Silliman Youth Project Featured on World Bank Global Site

Three websites of the World Bank (WB) are featuring the youth project that Silliman University handled and implemented in nine areas in the Philippines.

Exercising youth citizenship was the goal of the youth project, “Operationalizing and Popularizing the World Development Report: Exercising Citizenship in Monitoring Transparency in Local Government Procurement”, that Silliman conducted on behalf of the WB Knowledge for Development Center (KDC) network in the Philippines from July 2008 to January 2009.

The feature, which contains information about the project and downloadable links to the materials that it produced, can be accessed on the websites of WB Washington (www.worldbank.org), WB East Asia and the Pacific (www.worldbank.org/eap), and WB Philippines (www.worldbank.org/ph).

With the Philippines perceived as one of the most corrupt countries in Asia, Silliman took up the challenge of training in-school youth in online procurement in nine areas across the country and developing an “alternative packaging” concept to encourage the out-of-school youth in five areas to speak up and engage their local leaders.

In-school youth participants underwent hands-on training in the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS). PhilGEPS aims to achieve transparency in government procurement by making available online procurement transaction data of local government units, from posting of bids to announcement of bids.

Out-of-school youth participants, on the other hand, had sessions in singing, dancing and painting. These art forms were utilized in expressing their insights gathered during the focus group discussions on their role in the development process, their ability to influence decisions of their local leaders, and factors that deter their social involvement. The alternative packaging presentations of their outputs were attended by some LGU representatives and were aimed at initiating the dialogue process between them and their local leaders.

Alternative packaging is the use of creative medium in simplifying what could be technical information about development-related issues. Alternative packaging works around the preferences of the young and responds to their limitations.

The project, which ran on a $45,000 grant from the WB Washington Civil Society Fund (CSF), produced, among others, comics and a video flash animation that highlight the importance of youth involvement in the development process and seek to demystify the procurement process in English and two local dialects: Tagalog and Bisaya.

Meanwhile, Silliman will be representing the Philippines in the WB Youth Dialogue Series on March 13 at Global Distance Learning Center of the Asian Institute of Management in Makati.

Representing Silliman will be Director of the Office of Information and Publications Mark Raygan E. Garcia, who served as the Project Leader of the youth project. He is one of only two presenters and will be connected via videonference with other youth leaders in Indonesia, Mongolia, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Lao PDR. The other presenter is from Mongolia and will discuss a youth campaign in support of the human rights movement.

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CHED Awards Silliman Best Student Services Program

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has declared Silliman University as the regional winner of the Best Student Services Program Award. Silliman now awaits the results of the national selection.

In a Memorandum Order, CHED stated that the award reinforces the mandate for higher education institutions “to provide a set of student centered activities and services in support of academic instruction intended to facilitate holistic student development for active involvement in national building.”

Silliman was cited for its comprehensive student welfare program, covering scholarships, student housing, guidance and counseling services, and career and placement programs. The innovative student programs and services at Silliman respond to the changing needs of students, facilitating a learning experience beyond the classroom.

The 62-hectare campus by the sea of Silliman is home to over 8,000 students from around the Philippines and the globe. Over 300 are international students from 23 countries.

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Notable Personalities Speak at SU

Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson will be the freshest addition to the list of speakers visiting Silliman University for this year, from February to March.

The Senator will be on campus on March 10 and will engage students from Silliman University and other schools in Dumaguete City in his talk on “Corruption and Governance: The World Bank Report at Iba Pa”.

Senator Lacson was one of those who fought for a serious investigation on the alleged bidding collusion in a World Bank-funded road project in the country.

Prior to the Senator, there have been three other personalities from government and the public sector who shared their views and expertise with students and other members of the Silliman community.

Secretary Norberto Gonzales, National Security Adviser
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales met with presidents of schools in Dumaguete City and spoke at Silliman University during the Local Government Development Foundation lecture-discussions held March 2 at the Cyber Lecture Hall (formerly Audio-Visual Theater). Secretary Gonzales spoke to around 60 participants and some members of the Silliman Administration about the need to address the serious problem of graft and corruption in the country and the role of citizens in ensuring honest and clean elections.

Atty. Katrina Legarda, Women’s and Children’s Rights Advocate
Women’s and children’s rights advocate Atty. Katrina Legarda was the guest of the Dr. Jovito Salonga Center for Law and Development and the College of Mass Communication for a lecture on “Media and the Law” on February 19. Atty. Legarda shared how media practitioners and lawyers sometimes have an adversarial relationship. She recognized the powerful role of media in influencing and shaping public opinion. This is why she stressed that it is media’s responsibility to report with fairness and impartiality, even in the face of media organizations' desire for high ratings.

In the afternoon of the same day, Atty. Legarda met with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, some barangay captains and social workers and talked with them about Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act of 2004, particularly on the provision about Barangay Protection Orders.

Hon. Saeed A. Daof, Chairman, Southern Philippines Development Authority
The Chairman of the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA), Hon. Saeed A. Daof, highlighted the importance of a multi-sectoral partnership in achieving lasting peace for Mindanao, during his talk on February 12, as part of the Integrative Lecture Series program.

Chairman Daof said the people in Mindanao, Christians and Muslims alike, want the war to end. And he mentioned the role of an academe-government partnership in bringing about lasting peace through development initiatives.

Talking about peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), he reminded the audience that for it to be successful, the agreement must be backed by a huge amount of financial support for reconstruction and development from foreign stakeholders. He added that foreign governments who are participating as de facto stakeholders in the peace process must possess commanding credibility and influence to convince the MILF that the Philippine government will not agree to decapitate the country or agree to an accord that could be used as a reason for the MILF to secede later.

The Chairman also said that in whichever direction the peace talks between the government and the MILF will lead, the country should continue reconstruction and development in transforming the Philippines’ rich and vast resources into productive states.

SPDA was reactivated under Executive Order No. 560 as an agency operating directly under the Office of the President of the Philippines. It was primarily created and tasked to help foster and accelerate socio-economic development in the Mindanao Region. It is mandated to initate, plan, develop, and implement undertakings or projects of the various economic sectors of the region, including, although not limited to, agriculture, agro-industrial, natural resources, processing and manufacturing, land development, and business process outsourcing. (with reports from the Multimedia Center)

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S-L Program Attracts American Students

The multi-disciplinal approach to service-learning at Silliman University attracted students from Francis Parker School to do community learning in Dumaguete City from February 20 to 24.

Parker School in San Diego, California flew in 12 American students to experience community interaction and immersion in Filipino culture.

Headed by Chief Financial and Operating Officer Dr. Grant Lichtman, the delegation was divided into groups and assigned to four partner community sites of the Service-Learning Center and the Social Work Department.

A team of Silliman professors from the different colleges walked the participants through the service-learning process, including guidelines in community living, journal writing, and processing.

Silliman is the only member from the Philippines of the Service-Learning Asia Network composed of institutions from China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. It is one with the Network in its belief that service-learning as an educational strategy affirms the concept that learning cannot be assumed to take place in a social vacuum, and that learning cannot be dissociated from what goes around.