#DEV108

[lunapalmai]

Over the Hill is Home

Philippine’s IPs and Heritage Protection As economic necessity and a climate crisis leave no part of the world untouched, countries around the world are reframing their standards for growth. One way to go at it is through the not-so-new concept of heritage. It has been a global exercise where states protect unique features of their cultural and natural environment, and regard them as assets to be projected globally. Assisting in the protection of claims to land, resources, and intellectual property, I propose that this disposition can help our archipelagic, multicultural country cultivate better livelihoods especially for marginalized groups such as the IPs.

IPs in the Philippines have been struggling to sustain their heritage since the 1980s. When the government began to destroy their land, their culture went with it as well. These actions have been passable under the law and now are even enabled by President Duterte’s violent remarks against their communities. The Regalian Doctrine, which holds the State as the sole owner of lands, continues to reign in our constitution, allowing for capitalistic ventures to be prioritized over CADT applications that protect the IP’s rights to their land.

If CADTs are given, the Lumad can reside in their homes and continue their relationships with the environment, but for the past 20 years, our government has failed to make moves for indigenous heritage.  Some countries have protected their own assets for recognition and have even garnered revenue and prestige from what they are naturally adept with. Such is the tree resin from Amazonian tribes and the nuts from Brazil. In both examples, protected land has been the main driver of the produce quality. With that priority, livelihood can be ensured. Instead, our path has been geared toward capitalist development that destroys nature. For example, instead of elevating the non-timber products and agricultural goods harvested by the IPs, mining in Zamboanga Peninsula and legal approval of the Kaliwa Dam were the chosen paths to aid development.

The lone stronghold left defending IP rights is their Free, Prior and Informed Consent- a right to be consulted before any development venture takes place in their ancestral domain. Essentially, the FPIC is a political wager for IPs to suggest whether or not development should take place. However, to institutions, this is seen simply as a yes or no answer easily invalidated vis-a-vis the given development path. Evaluations for past implementations all indicated failure- that there was not enough institutional capacity to enforce and assist such a wager. With that, IPs deliberately lose all means of political negotiation and protection against legislations like the Regalian Doctrine.

If this country is to celebrate multicultural diversity, and even hold the SEA Games, then it should also stand alongside people in defending their land and rights. Instead, war is waged upon citizens for the profit of multinational companies. With this in mind, the Philippines has yet to unite towards the overall protection of livelihood rooted in context- in the name of protecting culture, environment and the people that have given it life.

Sources America, Oxfam (2013) Free Prior and Informed Consent in the Philippines: Regulations and Realities. Available at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/oxfam-us/www/static/media/files/fpic-in-the-philippines-september-2013.pdf (Accessed: 7 October 2020).

Erasga, Dennis. (2008). Ancestral Domain Claim: The Case of the Indigenous People in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Asia-pacific Social Science Review. 8. 10.3860/apssr.v8i1.704. 

Displaced Drafts for Displaced Persons (2020). Available at: https://angeencomienda.livejournal.com/2600.html (Accessed: 7 October 2020).

Doyle, C. (2019). The Philippines Indigenous Peoples Rights Act and ILO Convention 169 on tribal and indigenous peoples: exploring synergies for rights realisation. The International Journal of Human Rights, 24(2-3), 170–190. doi:10.1080/13642987.2019.1679120 Mindanao, 3. (2020) Filipinas Heritage Library | The Lumad of Mindanao, Filipinaslibrary.org.ph. Available at: https://www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph/articles/the-lumad-of-mindanao/ (Accessed: 12 October 2020).

NATIONAL COMMISSION ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES (1998 ) RULES AND REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8371, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS “THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS ACT OF 1997” , Wipo.int. Available at: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ph/ph083en.pdf (Accessed: 7 October 2020).

Team, M. et al. (2019) Indigenous Struggles: A Shortfall of Philippine Democracy, Democratic-erosion.com. Available at: https://www.democratic-erosion.com/2019/12/09/indigenous-struggle-a-shortfall-of-philippine-democracy/ (Accessed: 7 October 2020).

[marybungay-dev108]

Logical Fallacies Activity

First Fallacy

Masy: The government should really pay attention to controlling the cases of COVID-19 in the country! It is affecting people’s mental health and economic stability. The priority should be contact tracing and mass testing, not some beautification of Manila Bay that is just trying to distract us from the real problem here!

Denire: The beautification of Manila Bay is a project for the World Coastal Clean up day, don’t you think having beautiful to look at can help the masses’ mental health in general? Look at them appreciate the view!

Masy: But gathering them there together there is a public health hazard in the first place! Not to mention, dolomite sand has been proven to have adverse effects on aquatic life!

Denire: The military was there to assist the gathering, didn’t some people wanted quarantine lifted anyway to go back to their economic activities? The effects of dolomite has been proven false by the DENR itself!

Second Fallacy

State University students: The government’s priority should be its citizens health, well-being, and economic stability! Stop the unnecessary spending on things that we don’t need!

Fallacious Argument: But don’t you benefit from the government’s services anyway? You study for free because of the government! So stop saying anything against the institution that funds your education!

Third Fallacy

Would you rather have beautiful white sand on Manila Bay or the stinky garbage its always been pestered with? Progress is progress! ‘Wag puro nalang reklamo!

