading materials where they can learn additional knowledge and be kept abreast with current events, significant issues in their country and the outside world, The people should also be exposed to other creative ideas, projects and a better way of life through exposure programs outside their communities, All these would broaden their horizons, their way of thinking and their way of doing things for the better, To Develop the Capacity to Manage Community Lije and be Self-reliant The first thing to do in attaining this objective is to first identify 1s ‘Scanned with Camearnerthe community's indigenous Joadors, They are the formal and informal jeaders in the community. The formal leaders are those who have been lected as officials of the local government, the heads of the different government and private agencies, and the heads of the different civic and religious organizations as ‘the Knights of Columbus, Womens Catho- lic League, the PTA, the Neighborhood Association, ete, The informe! leaders are those persons to whom the people have a high regard and go for advice by virtue of his past positions and high standing in the community, those who have a strong influence with the people by virtue of his wisdom and integrity so that his opinion is widely sought and valued and those persons the people consider depen- dable for any undertaking As soon as the indigenous leaders ate identified, they should be organized to form 8 core group that would be entrusted to plan for the development of the community, solve its problems and meet it expressed needs and aspirations. Said group should also be made res- ponsible in the implementation of their own plans, monitor them and regularly evaluate the results of its implementation, The people's parti- cipation in all phases of the planning process from identification of problems/needs, their analysis and planning their solutions is a must in developing their capability to manage their community affairs, For these leaders to effectively carry out their tasks and respon- sibilities, they should benefit from appropriate trainings for their job as seminars on leadership, management, development planning, human and public relations, cooperatives, primary health care, etc. With appropriate trainings and their actual involvement in the manage- ment of their community affairs they would assuredly become respon- sible, competent and confident leaders. To Develop the Ability to Function as an Integrated Unit In most communities there are different groups working indepen- dently of one another for the same target clientele and objectives. This often results to duplication ‘of services, competition and uneven benefits to the intended beneficaries, Thus some sectors in the commu- nity become more discontented and instead of being grateful they Tue the presence of such groups in their midst, It is therefore one of the objectives of community organizations to bring these disparate groups together in order that they can inte- 16 an! ‘Scanned with Camearner‘grate their programs and efforts so may receive fair treatment and among the groups can also be served since duplication of se gfoups work as an integrated u nized and rationalized when another, that their intended beneficiaries Prevent their discontent, Competition avoided as more beneficiaries can be Tvices can be prevented when separate init because their services can be harmo they work in collaboration with one To Encourage the Full Use of Inner or Indigenous Resources for Community Development Before Tapping Outside Resources Every community need to realize that na matter how depressed they are, they have their own internal resources that can be tapped for their development, Instead of habitually depending on outside Tesources to tap they should first make use of their own resources SO as nat to delay development efforts for their community, This is the reason why it is a must for CO workers to first make a survey of their target communi h includes the identified internal resources of the community tirterms of manpower; economic resources as indigenous raw materials, such as rattan for furniture, clay for pottery, shells for shellcrafts, swamps for shrimp/fish culture, river beds for hollow blosks making, springs for water supply and other social facilities as credit unions or the palu- wagan system, factories for employment, healtiv facilities, recreational facilities, civic and religious organizations, NGOs, etc, The community should also be made to realize that their most important resource is the people themselves who if properly trained, Organized and motivated can be a potent farce for their awn develop- ment, To Change/Modify Existing Policies and Programs that are Oppressive, Defective ar Irrelevant and to Propose Needed Ones There are existing or proposed laws, ordinances or policy guidelines which the people may find oppressive, defective or irrele- vant which need to be changed or modified as such laws/policies run counter to the welfare of the people or tend to benefit only a pri vileged sector of the population, The CO worker muy also experience the need for the passing of new laws, ordinances or policies that would solve some identified problems and needs in the course of her work with the people. When confronted with these situations, itis the CO worker's responsibility to initiate with the people’s participation the passing Of these required legal statutes and/or to change/modity ‘existing ones as the situation demands. 7 ‘Scanned with CamearnerCHAPTER IIL \ THE THREE MODELS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Community Organization as a method of social work has three models which distinguishes itself from other community organizing work, These models are the following: 1, community development/locality development. 2. Social planning 3, Social Action | How are the different models of community organization differentiated? 