Pinangunahan ni NAPC Sec. Noel K. Felongco ang paglulunsad ng “Sambayanihan Serbisyong Sambayanan” noong Disyembre 7 sa Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City.

Dinaluhan ng mahigit 5,000 katao mula sa iba’t ibang maralitang komunidad sa Metro Manila at mga karatig probinsya ang pagtitipon.

Ang “Sambayanihan Serbisyong Sambayanan” ay isa sa malalaking aktibidad ng NAPC sa ilalim ng bagong liderato ni Sec. Felongco.

Tampok sa naturang aktibidad ang paghahatid ng mga pangunahing serbisyo ng iba’t ibang ahensiya ng pamahalaan gaya ng job fair, legal assistance, dental at medical mission, business and technical skills training at NFA Tagpuan na naglalayong direktang dalhin sa mamamayang Pilipino ang mga serbisyong panlipunan.

Ayon kay Sec. Felongco, bahagi ng mandato ng ahensiya ang tiyakin na naaabot mula sa mga pinakamahihirap na mamamayan hanggang sa mga pinakamalalayong komunidad ang mga serbisyo at proyekto ng gobyerno.

Giit ng bagong kalihim, ang “Sambayanihan Serbisyong Sambayanan” ay pagbibigay-diin din sa kahalagahan ng pagkakaisa ng lahat ng sektor ng lipunan, sa loob o labas man ng gobyerno. Kaya naman, isa sa mga layunin ng programang ito ang wakasan ang kahirapan sa pamamagitan ng pagkakamit sa 10 batayang pangangailangan ng bawat mamamayan, ani pa ng bagong Lead Convenor.

Sa mga susunod na araw at linggo ay lilibutin ng “Sambayanihan Serbisyong Sambayanan” ang buong Pilipinas para ihatid ang mga serbisyo ng gobyerno sa bawat Pilipino.

The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) conducted an orientation on Kilos SAMBAYANAN Convergence among the national-level heads of national government agencies (NGAs) on September 20, Thursday at B Hotel, Quezon City. The orientation aims to secure the commitment of NGAs to support a series of Kilos SAMBAYANAN Planning Workshops which will be organized by NAPC.

The 10 provinces with the highest magnitude of poverty that have been selected as focus provinces for the workshops, were presented during the orientation. Specific poverty issues on these provinces - 1. Cebu; 2. Negros Occidental; 3. Bukidnon; 4. Lanao del sur; 5. Negros Oriental; 6. Camarines Sur; 7. Leyte; 8. North Cotabato; 9. Zamboanga del Norte; and 10. Sulu – have been discussed during previous consultations among civil society organizations (CSOs). Orientations will also be conducted among regional level NGA officers and the provincial LGUs on October 2-4 for Mindanao, and October 9-11 for the Luzon and Visayas clusters.

The Kilos SAMBAYANAN Convergence workshops aim to formulate a unified plan among government agencies on how to harmonize government efforts, strengthen inter-agency coordination, and identify gaps and weaknesses in addressing the 10 Basic Needs.

NAPC workers involved in a multi-agency project to create community fish landing centers (CFLC) joined a mainstreaming and operational planning workshop initiated by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) held on 6-8 March 2018.

While more than 50% of the targeted 725 CFLCs have been completed and ready for operation, few are operational. The workshop was held to mainstream the Community Fish Landing Center operation, complete the CLFC Operation and Management Manual, and bridge fisherfolk organizations to government programs that may help in CFLC operations.

Aside from NAPC, workers from the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and Departments of Trade and Industry, Labor and Employment, and Social Work and Community Development, and representatives of fisherfolk organizations joined the training.

Main inputs from the training included community fish landing center operations, based on the CFLC Operations and Management Manual.

CLFC Focal Point for Luzon Island Miss April Dianne Torres presented the CFLC Project updates and milestones as of March 2018.

CFLC Focal Point of Visayas Island John Niel Benedicto presented the initial draft of CFLC Operation Management Guidelines.

NAPC was represented by its CFLC Project Monitoring Team: Diane Mauritz Zapata, April Dianne Torres, John Niel Benedicto, Joan Balangatan, Marianne Lim, Christina Gatche, Favian Magallanes, Bejay Absin, and Kristopher Asares.

