Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Training Under Ateneo School of Government Blog 7

Our Last week at the Ateneo school of Government. The shell project was assigned to me. I was so pressured because I will be the documenter for this project. Here are some of my output.



Session 1: Leadership in Public Service: Understanding and Cultivating Effective Barangay Leadership
Resource Person: Mr. Hector Villegas, Faculty, Executive Education Program, ASoG


Mr Villegas started the session by asking the participants to arrange their chairs and tables to a specified position in 20 seconds. The activity was carried out to explain that leaders should have a common understanding in order to achieve a common goal. In 20 seconds all the participants have their chairs and tables arranged. The activity gave measure how the participants perceive and understand their goal, even with simply arranging their seats and tables.

He then discussed that there are different aspects of leadership. He said that leadership is a personal power to influence life. Being a leader, you must also learn self-mastery and personal maturity. The view that a leader must be willing to work with other people has also been pointed out. Mr. Villegas emphasized that one of the practice leaders should execute is finding a higher common purpose.
Mr. Villegas elaborated that leadership competencies cannot be acquired in a few training sessions or in a single training course, but only as a result of a long range development process over a number of years. He also added that leadership is an effort to influence change.

Having a background in Psychology, Mr. Villegas continued the session with explaining that no single trait has been found which separate leaders from non-leaders; nonetheless, leaders usually have more drive and determination and probably a greater concentration of positive qualities than non-leaders.
In order to help the participants have a better understanding of what a leader is, he explained collective public interest. He pointed out that public servants have a special duty to protect and promote the collective interest that has been subjected to sustained attack. The collective public interest remains in the form of four values that public servants are required to promote: accountability, legality, integrity and responsiveness.

To further strengthen the foundation of the participants on leadership, Mr. Villegas gave a background on leadership by reviewing the history of the Philippines and its past government structure. He explained that past leadership structure in the country has formed the type of leadership that we have now

Training Under Ateneo School of Government Blog 6

February 21 2011 - February 24 2011

This week we were assigned to add inputs on the ILO reserach. The following are some of revision we did for the paper.

Assessing Capacities and Training Needs of LGUs on Local Economic Development (LED): An Assessment of Four Provinces in the Philippines

Background of the Study

The foundation of LED emanates from many academic disciplines. Economics, business administration, public administration, political science, sociology and psychology have all contributed to the study of LED. Various principles amongst the disciplines have merged to form LED as a result. The classical disciplinal foundations from a business development perspective as executed within public spheres has now to contend with virtues of democracy such as public service vis-à-vis the managerialism that has captured the 1990s. Further, under an era of continuing fiscal constraint, the roles of the public servant has expanded and fused to form the corporate functioning in public service organizations (Javier, 2010), particularly, the LGUs in the Philippines.

A person’s perception of LED depends on the target end-result of the implementer. Some LED initiatives are specifically designed to directly help the impoverished sections of the community, while some create support for economic growth in the municipality, city, or province. There are many forms of LED initiatives. It could be a (1) supporting micro enterprises, (2) supporting small business development, (3) skill training, (4) infrastructure development (for encouraging local and foreign businesses to invest), or simply (5) in form of municipal services, such as transportation or education, which support LED (Australia South Africa Local Governance Partnership, n.d.).

In actuality, though LED comes with various forms, it depends on the emergent needs of the community. But one thing common to LED is the proof that success relies on partnerships among public, private, non-government organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders which work together to impose economic change.
Basically, LGUs have a corporate nature. They build networks with a variety of public and private agencies to strategize, prepare, and apply custom-designed policies to increase the economic interests of the community (Ashbacher, 2005). By definition, networks are structures of interplay among multiple organizations, in which one unit is not merely the formal subordinate of a higher entity. The link between the LGU and its corporate network is held together by forces like exchange relations and coalitions based on common goals.

The White Paper on Local Government (1998) proposes the notion of a “developmental local government.” It says that to be such, local governments must be “committed to working with citizens and groups within the community to find sustainable ways to meet their social, economic and material needs, and improve the quality of their lives.”

Training Under Ateneo School of Government Blog 5

February 14 2011- February 17 2011


These are some of our outputs for the week.