1, Community development According to Kramer and Specht, community development as a CO -model refers to efforts to mobilize the people, the victims, the unaffiliated, ; the unorganized and the non-participating who are affected by a community condition into groups and organizations to enable them to take action on these social problems and issues which affect them, The goal is the solution + of specific community problems and needs for the development of the com- munity and benefit of its people with the participation of the target bene- ficiaries themselves. “ The United Nations had popularized the use of the term community development to mean “the process by which the efforts of the people them- selves are united with those of government authorities to improve the eco- ~ nomic, social and cultural conditions of the communities into the life of the nation, and to enable them to contribute fully to national progress.” The goal is community competence, It was the which was creat dmplemented thi Presidential Assistant on Community Development (PACD) led by the late President Ramon Magsaysay in 1956 which n is UN concept of community development in the Philip- Pines. The PACD later became a bureau in the Department of Local Govern- ment (DLG). However, when the Ministry of Human Settlements was esta- blished during the Marcos regime, the community development program of DLG was transferred there, When President Cotazon Aquino took over the helm of the government after the EDSA revolt in 1986, she abolished the Ministry of Human Settlements including the community development 18 ‘Scanned with Camearnerprogram. of the government, However, the Department of Social Welfare and Development under its Community Welfare Program started in the late ‘70s doing community organization work in pilot areas where the fieidworkers were allowed to innovate approaches in helping depressed communities in their development. The use of the baranganic approach was emphasized, the operationalization of which was left 10 the regional offices to conceptualize, This will be treated in more detail in Part Two. What are the basic elements of community development? The basic elements of community development as identified by Kenneth Maygood are the following: 1), “The community is approached as a whole,” Since the community is seen as an integrated social and economic system consisting of class and group organizations that has its own patterns of social values, attitudes, customs, beliefs and diversified in age, sex, profession, vocation, skills and social function, changes in one part of the cones will have an effect on other parts of the system. 2). “Activities undertaken correspond to the basic needs of the community.” ‘These needs can be classified into: Physical — water supply system — roads — — imtigation system — playgrounds — schools — health clinics — market — community center — housing Economic — problems of livelihood ; lack of income — poor production of farm lots — lack of facilities to transport products to market outlets 19 ‘Scanned with Camearner3). 4) 5). lack of raw materials for productive pursuits Social problems on crime & delinquency, drug abuse, squatters, street children, etc, lack of basic services for education, health, recreation, day care center, counseling and social services aspirations for better quality of life, better governance, land ownership, etc. Psychological sense of community — sense of achievernent sense of security — sense of efficiency and effectiveness sense of well-being — sense of dignity “The educational-organizational process moves from an aware- ness of problems to a definition of problems followed by study”. This is done through consciouness raising on the community problems, data gathering through actual survey of the community and from interviews of the people so that the problems can be clearly defined and analyzed for appropriate action, “Community development activities are thought of in long- range terms,” A comprehensive and balanced development progeam works on the community's varied problems through short-range and long-range plans since there are problems/needs that can be solved immediately while problems like poverty and attitudinal change have to be worked over a longer period of time. “Widespread participation and involvement is sought with decision- making taking place at the lowest level, consistent with the nature of the problem," Plans for community development used to be made from. the top and handed down from the national, regional, provincial, 20 ‘Scanned with Camearner6). 7). 8). municipal and barangay level or the head office of the NGOs to the community level, Often such plang are not in coi ance or responsive to the priority problems and needs of the target commu- nities, It is now therefore recognized that for community develop- ment to succeed, the people themselves who will be affected by any development effort or programs have to be involved in the process of problem-solving and decision-making, “The resources of both governmental and non-governmental orga- nizations are utilized," The greater involvement of the private sector in social welfare and community development is being encouraged since society's welfare is not the sole concern of the government but also of the private sector. Their partnership in community development would mean more effective approaches and wider scope of beneficiaries since their pooled resources and manpower would systematize all community endeavors, The involvement of the NGOs in planning bodies of the local government units and other affairs of the government is no longer voluntary in nature but has been mandated by the newly approved Local Government Code, With their expertise and fresh outlook, the participation of NGOs in government affairs is expected to revitalize local governance and development, “Both professional and lay participation are sought in community development programs.” The professional CO worker cannog function alone in assisting a community to develop and neither can lay people be able ta do the job without professional help, Each of them have important roles to play in community development through their joint efforts, “The identification, encouragement and training of local leaders isa central feature of community development programs," Since the main goal of Community development is competence in solving their problems and needs, it is the priority task of the CO worker to identify the community’s indigenous leaders and provide them with appropriate trainings in leadership, management, deve- lopment planning, problem-solving, decision-making and human relations for them to assume their future roles in the community. 