Dineklara at nilagdaan sa Sitio Anak Pawis II, Brgy. San Andres, Manggahan Floodway, Cainta, Rizal sa ika-13 ng Oktubre 2017.

Kami, mga tagapamahala at kinatawan ng mga ahensiya ng pamahalaan, pamahalaang lokal, at mga mamamayan ng Manggahan Floodway ay nagpapahayag ng mga sumusunod:

Nababahala kami sa mataas na antas ng kahirapan sa bansa, bunsod ng mga kakulangan sa pagkakamit ng maraming Pilipino sa kanilang mga batayang karapatan, gaya ng pagkain, tubig, pabahay, at iba pa;

Naniniwala kami na ang tuluyang pagpawi sa kahirapan ay nakasandig sa pagtugon sa Sampung Batayang Pangangailangan ng mamamayan: pagkain at repormang agraryo; tubig; paninirahan; trabaho; kalusugan; edukasyon; pangangalagang panlipunan; malinis at ligtas na kapaligiran; kapayapaan; at pakikilahok;

Nakikiisa kami sa adhikain ng mga maralita, kabilang ang panawagan ng mga mamamayan ng Manggahan Floodway para sa tiyak, ligtas, at disenteng paninirahan, at nakasasapat na kabuhayan;

Nagkakaisa kami na alinsunod dito, hindi dapat maging opsyon ang puwersahang demolisyon na lalabag sa kapasiyahan at karapatan ng mga mamamayan, bagkus ay nararapat tiyakin ang makabuluhang pakikilahok ng mamamayan sa anumang hakbanging ihahain sa kanila ng pamahalaan;

Nararapat gayundin ang mahigpit na pagtangan ng pamahalaan sa tungkulin nitong itaguyod ang kapakanan at kagalingan ng mamamayan;

Naninindigan kami na sa pamamaraang ito, sa pamamagitan ng pagtutulungan ng lahat ng sektor ng lipunan, sa loob at labas ng pamahalaan, malilikha ang isang malawak na kilusan na siyang magtitiyak sa pagkakamit ng Sampung Batayang Pangangailangan ng mamamayan at sa pagwawakas ng kahirapan.

Dahil dito, inilalagda namin ang aming mga pangalan at mga kinakatawang ahensiya at samahan bilang tanda ng pagkakaisa upang kamtin ang disenteng paninirahan at iba pang batayang pangangailangan ng mga mamamayan ng Manggahan Floodway, at maging ng lahat ng maralita sa ating bansa.

Nilagdan:
Lead Convenor/Sec. Liza Maza, National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC)
Ron Magbuhos Papag, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
Rafael Antonio Dulce, Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP)
Dennis Cope, URBAN POOR AFFAIRS OFFICE (UPAO)-Cainta, Rizal
Jacob Garcia, URBAN POOR AFFAIRS OFFICE (UPAO)-Taytay, Rizal
Mamamayan ng Manggahan Floodway / Mga lider-organisador at miyembro ng BALIKWAS-Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY), Buklod-Maralita, Lakas-Tao, Planter’s Bern Neighborhood Asspociation, at ANAKBAYAN-Rizal

The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) commemorates this year’s National Week for Overcoming Extreme Poverty, themed “Answering the Call of October 17 to End Poverty: A Path Towards Peaceful and Inclusive Societies,” by strengthening this campaign under the call, “Kilos SAMBAYANAN Laban sa Kahirapan.”

Kilos SAMBAYANAN, or Kilos para sa Sampung Batayang Pangangailangan, is NAPC’s campaign for the fulfillment of the ‘10 basic needs’ of the Filipino people: food and land reform; water; shelter; work; education; health; social protection; healthy environment; peace; and participation.

This call highlights the need for convergence among the various sectors of society, within and outside of government, to build a mass movement against poverty in order to end it.

In particular, NAPC draws attention to the issues surrounding the most basic of needs – food – including the deprivation of the right to food for many Filipinos; the continuing lack of food security in the country; and the peasant struggle for genuine agrarian reform, which remains the bedrock policy for ensuring food security and one of the necessary structural reforms for reversing underdevelopment and inequality in the country.

