Development Entrepreneurs

O rientation is basically analysis and synthesis of Observations in the light of new information and previous experiences (Boyd says Orientation is also influenced by one’s genetic heritage and cultural traditions).  Each person Orients himself in a different way – consider a game of chess, where both players observe exactly the same pieces on the same squares, but see different opportunities and threats. When we looked at DENR’s old business model for issuance of titles, we observed several things. First, with regards to Customers, it was noted that prior to RA 10023 the only two ways Residents got their titles were to either buy it from the State (through a Miscellaneous Sales Agreement) or go through the judicial process. Both could be costly; the latter could take a long time. RA 10023 provided a great opportunity to speed up titling for Residents. DENR’s Value Proposition is uncontested – it is indeed the authority for public land titling and it does have the m...

I n an earlier post I suggested that Development Entrepreneurs looking for ways to strengthen or reform an institution can start by describing  its Business Model. A Business Model of any enterprise, organization or agency describes how its Customers, Value Proposition, Relationships between the organization and its customers, a Delivery Mechanism, Key Partners, Key Resources and Key Activities fit with each other. In  addition a Business Model describes the enterprise's Income Streams and Cost Structure. As an illustration, here is my perception of the Business Model of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources as a title-issuing agency. This model applies to DENR before Department Administrative Order 2011-06 was passed (and the supporting DILG Memorandum Circular 117-2011 was also issued). Up to 2010 DENR’s Customers for its titling services were mostly farmers. While DENR issued several forms of titles for public lands its most-issued instrument was...

I t’s been pointed out that while the Philippines has about the same percentage of territory covered by roads as other Asian countries, the quality of our roads suffers in comparison.   This is because, among other things, we don't spend as much to keep our roads in top shape. Roads affect our economy and our society. Goods and people travel safely and cost-effectively over good roads. Transportation becomes more expensive over bad roads.  If it takes too long to get fresh produce from farm to markets because of the road condition its value diminishes.   Students get to school on time over good roads.  So we are challenged to improve the way we invest in our roads. “Improve” can mean eliminating duplication of funding, as when the same road segments gets an allocation from the National Government and the Local Government. "Improve" can also mean investing in the road segments that contribute most to socio-economic growth - roads that lead from production ar...

Bgy Tapon, Municipality of Dalaguete O n the week of April 26 this year our project “Property Rights for Economic Progress” trained six local governments in Cebu Province to build multi-purpose cadastres.  Our objective was to enable them to build digital parcel files for one Barangay. This would help them undertake titling activities in partnership with DENR VII. Cebu City Councilor Bebot Abellanosa, founder and owner of the Asian College of Technology, allowed us to use one of his computer classrooms for the training.  Our lead trainer Dennis Matutina (on loan from the City of General Santos) taught the participants how to use Quantum GIS, a Free and Open Source Software for spatial information processing.  Using Quantum was a new thing for me as I had been nursed on ESRI products. It was also intended to help LGUs jump over the procurement hump – assuming they had the budget to buy commercial GIS, it usually takes them at least two months to complete the ...

Status of LGU-DENR Partnerships in Cebu Province as of 29 Sept 2012 Infographics are cool.  The best ones convey information in an interesting and intuitive way. They show very quickly certain important aspects of a particular topic. After admiring tens of great infographics I thought we should make one too. Since we've been promoting partnerships between local governments and DENR for titling of public lands, I asked my colleague Loubert Tan whether he thought we could make an infographic about our work. He said we should convey three things: 1) which LGUs have formed partnerships with DENR, and where they are; 2) where each LGU stands in its partnership, the kind of activities they are currently undertaking; and 3) gender in titling. Loubert went to PENRO Cebu to look at records of RFP issuances. He also worked with Rhudyl Ferniz (of DENR) to determine how LGUs were faring in their partnership with DENR.. What strikes me about the map of LGUs with partnerships (yellow do...

