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.
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
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