Pilosopiya sa Panahon ng Pandemiya

The entire community development program unfolded in a rather organized manner. This began with the preparations mostly done by the undergraduate philosophy organization Concilium Philosophiae’s Community Development board. Zeus Suazo and Mikaela Avelino took charge of coordinating with the Healing Path Foundation as the partner community and pushed for the continuation of the community development program in spite of the restriction of any physical arrangements. Initial arrangements were possible which continued the previous arrangements with the partner community. 

In partnership with the philosophy cluster of the UST Graduate School, the volunteer speakers were then identified among the graduate students, namely Anton Heinrich Rennesland, Gillian Marian Garcia, and Blaise Ringor. It was considered best to have a speaker in relation to counseling and so Lovely Ana Ventus Aguas was invited to be one of the resource speakers. The invitation of Lovely Aguas was also timely because being a registered counselor and psychologist herself, she provided key points to the speakers for them to consider in giving talks to people recovering from illnesses especially addiction. She emphasized certain words that must be avoided and even supplied the group with how it would be better to frame certain sentences for a more inclusive approach.

Alongside this, official documentation was prepared especially in securing the signatures of all the administrators. Since this was an event that featured two groups within the Department of Philosophy, the undergraduate and the graduate groups, the administrators of the Faculty of Arts and Letters and the Graduate School had to sign the documents. This took a couple of days to secure entirely.

In preparation for the actual community development project, the speakers were grouped into two groups for two separate talks. Lovely Aguas and Blaise Ringor in the first group while Anton Rennesland and Gillian Garcia in the second. The core of both talks would center on healing, recovery, and community integration. Both groups prepared the outline of their talks in advance which was conferred with the Concilium Philosophiae’s Community Development board and the Healing Path’s community organizer(s) to secure that no sensitive topic would be tackled. The topics of the two talks are as follows: (1) "The Role of the Family and Family Values for the Healing and Recovery of an Individual" - Target Audience: Family of the Residents of Healing Path; (2)"Important Values and Virtues to Overcome Fear and Anxiety and Attain Recovery" - Target Audience: Residents of Healing Path Both groups then had their recordings via Google Meet done during their respective common schedules according to the agreed flow. After the videos were finished, these were once again screened by the community leader to verify once more that no sensitive material is included.

Last May 14 was the day of the turnover of recorded videos and of material support to the partner community, Healing Path. Via Google Meet, the session was attended by members of Healing Path and various members of the UST Department of Philosophy from a faculty representative, Anton Rennesland, to alumni, Ivan Gozum and Christian Ramos, and also members of the Concilium Philosophiae, Zeus Suazo, Mikaela Avelino, and Lorenz Layao to name a few. The turnover began with a prayer, followed by messages from the various members of the Philosophy Department, then by the partner community through a special dance number as also a sign of appreciation. The event ended with the sharing of the Google Drive containing the videos and the arrival of the purchased goods. This was capped with the singing of the UST hymn.

True enough, the whole community development project was a living testament that the discipline of philosophy can thrive even in times of crisis. Providing educational materials to Healing Path provides enough reason to how philosophy and its underlying virtues can provide hope for people who are undergoing a program of recovery. This also implies how philosophy - despite being construed as always in the ivory tower - can translate its teachings towards the masses and help it in its development. Indeed, the community development project that the philosophy students implemented with Healing Path Foundation serves as an exemplification that the learning experience provided by philosophy engenders a light that others can follow for one's development, or in the case of Healing Path, for their complete and total recovery. 

Mr. Anton Rennesland, MA (Faculty of the Department of Philosophy) expressing the commitment of the Department of Philosophy to help Healing Path

The Community residents actively participating during the project launching.

Sir Marco “Macoy” Tangonan (Community Leader) formally accepts the pre-recorded videos and gives his message of gratitude for the efforts of Concilium.

Zeus Suazo (Main Project Implementer) giving the opening remarks.

