DBM to create comprehensive database to prevent abuse of personnel funds

MANILA, April 5 (PIA)--The Aquino administration is taking concrete steps to address the recently-revealed abuses in the use of personnel funds in the military, as well as exorbitant pay received by some officials of government agencies.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said President Aquino’s directive to build a Comprehensive Database on Government Manpower will allow DBM to accurately and amply provide for the national government’s personnel services requirements, including pension obligations.

Earlier, President Benigno S. Aquino III issued Executive Order No. 31 instructing all national departments and agencies to immediately submit to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) complete rosters of their personnel – including military and uniformed personnel, and employees of government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCS).

“This new directive from the President is a major step in fulfilling his promise of kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap. A comprehensive database of government personnel—including those employed in the military, law enforcement agencies and government firms—will come a long way in preventing abuses in the use of personnel funds,” Abad said in a news release posted at the DBM website.

In complying with the President’s directive to establish such database, DBM will build on its existing Government Manpower Information System (GMIS), a database of information on government positions, incumbents, and authorized compensation in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches of the government, including Constitutional Offices.  

However, GMIS at present does not cover the military personnel of the DND, uniformed personnel of the DILG and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), casual and contractual personnel, and personnel of GOCCs and government financial institutions (GFIs).

“In the past, we have had difficulty in securing the manpower rosters of certain agencies. The President’s directive means that this time around, all agencies should comply with standards of accountability and good governance when it comes to PS spending,” Abad said.

Learning from Success Stories

(Editor's note: The following short note was forwarded to us today by noted marine scientist, Dr. Flor Lacanilao and is by Raul K. Suarez, a Professor at the Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara. We are uploading this in view of the interest shown by some of our readers (no matter what position they are taking) on the issue of grey literature and its policy implications for the Philippine academe)

By Raul K. Suarez

When we examine success stories in Philippine science, we see common features. For example, at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, the National Institute of Physics and the Marine Sciences Institute have both embraced the culture of proper publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals. At the International Rice Research Institute, highly productive Filipinos, working alongside and publishing with international scientists, have blurred the boundaries between basic and applied research concerning rice. The Aquaculture Department of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center in Iloilo has become a publication-oriented institution that conducts international caliber research that benefits the country.

It is when people recognize what is wrong with certain practices and ways of thinking that institutions are able to change and make progress. However, that change is required for progress to occur is a message that is not always welcome. There are still those who believe that there should be PhD programs in the sciences, scientific journals, science institutes, academies, policy making bodies and funding agencies run by those who do not publish actively and never have. There are those who believe that government investment in endeavors that generate MS and PhD degrees or “completed” research projects that do not yield peer-reviewed publications is a proper use of public funds. The validity of research results generated by such an enterprise becomes a matter of faith, rather than a matter of empirical verification or the scrutiny of international experts.

To suggest that the narrow views or standards of a few are being unreasonably imposed on the majority is to ignore the fact that there are accepted ways of doing science, norms that have become part of and have benefited international science for more than half a century. Many Asian countries, even ultra-nationalist ones, have learned this. Those at the IRRI, SEAFDEC, NIP and MSI have learned this. Although some may feel inclined to shoot the messenger, it would be more productive to focus on the essence of the message and on what can be learned from the success stories that exemplify the message. It is up to the next generation: they can remain stuck in old ways of thinking and repeat mistakes that have led to failure, or they can reform Philippine science as they have seen it done by their fellow Filipinos and by their Asian neighbors. The older generation faces the choice of either welcoming and facilitating change or becoming an obstacle to it.

Raul K. Suarez
Professor
Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology
University of California, Santa Barbara
California 93106-9610
U.S.A.

Telephone (805) 893-7563

FAX (805) 893-4724
Website http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/eemb/faculty/suarez/index.html

Philippine Monitoring and Evaluation Society responds to former U.P. Visayas Chancellor's comments on "grey literature"

(Editor's note: The email rebuttal below was sent to us last night by Mr. James Santos of the Philippine Monitoring and Evaluation Society in response to an earlier email sent to us by Dr. Flor Lacanilao arguing that the PMES' Commission on Higher Education sanctioned seminars on thesis writing in U.P. Diliman were promoting "grey literature" instead of focusing on international standard peer-reviewed submissions to reputable journals (see: Former U.P. Visayas Chancellor criticizes CHED-sanctioned Pilipinas Monitoring and Evaluation Society workshops as promoting grey literature). Meantime, Dr. Lacanilao's recent writings on academic governance has also recently been critiqued by Dr. Ramon Guillermo of the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature (see: In praise of the Dictatorship of the Highly Published). The original PMES seminar series announcement can be accessed at this link.

