2. Responsibilities : As ET program staff, the incumbent shall

a. directly report to the ET Program Director and TAO Executive Director;

b. assist in the preparation of participatory training/workshop modules and tools on community planning and development; community-based solid waste management; technical capability building for community leaders; community-based disaster risk management for sites and buildings;

c. coordinate with resource persons and assist in organizing staff development activities;

d. coordinate with resource persons and assist in organizing livelihood development activities for TAO’s partner POs;

e. facilitate planning and design workshops for community-based organizations, non-government organizations, local government units and government agencies;

f. undertake training needs assessments and project monitoring and evaluation activities;

g. prepare program and project reports; and

h. undertake other tasks assigned by the Executive Director.

 3. Qualifications : Applicant should be female; with university degree in Architecture or Civil Engineering, and/or Environmental Planning (or related field); has strong communication skills (written and spoken) and fluent in Tagalog and English; with fully proficient computer skills and use of relevant software applications (e.g. word processing, excel, powerpoint, photoshop); and preferably with work experience in a non-government organization or similar environment.

4. Renumeration : Depending on the applicant’s professional background and experience, a competitive compensation and benefits package is offered. The selected applicant should be able to report for work on or before March 1, 2012.

5. How to apply : Please send application letter and curriculum vitae with two (2) work-related references before February 15, 2012 to Geraldine Matabang, ET Program Director. Applications may be sent through email or fax.

Email : info@tao-pilipinas.org

Fax : (632) 441-0998 / 436-7301

For old issues of the YP Enewsletter, please click here.

Dear Partners

In the busy-ness of December due to year end assessment, evaluation, planning and reporting woes, and not to mention christmas-new year preparations, we are called to responding to the victims and survivors of typhoon Sendong. From the network , members from three clusters were directly hit and affected

Early on an appeal for donation and support was flag to the network. Thanks to those who responded to the call. Several partners responded and directed their support to partners in the area. Cash Donations amounting to Php 120,000 was likewise raised – (SFIC sisters through Sr Cres, and MODE thru Fr Ben Moraleda) We will send this donation to specific areas the donor specified.

Likewise, we extend our thanks to Misereor thru Elmar for reaching out to our partners. Funds will be released to three cluster which were most affected by typhoon Sendong – Cabustam Cluster (via Balay Mindanaw which is the lead in relief work and coordinating with other ngo’s and church groups), and possibly to Dopim Cluster and the Negros Cluster.

Currently the three affected clusters/members are doing their modest share to the huge and overwhelming needs of affected people and communites. More helping hand is needed. For more donations and support please direct this to the following:

For Cabustam Cluster: (Cagayan de Oro)

Balay Mindanaw

53A, 12th Street, Zone 2, Upper Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City

Mindanao, Philippines

Bank Account:

Account name : BALAY MINDANAW FOUNDATION, INC

Account no : 2044006882

Bank Names : Bank of the Philippine Islands Cagayan de Oro City

For Negros Cluster (Negros Oriental-Dumaguete)

St Catherine’s Family Helper Inc

155 L. Rovira St., Bantayan 6200 Dumaguete City

Bank Account Details:

Account Name: St Catherine’s FHP Inc.

Account Number: 1083-2370-62

Bank Name: Bank of the Philippine Islands

Perdices St. Dumaguete City

For Dopim Cluster – Iligan

Social Action Center of Iligan

Bishop’s House, Isabel Village, Palao, 9200 Iligan City

Bank Account Details:

Account Name: Social Action Center

Account Number: 418290500013

Philippine National Bank – Iligan City

Other partners in the National Capital Region and Central Visayas are actively giving support and donations to affected partner communities in the form of volunteer work, relief goods and financial support

Likewise, FYI donations in kind, try to check and avail of Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines and LBCs offer to ship goods to its destination for free or minimal cost.

Lets continue to support each other in this time of grave difficulties.