21 ‘Scanned with CamearnerWith these basic elements of community development as guide and frame of reference, it is obvious that the CO worker has now to expand her targets from specific problems in the community to the community as a whole since one cannot possibly isolate certain problems for solution without involving the other systems in the community. Community competence becomes the larger goal of a CO worker in order for community problems and needs to be effectively solved and met. 2, Social Planning Social planning according to Kramer and Specht refers to “efforts directed towards integrating the different action systems of the community with other systems in the local community and/or with extra community action systems, efforts aimed at bringing about reforms in attitudes, policies and practice of large private and public agencies including legal, functional syst As a process, Alfred J. Kahn suggests that social planning should contain the following elements: — research (fact-finding, projection and inventory taking) — value analysis and facilitation of expression of various posi- tions, sometimes through political machinations — policy formulation — programming — measurement and feedback Kahn also posited that in social planning what may be sought as ‘outcome is one or more of the following: — new policies (standing plans) — program and policy cootdination — service integration — innovations in programs — choice in priorities in any of the foregoing or for the allocation of services 22 ‘Scanned with Camearner— administrative decisions The three levels of action in social Planning as Suggested by John Dick- nan are the following: 1) societal goals: selecting social goals and Setting targets for their achievement, 2) testing consequences: the application of social values and action criteria to the assessment of programs Undertaken in pursuit of economic and poli. tical goals and the testing of consequences interms of intergroup or interpersonal rela. tions of everything from broad economic development programs to specific redevelop. ment projects, 3) social Programming: planning the more traditional welfare activities of public and private agencies and the coordination by many groups, To assure successful implementation of the process in social planning, Kahn suggest that the following steps should be taken: — clarify goals, Priorities, interests — ascertain the facts, the social realities, the trends — inventory the knowledge, the skills, the resources available and obtainable — analyze the alternatives and the Predictable outcomes of choices among them — formalize the expression of preference and the Process of choice — translate policies into implications for program or different levels of objectives — Measure the outcome of the program 3. Social Action Social action ig popularly associated with activism, protest rallies i However, as a and other forins of Group dissent or dissatisfaction. Hi neh CO model, social action refers to individual or group activity design 23 ‘Scanned with Camearnerto influence a change in social policy or to lobby for the formulation of needed policies or social legislations for the benefit and welfare of ‘the people. As a CO model, social action has the following strategies: 1) weial brokerage 2) integrative mechanisms to strengthen organizations 3) social protests to support social movements ‘These strategies have different objectives and approaches which will be lator illustrated in this chapter. How can cach model of community organization be illustrated? ‘The following are brief illustrations of each model; 1 Community Development One hot summer, the municipality of Natividad was badly hit by a freak tornado which totally destroyed 40% of the houses in the pab- lacion and partially damaged 50% totalling 300 affected homes. Its schoolhouse suffered severe damage as its rooftop was torn off by the strong circular winds of the tornado and carried some 150 meters away. The homeless had to seek shelter at the Catholic church where many had to build makeshift shelters in the churchyard, The town’s water supply system also broke down as their big water tank where water is pumped into for redistribution to the homes also collapsed. This com- pounded the problem of the people. An emergency mecting at the municipal hall was called by the mayor with the different heads of government and private welfare agen- Ciesin attendance together with local officials, The main agenda was how the group us assembled ca mmediately solve and meet the needs of the dissster victims and rebuild the town’s water supply system ds well as the schoolhouse thut suffered severe damages, Mt had been suggested by the Municipal Engineer that the Mayor iinmediately wire the President for calamity funds to enable them to sssist the tornado victims and restore the town's water supply system and rebuild their schoolhouse, The social worker informed the group that her office has available relief supplies which however would only be enough for a day's ration, She therefore suggested that the Red Cross be asked to distribute emergency food rations and that a group be designated to solicit contributions in cash of in kind from the unaffected population and nearby towns, She also suggested that the victims themselves should be organized and be invalved in planning 24 ‘Scanned with Camearnersolutions to their problems and needs and in the implementation of their plan instead of just waiting for aid, The Mayor in response to said suggestion designated the social worker, the DILG