I.

Introduction

As the rural NGO group, we were always immersed in the community. We were never

confined within the four walls of the office. We get to experience new things, meet new people

and do things we never thought we were capable of. This research paper is a product of such

immersion examined with the lens of what we originally are – political science students.

Enclosed within the output are personal accounts of our experience and observations with

interviews and literature which can help us understand and analyze the dynamics of Panay Rural

Development Center Inc. and Barangay Sianon, Badiangan, Iloilo in the formulation and

implementation of current Barangay Disaster Resiliency Project of which we were part of.

II. Objectives

The main objective of this study is to first determine the role of the Non-governmental

organization vis-à-vis the Barangay in rural development. This means that we will tackle the

basic function of the NGO in relation with the context of Barangay level. This will enable us to

determine the dynamics of the relationship between the NGO and Barangay as to the

development of the community with the help of the PRDCI together with their partner

particularly the Christian Aid. Secondly, to describe the dynamics of NGO-Barangay interaction

in the project planning and implementation process so we will look at the relationship of the two

as to how the interaction interchangeably affects each other and how these neither certain

mechanisms aid them in the success of the project nor surpassing the possible problems. Lastly,

the objective of this paper is to identify the implications of NGO-Barangay interaction to the

NGO – Barangay relations in the project. On this part, we will deal much on the effects of the

interaction of the NGO and the Barangay to the ways on how the project is implemented and

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determine if what are the outcomes of this said interaction between the two important subjects of

the study.

III. Significance

What is it that makes this study important? One of the significance of this study is for the

researchers’ and the subjects’ understanding of the dynamics of the NGO-Barangay interaction.

This will be a new knowledge on our part taking an importance based on what we have

experienced as an interns in the Panay Rural Development Center Inc. and the exposure on the

outside world upon which we begin to see the reality of life and what it really takes to be in a

real world while seeing the dynamics of a certain situation. Consequently, this study can also

contribute to previous studies done in NGO-Barangay relations in the field of political dynamics

since it is derived from first-hand information and personal experience of the researchers.

Looking beyond the other perspective of the interactions between these two subjects and it will

enable the other previous studies be compared to the present status of the interaction whether

there is a difference on the relationship of the two in the past compared to the present one.

IV. Scope and Limitation

This study will focus on the Non-governmental Organization-Barangay Interaction and

its relations in the current project of Panay Rural Development Center, Inc. in Barangay Sianon,

Badiangan, Iloilo in the context of PRDCI’s mission of active and direct participation in rural

development of rural communities. The focus will be on the project itself and how this affects the

lives of the people within the community. This will also enable us to see the range of interaction

and its impact in the implementation of the project or the so-called development within the target

locale. The findings and the analysis of this study is based on the interviews gathered from the

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people of Barangay Sianon including the Barangay Captain. It is also based on what we deemed

depending on our experiences while at the field and the most important is the interview on the

NGO specifically to the Executive Director, Mr. Andres Tionko.

V. PRDCI as an NGO

A. Definition of NGOs

Non-governmental organizations, according to Najam (2000), are voluntary associations that

are entirely or largely independent of government. They are not primarily motivated by

commercial concerns. The term given to them thus distinguishes them from anything that is

government- affiliated aside from the fact that they have to register themselves to a particular

government agency which would make them become recognized by the state, in the case of the

Philippines, registration to the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). As often perceived,

NGOs are identified to work where the government stops or acts to reach areas which the

government could not attend to. They are basically there first to push for their advocacies and

also to compensate for any governmental gaps.

B. Categorization of NGO (PRDCI)

Under the categorization of NGOs by the Phil. Business for Society for Progress and Phil.

Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PHILDHRAA) as cited in

Brillantes (1998), the researchers categorized PRDCI as an implementing and development

NGO.

It develops programs and implements a package of services in direct work with its

beneficiaries and is also engaged in long term development work with specific communities

through community organizing and various forms of participatory strategies. In the case of Panay

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Rural Development Center, Inc., their thrust as an implementing and development is focused on

rural development.