[itslancesworld]

Journal Entry #1: What benefit will keeping a journal bring to me?

September 9, 2020 

It’s September 9 and all morning I could think of is the start of my online classes in Ateneo de Manila University. With my mug full of tea on my left hand and the mouse of my laptop on my right hand, I couldn’t wait to begin this. 

It was a good distraction for me because it feels like you’re stuck or frozen in time here in the Philippines. The COVID-19 pandemic is still here (damn!) in the country. Lockdowns and quarantines has been the norm since the month of March (I’ve lost track of time already so I don’t know when the lockdown started). 

DEV 108: Communication for Development 

This is one of my classes that I am taking for my first online semester, and we are instructed to create an online journal. Frankly, it’s been so long since I’ve written or typed one and I’m afraid that my words and grammar will be wrong or what my friends call my vocabulary as “wacky but at the same time, smart”. 

Anyways, I think keeping a journal would help my critical thinking -- one of the things that I am pretty horrible at. Writing my thoughts on to a piece of paper or even a digital notepad can be scary for me because I don’t like to read what I write sometimes. My ideas do tend to be very all over the place.

Having this journal would help me organize my thoughts, ideas and especially my emotions. I can be a very emotional and sensitive person sometimes. My loved ones have told me that I tend to shut down when I get offended or experienced negative events. I don’t say anything. I know it’s important to communicate with people but sometimes when you get hurt, you just wanna be alone. This thought made me realize that this doesn’t keep my emotions in check at all. Why am I mad? Why am I sad? Shutting down won’t help me or anyone else. 

It might be hard to have this habit of journaling but I just need to remind myself that this is not just going to help me, but also how I can communicate with other people better. 

Hope this journal can help manage my emotions and developing my critical thinking. It’s time for me to have better communication now.

[kyle-lagdameo]

Points and a pint with Servaes, Quebral, and Chatterjee

September 16, 2020 

Jan Sarvaes, Nora Quebral, and Mrinal Chatterjee walk into a bar and discuss Communication, Development, Development Communication, and Communication for Development. They sit at the at the far end corner, near our table. It was the 12th of September and I was with my [team]mates talking about Module 0 for a certain class called DEV 108. An interesting lot we were: Abie, a brilliant scholar with a bubbly personality; Nina, an inquisitive mind who was always the first to respond; Dana, a gentle soul bearing a lot of ideas; and me, Kyle, who was hypothetically envisioning this scenario to get through Module 0.

We were having our fair share of awkward silences when we overheard Dr. Chatterjee exclaim about using media to "bring education, essential skills, social unity, and a desire to 'modernize'" as she cites William Rostow. Quebral seeing this line of reasoning decides to build on this and define development communication as "the art and science of human communication applied to the speedy transformation of a country and the mass of its people from poverty to a dynamic state of economic growth that makes possible greater social equality and the larger fulfillment of the human potential" (Quebral, 1971). Servaes takes note of this and concedes that communication strategies and principles can be applied in the developing world for them to catch up to the development equivalent to Western countries (Servaes 2020; Chatterjee, 2010). With my interest piqued and perhaps due to the spirits within me, I interject from my table asking "Excuse me, is development communication designed for haste? And is development equated to economic growth alone? Would an increase in productivity guarantee equity and nonmaterial needs?

I then present my observations from eavesdropping from each one of them, as well as the questions I might have should the spirits grant me courage or carelessness.

From Servaes via the Introduction table:

Servaes was keen on defining and grounding the terms. The main theme was about differentiating Development Communication from Communication for Development. Her first pint (point) revolved on the definition provided by Quebral, dated 1971 and the UN FAO, dated 1984. I've managed to arrive at development communication being transformative while Communication for development is geared towards common understanding. I therefore ask, is development communication designed for haste or 'speedy transformation'? I am of the institutionalist opinion that development takes time or is this a matter of having willpower to thrust into development? If it's the latter, it runs in friction with communication for development prompted by the question of what constitutes common understanding? Is it limited to a consensus and if so does it consider the politics in play, power relations, and other factors?

Other observations I've gathered is that Development Communication nuances social change through communication while Communication for Development nuances dialogue towards development. Development Communication stresses access and policies or institutions while Communication for Development stresses process and 'the rules of the game. For the fourth pint, it becomes a question of target as Development Communication assumes that developing countries are disadvantaged while Communication for Development assumes each society has a disadvantaged group. Some clarifications I would like to ask include how communication strategies, theories, and principles differ in use. Is development communication limited to Western literature and if so, wouldn't that be difficult to localize to communities? Lastly, Development communication seems to be more geared on imparting 'hard' technical skills while Communication for Development seem to be geared on imparting 'soft' skills or grounded processes and realities.

On Quebral:

We've identified four themes to Quebral's primer. First, that being the dynamic definition of Development communication. Development as a confluence of both development and communication affords it a dynamic definition that in its history, moves with sign of the times. Shifting from neoliberal roots with merely economic development to the buzz word of today which is sustainability, development targets the question of who are the agents of social change. The said vehicle of development, communication, targets the scope of the agent from old media including newspaper and radios, to a globalized audience through new media like social and digital media.

