Young Professionals Orientation and Training Program

THE YP WORKSHOP FOR THIS YEAR was officially launched with a roundtable discussion with the academe. Heads and representatives of architecture, engineering and planning colleges in Metro Manila were invited to a roundtable discussion on July 22, 2011 at Max’s Restaurant in Quezon City Circle.

The event was attended by Dean Ted Inocencio of PUP-CAFA; Dean Victor Macam of UE(Caloocan)-CE; Dr. Phares Parayno of Miriam College-DE; EnP. Carmeli Chaves of UP-SURP; Engr. Ariel Morales of UE(Manila)-CE; Arch. Antonio De Vera of FEU-IARFA; and Engr. Aquilino Rolusta of CCP-CE. Representatives of student organizations were also present — Mharren Castro of UP-Task Force Arki; Gerome Hipolito of UP-GE Club; Aldo Mayoralgo UP-Asaphil; and Melanie Ramis of UE ACES-PICE.

TAO’s Education and Training Program team gave presentations to brief the guests on the program and application requirements for the 2011 YP Workshop on Social Housing. Arch. Geraldine Matabang presented an overview of TAO’s organizational profile and selected projects while Engr. Rosalyn Veneracion discussed the YP Workshop objectives, theme, and program. Argean Guiaya presented the socio-economic profiles of community areas where participants to the YP Workshop will immerse in. These included communities in Tanza and Tangos in Navotas City, Talayan in Quezon City, and Kasiglahan Village I in Rodriguez, Rizal.

An open forum followed the presentations. Guests sought some clarifications on the workshop program and articulated their concerns such as the sponsorship consideration and the safety and security of workshop participants especially during immersion activities. The threats of eviction and possibility of relocation of the community immersion areas, many of which are informal settlements, were also discussed. Community leader-organizers of Community Organizers Multiversity (COM), Ms. Luz Domingo of Talayan and Ms. Vangie Serrano of KV1, were also on hand to provide some information on their area’s peace and order situation, coordination with the barangay authorities, and the readiness of host families with whom the workshop participants will stay with during the immersion period.

At the end of the discussion, video presentations of previous YP workshops were shown and application forms and posters were distributed. TAO Executive Director Arlene Lusterio gave the closing remarks to conclude the event.

The YP 2011 Workshop has been rescheduled to October 19-25. All previous deadlines have been reset. The following dates are the deadline for application:

August 31 – Deadline for sponsored participants

September 16 – Deadline for non-sponsored participants

This year’s workshop theme is about Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction in Community Planning and Development. It is open to all young professionals, 21 to 40 years old, and practicing Architecture, Engineering (Civil, Geodetic, Sanitary, Mechanical, Electrical), or Environmental Planning; and 3rd-5th year undergrad students and graduate students (in disciplines mentioned above).

Workshop registration fee is PhP 7,500. It covers training materials, food and accommodation during the training, and group transportation for community visits. Participants will be responsible for their other personal expenses.

A limited number of applicants (especially students) will be considered for sponsorship covering workshop registration fees. In exchange for participation in the 7-day training program without payment of fees, each sponsored participant is required to render 160 hours of volunteer work or OJT work (without allowance) for TAO projects within the period November 2011 to May 2012.

Applications are available for download at this link. Filled-up application form can be submitted at yp.taopilipinas@gmail.com. For more information about the workshop, download the workshop brief here or contact Rosalyn-Frances Veneracion or Geraldine Matabang at 441-0998.

Seven trainees finished their summer internship at TAO-Pilipinas with a culminating activity held at the Blacksoup Cafe + Artspace in Maginhawa Street, Sikatuna Village on June 8, 2010. Verna Lucia P. Sarraga, Jan Michael V. Lumbang, Deanna Veronica R. Haduca, John Anthony C. Sayson, Rowel N. Lucilo, Jose Larino S. Bengson Jr., and Razel R. Robines each presented their internship outputs to their project mentors and stakeholders. The TAO staff was joined by invited guests representing TAO’s project partners (SHEC, MASAGANA, COPE, and DAMPA) that helped with the interns’ community integration.

Sarraga presented her housing design schemes for MASAGANA; Lumbang outlined the results of his research on MRB (medium-rise building) as public housing; Haduca presented her research on settlements along Manggahan Floodway; Sayson discussed engineering principles for disaster-resilient building designs; Lucilo, Bengson and Robines presented their schematic designs of 15 structures for the SHEC Eco-Farm project.

The event also served as the interns’ graduation ceremony. TAO-Pilipinas awarded their certificates of completion and afterwards hosted a farewell dinner for the interns. One of the interns, architecture graduate Verna Sarraga, has been absorbed as TAO program staff and is now working on HSE projects.