C. NGOs in Rural Development

Rural Development is defined as the process designed to enhance the economic, social and

political life of poor people in defined rural areas. (Rola 1981:19).

According to Brilliantes (1998), the Local Code of 1991 provides the legal framework for the

participation of the private sector, including the NGOs, in local governance within the context of

people empowerment. Under the Code, LGUs are encouraged to promote the establishment of

people’s and non-governmental organizations to become active partners in the pursuit of local

autonomy.

Brillantes (1998) stated that the role of NGOs in Local Development is to supplement and

complement the government’s local development works. NGOs are also to become an alternative

mode for the delivery of basic services. Thus, whatever it is that the government could not

provide, NGOs enter the scene to provide assistance to the people. In the event that the

government could no longer cater to what the populace asks of them, it is made apparent that

NGOs exist to do the rest.

VI. The Current Disaster Resiliency Project

A. Nature and Objectives

The nature of the project is Rural Development in the context of global warming and

changing climate. PRDCI has been doing rural development efforts in many areas. Since then,

they were applying this method: RD=AR+REID+SSD+SIP+Governance. AR stands for Asset

Reform which includes their effort to raise the income of the people and to help people own land

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or capital. REID in this case stands for Rural Enterprise Industry Development which includes

the presence or putting up of rice mills and other industries for the processing of raw materials.

SSD stands for Support Services Development which involves health education to the

community to produce labor quality. SID stands for Social Infrastructure Development which

comprises the building of public utilities such as roads etc. The “governance” that PRDCI points

out with regards to this matter is good governance which is responsive, participatory and gender-

sensitive. In the course of doing almost the same conventional ways of conducting rural

development, PRDCI was unaware that their strategies could be deemed to be inefficient thus

may be considered to be not working anymore granting the fact that many changes in the

environment have been transpiring. By recognizing the changes in the environment and with the

inclusion of the concept of global warming and climate change, they could ascertain rural

development with reference to what is happening around.

The ongoing disaster resiliency project in Brgy. Sianon primarily has three objectives:

The first objective, reduced vulnerability of livelihoods and food security is supported by the use

of drought and flooding resilient crops and farming techniques, slopes and springs protection

against landslides and drought, Food Security during disasters and enhanced rainwater harvesting

with 20 plastic drums etc.

The second objective, disaster preparedness, takes into account that there should be a

community food storage facility established, and that the preparation of dehydrated vegetable-

based soup that help meet the nutritional requirements of affected households in the event of

disasters be taught to the people. This is in partnership with UPV School of technology on soup

preparation which was established with a signed Memorandum of Understanding. Part of this is

the community-based weather and climate monitoring and the development of information

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system. Also, enhanced barangay governance on disaster is ensured by PRDCI. Along with the

other steps to disaster preparedness is the implementation of environmental management and

enforcement of environmental laws in the barangay.

The third objective, disaster resilience, is embodied by the organization’s thrust on the

Participatory Capacities and Vulnerabilities Assessment (PCVA) which seeks to orient the people

of the threat of global warming and climate change and therefore helping them familiarize

themselves with the hazards of disaster. Thus, at the end of the day, when such disaster

transpires, people will still know how to bounce back and continue their way of life. Part of the

PCVA is the drawing of hazard maps of each sitio which will then be consolidated to form one

hazard map for Brgy. Sianon along with the drafting of Disaster risk Reduction Plan.

B. Criteria for Choosing the Beneficiary Barangay

In choosing the beneficiary barangay, PRDCI considered two criteria: accessibility and

topography (Interview with Sir Andres ‘Chito’ Tionko, Sept. 27, 2008). Accessibility was defined

in terms of location, previous linkage and personal linkage. The location of Barangay Sianon is

very accessible to PRDCI since they have an extension office in the town of Janiuay. Moreover,

according to Sir Andres, since this is a pilot project, they do not want to exert more effort

establishing rapport with a new barangay. He elaborated further that pilot projects usually follow

time frames of nine months that is why they want a community which already had previous

relations with. PRDCI had previously worked with Barangay Sianon in CMADEC (Calansanan

Creek Microwatershed Development Council). Lastly, both Sir Andres and Brgy. Capt. Manejero

disclosed that they were high school classmates and were very good friends. This personal

linkage increased the accessibility of Brgy. Sianon for the project.