MakiBOTO at MakiALAM 3.0: Paghimok sa kabataan na bumoto at maging aktibo sa komunidad

    The Political Science Forum (TPSF), with its own aim to be collaborators in creating larger civic education programmes, conducted a voter’s education webinar to educate the thirty youth participants from the Ministry of the Urban Poor, Caloocan last May 3-4, 2021. Prior to the implementation of the project, it is a continuous advocacy of our organization to seek all means necessary in educating voters and bringing the information about electoral candidates, voting rights and duties, and voting procedures accessible to all people most especially to the youth sector. As the 2022 National Elections draw closer, the relevance and importance of the said project became much evident. Therefore, the organization refused to let the pandemic restrict them from shaping smart voters and promoting active participation in strengthening democracy regardless of the distance of each participant and facilitators. Catalyzing smart voters through a Digital voter's education project was the main goal of each organizers. 

Phase 1: Community Profiling Activity

    Using all the online means necessary to carry out the efficient implementation of our project, the organizers divided the flow of the implementation into two phases. First phase was meant for the Community profiling activity and the second phase was set for the online or recorded voter’s education webinar. In the first phase of the said project, the activities were scheduled as (1) Data Collection stage, (2) Documentation, (3) Arranging of data into meaningful order and using an infographic and (4) Analyzing or Understanding the data for probable interpretations. This stage was deemed important because of the nature of community development programs to conduct profiling to the community or members to picture their needs, participation, level of active participation and so on. There were a total of 10 questions asked towards the participants which sought information on whether or not they were registered, plan to vote and the standards for candidates they usually set. Additionally, we asked them why they registered or chose not to register including the kinds and traits of candidates they will surely vote for and support.  

While socially distanced, community youth members fill up Google forms used for data collection captured by Mr. Noli Madeja

    Having acquired the complete data, we deemed it necessary to conduct a voter’s education webinar in the community because of three salient points which are (1) lack of voter’s education seminars in the community (2) high number of unregistered voters (3) low level of importance associated with voting. Each of the participants were also given a meal for lunch and for them to enjoy. Through strict compliance with safety protocols, the participants were wearing face shields, facemasks and were observing social distance while they answered the questions. Towards the end of the first phase, they gave out their warm smiles and expressed their gratitude through the Community partnered leader Sir Noli Madeja who distributed the food in each house to avoid the participants from flocking into one place.

Socially distanced distribution of food to participants captured by Mr. Rainier Mendoza

    Overall, the participants had a very efficient communication with the kamanlalakbay and efficient answering of the questions through the help of the load or data the organizers provided during both phases. 

Phase 2: Voter’s education Done Digitally

    During the second phase however, the participants were set to watch the one-hour pre-recorded online webinar that taught them about the importance of youth representation in voting as well as the increasing roles of the youth in the society. Two speakers were invited during that webinar. The speakers were intended to be both youth leaders in order to create more connection and establish a relatability in a snap. The speakers were also both advocates of youth empowerment and youth representation that's why we think the event objective was easily achieved. Moreover, the first talk of the event was led by the Invited Speaker Mr. Paul Roset who is currently a scholar and a student leader who works in one of the Non-profit organization with engaging youth parliamentarians. He talked about the importance of voting and asked the insights the youth can express which flamed their desire for change and recognized the need to vote. The second speaker on the other hand was Ms. Kaye Angelica Lacurom who discussed the rights and responsibilities of a voter which can be applied to all general electorates, not just the youth. This can enable the participants to learn and also teach other people such as their parents, friends and anyone in their close social circle to register and vote wisely. 

A youth participant watching intently the recorded voter’s education webinar captured by Mr.  Noli Madeja

    In addition, since the webinar was pre-recorded, the participants were able to watch, resume, pause and re-watch the seminar as many times as they liked. Hence, it facilitated a more meaningful reflection and pondering. Afterwards, the participants watched two video materials that were included in the online webinar. These materials were included in order to make the event more interesting, active and dynamic. In the end, the participants also answered the evaluation part which can evaluate the performance and success of the event and the project organizers. The participants then ended the event by receiving their own sets of tokens which composed of canned goods, noodles and rice while wearing face shields, face masks and observing the provided safety protocols. The webinar ended with enriched minds and sweet expressions of gratitude from the evaluation results. Each of the participants then took a picture to show that they all received the food lovingly prepared by the organizers. 