Despite high economic growth in recent years, extreme poverty persists in the Philippines. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), 8.23 million Filipinos are ‘subsistence poor’, or whose incomes are insufficient to buy even their basic food needs, and is part of the larger 21.93 million poor Filipinos in 2015.

Consequently, many Filipinos are deprived of basic needs that they should be enjoying as a matter of right. Philippine poverty is rooted in underdevelopment, or the backward state of agriculture and industry in the country, and in inequality, or the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few at the expense of the many.

The commemoration of NWOEP 2017 in the Philippines spearheaded by NAPC in collaboration with ATD Fourth World Philippines, people’s organizations, various government agencies, and institutions is designed to celebrate the people’s struggle and active participation of the basic sectors to fight extreme poverty.

Activities

From October 5 to 27, 2017, NAPC will hold a series of activities that highlight the conditions and struggles of the peasant and poor sectors, and secure commitments from stakeholders in support of the Kilos SAMBAYANAN campaign.

‘Kilos SAMBAYANAN caravan’ will be held in peasant and urban poor communities in Manila and Davao. NAPC will also organize fora and inter-agency dialogues for the communication and delivery of government programs and services to the poor. In order to advance the public discourse on land reform and sustainable agriculture, NAPC will host a forum-dialogue with peasant groups expected to be in Manila at this time.

Finally, NAPC will hold a roundtable discussion among civil society partners to launch its anti-poverty framework paper, which presents a comprehensive analysis of Philippine poverty and argues for a pro-poor development strategy as a long-term response.

Cultural events will also be held which include citizen’s photojournalism workshop-photowalk in San Jose del Monte and Pandi, Bulacan and Manggahan Floodway; arts workshop, photo mobile exhibit, Zumbayan health and wellness caravan, Sambayanan Walk, Musika’t Tulaan cultural night, and laying of commemorative stone in Anini-y, Antique.

Objectives of NWOEP Philippines 2017

1. To promote public awareness of the persistence of poverty and extreme poverty in the Philippines, its roots and many dimensions, and the development strategy necessary to end poverty;
2. To strengthen the Kilos SAMBAYANAN campaign and bring it closer to the poor and marginalized sectors of society, and raise awareness on the ‘10 basic needs’ as rights that should be guaranteed by the State for all Filipinos;
3. To advance the public discourse and generate support for the people’s struggles on the right to food, food security, and land reform;
4. To recognize and promote the efforts of the national and local governments for poverty reduction; and
5. To foster convergence among the various sectors of society, within and outside of government, in support of Kilos SAMBAYANAN and towards building a mass movement in order to end poverty.

History of NWOEP

On 17 October 1987, over a hundred thousand people from all walks of life gathered at the Trocadero Plaza (now the Plaza of Human Rights and Liberties) in Paris, France, to honor the victims of extreme poverty, hunger, violence, and ignorance. They gathered upon the appeal of Father Joseph Wresinski, a French Catholic priest and founder of the All Together in Dignity (ATD) Fourth World Movement. The assembly proclaimed that poverty is a violation of human rights and affirmed the need to come together to ensure that these rights are respected. These convictions were inscribed in a commemorative stone unveiled on that date.

Since then, people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and social origins have gathered every year on October 17 to renew their commitment and show their solidarity with the poor. Replicas of the commemorative stone have been unveiled around the world and served as a convergence point for the gatherings.

In appreciation of this initiative, the United Nations passed Resolution 47/196 on 22 December 1992 declaring 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP), and invited all States to devote the Day in presenting and promoting, as appropriate in the national context, concrete activities with regard to poverty eradication.

In response, then-President Fidel V. Ramos signed Proclamation No. 269 on 4 October 1993 declaring October 17 of every year as the National Day for Overcoming Extreme Poverty. On 17 October 1993, President Ramos unveiled at Rizal Park a replica of the “Commemorative Stone in Honor of the Victims of Extreme Poverty.”

It has since become the site of the annual commemoration organized by the National Anti-Poverty Commission in partnership with ATD Fourth World Philippines, National Parks Development Council, and the City Government of Manila.

