Pilipinas Journal

Category: Education

  • Disability Inclusion is for Everyone

    Disability Inclusion is for Everyone

    Inclusion is never solely by and for persons with disabilities. It includes every person, regardless of abilities, in the process as well as its sustainable impact.

    At one point in our lives, we most likely experienced a disability that temporarily impairs our daily functioning. As we age, day-to-day tasks become increasingly difficult until we eventually become disabled.

    Disability is a result of any medical condition that impairs body parts and affects its functions, limiting personal life activities and then restricting participation in community life. It is also a consequence of barriers in society.

    Society’s physical environment is not accessible to persons with disabilities. Communication is not adapted to their needs, so vital information does not reach them.  Policies and programs remain exclusive to non-disabled community members. Stereotypes and prejudice relegate them to perennial objects of charity and obstruct their inclusion as autonomous and contributing members of society.  Living with disabilities means being sickly and unhealthy; uneducated; unable to secure a job; connect with family, friends, workmates, and the rest of the community; and unable to have a political voice.

    15% of the world’s population experience these. But did you know that more than 80% of persons with disabilities live in developing countries like the Philippines? Only 2% of people with disabilities in developing countries have access to basic services.

    Poverty causes disabilities. Households with food insecurity, unsafe housing, unsafe water and sanitation, inaccessible health care, and lack of financial security result in poor health and the presence of disabilities. Family members with disabilities are prone to exacerbate medical conditions because of unmet rehabilitation needs and assistive devices. They are less likely to start, stay, be promoted in schools, have lower educational attainment, and are highly unemployed. If employed, they earn lesser which limits living conditions and excludes them from the rest of society. The entire household then suffers from economic shock. Disability becomes a consequence of poverty. Living in the world’s 9th most dangerous country because of disasters poses another threat. They sink deeper into poverty after a catastrophe, worsening the vicious poverty-disability cycle. 

    Other groups understand the struggles of differently-abled persons living. Children, older persons, women, the LGBTQ+, the displaced, indigenous peoples, the religious minority, and those living in extreme poverty have poorer health, education, economic, cultural, and political status. Physical attributes make them susceptible to harm. Still, they are less seen and heard of their plight.

    What happens if we collectively act on disability inclusion in the journey of developing our communities? 

    The answer is inclusive development. Let’s recognize the power persons with disabilities have from within and nurture it.

    We admit that they are in the best position to advocate for their weaknesses to address their unique needs. We also harness their strengths for us to integrate into every place where there are non-disabled people. Empowerment is a process and outcome of participation so let’s create space for them to participate in the social inclusion movement. We co-create every inch of our physical environment to be accessible, every information and communication to be adapted and modified, and every policy and program inclusive of their diverse abilities. Full participation is achieved if we remove the most significant barrier in society – negative attitudes. Let’s abolish stereotypes and prejudice against disabilities. We check our privileges, identify our biases, reject discriminating practices, and eradicate oppressive systems that continue to advance ableism at the disadvantage of disabilities. Ultimately, we have a society where people with disabilities equally have the best opportunities to enjoy life and contribute to developing and advancing a society that works for all.

    Disability inclusion is both a journey and destination that needs everyone to work for everyone – including you and other vulnerable and marginalized groups because of age, gender, ethnicity and religion, displacement, and personal economy.

    About Joyce

    Asst. Prof. Joyce Anne Ponciano-Villafania, MAEd, CSP-PASP is a Speech-Language Pathologist, Reading Specialist, and Educator with specializations in Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) and Community-Based Inclusive Development (also known as Community-Based Rehabilitation). She is also the founder of kasAMBAG, a social enterprise that exists for the inclusion of children with disabilities through the community’s collective action

  • Decolonizing the Forest: How Philippine Native Trees Can Uproot Neocolonialism Amid Climate Injustice

    Decolonizing the Forest: How Philippine Native Trees Can Uproot Neocolonialism Amid Climate Injustice

    Photograph by Hannah Reyes Morales

    Planting native trees is part and parcel of a broad process of uprooting neocolonialism and building climate resilience.