The 2010 Summer YP Interns:

Verna Sarraga is a BS Architecture graduate from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) and a participant of the YP workshop held on October 2009. Her internship at TAO started in March 2010 and she was first assigned as an illustrator for the development of popular materials on housing design and construction. She prepared illustrations as well as a Tagalog translation of BP 220 (minimum design standards for socialized housing) and graphics for a community construction manual. Verna also facilitated community planning workshops in MASAGANA, Tanza, Navotas City. She is currently working on housing design schemes for MASAGANA community’s potential relocation site.

Ali Lucilo is also a BS Aarchitecture graduate from PLM and he likewise participated in the YP Workshop on Water and Sanitation last October 2009. Ali was part of the YP team that assisted a community in Bicol Area, Barangay Tanza, Navotas City to apply for a legal water connection. For his summer internship, Ali worked on the schematic architectural designs for an Ecology and Demonstration Farm (Eco-Farm) of the Rogationist Fathers.

Ynoh Bengson is also a recent graduate of BS Architecture from PLM and a participant in the YP Workshop last October 2009 where his team was assigned to facilitate a community workshop in Barangay Commonwealth, Quezon City. At the TAO office, he was initially tasked to prepare materials cost estimates for a low-cost housing project. Ynoh also assisted in the Eco-Farm Project where he prepared schematic designs and drawing layouts for the project presentations.

Sheng Robines is another BS Architecture graduate from PLM and also participated in the YP Workshop last October 2009. For her internship, she worked with Ynoh in preparing materials cost estimates for single-detached and duplex type houses. They worked together in completing the revised design schemes of the Eco-Farm Project. Sheng also assisted the TAO Research and Publications program in the conduct of a research project entitled “San Juan City Pride of Place”.

JM Lumbang is another BS Architecture graduate from PLM and was assigned in MASAGANA community during the 2009 YP Workshop. For the summer internship, he teamed up with Verna to facilitate a community planning workshop in MASAGANA and oriented the community on BP 220 housing design standards. He was also tasked with a research project reviewing a number of existing Medium Rise Building (MRB) public housing projects in Metro Manila. Apart from this research activity, JM also assisted Verna in doing the housing design schemes for MASAGANA community.

John Sayson is a senior BS Civil Engineering student at the University of the Philippines-Diliman and was also a participant in the 2009 YP Workshop. He is part of the YP team assisting a community in Quezon City to implement a water and sanitation micro-project. For the summer internship, John was assigned with a research task to integrate engineering principles validating the architectural design recommendations for disaster-resilient shelter design and construction.

Deanna Haduca is a senior student of BS Environmental Planning and Management, Major in Urban Planning and Green Architecture of Miriam College. She is taking up the summer internship at TAO-Pilipinas as part of her OJT requirement. Veron was tasked to undertake a research study on the development of settlements along the Manggahan Floodway project.

Tanza (Bicol and Chungkang Areas) Micro-project:

Samahang Patubig ng Tanza

Samahang Patubig ng Tanza is a micro-project that aims to facilitate potent water connections for the whole community. Its initial objective was to set off a batch of 10 households by applying for a clustered water meter connection originally instigated during the YP Workshop held last October 21 to 27. An underlying purpose of the project is to educate the community on proper water management. Assuring the sustainability of the project was also a sub-objective that was taken into consideration. The project is being facilitated by community leaders, DAMPA organizers and the YP team composed of Cherry Mateo, Gloryrose Dy, Jesmar Catuiran, and Rowel Lucilo.

After the presentation of the project proposal during the YP Workshop, the team immediately organized a meeting at the community on November 9, 2009. An agreement that meetings shall be held every Monday was made. Brain storming on policies, beneficiary criteria and payments to be made was also done. In follow-up meetings and consultations, the rules on membership fees, passbook and savings requirements were also resolved. The Samahang Patubig membership has also increased from 13 to 29 members.

By December, project cost estimates and Certificate of Inspection (CI) forms and policies were finalized with the members. Household visits were conducted and a dialogue with Maynilad Water Services was held to discuss application and connection fees. The initial target of 10 households was also increased to 25 households because it was deemed more economical.

The YP team is now completing the mapping of the community to produce a water supply plan and distribution layout which will be used as a reference for the installation of water connections. A community echo-workshop on water and sanitation is also scheduled to the held by February.

MASAGANA Micro-project:

Community Pathway

The identified micro-project for the MASAGANA (Mamamayang Sama-samang Gabay ng Naaapi) community during the YP Workshop in October was the construction of an elevated pathway within the inundated areas of the community. The community pathway, seen as an initial effort to finding solutions to their water and sanitation problems, will provide easier access to people when fetching potable water especially during high tides. Meetings at the community were conducted after the YP Workshop and a committee for the construction of the pathway was created. Also discussed were project cost estimates, permits for construction, and fund raising. The YP team came up with an estimated project cost of PhP 800T for a 153-meter long elevated pathway made of bamboo and concrete.