While wearing face shield and face mask, the young participant poses for a picture as he receive his token of participation captured by Mr. Noli Madeja

Overall Learnings and Recommendations 

    Lastly, adjusting to the new normal takes grit, the same can be said for the adjustments and changes made to conduct community development programs. As with everything in the new normal, assumptions could already be made on how the adjustment would be. Planning for these projects in the new normal can be monotonous, stressful, and difficult at times as processes have changed and interaction with the partner community has become more limited. It would be a challenge for the organization to adjust. On the other hand, the pandemic has increased the need for assistance of communities and programs that would aid them in achieving long-term solutions to improve their own community accordingly. With this also came multiple complications with schedules and challenges amidst conducting an event during a global pandemic. Conducting community development programs during the new normal would require more planning and advanced plotting of dates as interruptions are more likely to occur and unpredictable and uncontrollable circumstances arise. 

    Even though we had a few setbacks along the way, the program was successful. It also highlighted the importance of active civic participation as the overall program would not be completed without the help of the identified leaders of the community. There is truly power in collaboration. Assets within the community itself can be further utilized. This program was created to address civic participation and increase engagement especially in elections. There is still a lot of work to be done to increase engagement and access to information about governance. Continuing this program will help enable the partner community to participate in societal institutions that are influencing their daily life. Therefore, the upshot of this event is that good leadership can be achieved as it is a step towards improving communities. 

PROJECT DETAILS:

Target Beneficiaries:

Youth participants of the Ministry of Urban Poor, Caloocan

Date: 

May 3-4, 2021

8:00 am to 12:00 am

Project Proponents:

Gia Karla Martin: TPSF Community Development Project Head (2020-2021)

Hannah Love Galigao: TPSF Community Development Project Asst. Head

 

Collective Education:Learning Through Collaboration

   Community Development Project of AB Debate Parliament and UST History Society: Brgy. Kanluran Kabubuhayan, Laguna

    For the A.Y. 2020-2021, the AB Debate Parliament (ABDP) and UST History Society (UST HST SOC) have partnered up to reach out to the community in Laguna, Brgy. Kanluran Kabubuhayan. Particularly for this year’s community development project, both organizations focused on providing assistance to the students who are having difficulties in adjusting to the new educational set-up, modular-based learning. 

    In assuring that our plans will be able to pin point the specific problems that students are experiencing, the organizers consulted with the AB Community Development Coordinator, Asst. Prof. Ronald M. Castillo, and coordinated with the community resource persons, Brgy. Secretary Rajalen Mayani and Brgy. Captain Olimpio Violanta. 

    In formulating the output for this project, the organizers divided the tasks into four different phases. Namely, these are; (1) Data Collection, (2) Output Formulation, (3) Output Distribution, and (4) Project Evaluation.

Data Collection (Phase 1)

    After the AB Community Development Coordinator, Asst. Prof. Ronald M. Castillo, introduced us to the resource person of Brgy. Kanluran Kabubuhayan, we scheduled a meeting for our data and gathering. Prior to the meeting, both the community development heads of ABDP and HST SOC have already formulated the interview questions that will be used for gathering information about their community. These questions, however, were revised upon consulting with Mr. Castillo and taking his comments and suggestions into consideration. The meeting proper was held in Zoom Cloud Meetings on March 5, 2021 from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM. The resource persons present in the meeting were Brgy. Captian Olimpio Violanta and Brgy. Secretary Rajalen Mayani.