    According to Republic Act No. 10176, the Philippines observes Arbor Day every June 25. The Arbor Day Act mandates local government units to adopt a day every calendar year to commemorate the national tree-planting day. It also allows them to allot a budget and resources for annual tree-planting activities.
    As this legislation was passed in good faith, its implementation should be scrutinized. After a month of the said observance in 2021, Esquire reported that a branch of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) distributed an invasive alien species of tree. The DENR CENRO Capas Tarlac gave 585 seedlings of various trees to passersby at the Capas Shrine Monument. This includes cashew, guyabano, narra, cacao, sampalo, atis, bignay, and, in particular, mahogany.
    In a 2016 study, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies also reported that under the National Greening Program, the most planted tree was mahogany in 2012.In a 2014 STAR article, the Department of Agrarian Reform followed suit by planting 1,200 mahogany seedlings in the agrarian reform communities in the Mindanao region. Only in June 2020 did the DENR ban the use of mahogany in replanting forests after years of campaigns by civil society organizations against the said practice. 
    Mahogany is one of the invasive alien species of trees. Tracing its origin, it usually grows in the Central and South American region and was an import brought by the American colonizers into the country after agricultural and forestry schools opened in the 1900s. Ponce (1933), as cited in Banguinon, Quimado, and Francisco (2003), documented the introduction of American mahoganies, of which there are two types: small leaf mahogany and large leaf mahogany. Banguinon, Quimado, and Francisco (2003) said that mahogany thrives in invading natural forests, which is why it spreads throughout the archipelago. Further, they also noted that “mahogany plantation is like a “green desert” to wildlife.” 

    The case against exotic trees

    In his book Philippine Native Trees 101: Up Close and Personal, former University of the Philippines Diliman Institute of Biology professor Dr. James Vincent LaFrankie Jr. emphasized the danger of non-native trees by illustrating the difference between planting molave versus mahogany:
    “Molave, as a native species, has a relationship to the land, water, and other organisms that [have] developed over a million years.
    Certain fungi live with the roots, certain insects feed on the plant parts, while others pollinate the flower. Birds and mammals live along the branches and feed on the seeds.No such relationship exists for the newcomer. The result is ten hectares of mahogany in a biodiversity-dead zone. 
    There are no birds, no insects, only a nearly dead soil due to the lethal chemicals that leak from the rotting leaves (emphasis mine). Native species are rarely found as seedlings beneath the canopy, and so, most significantly, there is no future for ten hectares of mahogany.”
    LaFrankie further expounded his stance by saying, “Native species [have] a relationship to the land, water, and other organisms that have developed over a million years.”
    With that, this only means that native trees are tied to their relationship with the land, like how land is life to our indigenous brothers and sisters. They maintain local wildlife as well as the diversity of life and adapt to environmental conditions specific to the area. Thus, exchanging them with exotic species will only do more harm than good. Exotics, especially alien invasive species, harm our food system and further deteriorate our endangered biodiversity. 
    In a BluPrint interview, Anthony Abrias of the Philippine Native Plant Conservation Society explained the advocacy behind promoting native trees: “We recognize that exotic plants have economic uses for us, such as pineapples, which are from South America. But if we’re not in the food industry, if we’re in tourism and development, then let’s develop responsibly. Since we have already lost 80 percent of our forest cover, and our wildlife [is] dependent on forests, then let’s plant trees that are native to our country.” 

    Photograph by Hannah Reyes Morales

    Uprooting ‘neocolonialism’ 