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 On the other hand, since the current project is about building community resiliency

against disaster, Brgy. Sianon because of its topography have so many natural hazards which are

all prone to disaster (Interview with Sir Chito, Sept. 27, 2008) He added that Brgy. Sianon’s

topography ranges from gently sloping to upland topography. With such characteristics, the

Barangay is prone disasters such as landslide and soil erosion.

By meeting the aforementioned criteria, Barangay. Sianon had qualified as the most

suitable beneficiary barangay for the project.

VII. NGO-Barangay Interaction in the Formulation and Implementation of the Project

A. NGO Side

PRDCI leans more to a strategy which embodies a participatory community wherein they

make sure that every step they make is in accordance with what the people want. This is their

way of expressing that the project is by the people and for the people also. They believe that it is

not just mere communication between the NGO and LGU that makes a project work and that the

inclusion of community opinion matters most. PRDCI has been applying this democratic

approach of managing projects over the years. In fact, they have used this in the Magapa- Suage

Rehabilitation Project.

The concept of a participatory community was made evident by the conduct of surveys to the

three sitios of Brgy. Sianon. Surveys were done in Sitio Janiuay, Sitio Tara-tara and Sitio Proper

totaling to 81 households in Brgy. Sianon. Out of the survey conducted was the inventory of

seasonal crops, permanent crops, poultry and livestock. This survey was done basically to

determine which crops, trees or animals are endemic to the place so that in case a disaster strikes

again, they would be able to find means to replace what is endemic to them. The survey was also

done to determine if the trees planted in the community are those of sturdy kinds or if crops were

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flood or drought resistant. With this strategy, the organization might be able to figure out what to

do next.

Another approach to participatory community is the Participatory Capacities and

Vulnerabilities Assessment (PCVA) which aims to improve the understanding of community

leaders about global warming and its effects to their planet and locality. This improved

understanding will enable them to identify: specific hazards that their community is exposed to,

vulnerabilities and capacities of their community related to those hazards and measures to be

taken in building their community’s resilience against disasters. All in all PCVA includes the

description of the community’s resources, the drafting of risk maps wherein they will be able to

identify in which part of the community has the most vulnerabilities in the even that a disaster

may strike and the drafting of risk reduction plans or DRR.

B. Barangay Side

At first, Panay Rural Development Center Inc. presented the proposal of having a project to

the PhilNet Visayas office and they vote for the Barangay Sianon as their pilot project area

because this Barangay is more vulnerable to the disasters. Fortunate enough to be the chosen

one, Barangay Sianon is indeed has this role of cooperating with the PRDCI to fully implement

the entire planned project in the selected site. Barangay Captain Manejero is the person in-

charged with all the responsibilities at-hand. The reason why Barangay Sianon became a

peaceful and a progressive Barangay in the municipality of Janiuay is that because of his

political will and the dedication to his work by setting as an example to the community. By that,

he became an effective leader on the place which was the PRDCI itself undeniably regarded him

as such. The purpose of the project is for the Barangay to develop in such a way that it follows

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the planned action of the non-governmental organization with the partnership of course of the

Christian Aid.

Barangay Responses to the Project

We have conducted an interview together with the different sectors of the Barangay that

is from Barangay Captain, Kagawad, Barangay Health Worker and the common people. We

found out that they are well-satisfied in terms of how the NGO works at their Barangay and

enumerated some of the reasons why they are contented with the way the PRDCI implement its

project. It is important for them to know what are the measures to be taken when the disaster hits

their area and they pointed out that the knowledge that they get out of the seminars is worth

applicable to the daily existence and from the time that the PRDCI conducted certain lectures on

disasters before pushing through their main project, they told us that they are now ready anytime

if ever unexpected disaster will come.

