July
2006-June 2007:
Small
Islands
Sustainable
Development Program
Effective and
Agenda-Directed Governance
a) Local Governance: Forging strategic alliances with Local Government (Barangay and Municipal Levels) to provide favorable policy environment supportive to the goals of the Small Islands Integrated Sustainable Resource Development Program
 During the period, a total of 6 Municipal Ordinances were enacted by the 3 partner LGUs while 16 Ordinances were enacted at the Barangay level - all related to the protection and conservation of the Municipal Coastal Resources. In addition, the partnership with the Local Governments generated support in the implementation of various marine protection activities which had generally helped in the reduction of illegal fishing activities and the protection of marine protected areas. 18 Barangay Councils and People’s Organizations were assisted in the preparation of their Coastal Development Plans. All coastal development plans were provided by their respective Barangay Councils and the LGUs with a total budget allocation of P1.071 million for marine protection activities.
The Foundation is all set to assist 12 barangay councils in the preparation of their Area Development and Investment Plan after the October ’07 Barangay Election. This will help the newly elected barangay officials to set their direction for the next three years.
b) Community Organizing: Building leadership and management capabilities of partner communities (People’s Organizations) to manage their community affairs on a sustained basis. Develop and establish effective and functioning local structures
Under this sub-component, a total of 71 sectoral groups had been organized in the municipalities of Magsaysay, Cuyo and Agutaya. These include fisher folks groups, farmers, the youth, water management councils, peer educators, PTCA, Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management Councils both at the Barangay and Municipal levels.
To strengthen the capabilities of organized groups, organizational and technical trainings were given, benefiting some 1000 fisher folks including other sectors of the community. Trainings given focused on human relations, team building, conflict management, effective feedback, organizational development and management, and project development. Technical trainings on coral reef check monitoring, fish visual survey, grassroots accounting and simple bookkeeping, food processing (meat), and how to raise hogs and native chicken were also provided. A youth camp on population, health and environment was also held, benefiting 120 youth.
Resource
Management
Protecting and conserving terrestrial and coastal/marine resources to maintain the island’s inherent integrity by mitigating the negative impacts of human activities
The period saw the conscious community effort towards continuous protection and conservation of coastal resources with increased participation of partner communities in CRM-related activities. Trained “Ocean Watch Groups” (Bantay Dagat) are able to sustain efforts on patrolling and surveillance activities along coastal waters of the assisted barangays which resulted to almost “zero” apprehension on cases of illegal fishing by the local residents. Local concerns now lie with the illegal fishing activities of non-resident fishers. In addition, increased fish catch by 100% to 150% in areas where Marine Protected Areas (MPA) are established are now observed.
Intensive information-education campaign (IEC) is continuously done to increase public awareness (especially policy makers) on the “Three Critical Results” (Habitat Protection, Reduced Fishing Efforts and Stopped Illegal Fishing) needed to ensure sustainability of coastal resource use.
Championing the cause for environment requires continuous education hence, the conduct of IEC activities has been a continuing effort targeted to youth, fisher folks, and other members of the communities who rely heavily on coastal resources. The campaign came in the form of slogan- and poster-making contests in schools, youth camps, signboards in public places, school modules on environment protection, an hour-long lecture in schools done monthly and community theater presentations.
 
Various marine protection activities were also done throughout the year, starting with the care of established Marine Protected Areas (MPA). Two more MPAs were established during the period making up a total of six MPAs in three municipalities. A Mangrove Forest Park was also established in Barangay Rizal, Magsaysay. These areas continue to be“No Take” zones, thanks to organized management committees that oversee their protection and maintenance. The efficient supervision of the MPAs can be seen in the increase of benthic life forms over a period of one year.
Through various technical trainings, communities with MPAs were taught how to monitor and assess the state of their coral reefs and the number of fin fish in their areas. Quarterly coastal clean-ups also reduced the solid waste in coastal areas as indicated by the decreasing amount of garbage collected.
 
An improvement in the maintenance of mangrove areas has also been noted, indicated by the absence of violations of the “no-mangrove-cutting” rule.
Economic
Mainstreaming
Harnessing sustainable on-shore livelihood potentials of partner communities to minimize the pressure on marine resources
The Foundation’s Integrated Livelihood Assistance (ISLA) Project has provided people from twenty barangays with access to various appropriate technologies, financial assistance and feasible market tie-ups.
 
