TAO-Pilipinas

TAO-Pilipinas, Inc. was able to attend the 1st Philippine Urbanization Forum organized by the Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies (PHILSSA) through its representatives Arlene Christy Lusterio, Angelus Maria Sales, and Verna Lucia Sarraga. The event was a two-day program held last May 25 and 26, 2011 at the new GT Toyota Asian Cultural Center in UP Diliman.

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.
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TAO-Pilipinas, Inc. opens the Call for Sponsorship/Donation to all private, business, and commercial institutions that are interested to partner and/or support non-profit initiatives toward sustainable human settlements development as an extension of their drive towards socially responsive corporate practice.

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.
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cover of Beyond Shelter book

An essay by TAO-Pilipinas Executive Director Arlene Lusterio is one of the featured articles in a new publication by Metropolis Books, “Beyond Shelter (Architecture and Human Dignity)”. The book, edited by Marie J. Aquilino, is a compilation of essays from design professionals working in disaster-stricken areas around the world.  Arch. Lusterio’s contribution is entitled “Sustainable Communities: Avoiding Disaster in the Informal City”.

The book is due to be released in the US by May 31, 2011 and will be distributed outside the US by Thames and Hudson. Information about the forthcoming book is available online at this link.

Twenty-three technical professionals from Asia and Africa convened in Manila last February 14-25, 2011 for the continuation of the SIDA-funded Shelter Design and Development (SDD) Advanced International Training Programme that started last autumn 2010 in Sweden. The SDD course is a six-month training programme conducted twice a year in spring and autumn by HDM Lund University. Each course starts with a 3-week program in Lund, Sweden and culminates in the final 2-weeks of the course period in either Africa (spring course) or Asia (autumn course) with a presentation of the proposal for change by each participant.

The SDD course aims to equip professionals working in shelter design and development with deeper knowledge and wider perspectives to enable them to develop long-term solutions to fight poverty through effective capacity and institutional development. The phase in Manila enabled the participants to gain insights on how shelter design and development is done in the Philippines through the lectures from government shelter agencies and practitioners, and the study visits of high, middle to low-income housing projects, including resettlement sites.

Since it opened in 2006, around 50 architects, engineers, and other professionals in the Philippines has benefitted from the training programme. TAO-Pilipinas has been a partner of the SDD programme in Asia since 2007, locally organizing the course in close coordination with the Housing Development and Management department of Lund University under its Director, Johnny Astrand. Last February’s autumn continuation phase in Manila also marked the closing of the SDD programme’s 5-year contract period with SIDA.

Classroom design workshop

TAO-Pilipinas partnered with International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in conducting a participatory workshop for the design of a classroom at Tacdugan Elementary School in Ticao Island, Masbate. The workshop is part of IIRR’s SOLVE (Safe School to Offset Vulnerabilities and Increase Empowerment of Children) project. TAO provided technical assistance to come up with an architectural design of a disaster-resilient classroom in the school situated near the shoreline.

Members of the school faculty, elementary students, and the students’ parents participated in the workshop. Lectures on disaster resilient design (focusing on earthquake and typhoon hazards) and classroom design standards were given by TAO prior to conducting exercises in site assessment and participatory design through scaled model making. At the end of the workshop, the groups came up with the scheme for an elevated one-storey classroom building. TAO developed the schemes into architectural drawings with cost estimates and IIRR will raise funds to complete the classroom project. (If you want to give financial support to the SOLVE classroom project, please email Maggie Rosimo of IIRR at this link.)