Dear Prof Florlaca,

Prof. Romeo Santos cannot respond yet to your mail, as he is still in Paris through an invite from the French Evaluation Agency -for an annual meeting of international evaluators. Being part of his Secretariat and on his behalf, let me initially react to your letter.

First of all, let me say that we, in the PMES and WorkLand M&E, have a high regard for you and truly respect you -being an accomplished researcher, scientist and academician. In fact, Prof. Santos has from the very beginning broached the idea of approaching you and invite you to be one of our Consultants or Instructors in the seminar series that we are offering. We believed that due to your expertise and the Cause that you have been espousing vigorously in the media, we may find a noble way together of contributing concretely to the betterment of the society, which is our common desire. We continue to believe that we share the same aspiration.

However, as we have stated in the past, although we support most of your grand ideas, let me say that we kindly detract from some of your thoughts. We, in these organizations, firmly believe that we cannot accomplish much improvement in the society if the Cause we are advancing is done through adversarial and put down manner. ‘Each of us has a stake in each one of us’, and we need all and everyone’s contribution, regardless of their level of intelligence, accomplishment and expertise, to help improve the country. To put down others who are of lesser ‘pedigree’ is not good for the society as whole. We particularly believe that a strong sense of Common Good is what we lack to move forward -and so values that support it shall be cultivated. We cannot attain this if we become dogmatic in our appraisal of ourselves, much more if we readily dismiss others as unfit because they do not measure up to the standards we personally believe in. We cannot readily make a strong conviction for or against something [or someone] we do not know much in the first place. To do so would be a betrayal of the ideals we hold so dear in our field. You, as a scientist, would not infer adversely about something you do not have yet complete knowledge of [or information], would you? Otherwise, it would either be bigotry or a senile way of thinking.

Read the rest here: http://diliman-diary-sidebars.blogspot.com/2011/04/continuation-of-philippine-monitoring.html

In Praise of the Dictatorship of the Highly Published

By Ramon Guillermo, Ph.D.

We read Dr. Flor Lacanilao’s article entitled “Democratic governance impedes academic reform” published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (03/14/2011) with much interest. First of all, we would like to commend Dr. Lacanilao for his view that the “most important problems in the world have been solved largely by physical scientists.” If there are any problems at all in the world which have not yet been solved by these physical scientists, such problems would certainly be nothing but the most trivial ones unworthy of even an iota of brain matter of their superior intellects. Despite our awe at the display of erudition on philosophy and human history which such a statement entails, we nevertheless take issue with the gist of of Dr. Lacanilao's argument in the said article. We propose that his general argument can be taken as follows:

a) Working successfully requires that members are competent on a subject;

b) Joint decisions with different member competencies don't work;

c) The great majority [of academics] are poorly published in ISI journals,

d) The great majority [of academics] do not have the technical knowledge possessed by the well-published minority;

e) Any group decision will be worse than that which would be made by the [well] published members only. [Therefore the poorly published individuals should be excluded from the decision-making process.]

First of all, what "subject" is Lacanilao referring to in the first proposition above? Is he referring to his own field of "comparative endocrinology"? Is he referring to the niceties of Popperian philosophy of science, the details of art restoration, or the fine points of coral reef preservation? Or is he just saying that the members working together should be "competent" in at least "something" (as long as it is an “academic something”)? Let’s just assume that Lacanilao is saying, in his own very diplomatic way, that the members working together to arrive at decisions within the University should be "competent" in at least one “academic something.” Then the next question in terms of his argument would be: Is the “objective” measure of "competence" which he proposes, namely, number of ISI publications, a valid and acceptable measure of “competence" for all possible "subjects" or domains of specialization in the University? It should first of all be clarified to the uninitiated that the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), founded in 1960, regularly puts out a list of the “most cited” (and therefore most prestigious) scientific journals in the world. ISI’s founder Eugene Garfield, was also notorious for once having written that, “International science requires cultural as well as economic imperialism.” Since that time, the ISI listing has been used as a crucial measure to determine international university rankings and faculty ratings and promotions.