The second pint is with regards to forum and consensus. Quebral emphasizes that development communication strives to provide a forum and achieve a consensus while conceding that in doing this, the public opinion centered in the metro can marginalize other voices particularly those from rural areas. She does not state how this can be achieved other than it being the responsibility of the development communicator which will be tackled in the fourth theme. A consensus is maintained through communication media acting as a teacher imposing a national identity that is supposedly an amalgamation of different cultures without fixing the case of marginalized voices. Furthermore, Quebral is keen on pushing for a forum and consensus which requires participation and democracy; however wouldn't this run in friction with her definition of having a "speedy transformation"?

Third pint is about communication media. Communication media shifts between the role of facilitator and teacher. The former is concerned with freedom of information, expression, and assembly allowing people in general to have a voice. It does however give a platform to oppressors as well who are benefited by unequal power relations whether it be local or national. The latter is concerned with introducing and solidifying progressive ideas, skills, and values necessary to uplifting their lives; however, this can still be received as an imposition of standard "uplifted life" to supposedly fashioned out of diverse cultures. What strategies can communication media apply to mitigate this? Communication media has been instrumental to propagating a national identity yet what constitutes a national identity? Isn't our national identity predominantly from the metro or powerful voices?

Last pint is about the development communicator. Development communication has shifted the responsibility to orchestrate development to the nonformal education sector including the development communicator who is also responsible with giving a voice to the voiceless. This assumes that the development communicator is also privileged enough to be empowered in having a voice in the public opinion centered in the metro or cities. Furthermore, the shift to nonformal sector leaves development bereft of a top-down accountability and development may become more individuated. This also begs the question if development communicators should act as the "voice of the voiceless" or as the ones that empower and create spaces for these marginalized voices to arise?

On Chatterjee:

Chatterjee was very straightforward. Her main question was about whether it was Communication for Development or Communication of/about Development. Not so much as a question of one or the other, Chatterjee clarifies that the difference lies in how communication as the vehicle of development is utilized. Communication for development tends to be project-centric and seeks meaningful communication between stakeholders — in short, communication is used to deliver or actualize development. Communication of Development tends to be process-based and seeks transformative storytelling to inform or critique development efforts — in short, communication is used to talk about development. Although communication is nuanced well-enough, the second component of the confluence which is Development is not explored and the definition is limited in breadth and scope as it is directed towards economic growth alone presupposing that an increase in production of goods and services will answer questions of access, equity, and nonmaterial needs.

Chatterjee also brings to light the history of Development Communication. The history of development communication is laden with western ideologies and it's biggest jump according to the article is the shift from the emphasis on economic growth to basic needs. This basic needs approach is still very much limited in that it strives for survival alone and does not consider nonmaterial needs. This only suggests that Development Communication has taken big strides yet still has much to address and improve, at least according to this article.

Development communication traverses through varied goals set by varied stakeholders with varied objectives that lead to varied problems. As Development Communication becomes the vehicle of different 'developmental' agendas, it remains a question on who takes the wheel? There is little to no mention of existent power relations when it comes to stakeholders.

Lastly, with regards to Development journalism which is the path of Communication about development, several tensions arise in employing development journalism. While it's investigative and focuses on common people, there is a need to look for the dramatic effect for it to sell. Development Journalism may end up tiptoeing between delivering a representative case and delving into development narcissism and/or poverty porn.

One for the road...

The three portray the advances of the field as well as its definitions, although varying. It’s dynamic and alive the same way development and communication is alive. Development Communication and Communication for/about development positions itself as a practical field of knowledge with a myriad of possibilities for application and study.

Sobering up...

Coming to my senses, I’m not sure whether I was able to be part of discussion or if I even had the courage to ask. I’m not entirely sure how much pints I had or if the entire exchange happened. Even then I’m filled with thoughts on Communication, Development, Development Communication, and Communication for Development.

[thesabconscious]

Stand With Farmers Against Hypocrisy

Sen. Cynthia Villar’s latest Twitter debacle prompted discussions on farmers, land conversion and the National Land Use Act—issues Villar herself has influence over as chairperson of the Senate Committees on Agriculture and Food and Environment and Natural Resources. 

NLUA has been pending in Congress for almost 20 years, even as President Duterte has made repeated calls to pass it. Villar doesn’t seem interested as it would directly affect her business venture - Vista Land. She has spoken openly about her misgivings on NLUA stating that the delineation of land according to use would undermine the authority of the local government to manage their own affairs. Even as the economics seem to be on her side, the welfare of farmers should not be sacrificed for the sake of economic development. Instead of being subject to constant berating, suffering from the conversion of their lands to gated subdivisions and the effect of rice import policies, greater support is needed from the government to boost our agricultural system and ensure the well-being of our farmers.

At times, Villar poses herself as a champion for the environment. However it has become clear that her position only seeks to serve her interests and the hypocrisy that comes with it.   She opposed reclamation plans in Manila Bay over flooding concerns in  Las Pinas and Paranaque, including a bill that will expedite ECC requests from EMB during national emergencies. Villar claims that by expediting requests, the validity and credibility of studies are compromised. While she makes a valid point, her reasons for opposing are not entirely for the sake of the environment, but because such a move compromises a wetland park in the waters of Las Pinas and Paranaque, which is a project by Villar SIPAG. If the name isn’t suggestive enough, a look at the Board of Trustees reveal a family affair - her husband, former senator and presidential candidate, Manny B. Villar Jr. serves as the Chairman, Cynthia as Managing Director, and their son Mark (current secretary of DPWH) as the Treasurer and Secretary.