A screenshot of the recorded interview with Brgy. Capt. Olimpio Violanta and Brgy. Secretary Rajelen Mayani last March 5, 2021. Unfortunately, due to the bad internet reception, Mr. Violanta and Ma’am Mayani could not open their cameras.

    The first question that was asked of them was to describe the state of their community and the essential problems that need to be urgently addressed.

    The first problem that they discussed is regarding the health center in their barangay. Particularly, Mr. Violanta mentioned how the pandemic has caused problems in the construction and functionality of their health institution. Not only did it halt the building process but he also mentioned that the budget allocated for its completion was insufficient. As a result, he expresses his dismay that the health center, which is a crucial institution at a time like this, is not functional.

    Although the problem was acknowledged and taken note of, the organizers have acknowledged that they do not have yet the proper resources and skills in addressing this problem. Realizing that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for us to address the budget issue of their health center in a short notice, the organizers redirected the interview in asking questions that are related educational sector.

    Questions regarding the resources and learning materials of students, how students are coping up in online classes, and if the pandemic had any effect to the number of enrollees were brought up during the interview.

    With regards to the learning resources and materials, Mr. Violanta explained that the students in the barangay adopted a modular setup of learning. Wherein, schools would provide students with modules that contain lessons that they need to study. According to him, there were no problems with the distribution of modules. The barangay has not received any complaints regarding students not getting their modules. Similarly, in the aspect of enrollees, the community did not face problems of reduced rate of enrollment.

    However, regarding the aspect of coping up, both students and parents struggle in the new system of learning. Mr. Violanta explained that, since the setup is modular learning, both parents and children were having difficulties adjusting. In the part of the parents, Mr. Violanta said that parents are forced to teach their children topics that they, themselves, do not even understand. Especially in subjects like English and Math, some parents feel that what they are teaching to their children is not right and insufficient. Likewise, the children themselves are experiencing problems in absorbing and understanding the lessons. As Mr. Violanta pointed out, the modular learning is ineffective in making the students learn because when it comes to answering homework, the students would just ask some of their parents to answer it for them. Thus, they don’t really develop any learning at all.

    Overall, the most important information that the organizers were able to extract from this interview was that the adjustment to modular based learning had significant effects to the student’s academic undertakings. More specifically, children have been more demotivated to study.

Output Formulation (Phase 2)

    From the information that was gathered in the interview, the project heads have come to the realization that the main problem that needs to be addressed in our project is the demotivation of students. The initial plan was to create two outputs. One was an educational infographic that would supposedly serve as a complementary learning material to the modules they use. While the other was a motivational video to remind these students on why they still need to pursue their studies even during these trying times. 

    For the creation of infographic, what the organizers planned to do was to focus on one grade level and one topic in one subject. The reason for  these limitations is because the organizers knew and acknowledged the fact that it was not feasible to create reviewers for all the topics that elementary students are studying. Moreover, when we consulted the Brgy. Secretary, she proposed that we gear our project in helping Grade 1 students with their math subject.

    Supposedly, the infographic’s function was to be a reviewer and a complementary material to the modules that they can use. However, this endeavor was not anymore pursued because the organizers failed to acquire a soft copy of the modules of the Grade 1 students. Particularly, because of the spike in COVID-19 case, there had been complications with its distribution. In our timetable, May 10 – May 14 were the dates allotted for the creation of the infographic, but because we were not able to secure the soft copy in this timeframe, we have decided to forego of this output.

A screenshot of the video output created by ABDP and UST History Society

    The other output we planned for this project is the motivational video. Unlike the infographic that required soft copies of modules, the video did not require anything but the project implementer’s presence. Since this community development project is a collaboration of two organizations, the tasks were divided accordingly. ABDP was in-charge of shooting the video and delivering the message about the importance of studying. The HST SOC, on the other hand, was in-charge of editing the video. They were the ones who put the effects and animations to make it more appealing to the viewers. 