There are valid reasons to doubt that the ISI listing could serve as an uncontroversial and “objective” measure of competence across disciplines. Most of these are already quite well-known among students of journal citation-impact. Some of these are the following: a) The humanities and social sciences give greater value to publications in book form than the disciplines in the natural sciences which give a premium to journal publications; b) The humanities and social sciences domains, not just in the Philippines but internationally, are much more diverse in terms of languages of publication. The vast majority of ISI journals however are English language journals from the USA and UK with very few of these representing such important languages in the humanities and social sciences such as German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese etc.; c) There is unfortunately, but understandably, an observed "Western bias" in the humanities and social sciences journals covered by the ISI which do not give adequate coverage to topics of relevance to the Philippines and Southeast Asia in general. It therefore seems highly contentious to put forward the number of ISI publications as an “objective” measure of competence or “technical knowledge” in every possible field of study within the University. Such an assertion would merit at least a number of empirical studies which would demonstrate how “competence” across the disciplines correlates with ISI publication rates. We would also have to inquire as to what “minimum” number of ISI publications one must have in order to be adjudged by Lacanilao, “competent” in a particular field.

However, the core of his argument is that “group decisions” within the University which are made by “competent” members jointly with the “incompetent” (or badly published) majority will be worse than when the “competent” members make the decisions or call the shots by themselves. Lacanilao therefore supports what he sees as a “more effective alternative to democratic governance” which is for the well-published minority to “wield executive-decision power, as done in political and military crises.” In short, he advocates the dictatorship of the well-published over the poorly published. He cites a study which came out in the magazine Science (2010) entitled “Optimally Interacting Minds” by Bahrami et al. (Lacanilao mistakenly cites one of Bahrami’s co-authors Chris Firth as the main author of the study in question) in support of his position against “democratic governance” in the University. The aforementioned study demonstrated how a simple “perceptual decision task” (i.e., perceiving differences in visual contrast in an image) involving inputs from two observers who are free to communicate their degrees of confidence to each other and possessing “nearly equal visual sensitivity” could be combined to produce more accurate collective decisions. In this particular case, the study showed that two heads were indeed better than one. However, Bahrami et al. also found that if the two individuals have “different visual sensitivities,” then the results tend to be less accurate and the benefits of collaboration are much reduced. They therefore concluded that: “Individuals with very different sensitivities are best advised to avoid collaboration and instead should rely entirely on the more sensitive individual.”

Using a very wide latitude of interpretation, the paper by Bahrami et al. could indeed be construed as providing evidence against “democratic” forms of decision-making among “differently-competent” individuals. At the end of their paper however, the authors used the example of the “existence of weapons of mass destruction” to illustrate the “catastrophic consequences of consulting ‘evidence’ of unknown reliability.” In our view, what this particular example really demonstrates is how a naïve reliance on the opinions of competent “experts” marshalled by Bush and Blair on the existence of these weapons in Iraq ended up having“catastrophic” results. Instead of demonstrating the dangers of democracy, this example actually underlines the necessity for openness in the dissemination of information among an actively involved and politically engaged citizenry. It should furthermore be emphasized that this study is not yet about how reasoning within a scientific community can achieve optimal results. Nor is it yet about the optimal mechanisms for collective decision-making within a highly complex human polity. Any further speculations about its broader implications ought to be subjected to the necessary scientific research and critical scrutiny.

One should also point out that the study pertains to a generally “fixed” sensory capacity. If one were incurably blind, then one would naturally have to permanently rely on sighted people to determine the colours of objects. However, higher level forms of analysis, such as logical reasoning, critical thinking, aesthetic discrimination, ethical discernment etc. are not fixed capacities which remain the same through every cycle of decision-making. Such “competencies” are learned and may be continually improved and expanded throughout one’s lifetime. Furthermore, is not the domain of democratic decision-making precisely the school of the intellect and the grindstone of the critical mind? Aren’t democratic forms of organization and governance valued not merely for achieving optimal results but also for the practices of human emancipation and individual autonomy which these nurture? Doesn't the true collective benefit of science reside in the generalization and active dissemination throughout society of scientific and critical thinking rather than in the outright exclusion of those labelled “incompetent"?

If Lacanilao is interested in pursuing his line of argument then questions such as the following ought to be looked into carefully and dealt with in a scientifically rigorous way: Can the variety of competencies involved in all the different academic disciplines be reduced to a single “objective” measure, namely, number of ISI publications? Are the manifold high-level competencies involved in the various academic disciplines from art criticism, legal ethics, marine biology and so on reducible by analogy to the sensitivity of a single sensory function?

