Sunday, February 04, 2007
Dacawi: On being community-based
By Ramon Dacawi
Benchwarmer
BAGUIO Flower Festival chairperson Dammy Bangaoet didn't bite the bullet. Contrary to what he said, which was quoted by City Councilor Edilberto Tenefrancia.
Instead, the bespectacled founder and chairperson of Pangbenga gave way, and in so doing, proved faithful to the community-based character of the flower festival.
Neither did Country Club manager Anthony de Leon take the slug by his teeth. After a few weeks of stand-off, the innovative chairperson of the Hotels and Restaurants Association of Baguio (Hrab) leaned back. He found it quite comfortable. It was a good move, for him and those that would have been directly affected by the Hrab's earlier "take-it or leave it" posture on how the "Session Road in Bloom" trade fair should look this year.
Biting the bullet would be safe, as it wouldn't hit you, remarked Tenefrancia during the City Council discussion over the controversy on the posture of booths for the trade fair, the traditional income-generating feature of Panagbenga. Tenefrancia's wit comes in handy during tense moments, as when he observed "Dammi if you don't, dammi if you do", referring to reactions to Manong Dammy's decisions on the festival.
The bullet, in this case, however, would have punched a gaping hole if the issue was not resolved. It would have shattered the basic character envisioned for Panagbenga, which is its being community-based. This guidepost had been stressed time and again by the festival organizers. It was the gist of that administrative order issued by acting Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. who so advised that Panagbenga will be "community-based, private-sector led and government-supported".
The youthful mayor himself was decisive, vowing to have the city take over should Hrab decide against clearing out the rub and quit out as organizer of "Session Road in Bloom".
"I am envisioning a long stretch of flower gardens without tents. A promenade area with sidewalk cafes, good music accented by landscapes and flowering plants all over," the mayor said during the standoff.
For me, that image, that scenario is perfect for a flower festival, given the fact that after several editions, those who come are asking where the flowers are or have all gone. Flowers and flowers and flowers all over Session Road will dispel the mistaken notion that what we have is not a festival of flowers, but a sprouting of trade fairs, four or five of which are being planned for this year.
But now we have a "wen-wen" (win-win, yes-yes) situation, to follow Councilor Tenefrancia's drift. It's a relief for the Session Road business community led by weekly paper columnist Edna Anton. They had asked that they be given three meters of the sidewalk fronting their establishments for their own display. As in past years, they said. This year they offered to yield a portion of the sidewalk fronting them, which was the initial act of bending back, of compromise.
Until Bangaoet and de Leon conceded, Hrab's plan was to have businessman Masahiro Okuda's or other tents set up on the road itself and to have the sidewalks maintained as such. The arrangement would have been an innovation from the old set-up.
Session Road establishment owners, however, pointed to the difficulty of bringing out orders and having these pass through thick waves of people inching their way up and down Session Road.
Stress is the last thing that Mrs. Anton needs these days, but she had to air their suggestions, noting that Hrab's plan was done without the prior knowledge or voice of her group, the Session Road community.
With the sensitivity of Manong Dammy and Mr. De Leon, "Session Road in Bloom" now turns community-based, a key term for development which, in this case, promises to be more than just a label as it is well-grounded.
Now, who can say that Manong Dammy and Mr. De Leon don't have hearts? As novelist Richard Evans observed, "those with softest hearts sometimes build the hardest shells."
***
"Community-based" is also one of the latest in the emerging the jargon of development workers, as was "sustainable development", coined by the world's leaders in the 1992 World Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Now we have "community-based" tourism, reforestation and natural resource management, health and other programs.
The tag doesn't really refer to the fact that NGOs (who now call themselves "civil society") are based in a community. It means the members of the community where the development workers are based are themselves active decision makers and working partners in pursuing programs for the development of their own communities.-(email" rdacawi@yahoo.com for comments)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (February 4, 2007 issue)
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