worker and the municipal engineer as the task force that will plan and strategize on how the crisis situation can effectively be met assisted by the President of the Knights of Columbus and the business groups’ representative. The Red Cross was designated to give the emergency food assistance while the representatives from the religious groups were designated to solicit relief supplies to. augment the supplies of the Red Cross and assist said agency in its systematic distribution, The Task Force immediately went to the church where most of the tornado victims were staying and met with the heads of the families to discuss their plight and to plan ways and means on how to meet their immediate needs and rebuild their destroyed homes. They first dis- cussed how to systematize their food rationing, They agreed that the family victims be organized into groups of 10 and elect their leader who will be responsible in receiving their dry rations right at the churchyard and cook also their rations for a group of 10 families, The leader was also designated to make a list of his member families, their dependents, their ages, occupation, income and losses. They were also asked to state the available resources they still possess. Each leader was given two hours to submit his list to the Task Force. In the interim of two hours, the task force made a spot assessment of the damaged water supply system and the schoolhouse. The engineer together with the businessmen's representative who is an architect made esti- mates of the cost for materials and labor for the restoration of said public facilities. After getting the lists from the different group leaders, the task force made a spot assessment of the damaged houses and estimated the cost of rebuilding/repairing them, The affected families agreed to provide the labor in rebuilding or cepairing their homes through the bayanihar method. Meanwhile the social worker organized other teams to seé to it that their evacuation center is kept clean and sanitary and that the children attend the temporary classes held in the open space of the schoolyard, Temporary roofs made of coconut fronds were constructed by the PTA at the open space to shelter the children from the elements. While waiting for the calamity funds to arrive, the affected fami- lies started to salvage the house materials of their damaged homes. Their yard were also cleaned of debris, Hence when the calamity funds arrived after a week, the community was ready and already functioning systematically to enable them to reconstruct their commu- nity life in a faster and efficient manner, This was due to the organized efforts of the govemment and the affected populace who were involved 25 ‘Scanned with Camearnerjn solving the community problem from the planning to the implemen- tation stages. As the people learned to work together in an organized and cooperative manner, the community’s competence to handle a crisis situation was developed, It will be noted that the victims of the calamity were not mere recipients of aid but were actively involved in the planning and implementation of the plans for emergency assist- ance, restoration and rehabilitation of their community that suffered great havoc from a freak disaster, They also contributed their own available resources and labor in order that their community life can be rebuilt. In the entire operations of emergency assistance and commu- nity rebuilding, the social worker lent her expertise in community organizing who saw to it that the twin goals of solving a community problem and the development of the community’s competence in handling crisis situations were achieved and developed. Community development can take place therefore not only during normal times but also during periods when the community is in crisis situation. Social Planning San Ildefonso is a booming town in the southem part of the country due to the discovery of gold in its adjacent mountains and rivers. This discovery caused a mass influx of people to this town. The people prospered and some residents established beer houses and recreation joints as disco houses, gambling dens and prostitution houses to cater to the miners’ entertainment as they were making a lot of money from the sales of their gold, Soon the townspeople were alarmed as they saw their town’s growing decadence. The religious and civic groups were shocked to lear of the reported incidence of sex-related diseases and proliferation of drug addiction. They therefore decided to take action, The Catholic Womens League in an emergency meeting deci- ded to put up a hi-speed sewing class to wean away the young girls from falling prey to the lure of the established fun houses and other Tecreation joints. The Kiwanis Club followed suit by setting up a skills training school for the youth in electronics, gold plating, welding and refrigeration to entice the youth from joining the mining venture ‘that was deemed hazardous or from working in the joints where the prohibited drugs was being sold surreptitiously, The Knights of Colum- bus offered scholarships for a four-year college course. But all these efforts and offered welfare programs of the concerned groups seem Not to be making progress as the youths together with the menfolk continued to frequent the bars and gambling dens and the young eitls ite 80 to the disco joints became drug addicts as their drinks were eed with drugs without their knowledge, Eventually they wete easily 26 ‘Scanned with Camearnerlured to the prostitution houses and became victims of sex-related diseases, Fortunately for the town of San Ildefonso a social worker who had experience in CO work was assigned to the office of the Municipal Mayor after she was devolved from the Department of Social Welfare and Development under the mandate of the Local Government Code. The first thing she did was to make an assessment of the town’s situa- tion. She came to the conclusion that an integrated and collaborative approach to the town's prevailing problems need to be done for effect- ive results, She therefore