Dr. Lacanilao still has many things to prove to make his rousing call for a dictatorship of the well-published ISI elite more convincing to the poorly published and incompetent majority of the University. We hope these topics can be the subject of his future ISI publications.

(Ramon Guillermo is Associate Professor at the Dept. of Filipino and Philippine Literature, University of the Philippines - Diliman. He received his Ph.D in Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Hamburg, Germany. Email: rgguillermo@up.edu.ph)

Former U.P. Visayas Chancellor criticizes CHED-sanctioned Pilipinas Monitoring and Evaluation Society workshops as promoting "grey literature"

(Editor's note: We are posting the following dispatch from former University of the Philippines in the Visayas Chancellor Flor Lacanilao who just sent us this short critique of an ongoing Commission on Higher Education and Development-sanctioned research and thesis writing seminar at U.P. Diliman which he says increases instead of reduces the incidence of "grey literature" in the Philippines)

By Flor Lacanilao

I got this message today on Research and Thesis Writing Seminar, which has been endorsed by the CHED Chairperson in her Memo to  ALL CHED Central and Regional Office Directors, and All Presidents/Heads of Public and Private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

(Editor's note: see the link to the seminar here)

It is yet, sad to say, another example of how the CHED has been doing damage to Philippine higher education (this seminar highlights the CHED part of my recent review on Basic Problems of Philippine science and education). Any academic scientist will see this by just reading through the announcement below and attached. 

For example, one learns to do academic research properly by doing it properly, as mentored by well-published scientists. Those who try to learn it through how to write a thesis are among our numerous unpublished or improperly published faculty members (gray literature authors). Note that some leading graduate schools in America, Europe, and Asia have done away with thesis requirement, and require instead publications in peer-reviewed international journals. (See also Training graduate students).

Further, the Seminar program does not list the lecturers, except for the Main Lecturer: Romeo B. Santos, Ph D, Professor, UP Diliman, etc., etc. I could not find any research publications by him in journals covered in Science Citation Index or Social Sciences Citation Index.

Why this is going to be held in UP Diliman campus, and to think that the CHED Chair is UP's Board of Regents Chair, say a lot about the state of research in UP.

(Dr. Flor Lacanilao obtained his Ph.D. (specialization in comparative endocrinology) from the University of California at Berkeley. He served as chairman of the Zoology Department at UP Diliman, chancellor of UP Visayas, and chief of SEAFDEC in Iloilo. His email address is at: florlaca@gmail.com .) 

Schedule of Training Workshops FY 2011 of Pilipinas Monitoring and Evaluation Society

DO YOU NEED A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO DOING RESEARCH?

ARE YOU WRITING A THESIS BUT NOT GETTING THE RIGHT GUIDANCE TO DO IT?

DO YOU SUPERVISE THESIS BUT FEEL INADEQUATE IN PROVIDING THE RIGHT GUIDANCE TO YOUR STUDENTS?

----STUDIES SHOW THAT MOST THESIS ADVISERS NEED TO DEVELOP SKILLS EVEN IN WRITING SOUND RESEARCH PROPOSALS -IF THEY WERE TO PROVIDE BETTER GUIDANCE TO THEIR THESIS STUDENTS…

DO YOU NEED TO IMPROVE THE LEVEL OF RESEARCH IN YOUR ORGANIZATION?

IF YOUR ANSWER IS YES TO ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS, THEN, YOU NEED THE FOLLOWING;

6TH RESEARCH & THESIS WRITING SEMINAR 2011

Building on the success of the previous seminars, the last of which was held on February 25-26, 2011, the Philippine Monitoring and Evaluation Society (PMES) and the WorkLand M&E Institute, Inc. (WorkLand M&E) once again offer another round of seminar workshop on research and thesis writing. The past seminars were attended by participants from cross-disciplinary fields -faculties and students from different universities inside and outside UP and practitioners from the Industry. The best examples of training courses (Research & Thesis Writing and Results-based Monitoring & Evaluation) regularly offered are well received and appreciated.

The continuing event is part of educational program designed to reach out to colleagues, partners and friends from various sectors and communities inside and outside the university.