    According to a report by the Asia-Pacific Forest Invasive Species Network, several exotic species of trees were introduced in the country with ‘good intentions’. They noted that mahogany was intentionally brought in for forest production in 1907. But one cannot deny that mahogany is also spreading at a national threat level and already pose a threat to biodiversity, as declared by the said international organization.
    That being said, it is established that mahogany, as an exotic invasive species, was introduced to the archipelago during American colonization and was a byproduct of historical colonialism, or simply colonialism.
    This is where the concept of monoculture in agriculture comes in as the demand increased in the lumber trade in the past. Abrias expounded: “We just think [mahogany] are native because at the height of the timber industry in the Philippines (mid 1960s-1980s), the dealers in the lumber trade, to simplify everything [and to ride on the demand worldwide for the prized Honduran mahogany] decided to call all our hardwoods ‘Philippine mahogany,’ whether they were white lauaan, red lauaan, apitong, mayapis, tanguile, almon, yakal, bagtican, etc.” 
    This practice was carried over as it showed itself in a different form. Here, Forest Foundation Philippines pinpointed the reason behind the usage of exotic species: “The low appreciation and understanding of ecological functions of native species in policy and programs have led to reforestation activities that use exotic species.”
    Recently, mahogany placed in the top three in terms of log production on average in the last five years, according to the reports of Philippine Forestry Statistics.
    While it is alarming, this also signals an opportunity to dig deeper into environmental movements and listen to Filipino scientists, civil society organizations, and indigenous people. This serves as a way of uprooting neocolonialism, and planting native trees is one of many ways to decolonize our forests. 
    The non-profit organization appealed to bring back Philippine native tree species: “By prioritizing native species in restoration activities, environmental and livelihood benefits would eventually help reduce poverty.”
    The organization also reminded everyone to look beyond the economic valuation of the forest ecosystem and said that forest restoration should go beyond satisfying human needs in terms of livelihood, wood products, and food security. 
    Switching to local-based natural solutions for conservation would also be a win for decolonization efforts in the country. Nothing less than dismantling an economic system that jeopardizes the sacred connection between people and the planet must be embraced to create the conditions for true and long-lasting conservation of our native trees.

    Photograph by Hannah Reyes Morales

    Strengthening climate resilience

    The fact also remains that not everyone is equally impacted by climate change. Especially under the blanket of neocolonialism in the present, those who contributed the least often suffer the most.
    Like the Philippines, which has been experiencing forest cover loss that impacts some 80 million Filipinos who depend on the forests for their resources, the European Tropical Forest Research Network noted that the country “is one of the most severely deforested countries in the tropics, and most deforestation has happened in the last 40 years.”
    Conservation storyteller Celine Murillo explained in her Rappler article the most appropriate way to tackle environmental rehabilitation: “[F]irst, do a species-site matching. This is an important step that determines which species are suitable [for] a location, assessing properties, endemicity (whether native or exotic), growth rate, variety, and other requirements.”
    Murillo also contended that planting native trees is one of the many climate solutions.
    Indeed, planting native trees may not be the sole answer or cure-all to systemic climate injustice, but doing this will definitely undo some damage that humans have done to the atmosphere. 
    Coupled with calls for cutting down on fossil fuel use and other natural solutions, planting native trees is also a way to respect our indigenous roots and honor Mother Earth.
    Lastly, to quote Abrias: “There’s a Chinese saying that goes, ‘The best time to plant a tree was 100 years ago.’ To that we add: ‘The next best time to plant is to plant a native tree today.’

    Rizal-based writer Jhona Reyes Vitor is currently volunteering as a researcher/writer at Pilipinas Journal. Her works were published in Adversity Archive, Media Commoner, and AB The Flame, the official student publication of the Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of Santo Tomas. You can find them on Instagram @jhonarvitor.

  • What we could talk about when we talk about peacebuilding

    What we could talk about when we talk about peacebuilding

    Photograph is AI generated

    Talking about peace-building in the country is an invitation to express one’s courage and commitment to building a just, hopeful future.

    The world turned upside down. Lies die hard, and red-tagging becomes a habit. Match this with the rising prices of essential commodities, and the unimaginable is a way of life now. With this, peacebuilding comes far removed from the reality of the Filipinos. So when people speak out about it in the country, they are often met with severe threats. 

    Yet peace has continued to take the limelight. Last month, peacebuilder Miriam Coronel-Ferrer was named as one of the winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards, Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation cited Coronel-Ferrer’s “deep, unwavering belief in the transformative power of non-violent strategies in peacebuilding, her cool intelligence and courage in surmounting difficulties to convey the truth that it is through inclusion rather than division that peace can be won and sustained.”

    Earlier last month, the Department of Education was also urged to introduce students to peace processes after the department proposed a new curriculum where peace education competencies are integrated.