Basic Cosmetology Training was recently conducted to 34 women of Barangays Manamoc, Concepcion and Algiceras courtesy of Splash Foundation Inc. (SFI) which sent four of its trainers to the island for a hands-on training on manicure/pedicure, foot spa, and hair coloring/dyeing, perming and hair-cutting. Aside from the free training, Splash Foundation also gave out free starter kit to each participant to help them start their livelihood enterprise.
 The ISLA Project, which had a total seed capital of P600,000 as of May 2005, has also been able to help 260 clients. The seed fund amounting to P450,000 loaned out by PATH Foundation Philippines (PFPI) to ASF has been returned in full to PFPI in September 2006. Repayment rate stands at 80%. Loans secured under the project have helped start or maintain small businesses such as salt making, hog- or poultry-raising, food vending, variety stores, bakeries, meat dealership, an island transport service, buy-and-sell and seaweed faming.
With help from the Foundation, Barangay Manamoc has maintained its marketing tie-up with Amanpulo Resort as the main buyer of meat products. A Memorandum of Agreement has been signed to put this partnership into effect. A small slaughterhouse was also built on Manamoc to help regulate the quality of meat cuts sold to Amanpulo. After the training on Meat processing, Manamoc is now catering Tocino and other processed meat products to Amanpulo Staff Canteen. In 2006, Amanpulo paid a total of P9.2 million for the goods bought from the community.
Barangay Manamoc still serves as a major source of manpower requirement of Amanpulo. In 2006, 197 workers from the host barangay were employed by Amanpulo out of 304 workers and staff during which period, Amanpulo paid a total of P32.0 million in salaries/wages and service charges.
Basic
Services
Addressing
the need for education, water and health services
In the area of education, four new QUIET (Quiniluban Island Educational Training) Centers were built and three existing ones were rehabilitated, thanks to a P1.8 million grant from UPS (United Parcel Service) Foundation. Consistent with standards of the Department of Education, each Center was provided with 30 classroom chairs, twelve work tables, one large blackboard, a teacher’s room, and two toilets (with water tank).
For school year 2006-2007, 159 children from poor fishing and farming families graduated from the seven QUIET Centers, bringing the total number of graduates to 960 since the program started in 1999. Enrollment for school year 2007-2008 reached 232 in the QUIET Centers in Manamoc, Algeciras, Edupoy, Diit, Concepcion, Villa Sol and Villa Fria.
The QUIET Center for Pre-school Children program aims to bridge the gap between the Daycare/Free Play Program of the Department of Social Welfare, and formal elementary education. The QUIET Center program ensures that preparatory education is made available for children who have attended a Daycare Program but who are not yet due to enter the first grade. Children aged 5 to 6 ½ years are given opportunities for physical, intellectual, social, emotional and moral development, to help prevent their dropping out from the first grade.
Public school elementary teachers are very supportive of the program as having “advanced” pupils from the QUIET Centers allows them to focus on students who have not had the benefit of pre-school education. As a guideline of the Department of Education now, children have to pass through the preparatory education before enrolling to first grade.
The QUIET Centers are also much welcomed by the communities, as indicated by the renewed commitment of barangay councils and LGUs. The Councils of the barangays where the 7 Centers are located renewed their partnership with the Foundation by providing a counterpart subsidy for the salary of their Center’s Educator. Counterparts of barangay councils range from P250 to P660 while LGU counterparts range from P500 to P1000. It takes an average of P255,000 ($4,900) to run the seven QUIET Centers annually. Of this, the Foundation spends some P198,000 ($3,817) for the stipend of teachers and around P31,999 ($608) for trainings to upgrade their skills. The community’s counterpart averages P21,632 ($416), comprised mostly of the parents’ contribution of P100 (less than $2) as “tuition” per school year. An upgrading training on Curriculum Improvement was held for the Pre-school Educators during the summer of 2007.
 
During the period, the Foundation also donated two units of computer and printer including a brand new ACU for the Computer Laboratory of the Andres Soriano Memorial Elementary School in Roxas, Palawan including various pre-school and elementary work books amounting to some P400,000.
In the area of potable water supplies, the water systems installed in the islands of Diit, Manamoc and Barangay Villa Sol (Agutaya) remain operational. The water system in Algeciras Island was temporarily stopped during the first six months of the current year due to drought and the intrusion of highly saline water into the trench well.
To help improve reproductive health outcomes among people living in coastal communities, the Foundation continued its project on reproductive health and family planning (RH-FP), though the funding support from PATH Foundation Philippines had been completed. From the target of 45, there are now 53 Community-based Distribution outlets (CBDs) spread in ten barangays of Agutaya that continuously cater to the family planning commodity requirements of the target communities. From the target FP users of 1,226 women of reproductive age, the project now has 741 women (or 60.44%) FP acceptors. There was also a notable decline in the unmet demand for modern FP methods among women of reproductive age, from 1,226 to only 485 (39.56%). The project facilitated the permanent sterilization of 26 women through a Bilateral Tubal Ligation (BTL).
To make the health initiative more holistic, the Foundation supported in part by Amanpulo, Cuyo District Hospital and the three Barangay Councils of Manamoc, Concepcion and Algiceras conducted last summer (2007) a Medical, Surgical and Dental Missions. A whole day Medical Consultation was held in Barangay Manamoc and over 150 children and adults went to see the doctor and were provided with free over-the-counter medicines courtesy of Manamoc Barangay Council and the Foundation. On the other hand, the Cuyo District Hospital sent their Dentist for the Dental Mission who had served at least 93 patients from Manamoc mostly for tooth extraction while the “Operation Circumcision” involving a minor surgical procedure, attended to over 125 male youths of the three barangays.
  
“Every
development effort we do in the islands is anchored on the idea of preserving
the natural environment without denying the human population opportunities for
socio-economic growth. Our work is geared towards maintaining the balance
between the responsible use of natural resources and the need to make a
living. The key to any environmental project is that one must give the people
an alternate source of income for them to respect their environment. In
Palawan
,
where we serve fishing communities, we advocate ecological protection such as
mangrove reforestation, promote responsible fishing methods, and teach
fishermen new skills such as rice or vegetable farming. If we promote methods
that will lessen the traditional dependence on marine resources, we must be
able to provide alternate sources of livelihood that will, at the very least,
lessen the negative impact of this shift in livelihood. Of course, the
ultimate goal is that the family’s income is actually made better by this
change. Striking this balance is a challenge: our work to protect the
environment in the small islands cannot be done at the expense of the people
who make their living out of the sea; and our desire to uplift the quality of
life through better income also cannot be done at the expense of the
environment…
“Even
our decision to focus on pre-school education is related, to a certain extent,
to the environment. We often say of our work in
Palawan
that we would like to leave behind a healthy environment for our children. It
is therefore important that the children who will eventually inherit our
islands be given a head start in life so that they can continue caring for
their inheritance.”
―
Chairman Andres Soriano III
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