Read the rest here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/52219679/6TH-RESEARCH-POSTER-MAIN-1

To read the Commission on Higher Education and Development (CHED) memo endorsing this seminar, please click on this link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/52219991/CHED-MEMO-PMES

To read the 2011 schedule of training workshops by Pilipinas Monitoring and Evaluation Society, please click on this link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/52220293/2011-Pmes-Seminar-Schedule

New U.P. President promotes green campuses

LOS BANOS, LAGUNA, Mar 21, (PIA) --Newly-installed University of the Philippines (UP) president Alfredo E. Pascual has vowed to transform U.P. colleges nationwide into green campuses by taking a lead role in national concerns related to forestry and environment conservation.

The new UP president head said his administration will follow a policy of good democratic governance that subscribes to collegiality, transparency and accountability.

Pascual also emphasized the need to operate as one in the U.P. system and work with synergy and to interact and collaborate with each other.

The UP president, who assumed office on February 10, recently visited the University of the Philippines-Los Banos, Laguna and interacted with UPLB officials and attended a forum organized by the students.
Pacual met with UPLB officials led by Chancellor Luis Rey I. Velasco and asked to inform him of what UPLB needs and its aspirations so his administration can be relevant. He referred to himself as a chief academic officer to emphasize his presidency as a management team and not as a single person.

On the initiatives that can be pursued at UPLB, Pascual said UPLB can take a lead role in national concerns that are related to forestry and conservation, citing the Makiling Forest Reserve (MFR) that can be used as an outdoor facility for natural resources, outdoor recreation and education.

The MFR could be a center for biodiversity research in the region, and to do this, facilities must be established to make full use of the MFR, Pascual added. (Alan C. Ortillano, PIA-Laguna)

U.P. Chemical Society: BURN: U Rock, U Run

(To enlarge the graphic, just click on it)

The UP Chemical Society, in its 81st year, presents its first ad hoc event, BURN: U Rock, U Run, a fun run for the rehabilitation and construction of the buildings of UP Diliman Institute of Chemistry.

10 April 2011, 5:30 AM, Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill, Taguig

Events: 3K, 5K and 10K

Registration Fee: P450

Race kits include singlet and race bib. Prizes await top runners.

Promo: Register as a group of 10 and get P50 off for each person.

Contact Ralph (09062488759), Joseph (09336541191), Mara (09164302502) or Jason (09178742050) for inquiries.

You may register using this online registration form.

For more details, click here to get to the official BURN: U Rock, U Run site.

Diliman Videos of the Week: Borderline Film and What is Queer Theory for You?

Video No. 1: Borderline Film



Borderline Film 2011
A short film by Visual Communication major students, College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines, Diliman

Joanna Malinis (UP FA)
Pampy Manalac (UP FA)
Margaret Morales (UP FA)
Kit Singson (UP FA)
Valerie Villaflor (UP FA)

Lucho Ayala (actor)
Millie Morales (story, make-up, actress)

Video No. 2: What is Queer Theory for You?



French 197 under Prof. Richard Karl Deang University of the Philippines, Diliman. Creators: Jamie Isabelle Arellano & Nico Angelo Pili Special participation ...

Noam Chomsky: On Libya and the Unfolding Crises

"The scenario is boringly familiar: Marcos, Duvalier, Chun, Ceasescu, Mobutu, Suharto, and many others. And today, Tunisia and Egypt. Syria is a tough nut to crack and there is no clear alternative to the dictatorship that would support U.S. goals. Yemen is a morass where direct intervention would probably create even greater problems for Washington. So there state violence elicits only pious declarations."

"Libya is a different case. Libya is rich in oil, and though the US and UK have often given quite remarkable support to its cruel dictator, right to the present, he is not reliable. They would much prefer a more obedient client. Furthermore, the vast territory of Libya is mostly unexplored, and oil specialists believe it may have rich untapped resources, which a more dependable government might open to Western exploitation."

Read the rest here: Noam Chomsky: On Libya and the Unfolding Crises

Some good and not-so-good news regarding Philippine radioactive levels

QUEZON CITY, March 29 (PIA) - The radiation level in the country remains normal from 94 to 118 nSv/hr (nanosieverts per hour) as gathered by the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) at the institute grounds today.

Despite the good news, the PNRI is vigorous in checking the radioactivity in the Philippines as radioisotope presence has already been detected in THE country.

On March 23, the PNRI detected iodine-131 at 33 microbecquerels per cubic meter, cesium-134 at 4.2 microbecquerels per cubic meter, and cesium-137 at 5.7 microbecquerels per cubic meter.