All throughout the project, the Panay Rural Development Center Inc. did not able to

forget that in Barangay Sianon the most important livelihood is agriculture. They put importance

and make it to a point that they will consider the rural areas meaning the marginalized sector like

farmers. And they will create a plan to enable the farmers increase the income to strengthen their

economy as an example they assist the farmers in organic production and teach them what other

strategies that are likely to do in farming to boost their income as farmers. In this way, some of

the people that we got to interview stipulate that there is a progression in terms of the agricultural

sector. From the beginning, when the NGOs presence was felt, there was a vast change in their

livelihood and they owe it to the PRDCI. According to the Executive Director, Mr. Andres

Tionko, regarding the organizational structure, they have a Farmer Cooperator in both Upland

and in Lowland which supervised the community and who has a “know-how” on the area of this

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field. One main concern of the NGO in implementing this project is that to help the community

be a disaster resilient one and as well as provide them with opportunities to aid them in terms of

their livelihood. Moreover, we could see that the PRDCI is not only inculcating the idea of being

resilient but also there is the idea of sustainability on the part of the community. This thought

will later on be discussed in the succeeding arguments.

The people were asked during the interview whether they see the Panay Rural

Development Center Inc. as an instrument or as a partner in development of the community of

Barangay Sianon. Most of them answered both explaining that as their partner, in return, the

PRDCI will be later on serve as an instrument for that development of their Barangay and to be

an instrument, they need first to established that kind of partnership with them. Mr. Manejero,

the Barangay Captain pointed out that in order for the NGO to enter the desired Barangay, they

must make it sure that they first have a close access in whatever means that they have. For a long

time, the Panay Rural Development Center Inc. serves as the catalyst in changing a specific

community and supporting the subsistence of the people. Openly, Mr. Manejero revealed that for

once, the NGO had tried to be a partner of Barangay Badiangan but unfortunately, it did not

work on both Parties and entering another Barangay that is the Sianon is just another challenge to

face but lucky enough, they begin to become a partner and sooner be that instrument for

development. The process is currently taking place and they are dealing with it at this moment

but so far, so good as they say. Having projects at the Barangay, the establishment of ties is

particularly needed since they will be working as one for about a month or sometimes if there is

a much longer span of time it took about a year to finish the entire polishing of project and

making it sure that the community itself could benefit from those pilot project. On the part of

Barangay Sianon, there is a substantial relationship between the Executive Director of the NGO

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with the current Barangay Captain which became a factor of why there is smoothness in the

implementation of the project on this site. However, the approach that the Panay Rural

Development Center Inc. is applying in Barangay-based projects according to Mr. Tionko is the

household approach. He believed that if the household economy is strong then it implies that the

economy of the communities is also high. In this sense, they are trying as possible to take some

actions that will give the Barangay a long-term productive livelihood that will help them for

future use.

Tripartite Relationship

How these interactions between the existing Parties work? There is a definite illustration

done by the Barangay Captain of Barangay Sianon showing the simple interactions of the three

involved Parties, he calls it the Tripartite Relationship. Tripartite mainly because it involved the

three aspects in the society; the Local Government Unit, Non-governmental Organization and

finally the Barangay on this matter. If there is a program done by the NGO, the Local

Government Unit will always be in favor to that for the reason that it will lessen the load of their

work and that there would be enough attention given on that certain locale upon which only the

NGO can do and this responsibility is given by the Local Government Unit to the PRDCI in this

case. One explanation of this also is that the Barangay needs to have a partner in every projects

will it be for a developmental reasons mainly because the Barangay cannot entirely depend upon

the Internal Revenue Allotment or commonly known as the IRA. He described it as being too

limited. Limited in a sense that in a Barangay, the Internal Revenue Allotment has this

procedural way to follow. The breaking down of the IRA constitutes the Barangay Development

Fund and this entails the 20%, the Sangguniang Kabataan has a 10% share and making up the

5% is for the calamity which is too small. The remaining of which will go to the personal

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services. Relying entirely on IRA which is too limited, the Barangay could not work on that way

so therefore they need an NGO in helping them so there is in need of a partner in accomplishing

the designated project. By this, without a partner everything will not work out because of the

lack of funds. This partnership need not to have an ordinance if it is agricultural-related projects.