The late US Air Force Col John Boyd taught that, in conflict with an enemy, we respond by taking four actions: we O bserve the situation, then we O rient ourselves towards potential responses; we D ecide on a specific response; and then we take A ction. Then we Observe the new situation, and go through the same actions again.   This iterative response pattern became known as the “OODA” loop. Boyd says that if you are able to iterate through OODA cycles faster than your enemy, you will be able to take the initiative and dictate the fight’s tempo.  You will keep the enemy off-balance; when he is not able to Observe your own actions, he will not be able to Orient himself to the appropriate response; his Decisions will come too late and his Actions will no longer be relevant to the changing situation. Keep up the pressure by accelerating your own OODA loops, and eventually you will overwhelm the enemy. Boyd came to this theory from his study of historical and more recent...

In just eight months eight Municipalities of Surigao del Sur progressed from being students of public land titling to being implementors. In January this year they travelled to Maramag to learn how this Municipality in Bukidnon worked with DENR to help their residents get land titles. By August they were already managing their own surveys. They were able to apply what they learned because of the support provided by RTD Paquito Rosal of DENR XIII and because of the leadership of Governor Jimmy Pimentel. Gov Pimentel thinks this titling project will lead to better real property tax administration. Titling would clarify ownership of parcels, increase registration of real property units, increase total appraised value. All of these would lead to increases in real property tax collection. The Governor established a Provincial Land Information Office (PLIO) to monitor the progress of the Municipalities on titling. He also provides 50% of the cost of the needed surveys – the Municip...

Earlier this year (week of January 10 to be exact) I joined a training activity for Region XIII DENR and Surigao del Sur LGU partners. The participants travelled all the way from their place to Maramag because this Bukidnon Municipality is a successful LAMP 2 site, with a solid experience in systematic adjudication. Last month I visited Maramag again. I saw that they had continued titling public lands in cooperation with DENR.  They signed a new Memorandum of Agreement with DENR according to the provisions of DAO 06-2011 and MC 117-2011.  Moreover, they had set up a Land Information Office with two sections, Land Inventory and Titling. At the time of my visit they were preparing to distribute 200 Residential Free Patents.  So far, Maramag has distributed a total of 1,284 patents - 675 issued to men, 556 to women, 8 to spouses, and 4 to joint heirs. I mention these numbers because they tend to show gender equality in titling. As a GIS enthusiast I was pleased...

A s I worked on titling of public lands with local governments and DENR, I didn’t give much thought to how gender mattered in our work. Until a title distribution ceremony in Alburquerque, Bohol, when USAID Mission Director Gloria Steele noticed that most of the title claimants were women. That got me and my friends thinking about whether the percentage of women title holders has increased, what are the reasons for the increase, and whether owning titles has empowered women. Eng’r Rhea Dealca sent me a copy of Kate Dalrymple and Brenda Batistiana’s paper, “Bringing Land and Gender Equity to the Surface” [1] .  In it the authors presented data from the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) from 2003 to 2007, which said that in 2006 women received only 25% of the total number of Certificates of Land Ownership, and only 18% of leasehold contracts (for land areas exempted from agrarian reform).  From 2003 to 2007, women ...

In an earlier post I said Development Entrepreneurs can go through iterative OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide and Act) cycles to pursue reforms.  When a DE works with organizations (as DEs often do), he can start by Observing the Business Model of that organization. A business model describes how parts of the organization work together to provide valuable services and products to clients so that it earns enough income to survive and grow.  All organizations, even public ones, have a business model – after all they offer value to clients though services or products, earn revenues in some way, work with partners using key resources, and they certainly have cost components. In their book “Business Model Generation” by, published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, © 2010, Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur define the nine components of a business model as: 1. Customers 2. Value Proposition 3. Relationships 4. Delivery mechanism or channels 5....