On 18 October 2004, then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Proclamation 717 declaring the period of October 17 to 23 as the National Week for Overcoming Extreme Poverty (NWOEP). The proclamation designated NAPC to lead, coordinate, monitor, and evaluate the nationwide yearly observance of NWOEP in coordination with key partners and stakeholders in poverty reduction.

This year marks the 30^th anniversary of the Call to Action by Fr. Joseph Wresinski and the 25^th anniversary of the declaration by the United Nations.

The NWOEP aims to gather together citizens and institutions, public and private, to express their rejection of extreme poverty through, but not limited to, the following means:

• Demonstrating solidarity with people in poverty, including those who are absent or fear to participate
• Meeting, talking and interacting with people in poverty
• Educating and mobilizing all stakeholders—men, women, children, young and old. In this regard, it is important to educate children and youth in human rights and the fight against poverty
• Enabling every citizen participating either individually or through an organization, to express its solidarity and to renew its commitment to unite in a common struggle, by doing a significant gesture in the culture of his country and respecting the spirit of the Day
• Giving an international dimension to the celebration of the Day
• Raising public visibility of the Day

BRIEF HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

On October 17, 1987, defenders of human rights and citizens from all walks of life gathered at the Plaza of Human Rights and Liberties (formerly Trocadero Plaza) in Paris, France. They paid tribute to the victims of hunger, violence and ignorance. They expressed their conviction that poverty is a violation of human rights, and proclaimed their solidarity with those struggling to eradicate extreme poverty. These convictions were inscribed on a commemorative stone.

Since then, replicas of the commemorative stone had been inaugurated around the world, and people of all backgrounds have gathered each year on October 17th to renew their commitment and show their solidarity with the poor.

On December 22, 1992 the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution 47/196, which declared 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) and invited all states to devote the Day to presenting and promoting, as appropriate in the national context, concrete activities with regard to the eradication of poverty and destitution. The resolution further invites intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to assist States, at their request, in organizing national activities for the observance of the Day, and requests the Secretary-General to take, within existing resources, the measures necessary to ensure the success of the Day's observance by the United Nations.

In response to this, on 4 October 1993 former President Fidel V. Ramos signed Proclamation No. 269, which declared 17 October of every year as the National Day for Overcoming Extreme Poverty (NDOEP), in observance of the ATD Fourth World-led “World Day for Overcoming Extreme Poverty”. On 18 October 2004, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Proclamation No. 717, which declared the period of October 17-23 as the National Week for Overcoming Extreme Poverty (NWOEP). The Proclamation designated the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC)—in coordination with key partners and stakeholders in poverty reduction—to lead, coordinate, monitor and evaluate the nationwide yearly observance of NWOEP.

OBJECTIVES

The NWOEP objectives are:

1. To make the public aware of the week-long commemoration and instill in them the virtues and principles espoused by the observance which is the refusal of extreme poverty and the respect of human rights, dignity, and freedom;
2. To support the international campaign to end extreme poverty;
3. To recognize and appreciate the various initiatives of poor communities and local government units in uplifting the lives of poor Filipinos; and
4. To invite more stakeholders to join the fight against poverty and build a critical mass to ensure a greater chance of effectively eradicating poverty at the soonest time

THEME FOR THE NATIONAL WEEK FOR OVERCOMING EXTREME POVERTY 2017

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the declaration by the United Nations’ General Assembly, in its resolution 47/196 of 22 December 1992, of 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP). This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the Call to Action by Fr. Joseph Wresinski, which inspired the observance of October 17 as the World Day for Overcoming Extreme Poverty, and the recognition by the United Nations of the day as the IDEP. This year’s theme is “Answering the Call of October 17 to end poverty: A path toward peaceful and inclusive societies”.

The Call to Action of October 17 that was launched thirty years ago is recorded in the text on the Commemorative Stone at the Trocadero Human Rights Plaza in Paris which was unveiled in the presence of 100,000 people.

The theme for this year’s commemoration reminds us of the importance of the values of dignity, solidarity and voice underscored in the Call to Action to fight to end poverty everywhere.