Villar must know that the land and water that traverse throughout the country are interconnected. The conversion of fields into roads affects not just one community but all communities in more ways than Villar realizes. That is why it is imperative that we have a national perspective on the matter of land use and other resources to ensure that we, as a nation, can have sustainable development. 

“I’m so tired. I’ve been fighting this for the last 20 years. My God, you don’t know the hardship that I have encountered,”

“Twenty years is a long time to fight for this. Am I going to fight for this until I die, and ask my children to fight for this?”  Villar said. 

But what about those farmers who have tilled their land for 20 years only for it to be taken away from them leaving them suffering for the next 20 years? What about their children who rely on them? What about them?

[antolox]

the d word

I think that humans are intrinsically bound to direct their instincts towards progression. It is in the very fabric of nature to instinctively be directed towards a purpose of improvement. Whether it be through the refinement of our genetic make up; the effortless growth of flowers; or even just in the concept of time — everything moves towards a forward and upward motion.

That’s why the consequence of striving towards development is inevitable. The attraction we have for it is innately intuitive as it is in us to choose to consume, as a means to preserve ourselves and those that are of us. As civilisation emerged, the notion of development among humans developed as well; incessantly shifting its form to fit the criteria demanded by the majority. For a while, development meant agriculture and farming, relying on the fruits of the environment to mobilize our progress. However, as mechanisms flourished into modernization and systematic orientations, the understanding of humanity for development morphed into something more abstract. More on more, as generations upon generations of individuals continued to thrive and create ways of improving the systematic fabric of humanity, the concept of development hung in the air like a cloud. It was understood and yet its concrete definitions remained suspended.

In the three readings, Servaes, Quebral, and Chatterjee attempted to encapsulate development in a jar uniquely their own, hoping to concretize its meaning and importance to society. Consequently, the significance of communication was touched upon, showcasing its necessity as both a driver and a facilitator for development in any social context.

Generally, the readings were substantial enough in opening the discussion with the role of communication in the topic of development. While I understood the importance of effective information dissemination in any development agenda, it only occurred to me after reading the articles the necessity of encouraging dialogue among relevant stakeholders and the target population in order to sustainably build an impactful way of advocating good change. It just wasn’t about talking about plans to action nor was it about consistently advocating and propagating a certain pursuit. Instead, the readings were instigating the valuable technique of communicative devices in setting the foundation of a good and effective development agenda. Concepts such as understanding the cultural context of relevant bodies; the benefits of communication media; and the assistance garnered from effective feedback loops were all expounded upon to elaborate the distinction of communication for development and development communication. As obscure the differentiation between the two are, the readings were forgiving enough of providing distinctions of the two concepts. 

Development communication was the method of propagating such advocacies driven to improve certain aspects in different sectors of society. Mentioned by Quebral as formerly seen as propaganda, development communication was the act of instilling an open avenue to cultivate development in different corners of communities in an attempt to bring development to the majority. On the other hand, communication for development takes the form of enabler by creating the linkages between communities for discourse and open forums on the topic of development. This is where different communicative devices are utilised to be able to successfully drive development forward. Examples mentioned were communication media; education; and information technology.

In both the readings of Servaes and Quebral, Quebral’s definition of development communication as a means to achieving human potential through economic progress was highlighted. In these scenarios, I had difficulty truly removing my biases opposed from this definition in order to fully digest the readings. I cannot fully comprehend the notion that economic development was primarily the basis of implementing developmental infrastructures. Because of this, the lack of further elaboration as to why this definition persists in their writing is something to take notice of. 

Moreover, the primer of Quebral puts emphasis on the different people immersed on the topic of development. A lot of participation comes from non-profit organizations and government affiliated institutions in advocating development within a spectrum of developmental agendas in different sectors. Yet, the role of the national government within the midst of all of this is not mentioned as much. The accountability of the government, as a ruling body over the population, has to take the role of a catalyst and a social standard in implementing any of the changes needed within the country. Quebral also takes note of a perspective of targeting specific sectors of society in need of more attentive action towards development. With this principle, the notion of the nuanced population is not really focused on. Yes, there is the poor, the rural, and the marginalized that need equity and developmental strategies, but those in the middle class, much like the migratory sectors of society as the author mentions, are not really ones given as much attention as those aforementioned earlier.

One method that the author would have touched upon these is by, firstly, reevaluating and criticising the the crucial role of the government in successfully disseminating information with how to improve the livelihood and lifestyles of their members, primarily by taking focus on effective development communication. Secondly, through this active participation of the government, the classes of society that are not as represented, including the middle class, are given more opportunity to experience equitable development.

There were also a lot of significant points raised by all three articles. Majority of their writing revolved around the need to empathise and understand the complexities of the lives of people. Governing principles and values overrule the overarching fabric that greatly affects systems and development. Culture was one of the bigger determinants tackled in almost all the readings. In Servaes’ primer, the emphasis of culture as an identifier of the underlying perspective and methods of any country in manifesting development reflects on the ways that each stakeholder communicates their agendas and goals. While culture plays as one of the biggest roles in contributing to encouraging or inhibiting development within a country, the basis with which the overarching culture can prevail to benefit the majority is abstracted.