Responses to the Kind of Strategies Employed and being Employed

The people within the community have a different outlook on the current project of the

Panay Rural Development Center Inc. First is that others viewed it as sufficient enough to cater

the needs of the whole community. We have mentioned before the concept of sustainability and

this is where it comes out. The planning of having a nursery will benefit the community, the idea

of the seed bank will be a helpful way in realizing the resiliency of the community later on. This

concept will be of somewhat having a reserved seed in case there will be an unexpected

happenings, there is also a plan of having a potable system and most of all the good farm to

market roads. This idea will be a way on putting an agricultural matter or any commodities much

accessible to other areas. In doing so, they will be able to create their own way of living. In the

data gathering portion, the PRDCI conducted its own way of determining the needs of the

selected community. This is for a preliminary analysis of the community particularly on

assessing the basic needs of the community and determining what is lacking in the area that they

need to have so that the NGO would have enough reasons to continue whatever it had started. In

terms of the Barangay level, the CLABBIS is the one who gives a technical support in gathering

the data. They have their own way too, a little bit similar to the way the PRDCI conducts but

there is seemingly difference as this is supposedly a simple one. This CLABBIS is composed of

the selected Barangay in Janiuay, it stands for Catubig, Linaywan, Asturga, Budiawe, Bitaoyan,

Iniligan and Sianon. In gathering the data, they start at the Barangay Assembly wherein at the

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beginning, they assess the basic needs of communities by Sitios and finally select the top priority

because every Sitios have their own top priority so they have to determine what is the most

priority at the moment. Another thing is that, most of the people saw that there is a well-

established and planned strategy on the part of PRDCI because there is a systematic way of

approach as part of organizing the community. We have also found out that the people are being

aware of the so-called “charisma” on the part of PRDCI in terms of its connection with them. We

have been at the field working closely together with some staffs of the NGO and we have

mastered the art of their strategy in getting the attention of the community which is in fact

advisable to do. They really have to do something that will make the people come back all over

again for the next time that they will conduct another seminar. They know how to please people

simply because they have all the exposures before and dealing with people has become part of

their lives so it is just easy on their part to approach the different kinds of people. They know

how to do compensation like merienda and even sometimes money is really involved into this

thing whether we like it or not.

Problems Encountered in the Formulation and Implementation

In the conduct of the project there are some major constraints that make the

implementation partly tough. First point is that there is a lack of information dissemination on

the part of the Local Government Unit because there are situations that the people has not been

informed that there is ongoing project at their community so they could not extend their help and

they would eventually find out at the middle part of the conduct of the study. It is inevitable that

others may not believe on the objectives of the project thus didn’t able to give their full support.

Others are passive enough not to act but for the PRDCI they can manage it with the help of the

Barangay Kagawad and with “Kap’s” effort. One main common problem is that everytime that

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the PRDCI would call for a seminar, others did not able to make it because of distance

constraints having a one kilometer gap every other Sitios. It is hard on the part of the non-

governmental organization to organize them into one so they have to go to every Sitios and

approach the people hence, it takes time. But problems will always be there and the NGO is

always aware of that and they have strategies to combat whatever problems that they will face

during the conduct of their project.

Perceived Goals to the Project

The perceived goal of the Barangay to the project is also the main goal of the Panay

Rural Development Center Inc. for the Barangay Sianon that is to become a disaster resilient

community and this has been an accomplishment on both part. It is necessary for the people to

become resilient after the disaster for them to stand again and find any ways that can make their

lives as much as possible the same as in the previous one. Interviewing the community and

knowing that they are already capable of accepting the fact gives that great relief on our part

most especially on the part of the PRDCI who became that instrument and reason for that bright

outlook. Since the community is already resilient, they know now how to face the challenges that

soon they will be facing and still be able to cope whatever situations they will have. The Panay

Rural Development Center Inc. has become the catalyst of development in Barangay Sianon and

will always continue what they have started working hand in hand with their partner.