Basing on the IPO+S Model as the framework, since the study assesses the capacities of the LGUs, the identified inputs are various indicators such as (1) stakeholders’ competencies, (2) social protection, (3) gender equality, (4) LED institutions, (5) economic drivers, (6) labor supply & local industries, (7) work environment, and (8) infrastructure support. These will be identified through the triangulation of methodologies.

Stakeholders’ competencies refer to the ability of the various economic actors to perform their specific roles. It refers to the ability of the business enterprises to gain financial return, ability of the young workers to conceive of a productive activity, and ability of the government and non-government agencies to strategize policies in advancing the economic interests of the locality

Social protection pertains to the management and overcoming of situations that unfavorably affect a worker’s well-being. These inputs are those that promote employment, the efficient execution of labor and the safety of workers.
Gender equality is about levelling the playing field for girls and women by ensuring that all gender have equal opportunity to develop their talents (UNICEF, 2008). In the context of LED, it denotes LGU and stakeholders’ initiatives towards increasing women’s participation on production and narrower gaps in wages between men and women workers. According to ILO (2010), there is still a large disparity between the genders regarding employment opportunities.

LED institutions include public-private partnership institutions, research centers, local governments, non-government agencies, and industries that employ human capital. These institutions may design policies for the realization of LED, or may put these policies and programs into effect.

Economic drivers, as defined by the background of the study, are globally competitive industries in which the local government may invest upon as they have a potential for wealth creation within a community. It can be the sector of agriculture, tourism, mining, fisheries, and/or trade, among others. This is in contrast to local industries which pertain to the existing means of wealth generation of a local economy. An economic driver may be a local industry but the latter may not necessarily qualify as an economic driver. On the other hand, labor supply is the amount of time workers allot to an industry at a given real wage rate.

A work environment is composed of sites where workers perform their productive duties. It may also pertain to the well-being of these sites as being conducive places to work. Infrastructure support is the assistance given to services and facilities essential for the local economy to function. They may refer to highways, irrigation, electricity, telecommunications, solid waste facilities, and the like.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Training under Ateneo School of Government Blog 3

January 31 2011 - February 4 2011



This week we were assigned to formulate the instrument of the ILO study to be used in the MAMA sites. This assignment is an honor for us my co interns because the team have trusted us to make the survey instrument. We reviewed our notes in our Quantitative Data Analysis and Quantitative Research Subjects to gear us up on making the instrument. We anchored the instrument to the objectives of the study. The objectives of the study were as follows:

The study will address the general question: what are the training needs on LED of the four provincial LGUs that will engage the youth for employment? More specifically,

1. What are the LED profile of the four provincial LGUs looking at LED from an LGU entrepreneurial leadership, LGU as business-like and LGU economic enterprise?
2. What are the LGU policies, programs and services on LED?
3. What are the business sector opportunities and services for youth employment?
4. What are the barriers and facilitating factors on LED?
5. What are the capacities that need to be developed or improved on LED for youth employment?

Friday, February 11, 2011

Training Under Ateneo School of Government Blog 4

February 7 2011 - February 10 2011

Our thesis defense was fast approaching. Our classmates have left us behind by far, and our group needs to finish our paper badly. I am doing two task in one hand and another and this gives me a hard time. This is my third week of internship under ASoG. We were already done with the most critical week of the research proposal...the instrument formulation and revision. Ate Karen Baria and Mr Kazar Arceo have left Manila to go to the MAMA cites doing field research. In the office we were with Ms. Rose Anne Cruz the Exec Ed Program assistant. She was not around for a couple of days because she was assigned in the Dep Ed Policy training in Antipolo. I was there last week helping out with them in the final batch of the trainees. That was one of my perkiest days here in ASoG, we went to MMMLDC, (im not certain if i said it rigth). Ms Manlangit have asked us to revise the desk review she has added additional inputs for the development of the paper. The whole week was focused in the revision of the desk review.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Training under Ateneo School of Government Blog 2

January 24 2011 - January 27 2011


This week i have already met our Program Director, Ms. Aurma Manlangit, my first encounter with her was quite intimidating, it can be accounted to the fact that there have been rumors that Ms Manlangit is the most terror among all the program directors in ASoG. She provided me with background about the project i was assigned. The International Labor Organization commissioned project about the Capacity and Training Needs Assessment in Local Economic Development of four provinces in the country- Masbate, Antique, Maguindanao and Agusan del Sur. she then provide me with the guidelines of the ILO study.