 To all our partner networks who helped in the relief efforts and continue to do so, thank you so much. Your efforts are well appreciated.

We are also conducting relief operations to these Navotas communities. In light of this, we are asking for donations that we could give to our partner communities. Monetary donations can be deposited to our bank account with the following bank details:

Monetary donations will be used to buy construction materials for house repairs. You may also donate by giving food packages such as noodles, canned goods, sacks of rice; clean and usable clothes and blankets; old tarpaulins; and usable pots and pans. You can drop off your donations at our office in 27-A Matiyaga St. Barangay Central, Diliman, Quezon City. For further questions on how you can help our partner communities, you can email your inquiries at info@tao-pilipinas.org or tao_phil@yahoo.com

We would also like to extend our gratitude to all those who have already donated and helped in our initial relief efforts. Photos of the relief operation will be posted soon.

*Editor’s Note: a more updated version of the Post-Pedring Assessment is given in the 2nd issue of HSE Update, just follow this link to the HSE Website*

Its 10th Anniversary celebration last August 24 included a thanksgiving mass, launching of publications, forum, and the signing of the deed of sale for the Angat Relocation project. His Excellency Most Reverend Broderick S. Pabillo, D.D. Auxiliary Bishop of Manila officiated the thanksgiving mass and Arch. Ning Encarnacion-Tan, TAO Board of Trustee welcomed the guests and partners. Five publications were launched: Gabay sa Pagsasanay sa Community-based Solid Waste Management; Integrating Disaster Risk Management in Site Planning and House Design in Resettlement Projects Manuscript; Polyeto ng Alternatibong Materyales at Teknolohiya Blg. 1-6; TAO Shelter Issue No. 10 Anniversary Issue; and Beyond Shelter: Architecture and Human Dignity where Arch. Arlene Christy Lusterio was a contributor on the chapter on Sustainable Communities: Avoiding Disaster in the Informal City. The forum “Aiming for Sustainable Human Settlements Development in the Time of Climate Change” had as guest speakers TAO Board of Trustees President Laura T. David, Ph.D. who presented Understanding Climate Change and its Impact on Human Settlements Development and TAO Advisory Board member and mentor Fr. Jorge Anzorena who presented Africa highlighting people’s initiatives towards sustainable housing and infrastructure development in several communities. This was followed by a lively discussion in the open forum.

The theme, reflecting the optimism and commitment to service of the organization for the poor culminated with the signing of the deed of sale for the Masagana Resettlement Project in Angat, Bulacan, a bold step for TAO-Pilipinas and its partner people’s organization MASAGANA, towards the realization of the vision of sustainable human settlements development.

The event was held at Torre Venezia Hotel in Timog and attended by around 70 people—representatives from partner NGOs (37), the private sector, academe, and professional groups (14) and TAO Board of Trustees, Advisory Board, and staff.

Below are just some of the photos from the anniversary celebration:

The Young Professionals (YP) Workshop on Social Housing is a capability-building activity organized annually by TAO-Pilipinas to orient young design professionals about social housing, with different thematic focus every year. It targets young design professionals/students who are interested in working on issues that affect poor communities, particularly their shelter needs. It aims to develop social commitment and promote YP involvement in participatory processes with poor communities in need of technical professional services. Done in coordination with TAO’s partner NGOs and people’s organizations, the program provides venues for direct community-professional interaction. TAO has organized four cycles of the Young Professionals Workshop in Social Housing with the following themes and immersion areas: participatory community planning (Metro Manila) in 2005; community-based disaster risk management (Infanta, Quezon Province) in 2006; building sustainable communities in resettlement sites (Albay Province) in 2008; and water supply and sanitation (Metro Manila) in 2009.

The application form is available for download at this link. Filled-up application form can be emailed to yp.taopilipinas@gmail.com or fax to 441-0998. To know more about the program of activities for the 2011 YP Workshop, please visit the YP Website.