A screenshot of the video output created by ABDP and UST History Society

Output Distribution (Phase 3) 

    The final video output was accomplished 3 days before the scheduled distribution, and was sent to the Asst. Prof. Ronald M. Castillo for checking. After Mr. Castillo gave his approval, the organizers prepared to send their output to the community. Given the limitations brought by the pandemic,  the distribution of output was mainly done through online means. The google drive link, containing the video output, was sent to the email of the barangay and the barangay was the one who disseminated it to the respondents. Supposedly, there should have been 30 respondents. However, because a lot of families and students are having a hard time securing a stable internet connection, there were only two people, out of thirty, who were able to view the output. This was shown in the post-evaluation survey wherein only two were able to answer

Project Evaluation (Phase 4)

    In relation to not being able to meet the target number of beneficiaries, there were only two people who were able to evaluate the project output. The google form link was sent by the barangay secretary to the two people who were able to watch the video. 

Learnings and Recommendations

    Although the plans of the project were well thought, there had been certain roadblocks that the organizers encountered. One of which was not being able to reach out to all of the 30 respondents in the community. The organizers overlooked the problem of internet connection stability, thus, they were not able to make the output mor conducive to the situation of the people. Provided this, one of the improvements that can be done in future projects is to think of alternative means to deliver the output. Especially if the desired output is online-based, it would be better to take into account how the beneficiaries are going to make it useful in their own state.

PROJECT DETAILS:

Target Beneficiaries:

Elementary students of Brgy. Kanluran Kabubuhayan, Laguna

Date: 

May 17, 2021

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Project Proponents:

Francis Miguel Z. Fernandez: ABDP Community Development Project Head (2020-2021)

Angelo Luis G. Alonzo: UST History Society Community Development Project Head

ABDP Speakers
Regine Andrea Estacio

Ian Ralph Uytico

Exel Bernal

UST HST Society Editors

Angelo Jade Caputolan

Judie Francesca Montejo

Mark Neil Vergara

Aaron Kane Vergel

Catalyzing Sustainable Community Building: An Environmental Profiling on MUP Diocese of Caloocan

 Environmental Profiling on Ministry of Urban Poor - Diocese of Caloocan Market 3, Navotas City

The UST Asian Studies Society’s Advocacy Project focused on producing an Environmental Profile of the Partner Community, Sitio Market 3, Navotas City. To be fully and certainly prepared with the focus group discussion that will be mainly utilized to facilitate the advocacy project, the UST ASSOC Community Development Committee had an initial consultation with the committee’s consultant, Dr. Arlen Ancheta. Different points and aspects were discussed which include how the initial interview with the community leader should be conducted, what are questions to be asked, the proper etiquette in conducting the initial interview and the focus group discussion, and the basic information that shall be gathered. 

Following this, an initial interview with the community leader was held to gather preliminary information to be used and discussed during the first phase of the advocacy project. The preliminary information gathered was crafted into a draft report and was examined by the committee’s consultant as part of a constant progress report. Moreover, the preliminary report was beneficial and has enabled the committee members to know more about the community. This also prompted follow-up questions that shall be catered to once the first phase of the project will be facilitated. 

Phase 1 

On March 6, 2021, the community development committee of UST Asian Studies Society facilitated a focus group discussion with the community members from Sitio Market 3, MUP – Diocese of Caloocan, alongside Prof. Arlen Ancheta, Ph.D. as a research consultant and Asst. Prof. Jan Michael V. Denila, MPS, the UST ASSOC adviser.

The first part of the discussion revolved around questions about the population’s profile and social relations in the community. Each of the six community members was given ample time to respond to the questions. For additional information about the topography of the barangay, the community leader sent us photos capturing the area in Sitio Market 3.

The next set of questions were about the community’s economic profile, political profile, and environmental profile. Problems present in the community that needed to be addressed were also raised as areas of concern.

Phase 2 

For the second phase of the project, the community development committee proceeded to plan the creation of a well-detailed report for the community of Sitio Market 3. The report contains the discussion held during the 1st phase wherein members of the community provided information regarding their environment and other necessary aspects related to the profiling. The committee began to write the draft, given that there had been an initial interview with the community leader before conducting the 1st phase. 