Notes on Possible Results and Discussion Content (per site and integrative)

1. Socio-demographic profile of KII and FGD Respondents
2. LGU-Private Sector relationships
3. LGU-Youth relationships
4. LGU Perceptions on Corporate Roles in LED
5. LGU, Business and Youth Perception on LED
6. LGU, Business and Youth Perception on ILO Programs (i.e. decent work etc)
7. Skills Identified for Capacity Development by the LGU, Business and Youth

Notes on Possible Report Recommendations (per site and integrative)
1. Factors Affecting LED in the LGUs
2. Possible roles of LGUs in LED within the priorities of ILO i.e. decent work etc
3. Embedening the LED priorities of ILO in LGUs plans
4. Capacity Development Needs Assessment
4.1 Identified LED Needs of Youth
4.2 Identified LED Needs of Business
4.3 Identified LED Needs of LGUs
5. Capacity Development Interventions to Address Needs
5.1 Accredited Course Development and Offering
5.2 LED Skills Enhancement
5.3 LED Tools Identification
5.4 LED Approaches per priority sites
6. Anticipatory LED Policies for ILO priorities
7. LED multi-actor collaboration
7.1 Donor community
7.2 Local actors
7.3 Business community

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Training under Ateneo School of Government Blog 1

January 13 2011 - January 20 2011

January 12 2011 I got a call from the Ateneo School of Government informing me that I've qualified as one of their interns in the Executive Education Program of the Graduate School. The JVO Executive Education Program trains political leaders, civil servants and corporate managers in ethical governance and sustainable development. The Program was created to continue the efforts of the late Jaime V. Ongpin, a business and government leader from the Ateneo, in fostering cooperation between the private and the public sectors for national development.

The ASoG is accredited by the Civil Service Commission to conduct trainings and seminars especially for the government sector. Since 1997, the JVO Executive Education Program has trained over 1,000 public officials. The Program has also established partnerships with private institutions such as Smart Communications and Ayala Land Inc.

My first week as an intern in ASoG (the acronym for the Ateneo School of Government) was a blast! It was the first time I have set foot at the Ateneo... and it is also a sort of a dream come true to me.... ASoG was my prospect internship cite ever since. Ms. Karen Barria the program training associate (and an alumnus of PUP College of Communication, under the same course as I) gave me an introduction on what ASoG does, what are it ideals and mission in Nation Building. She then provide me with inside scoops of what it is like to be working on the forefront government training and good governance school in the country.

The School's overarching vision is "transforming communities, building a nation". It follows a 'mosaic' approach of

* Helping to build the country community by community, municipality by municipality, city by city, province by province, until the School establishes partnerships with 1,000 local government units (a critical mass of 60 percent of LGUs in the country);

* Linking islands of good governance - an explicit strategy to link effective and ethical leaders throughout the country;

* Stimulating public demand for reform - a 'demand-side' strategy based on experiencing good governance at the local level;

* Encouraging the emergence of new national leaders by training and giving support to promising executives from local governments; and

* Working with national institutions and organizations to promote governance innovations at the national level that can have a direct impact on enabling local governments to create wealth and deliver basic services.

Having the chance to train in this institution is a privilege on my part. Getting a hands on experience on the way ASoG help in Nation Building and community development is surely a one of a kind experience if not something to be proud of.

My first task was adding inputs on the methodology part of the International Labor Organization Research Proposal. Ms Aurma Manlangit the program director was set to provide me with background about the project the moment she arrived to the office from set of trainings Executive Education facilitated for the Department of Education Policy making Training. The assignemnt given to me was quite dense, the methodology part is one of the most crucial part of a research. Somewhat, i also felt he pressure because my first task has this degree of difficulty already, what more in the coming tasks that they will give me....

Overall, my first seven days in ASoG is an eye opener for me. That student days will soon be over and i should prepared my combat gears for the battle of the real world.

Reynald Ramirez