    With this, several questions abound on what we could talk about when we talk about peacebuilding. Why should we continue discussing peace? What should be done in order to sustain a long-lasting, just peace in the country? What should we be talking about when we talk about peace? How do you approach peacebuilding while also reducing the risks and hazards it entails?

    In light of commemorating this year’s National Peace Consciousness Month, Pilipinas Journal talked to Asia-based learning institute Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute Foundation, Inc.’s Executive Director Christine Vertucci. We took the challenge of this month’s theme: “Ang Kapayapaan ay Responsibilidad ng Bawat Mamamayan” (Peace is every citizen’s responsibility), by compiling the following talking points to keep the conversation of peacebuilding going:

    Peace is more than the absence of war.

    In an interview with Vertucci, she mentioned that peace is more than the absence of war. Peace also meant that people had enough food to serve at their tables.

    “People have the basics of not being hungry. They have an opportunity for education, meaningful work, etc. [It means that we are] looking at social issues of the society,” she said.

    Vertucci also added that to truly have a harmonious society, people feel they have been heard by those who are in authority in positions of power. More than that, if they feel a wrong has been committed against them, they have an opportunity to redress it, and justice will be given to them.

    Peace is not neutral.

    “The first step is to resolve, mitigate, and deescalate [conflict], but that’s not the end. […] [Y]ou must look for the causes. […] Steps must be taken concretely to change that situation. So I think you can’t be neutral with that because you recognize there is a problem and there is something not right,” Vertucci agreed.

    She also added that any conflict is a warning sign that signals you that there is something that needs to be done.

    Thus, peacemaking is more than a zero-sum game. This faulty view often confuses people that when you negotiate peace, you’re trying to win something. 

    “When you decide to say ‘we have a problem,’ we are not afraid to say that.”

    Peacebuilding does not happen overnight.

    Following this debate over neutrality, it is also essential to take note that building peace, especially in a complex society like the Philippines, is something that does not change with a tap of a finger.

    By that, peacebuilding means a lot of work is involved—work in yourself and work in the society you belong with.

    Vertucci explained that peace is a two-way journey that is both internal and external.

    She explained that the external aspect of peace occurs when you can work for justice and peace in the community. For example, you are trying to change laws, address systemic violence, or seek change against violent situations and unjust structures.

    “The internal is how you as a person. Look at peace within yourself and how you practice what you believe. So if you say you are working for peace and then you are a peacebuilder, your actions have to follow your words. If they don’t, then you must be willing to challenge yourself and make changes,” she added.

    She reminds: “We can’t forget that because it’s easy to be engaged at the societal level, but oftentimes, we forget ourselves personally. [I believe a key in the peacebuilding work] is also to ask ourselves if we are being authentic to what we say we believe in.”

    Peacebuilding does not exist in a vacuum.

    “I look at peacebuilding [as] a movement towards justice and peace. I don’t believe you could have a peaceful society without people feeling treated justly so, that to me brings me to issues to human rights,” Vertucci said.

    With that, it is apt to say that peacebuilding has to be grounded in reality and cannot be separated from what is happening in society. This also includes the notions of human rights, justice, and democracy. Thus, the intimate connection of these concepts must be underscored.

    To ensure lasting peace, peace processes must address the root causes of conflict.

    The challenges we face today are increasingly interconnected. If left alone, the trends of conflict are unlikely to stop as these forces that sustain conflict and division remain alive and active.

    “If you don’t get what is at the bottom, you will never have a resolution of anything you need to fully understand what has caused the conflict. By understanding the root causes only then you can correct and change them, and think creatively about how they can be changed so that people feel they are being heard at the same time you’re also not offending the others who are not directly involved in the conflict,” Vertucci said.

    Indeed, the challenges we face in peacebuilding are immense, complex, and interconnected. There is still a lot of work to rectify historical injustices and to meet the basic necessities of life. With empathy and care, the solutions for peace are becoming clearer, one conversation at a time.

    Rizal-based writer Jhona Reyes Vitor is currently volunteering as a researcher/writer at Pilipinas Journal. Her works were published in Adversity Archive, Media Commoner, and AB The Flame, the official student publication of the Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of Santo Tomas. You can find them on Instagram @jhonarvitor.