In every community there are individuals who stand out for their dedication to social or developmental goals. Known for walking their talk, many of them have to the extent of setting up organizations to pursue these goals.  Their track record might be mixed, and they might have changed their strategies over time, but they have kept on keeping on.  To name a few in Cebu, these's Jacob Koshy, who promotes self-motivated drug rehabilitation; Nestor Archival, whose house is a living laboratory of effective recycling practices; Nelia Sarcol, who built an international school and leads reforms in eduction; and Tessie Fernandez, who with Lihok Filipina works to empower women. I used to call these people "Jedi" (I still do). Tads Bentulan calls people like these  "advanced beings". Jaime Faustino and Raul Fabella have coined a new term for them: "Development Entrepreneurs".  Faustino and Fabella say Development Entrepreneurs (DEs, for short) are peop...

Way back in 1994 I and my colleagues in the Cebu City GIS Center had the privilege of training employees of the Cagayan de Oro Department of Planning and Development on GIS. We were all mentored by Peter Rabley and Nigel Edmead, at that time engaged by the Decentralized Shelter and Urban Development Project of USAID. The project was administered by Boy Dulce and his boss Harry Dickherber. Last week I participated in a meeting between DENR X, represented by RTD Jun Melicor, and the City Government of CDO, represented by my friends Telly Sagaral and Sid Borja.  It was good to learn that the CDO GIS Center has continued to function since 1994.  They have more than 60 layers of information in their data holdings, have migrated to ArcGIS, and still operate out of the same office where they started. Many LGUs established GIS facilities in the last 20 years or so. Only a handful, such as CDO's, have been able to sustain operations. Our interview revealed some factors that hel...

Systematic Adjudication Training Banner Dir Emil Rana (DILG) and Sarah Chacon (DENR) The Department of the Interior and Local Government has been a somewhat silent but definitely effective influence in promoting titling partnerships between local governments and the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources. DENR Secretary Paje's DAO 06-2011 encouraged Regional Directors to tie up with LGUs to pursue titling of public lands; DILG Secretary Jess Robredo's MC 117-2011 likewise told Local Chief Executives to establish partnerships with DENR for the same purpose. All over the Philippines more than a hundred partnerships are now in place, many involving actual titling activities.  The Foundation for Economic Freedom, and The Asia Foundation (organizations I work with) has been actively promoting these alliances in Regions IV-A, V, VI, VII, X and XIII. In Regions VII and X DILG has recently taken a more active role, linking up with local DENR counterpart...

Title Holders in Maribojoc, Bohol Alburquerque Title Holders with former Finance Sec Ernie Leung and USAID Mission Director Gloria Steele On 26 July we supported the distribution of titles in two Municipalities in Bohol, Maribojoc and Alburquerque.  80 titles. some of which were Residential Free Patents, were given to land owners in Maribojoc; 441 were released in Albur.  The Maribojoc event started at 0900 and ended before 1200 noon. The Albur event started at 1400 and lasted until 1800 (6:00 in the afternoon). Boboy Cabalit (ROD Bohol), led the distribution team. Lynlyn Racho (DENR Bohol) provided support.  Mayors Efren Tungol (Albur) and Jun Evasco (Maribojoc) hosted the events, which were held in their respective Municipal Gyms. The Foundation for Economic Freedom, with support from The Asia Foundation and USAID, helped with the title distribution. While the immediate objective of these events were to give the titles to land owners, a secondary object...

Back in the 1980s if you took a bus South of Cebu you’d make a few stopovers to drop off and pick up passengers, and buy snacks.  A small army of vendors would swarm all over the bus selling ampao and other snacks.  Most of them would shout, “Itlog mo noy, orange!” Literally, it means “Your eggs, sir, are orange.” Syntactically, it means, “Sir, buy some hard-boiled eggs and a bottle of Tru-Orange.” Why hard-boiled eggs and orange soda? Older cousins who went on these trips explain that hard-boiled eggs are easy to handle and eat, go down well with just a bit of salt, don’t require utensils or hand washing, and are quite filling. Orange soda helps travellers to swallow the egg yolk, which can be powdery and tends to stick to the sides of the throat. Apparently Tru-Orange didn’t produce as much stomach acid as the other soft drinks did. Bottom line, these were the food items that travellers liked and bought. So this is what the vendors sold. I often tell this story ...