made informal and exploratory talks with the different groups who were willing to join hands with the government in solving their perceived problems, In order to impress on the mayor the umency of their situation. the CO worker briefed him on the extent of those involved in drug abuse and delinquency, on the number of young girls lured to prostitution, the many number of broken homes due to heavy gambling and presence of vices, and the high cases of sex-related diseases as recorded in the town’s medical Clinics. She therefore proposed that the Municipal Development Coun- cil be immediately convened for the purpose of formulating a compre hensive and integrated municipal plan to solve the serious social prob- lems prevailing in their municipality. She was able to convince the mayor on the urgency of dealing immediately with the prevailing problems otherwise the problems may become more serious and more difficult to solve at a later time. Thus the mayor agceed to the imme- diate convening of the Municipal Development Council (MDC). During the meeting of the MDC, the mayor who’ was sufficiently briefed on the statistical data on the prevailing social problems in their municipality informed the MDC about his concem on the grave prob- lems besetting their municipality, He cited statistical data on the num: ber of families and youths affected which he considered rather alar- ming. The mayor also gave recognition to the different programs and Projects of some organizauons designed to help solve these problems and thanked them for their efforts, He however told the group that the problems need bolder und more decisive cooperative efforts in order for the problems to be effectively dealt with. The group members were therefore invited to give their suggestions, The first to give inis suggestion was the health officer who suggest- ed that a municipal ordinance be passed requiring all workers in the bars, disco clubs and prostitution houses to report to the municipal health clinic for a regular medical check up under pain of closure of their joints should these workers fail to do so. The President of the 27 ‘Scanned with CamearnerCatholic Womens League proposed instead that the prostitution houses tbe cloeed as it is & blight to the image of the municipality and a bad influence to the youths. She argued that the income these houses are contributing to the town's coffers is nothing compared to the moral damage it inflicts on their community life, Many proposals and suggest- ions were given and the group seemed at a loss how to proceed in tack- ling the problems and solutions proposed The CO worker therefore proposed that the MDC be organized into different special committees to make a more indepth study of cach identified problem and formulate the plans in solving the prob- Jem assigned to said committee, She further proposed that the orga- nized committees be allowed to recruit members from the other NGOs who are not members of the MDC to elicit wider community partici- pation and to strengthen their organized committees. The proposal was seconded by the DILG municipal officer and approved by the group. The following committees were organized with these corresponding functions: 1, Legal Committee 1) To look into the legal aspects of the mining ventures and the actual conditions in the mining area; 2) To recommend measures on how to legally deal with these repor- ted situations and problems: — the use of minors in the mines — the use of crude mining methods and crudely-built tunnels that pose grave danger to loss of lives should these tunnels collapse — the seething rivalry between the town's miners and migrant miners which could erupt into a peace and order problem 3) To recommend measures or actions to take for disco houses, bars and other joints being used as fronts for prostitution and drug trafficking 2. Youth Committee _ To formulate a comprehensive and integrated program and strate- gies, measures that would effectively wean the youths away from the mining induswy and the other joints that are fronts for prostitution and drug-related activities, 28 ‘Scanned with Camearner3. Livelihood Committee To formulate viable livelihood Programs that would attract the Participation of the youths, women and menfolk who are risking their lives in a hazardous mining venture, 4, Social Services and Health Committee To formulate programs and services for the Prevention and rehabi- litation of drug dependents, prostitutes and those with sex-related diseases with the participation of their families, 5S. Committee on Education To formulate measures and Strategies in enlightening the people on the ill effects of drugs, alcoholism, prostitution and gambling on their lives and their family life, The different committees came up with sound measures, programs and Projects that was able to adaress the problems of San Ildefonso as the diffe- rent government and private agencies/organizations collaborated with one another, sharing their ideas and resources in a cooperative way. They also integrated their plans and efforts so that there would be no duplication of Programs and services and competition among the cooperating agencies, Tt will be noted that in the community development case illustration the people involved who played a major role in solving the community’s Problems were not organized groups but were the victims themselves who were organized in order to solve the crisis situation confronting them who were assisted by the relevant government and Private agencies in said task, While in social planning, the existing organizations and agencies both public and private were the ones who were Organized to form a municipality-wide Planning body to formulate a comprehensive and integrated plan that would solve the serious identified problems of the town which was done in coordi- nated and collaborative manner, Social Action Barangay Salvacion is located adjacent a large banana plantation whose owner is 4 political kingpin and very influential with the national leadership, The residents of | barangay Salvacion