On March 26, iodine-131 is now at 20 microbecquerels per cubic meter, cesium-134 at 0.7 microbecquerels per cubic meter, and cesium-137 at 0.7 microbecquerels per cubic meter.

“Environmental radiation monitoring all over the world including the Philippines has detected very tiny amounts of radioactive isotopes which appeared to be coming from the Fukushima nuclear power plant and which pose no human health hazards,” PNRI report said.

The institute also explained that earlier report on extreme high levels of radiation (10 million times normal) appears to be a report error. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has already corrected the report. “Nevertheless, high levels of radiation remain inside the nuclear power plant but pose danger only to the emergency workers,” the PNRI says.

For further advisories, PNRI can be reached through telephone numbers 929-6010 to 19. (PIA-NCR/RJB/DBN)

U.P. Integrated School alumni are questioning the basic premises for tearing down U.P.I.S. to give way to yet another Ayala mall.

By Chanda Shahani

Alumni of the University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) are planning to petition U.P. President Alfredo E. Pascual for an audience and a possible public hearing to validate how carefully studied the plan to transfer UPIS to the current Narra Residence Hall in U.P. Diliman was; considering that the deal brokered by the past Roman administration and approved by a majority of the Board of Regents in favor of AyalaLand, Inc. had no public hearing which was in violation of U.P.'s own charter (R.A. 9500).
 
According to two Facebook pages made up of UPIS alumni, "Goodbye U.P. High" and "Let's Go to the Mall," many questions remained unanswered and so far there has been no sufficient dialogue yet with the new U.P. administration, headed by U.P. President Alfredo E. Pascual.

Rowena Bernardo, a UPIS alumni and founder of "Let's Go to the Mall," posted in "Goodbye U.P. High,"

"Dear Fellow Alumni -This is a small update on planned petition to Pascual for a public hearing on the UPIS deal. "

"We have a group represented by Conyap Longid who is making a position paper for a dialogue with Pascual."

"The position paper will be ready on April 1st. The petition though independently launched will have to look into the arguments of the position paper as well as all points gathered from different parties including any and all points that you would like to point out here"

"In essence, I believe that the decision on UPIS does not only affect UPIS but UP as a whole and a conscious query on where we are veering our education. I have enclosed here a link of a UK based online petition website as an example of the functionalities that the online petition I aspire to launch shortly after April 1."

Another UPIS alumnus,Eugene Lirio Tecson, said "I am from Batch 1992, a senior researcher (CSI & CPDRI) a rural development worker (CSI), a political scientist/political economist, and an international studies graduate student from UP Diliman and I would like to share my position, despite the very limited factual information that I have on the issue."

"I am against the transfer of the UPIS school building not because I am sentimental about it but because of the wrong reasons for which it is being transferred. From what I've gathered, the main arguments for the transfer of UPIS is: 1. To generate income for the UP System from the lease payment from Ayala Corp. and 2. To address the safety of the high school students from having to cross a much wider Katipunan Avenue. For me, these reasons are not sufficient grounds to transfer UPIS."

"UPIS as part of a national university should never resort to rely on private investments to sustain its operations. Since it is a national university, a status that is even higher than a state university, the national government is duty bound to provide public investments to sustain its operations. If UP is now considering the entry of private investments, as it already had, then it might as well be fully privatized. One should distinguish the implications of private funds from the UPIS alumni and the private funds that come from private corporations. Funds from alumni associations are donations meant to improve UPIS and have no strings attached or conditionalities. On the other hand, funds coming from private corporations would necessarily have conditionalities since they are profit and competition-driven. That is why these corporations need to set up infrastructure where they can do business during the period that they are leasing the UP property."

"The safety of the students is a flimsier reason. While I don't have a background in architecture/engineering/construction. I can only imagine that it would cost more to build new school buildings than build overpasses to address the safety of the students."

"As a concerned alumni member of UPIS, this is where I am coming from. These ideas do not necessarily represent the ideas of my other batchmates in Batch 1992 but I am hoping we can still debate from a scholarly and scientific standpoint on the merits of the proposed transfer of UPIS."