Overall, the articles presented a lot of valid points with the relevance of communication in the realm of development. A lot of emphasis was put on the defining the factors that are crucial in successfully proceeding with developmental objectives. Communication for development enables the process of dialogue on the topic of development. In this way, techniques such as listening from feedback; expanding spaces for discussions and debates; and founding trust to be able to fully create a sustainable path for development. Subsequently, development communication was the means of encouraging these communicative spaces and empowering stakeholders involved in the dialogue, ultimately everyone, to advocate their activities to bring about the change that humanity constantly strives for.

Development is messy. Its complexities stem and grow through cracks and corners, delving upon uncharted territories that are greatly involved in the mechanisms of change, despite often unrecognised. By effectively communicating these intricacies, human nature’s inclination to progress may persist and flourish; the chaos can, then, be understood and appreciated much more.

[itslancesworld]

Journal Entry #6: Dear PH and Your Public Transpo

Dear Philippines, 

I’ve been residing at your place for over 22 years. Sometimes, I go out for a few months every now and then to travel. China, Taiwan, Hong Kong were my standouts because they have one thing that I loved that you don’t have –– commuting. 

Commuting started when my parents were getting old and wanted convenience. The Metro Manila traffic is a pain and it wastes their hours just to drive me back and forth to school. Well, one thing’s for sure: commuting helps me think and maybe train my critical thinking.

Whenever I commute, I can’t just help but compare the public transportation I take here to Taiwan’s or Hong Kong’s. Their transportation systems can cover the whole country that can carry millions of of people while our capacity in our system is just a fraction. The rail transit system of Taiwan and Hong Kong was a sight to see, having been to their rural provinces in less than 30 minutes. The bus routes and lines are organized and can be easily understood. And many more that I love about their public transpo. 

Our public transportation can’t do all these things, let alone benefit the masses. The capacity for our jeepneys and buses are limited, the LRTs and MRTs are jampacked where looting is frequent and even the authorities handling our transportation systems prioritize private cars than the public transportation. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown me that our social institutions have no regard for our hardworking jeepney drivers, bus drivers and mechanics. Your officials and lead caretakers lack the urgency and concern for us Filipino people, and it shows through our title of the longest lockdown and lack of concrete plans –– and no, waiting for the vaccine isn’t one.

Dear Philippines, it’s time for you to shift focus to public transportation because whenever I’m not here at your home, traveling and commuting in other countries was a breeze

[itslancesworld]

Journal Entry #2: My Writing Aspirations

September 9, 2020 

I do not consider myself to be a good writer. This is why I tend to use actions instead of words. Writing in my online journal still feels kind of weird but I should start getting used to it since this is going to be a good habit. 

I aspire to be a good writer -- one who is able to express his emotions and opinions in a very engaging way. I want to write articles and posts that have educated or impacted me so I would like to share these learnings to the online world. Not only do I want to have better grammar or engaging writing style, I want my writing to be able to affect communities.

[kyle-lagdameo]

Living Online, On the Line

Social Media Discourse and CDSC Across the Globe

We live online, now more than ever. The pandemic has forced us inside our homes and much of the world is now reflected solely through black mirrors. The use of social media has gravely increased since the quarantine and this online space only continues to grow in application, population, and possibilities.

One noticeable phenomena that has occurred is the rise of youth organizations. Since the quarantine began, a myriad of youth groups have emerged catering to various communities and advocacies and marred with good intentions. Buzz words such as "youth-run", "youth empowerment", and "spreading awareness" have been ubiquitous in all social media platforms. Although this may be indicative of the youth being more engaged with societal issues, what remains to be clear is the feasibility of organizing youth groups toward certain causes. It only takes a few individuals and a few clicks to get a Facebook page running. Eight months into the quarantine and a lot of these groups have already gone idle or are barely operational. This only proves Claudia Janssen Danyi and Vidhi Chaudhri's point that "maintaining and implementing effective social media communication, however, takes time, commitment, and knowledge (2020)." Sustaining a youth organization, especially those birthed online, require strategic communication.

That being said, I draw my realizations both as a Communication for Development student and as a leader in a youth organization that has managed to effectively sustain its online presence. For much of my generation, whether there is a pandemic or not, we have lived more or less online and on the line. Curating content has been a tedious and critical process and the same goes for organizations. With the onslaught of cancel culture and the so-called 'woke' morality, communicating correctly and carefully has never been more imperative. Such propriety is not only extended to content but as well as non-human actors such as algorithms.

According to Oana Brindusa Albu and Michael Andreas Etter (2020), the approach towards social media has always been anthropocentric in that we control technology. The Affordance theory argues that this technology, such as Social Media, only 'affords' us control and influence. We have limited control over algorithms and how varied human interactions online coincide with non-human interactions. In other words, it takes a whole life of its own online. It is then integral for organizations to be aware of such interactions and take advantage of these algorithms to optimize their reach. It becomes a matter of precariously using the right hashtags down to capitalization so as to be part of the conversation and be afforded a gateway into the wider network of conversations.

Truly even in the online setting, communication is not limited to verbal transactions but as well as non-verbal ones and the information highway is filled with them. This further emphasizes the need for a well-crafted communication strategy plan if an organization is to find success and be sustainable. Granted that I myself am involved in creating a communication strategy plan for our partner organization, Project Lumad, the aforementioned points should inform our plan specifically our social media campaign and branding plan. Project Lumad rests on a mountain of possibilities and must be trekked on a tightrope while still juggling to be creative and innovative. It is no easy task hence a well-informed plan is required.