were therefore apprehensive in presenting their problem to the plantation management which they suspected as the source of their community problem, Hence they suffered their plight and despair in hopelessness until a CO worker was assigned to their barangay to help them, 29 ‘Scanned with CamearnerAfter assessing the problems and needs of Barangay Salvacion with the people, it was found out that the barangay’s most pressing problem was the flooding of their ricefields which destroy their produce. The floodwaters js a result of the overflow from the rivers that serve as boundary with the banana plantation, Said river is fed by rain waters coming from the banana plantation which is polluted with insecticides that had been washed down by the rain, Thus many animals that drink this contaminated water die, It was also discovered that the overflowing of the river is due to discarded plastic materials used to cover the banana fruits then thrown into the river. Said plastic materials are caught by the trunks and branches of old trees that also find their way to the river and therefore retard the flow of the water causing the river to overflow its banks. ‘A mecting was called by the Barangay Captain as recommended by the CO worker where the people and barangay officials discussed their problems and their solutions. The cause of the floods destroying their crops and death of their work animals including the fishes in their rivers and fields were traced to the banana plantation where the rains washed down their sprayed insecticides from the banana plants poisoning the river and the fields of living things, The flood was also attributed to the discarded plastic bags from the banana plantation that clogged their rivers causing it to overflow especially after heavy rains. The people were however at a loss as how to approach their problem, ‘At this juncture, the CO worker suggested that their suspicions and conjectures should be backed up with documentary evidence. When asked what need to be done, she suggested that an analysis of the flood waters and the river should be made to confirm their suspicions regarding their con- tamination with insecticide, In this regard the municipal health office had to be approached for assistance. The CO worker also suggested that they take pictures of their destroyed crops and dead animals including the presence of plastic materials clogging their river which causes it to overflow its banks. And as soon as they have these documentary evidences same will be presented to the management of the banana plantation with the people’s petition that a drainage canal be built by the plantation where rain water within the plan- tation can be diverted and rerouted to another place where it cannot do harm, Statistical data will also be presented detailing the extent of their losses in crops, animals, source of fishes for food and income, The hazards to the People’s health and risks of death occurences from the contaminated waters will also be mentioned, _ The people led by their officials ugreed to the suggestion and imume- diately took steps to document their problem and the pinpointed root causes, They organized two special committees, one to take the pictures and. the other ane to document the actual losses in terms of crops and work ani- ‘Scanned with Camearnermals. The barangay captain volunteered to obtain a water analysis of the water in their river and fields from the Municipal Health Center. The people were asked to submit their individual losses to this committee, They set their target of two weeks to complete the assigned task. After two weeks the documentary evidences were obtained hence a Petition © the banana plantation management was drafted and signed by the barangay officials and the heads of the families of the barangay. When the petition was signed, the barangay officials together with some indigenous leaders were accompanied by the CO worker to the office of the banana plantation to present it, The delegation was cordially received by the manager of the banana plantation and were served snacks, They were also told that their petition will be studied and acted upon as soon as possible, The delegation therefore went home with hope in their hearts, After a month had lapsed nothing was done and heard from the mana- ger of the banana plantation, Hence a followup letter was made and brought to the office of the plantation manager by the barangay officials. The dele- gation was informed that it took time for their office's staff to Prepare the feasibility study which they presented to the corporate owners of the plantation as their cost estimates would entail a huge amount of funding. And that the corporate owners did not approve their Proposed project for a drainage canal which would reroute the plantation rain waters somewhere else, With this information, ihe delegation went back to their barangay very much disappointed. They could not contain their show of resentment when they gave their feedback to the people who cagerly awaited for their retum, The people of barangay Salvacion were angry and restless when told ‘of the indifference of the owners of the banana plantation, In desperation some residents went to the extent of suggesting that they enlist the help of the underground revolutionary movement who they felt could get swift justice for them. CO worker however cautioned them from resorting to unlawful acts or solutions to their problems and have faith in the legal system. Thus she helped them approach a group of progressive lawyers for legal assistance, They also brought their plight to the mass media and requested their assistance to drum up public support to their cause, After the lawyers were apprised of Barangay Salvacion’s problem they filed a complaint with the AntiPollution Commission against the management of the banana plantation and a court case against the plantation, owners who were asked to pay a huge amount of damages to the people ot Barangay Salvacion. The mass media also made a pooled editorial of the 31 ‘Scanned with Camearner