IT WAS, first and foremost, a nostalgic reunion of several groups that have had personal and activist ties in years past with veteran community development worker Oscar “Oca” Francisco who became a party-list representative last year, representing the Alliance for Rural Concerns (ARC). But our weekend gathering in Tacloban City, Leyte and trip to Balangiga and Basey in Eastern Samar were also Congressman Oca’s way of introducing the groups to developments in that part of the country, particularly people’s participation in local governance and community development.
Trust Oca to blend the “alumni” of the three groups—National Union of Students of the Philippines, Student Catholic Action and the church-based National Secretariat of Social Action (where Oca spent many years in justice, peace and development work and where I got to know him)—and bring them down to the grassroots to see for themselves what is happening in people’s lives.
There were more than 20 of us billeted at the quaint Hotel Alejandro that provided a historic backdrop through vintage World War II photos that tell the story of courage and the struggle for freedom. And trust Oca to blend exposure to poverty alleviation and people’s concerns with fun and freedom such as ballroom dancing, singing and sightseeing.
Before we all flew to Tacloban, Oca sent us background materials, among them, his serious discourse, “Reflections on Community Organizing and Ballroom Dancing” which is a very good read. Oca presents CO as an act of creation and celebration and smashes the totalitarian view that there is only one correct reading of the world and history. CO workers, Oca urges, must re-imagine the world. (I will post his opus in my blog.)
Oca’s name is synonymous with CO. And despite his twice-weekly dialysis, Oca remains active in the field, having co-founded the Institute for Democratic Participation in Governance (IDPG). Why, he even has a network called Dialogue (Dancing Instructors Action for Local Governance and Empowerment).
We visited Balangiga, the historic little down that fought to the death the colonizing Americans in Sept. 28, 1901. The event which happened during the waning years of the Philippine-American war is now known as the “Balangiga encounter”.
To resist domination, tribesmen of Balangiga attacked the elite Company C, 9th US Infantry Regiment, which had fought in China and served as honor guard during the inauguration of the American civil government in the Philippines and the installation of William Howard Taft as governor. It was a cinematic and suspenseful strategy that showed the Filipinos’ boldness and daring in the face of a superior force. Forty eight Americans perished and 28 native combatants died. (I remember watching the movie “Sunugin ang Samar” directed by Joey Gosiengfiao.)
In retaliation, the Americans waged a scorched-earth campaign and turned Samar into a “howling wilderness”, earning for Gen. Jake Smith, the sobriquet, Howling Jake. Hundreds of Filipinos were killed.
A life-like replica of the bloody event by National Artist Napoleon Abueva now stands in front of the Catholic church of St. Lawrence.
As most everyone knows, there is a campaign for the return of the three church bells of Balangiga that the Americans carted away more than 100 years ago. Two bells are in Wyoming, USA and one is in South Korea. When the bells are finally returned on Sept. 28 this year, as it is hoped, there will be a glorious celebration. Our group promised to be back for that and for more of Balangiga’s solosogue (blue marlin).
But Balangiga is not just about the bells. A poor municipality of Eastern Samar, Balangiga is struggling, and with some success, to get its share of the so-called development pie. Thanks to ARC and IDPG, and through the World Bank-assisted Kalahi-CIDDS (Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services), a government poverty alleviation project, Balangiga is now in the cusp of development.
Theirs is not a government-dictated type of development. People’s participation is strong. According to Mayor Viscuso S. de Lira, Kalahi-CIDSS taught them about “participatory governance and how to listen to our people.” More than 200 persons, mostly women, volunteered for Kalahi-CIDSS. They trained to be agents of change and equipped themselves with knowledge on procurement, fund disbursement and inspecting projects and materials.
About 95 percent of the projects were implemented by volunteers. These were projects that the people themselves wanted. During the three cycles of KALAHI-CIDSS, Balangiga had 26 subprojects, many of which were drainage systems, roads, daycare centers, schools and water and sanitation facilities. Thirteen other subprojects were granted for the Makamasang Tugon implementation. These are Balangiga’s “new bells”.
We visited a road-opening project and a day-care center that was near completion. The projects, the people told us, were being monitored through the community-based monitoring system (CBMS) adopted by the local government units (LGU). They described to us how the work was done and monitored by volunteers who felt pride in becoming part “owners” of what they have built.
Don’t count on the national. The hope is in LGUs and in the ordinary folk who participate in governance and chart their own development as a community so that extreme poverty may be a thing of the past. In fact, the people of Balangiga are now ringing their “new bells”, even as they await the return of the old bells that signified their defiance against domination and their love of freedom.
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