C. Analysis of the Interaction

As a framework of analysis of the interaction, we will use the 4Cs of NGO – Government

Relations conceptualized by Adil Najam. This is a much acknowledged framework which tries to

classify the type of NGO – GO relationships on the basis of each institutional actor’s preferred

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strategies and goals (Ramanath 2005, 20). According to Najam, based on the party’s goals and

strategies, the NGO and GO can have the following relationship: cooperation, co – optation,

confrontation and complementarity (2000, pg. 375).

As shown in the table, the government and NGOs relation is said to be cooperative is

they preferred similar strategies and pursue similar goals (Najam 2000, 384). Their relationship

can be seen as complementary if they pursue similar goals yet employed dissimilar strategies

attain them (Najam 2000, 385). If the government and NGO employ similar strategies yet have

different goals, their relationship is co – optation (Najam 2000, 386). Lastly, if there is a

divergence of goals and strategies between the government and NGO, their relationship is

characterized to by confrontational. (Najam 2000, 387).

This framework can be used in the barangay setting since it is an ‘attempt to provide a

theoretical basis between NGOs and Governments throughout the world (Najam 2000,

382).Also, this framework has been found out to be applicable to a broad sphere of NGOs

(Ramanath 2005, 20).

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 In using the 4C’s framework to analyze the relationship of PRDCI and Brgy. Sianon, we

provided a table to summarize the strategies employed by both parties.

Table 2. Comparison of NGO and Barangay Strategies in Data Gathering

NGO BARANGAY

Participatory Strategy CLABBIS

As the table shows, there’s a difference on the way the PRDCI (NGO) and Barangay

Sianon gathers data. However, in our interview, Brgy. Captain Remegio Manejero said that they

preferred the strategy of PRDCI since it seeks to involve the people in the community to the

project. Hence, the NGO and the Barangay now prefer to use the same strategy – the

participatory strategy.

Table 3 on the other hand shows the goals of both PRDCI and Brgy. Sianon. The table

shows that they both pursue the same goal which is to make Barangay Sianon, a disaster resilient

community.

Table 3. Comparison of NGO and Barangay Goals

NGO BARANGAY
To make Barangay Sianon a disaster To make Barangay Sianon a disaster
resilient community resilient community

Since we have established that PRDCI and Brgy. Sianon have similar goals and

strategies, our analysis reveals that they have a cooperative relationship in the current barangay

disaster resiliency project as shown in Table 4.

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 Table 4. The Relationship Between PRDCI and Brgy. Sianon.

VIII. Conclusion

Having looked into the findings, a cooperative relationship based on similarity of

strategies and goals of NGO and the community exists between PRDCI and Brgy. Sianon.

Although there is a little disparity on how they conduct it, the group still chose to view this as a

cooperative effort between the two which thereby makes the project work in the most efficient

way. PRDCI uses the participatory strategy which embodies a democratic approach. Both

sectors aim to make Brgy. Sianon a disaster resilient community. The CLABBIS, which the

barangay uses also has a democratic approach but the Barangay Captain himself, Remegio

Manejero said that they preferred the strategy of PRDCI since it seeks to involve the people in

the community to the project.

The current barangay disaster resiliency project of PRDCI in Brgy. Sianon, is one good

example of how the dynamics between NGO and a community works.

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IX. Recommendations for Future Study

Since the project is a pilot project, it is expected that there are more dynamics in it as the

project goes along.

Also, since the study is limited to the stay of the researchers with the NGO, it is

recommended that further focus will be given to the implementation of the pilot project after the

researcher’s stay as interns in PRDCI. It could be understood that most of plans for the

implementation of the project is somehow altered because of the presence of these interns to

PRDCI. It may seem as though people tasked to focus on something regarding the project tend to

become lax with deep trust that the interns will do most of the work for them. It is then suggested

that they be trained to give much greater weight to the implementation of the project given that

they are knowledgeable of the fact that the project will last only for nine months. The staff must

give greater effort to the project since this will determine the future of their other projects in the

coming years.

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