--

Albu, O.B. and Etter, M.A., 2018. How Social Media Mashups Enable and Constrain Online Activism of Civil Society Organizations. Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change, pp.1-19.

Danyi, C.J. and Chaudhri, V., 2018. Strategic Social Media Management for NGOs. Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change, p.911.

[kyle-lagdameo]

Fear and Fascism

In spite of a four-year reign of terror, President Rodrigo Duterte has managed to increase his trust rating to 91%. Unbelievable? Not quite, according to esteemed sociologist Walden Bello who cites Duterte's novel fascism as the culprit. Duterte has harnessed the personal resentment and fears of the masses and redirected these toward anyone he tags as 'drug pushers', 'dilawans', ‘communists’ or ‘terrorists’. Unfortunately, the terrorist tag has been attached to a bunch of kids who simply want to study — the students of the Lumad Bakwit Schools.

These students have been chased out of their lands with gunfire and explosions — atrocities justified as acts against terrorism. Duterte claims that community schools are hotbeds of subversion and communism. It may be that Duterte is afraid that the Lumad would form a strong opposition against him — even more so if they are educated. He instills fear in the Lumad to alleviate his own through bloodshed and displacement. His fear may make him believe that a scattered and struggling Lumad population would be disinclined to organize.

However, the Lumad have proven resilient. Despite the threats of bombing and unnerving trauma, they persist. “Our bakwit schools were built as an answer to Duterte’s threat of bombing our alternative schools in Mindanao” says Rius Valle, Spokesperson for Save Our Schools Network. Bakwit schools continue to be erected across the country not only to forward Lumad education but to rally support as well for their cause. 

Herein lies my own fear: that, ripped from their lands and communities and surviving on the bare minimum, the Lumad would lose their identity and stop fighting. “Iniisip ko kasi ‘yung mga ancestor namin dinedepensahan talaga nila ‘yung lupang ninuno. Eh kung sa aming henerasyon hindi namin dedepensahan, paano na ‘yung susunod na henerasyon? Paano na ‘yung mga anak namin, mga anak ng anak namin? ‘Yun ‘yung iniisip ko. Pati kung paano ipreserba ‘yung kultura. Kasi unti-unti na siyang nawawala.” Rorelyn, an 18-year old student in the UP Diliman Lumad Bakwit school, shares her concerns. The fight for Lumad education will always be intertwined with their fight for their land and their culture. The three legs of Lumad education, namely agriculture, academics, and health, continue to be undermined. How then can they pursue these when they are always on the run, their teachers are targeted with violence, and they survive on the bare minimum? 

Thus, there is a need to satisfy their needs and enable them to empower themselves to sustain the fight. We must recognize their existing strength as peoples, acknowledging that the Lumad are Filipinos, deserving of rights and dignity, able to contribute to Philippine development, and qualified to topple the reign of terror of Duterte and other future fascists.

[itslancesworld]

Journal Entry #7: Think Twice With Social Media

When I encountered social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter as a child, I thought of them as my toys. They were better than those tamagotchi toys and game boy advance because I can communicate with other people, I can post pictures and I can see the lives of other people online. The internet was a new world, and social media was a vast ocean. 

After learning about the importance of critical thinking, I recently watched a TED video from Damon Brown who tells us “How to Choose Your News”. One way to practice critical thinking is to be selective in reading our news. Brown explains in his video that news became too broad; there were too many topics to cover. Mainstream news can influence and manipulate public trust through concealment and censorship but because of social media, information cannot be controlled like before. In a world where social media has enabled people to become their own news reporters, Brown proposes several tips: 

Get the official news instead of the middlemen. Better yet, follow media reporters and newscasters

Published articles are retouched and edited by editors who possibly did not experience the story, so find the raw reporting of media reporters

Check for the latest information in different times because sometimes, continuous coverage can have incorrect info or false accusations 

Read the news in multiple outlets because media bias is unavoidable 

Social media is scary to me because I was comfortable with it. Now, fake news has become a threat. The creation of trolls, fake accounts and falsified news accounts or articles has been increasing lately so it’s important to think twice with social media. I’m also scared because while all these tips from Damon Brown were very helpful to me, it wasn’t common sense to me. Fact-checking was never in my mind when reading information in social media. 

Brown later ends the video with a provoking line: with freedom comes responsibility, we should ensure that our information flow does not get flooded [by fake news, biased media and incorrect information].

It’s easier said than done to change the behavior of the people, but shouldn’t this change start with the media and social institutions too?

[kyle-lagdameo]

Crux, Crucible, and Crucifixion

On Writing for Social Justice and Change

My writing aspirations are well... to write again. Personally, writing has been my crux, crucible, and crucifixion. I do not know whether my journey back to writing is akin to carrying the cross and grinding until the load becomes light — until writing becomes easy again. I do not know if when I'm atop Calvary, crucified and vulnerable to the world, will I then find forgiveness — forgiveness for myself and the journey that I went through?