The forum’s theme was entitled “Emerging Partnership Models and Innovations for Secure and Sustainable Settlements”. As part of the forum, booths were also set up to showcase the various exhibits and products made by selected PHILSSA members and partner communities. During the first day of the forum, Vice-President Jejomar Binay was invited to give the keynote address for the said event. In his address, he highlighted the public-private partnership model as one of the major housing strategy being utilized by the current government.

The first day of the forum was structured to follow a macro to micro level approach. Partnership models between civil society organizations and national government agencies were the first to be presented followed by those in the local government. The first speakers were Mr. Froilan Kampitan, Assistant General Manager of the National Housing Authority (NHA), and Arch. Sarah Redoblado of ALTERPLAN and PHILSSA. The duo presented and discussed the budget partnership agreement between NHA and PHILSSA. Mr. Kampitan discussed the responsibilities of PHILSSA which includes assessing and evaluating of specific NHA programs. He also enumerated the different principles of constructive engagement that govern the partnership of NHA and PHILSSA. Arch. Redoblado, on the other hand, discussed the reason behind the budget partnership with NHA and the objectives set by PHILSSA. She also recounted the lessons learned by PHILSSA from its budget partnership with NHA.

Left to right: Asst. General Manager Froilan Kampitan, Arch. Sarah Redoblado, and Sec. Corazon “Dinky” Soliman during the open forum

The next set of speakers came from people’s organizations (POs) and a representative from the Dept. of Interior and Local Government (DILG). Together, they discussed the partnership between DILG and POs in working as the Technical Working Group on Evictions/Informal Settlements. But since the DILG representative was late their set was moved in the afternoon and taking their place was Sec. Corazon “Dinky” Solomon of the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). She first discussed the vision, mission, and mandate of DSWD and then proceeded in talking about the engagement of DSWD with urban poor sector. The highlight of her discussion was the convergence framework used by her agency to help the urban poor sector. The DSWD Convergence Program was aptly named “tatsulo”. It is a 3-point program targeting different urban poor sectors. Included in this program is the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program which targets the poorest of poor families. She also enumerated the various kinds of engagement being done by her agency such as conduct of anti-corruption campaign, technical trainings of beneficiaries, implementation of feedback and monitoring mechanisms, and projects on anti-poverty.

In the afternoon, the speakers came from Davao and the Bicol region. The speakers from Davao shared their experience on the resettlement of a flooded community. A video was presented about how Bagong Pag-asa Homeowners Association were able to relocate to a new land free from flooding with the help of the local government of Davao City and a non-profit group called San Lorenzo Ruiz Socio-Economic Development Foundation (SALORSEDFI). The speakers from Bicol, on the other hand, talked about the sharing mechanism that the region used. Speakers from Community Organization of the Philippines Enterprise (COPE-Bicol) and Bicol Urban Poor Coordinating Council (BUPCC) represented the civil society sector while the Mayor of Ligao City represented the local government sector. The speakers discussed the purpose behind the city sharing forum being held throughout the Bicol region and the results and impact that the forum had in the improvement and development of the region.

The next day, speakers from various technical fields talked about housing innovations. The first speaker for the 2nd day was Arch. Che Prudente. Her topic was about constructed wetlands. She gave a brief introduction about constructed wetlands as a form of wastewater treatment. She also gave examples of different constructed wetland projects done in the Philippines. The next speaker was the general manager of Hybrid Social Solutions, Inc., Mr. Lionel Manansala. Hybrid Social Solutions, Inc. is a public service oriented company that provides solar home systems to communities that do not have access to electricity. Mr. Manansala briefly presented the solar products being distributed by his company. He also discussed the advantages and benefits from solar products but also clearly stressed that he still recommends using on-grid electricity if the service is available to the community since it is still way cheaper than power coming from solar panels. The last speaker to talk about housing innovations was Engr. Eliezer Vicente Bañares. He presented a few alternatives to concrete hollow blocks such as modified masonry blocks, concrete interlocking blocks, pre-cast concrete, and cast in-place concrete. He gave examples of housing projects for each type building materials and discussed the advantages and disadvantages in using each of the materials.

