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July 30, 2009
6. Subic and Olongapo, Continued
On my final day in Zambales, I visited the Yokubari Foundation, Inc., a non-profit NGO based in Olongapo City which works closely with the KPD chapter in Subic. In speaking with its director and some community members involved in its programs, I was able to expand my understanding of the Subic Bay Freeport and its place within the greater Olongapo and Subic communities (and to take down some notes for a KPD writing project). Yokubari focuses on the development of urban poor, or slum, communities which are located adjacent to the Freeport. By “urban poor”, I mean people who: 1) Live in extreme poverty, by any standards (about $2 or $3 per day, per family); 2) Lack decent housing and usually live on public or private land in urban areas without any formal permission; 3) Lack access to basic social services and public utilities like water, electricity, sanitation, healthcare, and education; and 4) Usually depend on irregular “informal sector” work, such as street vending, tricycle or jeepney operation (I suggest you google those), carpentry, or day-labor construction. And as for what I mean by “community development”, well, I don’t really have a succinct definition for that. I suppose it mostly means, or should mean, empowerment – providing communities with the basic tools they need to help themselves deal with and fight the structural constraints depressing their well-being. Or something like that. Basically, this means a lot of education plus some assistance in accessing healthcare and basic education. The next paragraph should help you understand.
For Yokubari, community development begins with the basics – health. Its primary task is tackling malnutrition among children in urban poor communities through supplementary feeding programs. It has also secured free access to a private hospital for the communities with which it works. But Yokubari seems to do everything else, as well. It supports the schooling of dozens of kids through sponsorship programs, conducts education seminars for parents (covering anything from literacy to women’s rights to national political issues), conducts livelihood trainings for parents (e.g., haircutting and nail-care for extra family income), and guides the communities in organizing and demanding protection from local government against demolitions and environmental hazards (particularly the toxic waste left behind by the US Navy). The foundation “adopts” one or two communities at a time and commits itself for no more than three years, in order to assure the sustainability of their efforts with the communities.
Based on the feedback of community members I met, it was clear that the Yokubari Foundation is doing a whole lot of great and inspiring things. But I have to say, I was little more caught up with the significance of these urban poor slum communities in the context of the Freeport and economic development. Squeezed between the walls of the Freeport, a commercial town-center just outside the Freeport, and a dirty river which floods their homes every year, these communities – communities with the most room for socio-economic improvement – have seen no positive changes since the Freeport was opened. If anything, things have gotten worse. Most notably, many urban poor communities now face threats of demolition, and prostitution has swelled in response persistent poverty and the presence of foreign businessmen. And the one proclaimed benefit of the Freeport – job creation – has largely missed the urban poor communities and has only sucked other desperate Filipino workers into indecent, exploitative work which guarantees no brighter future for their families and communities.
The Subic Bay Freeport is one of the pillars of the national government’s plan to develop central Luzon into a “Global Gateway” that will boost the country’s “international competitiveness and integration into the global economy” (taken from a government brochure). But if the actual developments in Subic and Olongapo are any indicator of what greater “international competitiveness and integration in the global economy” mean, then it seems pretty clear that this isn’t the kind of development that the Philippine economy – or Philippine society, for that mater – needs.
I will give you some brief background on the crisis that is the Philippine economy at the end of the next post, where it will make more sense. It should also help to clarify why this foreign investment/special economic zone-led economic development is such as bad idea, assuming you are not a foreign capitalist or a Philippine government official. The next post will also magically appear on the internet within the next day or two, because I’m still at two weeks ago ahhh!!
Posted by Isaac Jabola-Carolus at July 30, 2009 09:13 AM