I'm not particularly religious yet there is strength and depth in its literature and its figures of speech. Particularly, I do recognize that Jesus suffered all that for a reason. He had a choice not to go through all of it (though could he really deny himself of that being God and all) similarly I have a choice to let go of writing anymore (though do I really have a choice when it's a requirement in the academe and pretty much everywhere else). In short, there is a greater reason and a greater calling for taking up the cross, or in my case, taking up the pen. I ask myself — why?

My father being in the academe and our house being surrounded by books, I grew up surrounded by writing. My father prized all of his books but was very particular about his collection of The Greatest Books of the World. It was an array of important literature spanning 2 meters and ranging from Shakespeare to the Federal papers, Rousseau to Curie. It covered world-changing books on the topics of Politics, Literature, Philosophy, Sciences, and the likes. He would always encourage me to read them. "Wala akong ibang maipapamana sa'yo kundi ito" he would say it with both sadness and hope. Sadness perhaps due to its truth, given our financial standing. Hope because he believes I can use this to succeed. In retrospect, I think more than just using it to succeed, he hopes that someday I'll be part of this collection, and believes it. Oops. But for the sake of my father, I take up the pen because I want to believe that I can write something world-changing someday and hopefully for the better.

[itslancesworld]

Journal Entry #5: Art & Design Covers

Artworks have always interested me, no matter how lowbrow or high class the work seems. Although my mind has always been biased to the Expressionist movements and the works of Fernando Zobel, art was always my way of communication. 

Design, on the other hand, was my way of innovating or you can say, adapting to the modern world. I find technology everywhere now and designing has become the new art. 

I realized that I haven’t been creating art and design, things that I am so passionate about. The pandemic has slowly coerced me to rest and relax. I mean its not bad to rest but I think it’s been a long overdue for me to start creating art and design again. For my next entries, I promise to attach the art and designs I will be making. 

This isn’t related to anything on development communication, but an accountability journal entry! However, these mediums also serve importance when communicating. How we design a system, how we design a visual poster, how we design newspapers? 

Design and writing go hand and hand, and hopefully, I can create artworks in my online journal.

[marybungay-dev108]

Questions on Definitions of Communication for Development

After getting a lot of terms mixed up, here is my attempt in understanding the definition of Communication for Development.

Do lend your ears and offer what you have to say as I am new to this. I tried to make sense of it from where the confusion starts, so from my conference with my groupmates and the questions that were formed is where the starting point will be.

For this intro activity...

I was group mates with Nina, Kyle, Dana. I didn't know them from outside this class since this is my first DEV course for a minor. I am from BFA ID. They were very welcoming and definitely eased my worries entering my first DS class. 

I had a lot of questions...

Not that development or communication were entirely new encounters for me (I’ve heard of them before), but this is the first time I sat down and read about them, especially in the context of development studies and surround by DS students.

There are more questions than answers right now, even after I’ve reviewed the readings. Treat this post as my most raw and initial processing of these definitions and new concepts to me. I’ll definitely go back to this post throughout the course to see how much I’ve really understood.

I’ll focus on my most burning questions so as not to make the post too long, but will try to address the other questions and reflect on them in separate posts maybe.

ON QUEBRAL AND CHATTERJEE

“In working towards specified development goals, the creativity of the writer, the broadcaster, the performer, the graphic artist, the director and all those associated with the art-related side of the old and new media can make the difference between pedestrian, and therefore ineffective, communication and sensitive, and therefore more meaningful communication.”

Coming from an FA major and minoring in DS, I was very much intrigued to find this in the reading. If this is what we claim true, I wondered and also remembered prompts from my own FA classes—what are the telling points of good and nuanced communication for development when it is translated to the arts? How do we hit the mark without being tone-deaf? Other than consultations and listening to the real stories of stakeholders, how do we amplify voices using imagery and art without resorting to sounding like a generic charitable feel-good initiative?

Taking cues from the readings, one can deduce that consultation and consensus in itself is not a simple task especially in the topic of development for marginalized and vulnerable communities. From the readings, we are introduced to the top-down approach, where institutions have already set goals and standards of development and communication is based on theory. We are also introduced to the very opposite of that—which, in my opinion, is also a better approach—a grassroots campaign that listens and looks for action points from hearing the voices of the people themselves.

As people who have the potential to have a career with communication for development, it is important to determine first what we are communicating. Why’s and how’s are important, of course, but from what the readings have emphasized, perhaps we only think we know what to say. For all we know, the people we are talking to already know and have repeatedly heard of whatever suggestions, campaigns, and initiatives we want to propose—highly likely because they are the most familiar with their crises than anyone could ever be. So the what, should come from them. The development communicator can merely assist. 

I am definitely reminded of similar lessons we’ve had in ID and it was very interesting to me how as communication tools, human-centered design and communication for development share the same perspective. Most designers can fall into the trap of the designer messianic complex, taking statistics at face value tp justify whatever aesthetically pleasing material they already want to produce prior to discerning whether that is indeed the correct design intervention by consulting, again and again, with stakeholders and partners.

I think it is  similar to what Quebral and Chatterjee were referring to when they emphasize two-way communication and empowering grassroots voices. At the end of the day, communicators can find ways and assist, but they will never be the answer. Without, say our personal contribution to assisting communities—and even if we do not encounter these communities at all—they will continue to brave through their struggles and eventually find a way to make it through. If their struggles have formed without us, so can their liberation.