The information acquired from the initial interview and from the 1st phase was beneficial in determining the flow of the report as it also presented insights regarding the situation of the community which serves as the most important aspect of the report. The team divided the parts of the report equally and each member chose freely which part they wanted to write and interpret based on the information gathered. 

With the help of the community development committee’s consultant, the draft report became well-constructed. She provided comments and recommendations as to how to improve the content of the report. As a result, the draft report was improved by revision, editing, and rewriting. It was then approved by Dr. Ancheta and the Coordinator of the Asian Studies program.

Phase 3

To formally commence the last phase of the Advocacy Project, the committee started the program by running a quick summary on the previous phases held throughout the course of the project. Following this, the committee presented the actual content of the environmental profile report to the community members. A few minor corrections and suggestions from the community members were noted. To mark the end of the draft report's presentation, the Committee gave recommendations regarding the prospects of Sitio Market 3's community development projects. Thereupon, pictures of Sitio Market 3 to be included in the environmental profile, captured by the community representative, were displayed.

The team consultant gave an assessment of the draft report and inquired the community if they have further comments, suggestions, or clarifications. There being none, aside from the minor corrections mentioned, the team consultant asked the committee about the succeeding steps of the Advocacy Project. The Committee indicated that the environmental profile report will be submitted to the UST ABCD Office to be used as a guide by future project implementers. Likewise, a copy of the report will be made available to the community members through the community representative once revised. The recommendations of the draft report were reiterated as well. Thereafter, the Committee forwarded an evaluation link on the Zoom chat box and asked the community members for their reflections regarding the whole project.

Recommendations and Conclusion

As mentioned, the last part of the presentation of the draft paper is presenting the recommendations that could be done for future projects with the partner community, Sitio Market 3, Navotas City. 

First of which is institutional reinforcement or strengthening their institutional ties through further advancing and improving their goals, regulations, and principles, more so, to be more aware and involved about the current societal issues. With this, initiating and facilitating seminars would be valuable wherein one of the topics would be about human rights. A facilitated seminar could widen their knowledge regarding laws and what proper actions should be done once there would be trouble in the community. Moreover, this would enable each community member to become more vigilant especially in these times. Another topic that could be focused on is women’s empowerment wherein women’s rights, actions, and capabilities would be more intensified and given value. Given that there are so far organizations established outside and within the community where women are favorably part of, this would empower and stimulate more women to become optimistic, assured, and aware regarding the several difficulties and issues women are encountering today. These seminars as part of institutional reinforcement would be a beginning step for a more inclusive and safe space for the community. 

For the last recommendation, an additional and rigorous focus group discussion together with the community members could be done for other future projects. As the focus of the society’s advocacy project falls under environmental justice, it is advantageous to have additional focus group discussions that would focus on other aspects within the community such as its political, economic, and social profile. By this, future projects can be done in collaboration with the other organizations of the Faculty of Arts and Letters such as the Legal Management Society, The Political Science Forum, and the Behavioral Science Society. These academic organizations would help in creating and producing a well-established profile of the community regarding the above-mentioned topics as these are the organization’s strengths and academic focus.

The given recommendations are just some of the matters that the Asian Studies Society Community Development Committee deemed necessary and of top priority based on the recently concluded environmental profiling. The established environmental profile would become a foundation for the next steps to take and projects to make with the community, Sitio Market 3, Navotas City.

Overall, the advocacy project was a success as it had effectively utilized the information gathered from the focus group discussions to create and establish an environmental profile that will serve as a reliable document and a well-founded way to know the community.

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Project Details: Beneficiary: Ministry of Urban Poor – Diocese of Caloocan

Dates: March 6, 2021 - April 17, 2021

UST ASSOC Community Development Team Members:
Louise Baccay

Rinette Sebastian
Jullia Gonzaga

Lorraine Tumolva

Lei Anne So