The next speaker was Atty. Michael Vincent Gaddi from Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap na Panligal (SALIGAN). His presentation featured the different legislative agenda of the current government that concerns the urban poor sector. He gave a brief primer and updates about the National Land Use and Management Act, UDHA Amendments, and the Anti-Squatting Law. The last speaker for the forum was Rosemarie Herrera, a registered nurse from Health Alternatives for Total Human Development (HEALTHDEV) Institute. Her topic was about participatory governance in health and how such method is being done by both public and private sector. She discussed the health service delivery structure used by our country as well as the health care system in the Philippines. She also discussed the national framework being used by the health sector to achieve the UN Medium-Term Development Goal (MDG) and the various health reform agenda that should be done to improve the health care system in our country.

Overall, the 1st Philippine Urbanization Forum was very informative and very helpful to the participants who attended. Participants who came from all over the country and from various sectors were given a chance to interact and share their experiences with one another. In this regard, the forum can be considered a success and should be done annually covering more topics that will benefit not only the urban poor sector but also those in the government.

TAO-Pilipinas (Technical Assistance Organization), Inc. is a women-led, non-profit, non-government organization of technical professionals working in the field of architecture, engineering, environmental planning and social development. With a vision of sustainable human settlements development, TAO-Pilipinas, Inc. extends technical assistance to organized poor communities. Through its four programs, TAO extends technical services in physical planning and design, capability-building, research and information dissemination and by networking with other sectors to source manpower, financial and material resources to address human settlements-related needs. For more information about our programs and projects please visit www.tao-pilipinas.org.

As we celebrate our 10th Anniversary this August 20th, TAO plans a series of activities that will sum-up its 10 years in service and partnership with organized poor communities and NGOs in the housing sector. The celebration entitled “Sampung TAO(n) na po kami: Tuloy ang Serbisyo at Saya.”, will kick-off with a Photo Exhibit – a documentation of TAO projects showing high quality, expert-selected photographs of events, people and places; and a Product Exhibit and sale showcasing products (organic vegetables and handicrafts) produced by TAO partner communities and NGOs. The event will culminate with the launching of ten (10) publications authored by the women behind TAO-Pilipinas, Inc. and ten (10) lectures.

To realize all these projects and activities, TAO-Pilipinas, Inc. seeks your support in the form of sponsorship/donations. Please refer to the table below for the choices of projects you could support. Proceeds from the exhibit and products sales will support the continuation of livelihood projects under our solid waste management program, community-based training programs, publication of TAO researches and process documentation, and the implementation of community-initiated resettlement project in Angat, Bulacan.

You may choose to extend partial support for different projects or extend full support for one or more. Please kindly indicate in the space below the amount of your donation and fax the form together with your deposit slip to telefax: (+63 2) 441 0998 or email to info@tao-pilipinas.org or tao_phil@yahoo.com so we could acknowledge your support. Thank you very much in advance.

ARLENE CHRISTY D. LUSTERIO, Executive Director TAO-Pilipinas

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

1) You may deposit to:
Account Name: TAO-Pilipinas, Inc.
Bank Account No.: Current Account # (00)4431-0074-31
Savings Account # (00)4434-0201-53
Bank Name: Bank of Philippine Islands
Bank Branch: SM North Edsa Branch
Address: Quezon City
IBAN/SWIFT Code: ABCD

2) Send a check in the name of TAO-Pilipinas (Technical Assistance Organization), Inc. to:
27-A Matiyaga Street, Barangay Central, Diliman 1100, Quezon City, Metro Manila.

3) Via our Paypal account: payment@tao-pilipinas.org or click the DONATE button found at the sidebar

You can download the sponsorship reply form here. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!