[itslancesworld]

Journal Entry #3: Insights & Critique: Development Communication Articles by Servaes, Quebral & Chatterjee

September 11, 2020 

At first glance, development communication is such a powerful word to me. The things that come into mind when I read it are related to progression, betterment or simply leveling up societies. 

Jan Servaes, a development communicator from Europe, writes how development communication is nurturing the knowledge from the people involved and turning them into action for their betterment or social progress.

Some concepts that I had a hard time understanding were some terms that Jan Servaes defined like ideology, power and identity. I cannot seem to grasp them concretely or citations/examples that he gives, maybe because he’s writing for readers who are development communicators? However, it was insightful to hear how ideologies can be very powerful.

I believe that development communication is not a one-man kind of job or action but it can be started as one. It needs the participation of all the people involved and to make them realize the importance of communicating one another. If one person or faction does not see this, it will be hard to achieve development or social change. 

Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee, a MassComm professor from India, sees development communication in two definitions. He then provides the World Bank definition of DevCom as integrating strategic communication in development projects. Compared to Servaes, he emphasizes the importance of strategic communication instead. He brings up the goals of development communication and several social institutions importance in carrying out those goals. 

Some terms and concepts I wished he tackled more on were on “strategic communication” and “development journalism”. Both of these words sound very promising. I wished he provided more elaboration on those by maybe giving case studies or the processes and frameworks used.

I also wished Chatterjee wrote more examples and the context from where he is residing in, which is India. He talked a lot on the history of the West but not really development communication from the East.

I believe that development communication requires empathy.  Chatterjee talks about meaningful conversation through building understanding and responding to them, and that is part of empathy. We need to gain their perspective through communicating what, how and why their current behavior is like this. We need to remember that when we are building development projects for our stakeholders or beneficiaries, we are not the beneficiary. 

Nora Cruz Quebral, a Development Communication professor from my home country the Philippines, ponders how there is an interaction between development and communication. She sees the value of both terms and the need for each other. However, what strikes me the most is the circumstances developing countries face when using development communication, particularly the Philippines. She mentions that communications media is concentrated in cities. How about the rural communities and indigenous tribes who rely on non-modernized information methodologies?

I find it very overwhelming because the development communicators like Quebral do want social change and she wants to focus on rural communities. However, they do not have the technological and digital media. It’s simple to just say to urbanize rural areas but we, as a developing country, do not have the capacity or the resources to cover all. Quebral mentions that we must not copy the solutions or methods of developed countries because their context is different than developing countries. In order to find the solution, we need to communicate with not just the rural communities, but also the government and other social institutions.

I believe that development communication in developing countries should be more focused on viability and capability. As development communicators, understanding the perspectives of different stakeholders is not enough, we should acknowledge the resources we have in order to find a viable way to achieve development.

Some commonalities I noticed between these three development communicators is how they see the media having a huge potential in Development Communication. They play a huge role in information dissemination, raising awareness and educating people. Media can be an effective way to create development and social change. However, there are still concerns regarding the effectivity, conversion and evaluation of these media strategies. Developing countries have areas with no media. Do all people receive the information the media is disseminating? 

Another commonality I see between the three is that although their definitions and views on development communication have different processes and emphasizing on different aspects, the outcome of human betterment and social progress is the same. Keeping this in mind, a good characteristic I can see among development communicators is that they’re driven by three things: the people, the problem and the outcome. To be oriented with these areas will make a development communicator’s role easier and impactful.

[marybungay-dev108]

Providing Evidence

I tried to look at an alternative news source to see how different they angle their writing from the ones I usually go for... this is ABS CBN vs. PTV News on the latest Pulse Asia Survey results showing President Duterte with high approval rates this year.

Here are my comparison and analysis based on observations on each part of the articles

Articles

https://ptvnews.ph/prrd-gets-highest-trust-performance-rating-of-91-pulse-asia-survey-shows/

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/05/20/91-percent-of-filipinos-approve-dutertes-performance-pulse-asia

Headline

PTV says it as it is, keeping the positive nature of the survey results:

PRRD gets highest trust, performance rating of 91%. Pulse Asia survey shows

ABS CBN decides to include a caveat—that it is during a pandemic

Duterte gets 91 percent approval amid COVID-19 pandemic: Pulse Asia

Angle

PTV chose to highlight the controversial, that despite which, the President still gained the high rating

Aside from the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the issues included in the survey are the PhilHealth anomaly, Bayanihan 2 signing, Manila Bay Beautification Project, and the deportation of Joseph Scott Pemberton.

ABS CBN chose to highlight the possible reasons why the results are positive.

In an interview on ANC, Pulse Asia President Ronnie Holmes said those who answered the survey may have attributed the decline in the economy more to the pandemic than to what the government did or did not do.

"One is that the situation we were faced with from March and in the time of the survey, essentially involves a global pandemic. So the situation in each country differs from each other. We think people basically attribute the decline of the economy more to the global pandemic rather than essentially the work or the ineptitude of the government for that matter," he said.

Their chosen angles could be because for PTV, they wanted to downplay these controversial issues—that despite them, the president still has positive reviews after all. For ABS CBN, they chose to recognize that there is still an ongoing pandemic that is not being addressed; and if that is so, why are the results still positive? They provided an answer via the response of the Pulse Asia President’s answer as quoted.