A fund-raising activity (raffle) was organized in December to augment the organization’s funds for the community pathway project. However, the unresolved issue of security of land tenure will largely determine if the project can be successfully implemented. The organization is continuously negotiating with the landowner to resolve the issue and prioritizing projects to gain access to basic services such as supplying electricity to a number of households. A project on community-based solid waste management is also being implemented in MASAGANA. The YP team composed of Christina Fiel, Jan Michael Lumbang, and Verna Sarraga will also be providing technical support for these community projects.

UNNAI Micro-project:

Drainage Improvement

After the YP Workshop in October, the YP team assigned at UNNAI (Upper NAWASA Neighborhood Association, Inc.) met with the community leaders and considered two micro-project proposals for the community. The first micro-project is the improvement of the drainage lines in Purok 5, the area in the community with the lowest elevation and where flooding occurrence is most severe. The second micro-project option is the rehabilitation of an existing community deep well.

The YP team (composed of Jayson Cruzat, Razel Robines, Inno Bengson, and John Sayson) together with the community leaders has done ocular inspections to determine ground elevations and existing conditions of the drainage lines. They have also mapped the drainage lines, approximately 60 meters in length, which have been targeted for improvement. The team is currently facilitating consultations with engineering professionals to discuss their proposed schemes for the project.

Reflection by Gloryrose Dy

Reflection by Jan Michael Lumbang

Reflection by Cherry May Mateo

Reflection by Gloryrose Dy

TAO-Pilipinas was timely for me. The day after I was hired to be a staff of the Human Settlements and Environment Program under TAO-Pilipinas was the day Typhoon Ondoy struck our nation killing almost a hundred and leaving thousands of our countrymen homeless. It seems as if a supreme being was telling me that I am in the right place which to help the urban poor in Metro Manila.

I had a fairytale concept on what my job would be because it seemed to be a very heroic occupation. I imagined being like Angelina Jolie helping the poor in Kenya or Oprah Winfrey talking to a marginalized citizen in the US. I looked at helping the urban poor as sort of a fancy thing like saving a damsel-in-distress Indian princess drowning because of Captain Hook.

The YP workshop made me more excited to do my job. I thought that finally I could save the urban poor for real since I have already been stuck in the office for quite long. So I had a well organized bag with a lot of shirts and pants ready for the whole event.

The first two days of the workshop was quite technical. Having a technical background helped a lot. Although, I had to tap my intelligent persona which I wanted to leave behind after I graduated college so that I could understand the seminar. While sitting on the chair listening to the soporific talk of the lecturer, I daydreamed about the next day where we will have to go to the site for real.

But when we went to the site for the first day, I suddenly lost all the excitement I saved when I was still preparing for the event. As I saw the real situation of the community, I felt so hopeless for the Philippines. I knew that if only we had an incorrupt government, we could have easily made their lives wonderful.

I saw the real poorest of the poor in the Philippines. It was inevitable to compare it to the rural poor areas where they could still see a large amount of land beside their houses. But then, I also realized that the community was so skeptical at times with the help that they are getting. Maybe it was because of the thousands of broken promises they encountered in their life. I could not blame them but I could not also blame myself for feeling less stimulated.

There are times during the workshop when I felt so uninspired as if Bic Runga’s song was playing “My head is battling with my heart, my logic has been torn apart…” This was the moment when I tried to ask myself, “Is this really this difficult or was I just so naïve in thinking that helping the poor was as easy as helping save the Indian princess in Neverland?”

Indeed it is. It is difficult to help the poor. It is not a fancy thing. It is not the same as we see them in the movies. Helping the poor is just like marrying yourself to the poor people themselves and sometimes it is like marrying a person when you know that the end is still a divorce.

But as I looked at the eyes of the TAO-Pilipinas facilitators of the workshop; the eyes of the people that I am going to work with for years, I saw that they had hope in it. I saw their eagerness and enthusiasm to woo help whatever it takes.

TAO-Pilipinas was indeed timely for me. It made me realize the complexities of life during the point when I thought life was fancy. It also made me realize that life is full of synchronicities. If I choose to help the poor, the poor will choose to help themselves. It is that simple but then again that difficult.

Gloryrose Dy, 23 years old, is a BS Architecture graduate from University of the Philippines – Mindanao. Lotlot graduated in 2009 with the Best Thesis Award for Architecture in UP Mindanao and was also given the Red Point National Best Architectural Thesis Award in the Philippines by Cirdia Foundation. Lotlot is a member of the UP Mindanao Dance Ensemble. She recently joined TAO-Pilipinas as a staff in its Human Settlement and Environment Program.
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