Meantime, here is a brief summary of the details of the proposed takeover by AyalaLand, Inc. of the current UPIS site along Katipunan Avenue according to "Goodbye U.P. High":

• The transfer of UPIS to the unused Narra Residence Hall  was an unsolicited proposal made by AyalaLand, Inc. to former U.P. President. Emerlinda R. Roman. The Board of Regents rejected it at first because it was not subjected to public bidding.
• The concept and transfer was eventually approved during the very last BOR meeting attended by then President Roman. 
• The new UP President Alfredo E. Pascual has ordered a review of the agreement: Just like the Ayala Tecno-hub in Commonwealth Avenue, the arrangement is a 50 year lease with guaranteed first option. U.P. only gets a percentage of the gross profit from the mall-BPO-condo complex operations. The initial payment will be PhP 200 million in orderto start the ball rolling. 
• All the other details are nebulous. Even the new principal does not know of the plans or timetable for this project. 

Former President Roman's last BOR meeting as U.P. President was on January 27, 2011 where the AyalaLand, Inc.  proposal was approved by a majority of the BOR with some regents, such as Student Regent Jacque Eroles dissenting on the grounds that there needed to be public hearings on the matter, in accordance with R.A. 9500. Outgoing President Roman subsequently turned over the authority of her office to incoming U.P. President Alfredo E. Pascual on February 10, 2011.

(Chanda Shahani is the editor of the Diliman Diary)

House Resolution No . 1091 Introduced by Kabataan Party-List Representative Raymond V. Palatino to investigate U.P. officials for their acts regarding U.P. Cebu-College

A RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON CIVIL SERVICE AND PROFESSIONALREGULATIONS TO CONDUCT AN INVESTIGATION, IN AID OFLEGISLATION, ON THE ALLEGED CORRUPTION AND GRAVE ABUSE OFDISCRETION COMMITTED BY UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES-CEBUCOLLEGE DEAN DR. ENRIQUE AVILA, BUDGET OFFICER ALSIDRYSHARIF, AND CONSULTANT ERNESTO PINEDA

WHEREAS, on March 1, 2011, the students, faculty, and staff of the University of the Philippines-Cebu College (UP Cebu) filed a petition to the UP President Mr. Alfredo E.Pascual and the UP Board of Regents demanding the resignation of UP Cebu Dean, Dr.Enrique Avila, Budget Officer Alsidy Sharif, and Consultant Ernesto Pineda for allegedlyconspiring to commit acts in flagrant violation of The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Actor Republic Act No. 3019, The Government Procurement Act or Republic Act No. 9184,and The UP Charter of 2008 or Republic Act No. 9500

Read the rest here: House Resolution No . 1091 Introduced by Kabataan Party-List Representative Raymond V. Palatino to investigate active and retired U.P. officials for their acts regarding U.P. Cebu-College

Source: http://www.facebook.com/login/setashome.php?ref=genlogin#!/notes/kristian-jacob-abad-lora/oust-avila-movement-where-are-we-now-are-we-really-moving/10150124034414794

Angara: Procurement reform key in fight vs corruption

MANILA, Mar. 27 (COMSTE/PIA) -- In a recent interview with the World Bank Institute, Senator Edgardo J. Angara emphasized the importance of procurement reform in the government's continuing battle against corruption.

Angara was the principal author and sponsor of Republic Act 9184 or what is now known as the landmark Government Procurement Reform Act passed in 2003.

The veteran legislator spoke about his experience in drafting, lobbying for and ultimately passing one of the biggest anti-corruption laws in the Philippines.

"It's a subject that probably doesn't interest a lot of people although it affects everyone, everyday: how the government procures goods and services. Nevertheless we were able to build a critical mass behind the reform," he said.

This law sought to modernize, standardize, and regulate the procurement activities of the government. Each government agency or branch must conduct competitive and transparent purchases by means of public bidding.

"This law is centered on the principle of transparency. The budget of every agency is known publicly through websites and bulletins, so that anybody, anywhere in the country can put together a tender," said Angara.
Angara recalled that the bill was created to address the ever-present problem of corrupt purchasing and acquisition practices in the government.

"We thought then, we must get rid of lawless frontier where anything goes. This was a time marked by confusion and chaos when it comes to state processes," he explained.

According to Angara, president of the Southeast Asian Parliamentarians Against Corruption, the Procurement Reform Act introduced an innovation to this movement: the creation of a watchdog formed by members of the civil society.

"These people serve as our eyes and ears to guard the process. They provide a very important check-and-balance to the transactions that the state undergoes," said Angara.

Angara concluded with a very simple but striking insight on the nature of reform in a democracy such as in the Philippines.

"Reform doesn't have to begin with a battalion. It can just start with one person," he said. (COMSTE)