FOI Philippines' Team Guide

I wrote this team guide for my office staff back in September 24, 2018, out of frustration when what I thought I had taught by example didn't exactly trickle down to team members. Since writing it, I've had less to deal with, and that makes me happy. I'd like to believe these learnings and teachings are what makes our team one of the best work horses of our department. 

I'd like to share it with you now because it just might work for your team too. My FOI Team is small (we're less than 30 as of the moment). I think the principles shared here work best for small teams (anywhere between 3 to 50) in a government setting.

FOI-PMO Team Guide (24 Sept 2018)

1. Our mission and shared goal is to operationalize FOI throughout government. All our efforts should be consistent and lead to the attainment of 100% compliance to the program.

2. To accomplish #1, our team must be agile, nimble, and able to adapt or respond quickly to the unpredictable political landscape. 

3. To achieve #2, our office structure must strive to be flat. A flat structure encourages people to work together and allows for overlap in effort, which often empowers co-workers to do what needs to be done.

4. Salary grades (SG) mean just that—a person’s salary. In this office, it doesn’t bestow rank. Whether SG 11 or SG 23, there should be no hierarchy. We are all co-workers in FOI advocacy.

5. Given our small team, there is no need for deputies or assistant division chiefs. There is only the division chief. He or she is directly responsible for his co-workers in the division.

6. There should be no walls or barriers between divisions. I cannot stress it enough that here in FOI, divisions are not independent kingdoms. Divisions may have their principal assignments, but there is no exclusivity of work. In fact, divisions are encouraged to help each other and share their strengths. Always complement or supplement each other. Remember, we are stronger as one family. 

7. Division chiefs are the ates and the kuyas of the office. They bring with them years of experience working in government, and are a rich source of knowledge and wisdom. That said, division chiefs should exercise empathy, and mentor their co-workers. Motivate, empower and inspire them. 

8. Co-workers should respect division chiefs. They are the ates and kuyas of the office. They bring with them years of experience working in government, and are a rich source of knowledge and wisdom. Learn from them. 

9. There is no place for hypocrisy in the office. Co-workers should walk their talk. For example, when we preach transparency, we should be transparent ourselves. 

10. In case of doubt, remember the words of James Madison, “A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or tragedy, or both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance. And a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” Let his words be our guide.

AKRA

Manila Times interview about the Hating Kapatid Project

Sharing the transcript from my interview with Manila Times' Red Mendoza about the Hating Kapatid Project--an initiative I started last April 9, 2020, to raise money for low-middle-income wage-earners who are no-work no-pay during the Covid19 Pandemic. As of May 20, 2020, we've raised more than One Million Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P1,500,000.00) for 400 Hating Kapatids and their families.

Red: Why did you start the Hating Kapatid Project, what is the reason behind this? 

Kris: I started the Hating Kapatid Project because I felt guilty for continuing to receive my salary as a government worker, while friends in the private sector were no-work no-pay. The imposition of ECQ caught everyone off guard, and many were not prepared financially. Unfortunately, these middle-income wage-earners (earning anywhere between 15,000 to 40,000 a month) weren’t qualified for SAP, CAMP or any other social protection program of government because they were not poor. I thought, we in government who are still earning our salaries could help our counterparts in the private sector by sharing a portion of our income—share it hating kapatid.

Red: So far, how many people have been helped by the project? 

Kris: As of today, 5 May 2020, 263 Filipino families have been helped by HKP.

Red: How do you vet those who would be given the assistance? , how do you determine if the person to be given assistance is 'deserving'? 

Kris: I interview applicants on FB messenger. I ask them if they were working prior to ECQ; if yes, what did they do, and how much did they earn. I also ask them if they applied for and/or received from SAP, CAMP or any other social protection program of government. If they haven’t, then they qualify for HKP. That’s it. I ask for their bank details or their Gcash numbers and add them to the list of HKP recipients.

I believe that people who earn an honest living are a very proud people. The mere fact that they swallowed their pride and reached out to the project means that they really need financial aid. Hindi lang naman ang mga mahihirap ang nahihirapan sa ganitong panahon, di ba? 

I vet by asking for their work ID and reviewing the FB profile. That’s how I verify their identity. Other than that, it’s honesty system.

Red: When you started this project, did you realize the magnitude of the people asking for help? 

Kris: I expected a lot of people would apply. There’s just so many professionals and workers that fall between the gaps of the system. 

What I did not expect was them sharing their socio-economic situation and me reading their accounts. It’s heartbreaking. Many lower middle income wage earners are dependent on their monthly salaries, not only to pay their bills, but also to support their children, their siblings, and their parents. Take away their monthly income, and they are immediately paralyzed. You try to advice them about the new Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) program, and they respond to you that they are still not qualified because either their employer failed to pay their SSS contribution, or the company is considered a large taxpayer.   

It’s their stories. I did not realize I would be affected by their stories.

Red: How did your circle (family, friends and co-workers) help you in this project?, If you may sir, mayroon po bang mga nagdonate na high profile or cabinet level? 

Kris: Relatives, my co-workers in PCOO, friends, friends of friends, and even strangers who read my FB posts or saw the page, helped out in this project by donating amounts ranging from P500 to P30,000. 

No cabinet level donors. But many fellow assistant secretaries.

Red: When someone whom you given the aid thanks you and tells you that the money helped them in a big way to sustain in their needs, how did you feel about it?

Kris: You don’t know how many times I’ve cried after reading their messages. I knew 5,000 was a relatively substantial donation, but I didn’t realize its big impact on families in financial distress. 

I would screencap the recipients’ messages and share them with the donors, so that they also know the impact of their acts of kindness and generosity.

Red: Of course sir, hindi po maalis sa isipan na, being from the government, some people would say na 'dapat lang magbigay sya ng tulong' and all that because it came from taxpayers' money, what is your reaction on that sir,. 

Kris: Well, I still do my work as an assistant secretary of PCOO. I head the Freedom of Information program, and we have been very active in promoting the transparency initiatives of government. So you can be assured that taxpayers money is put to good use with my continued service. 

HKP is outside my scope of work in PCOO. HKP is a donation platform I created so that fellow government workers could help others in need. 

Red: Have you changed your outlook in life after doing the project? 

Kris: Yes. I have a better understanding and appreciation of our middle income sector. Many of my biases regarding the middle class have been blown away by the personal accounts and sharing of requestors.

I am eternally grateful to the more than 180 donors who contributed to the project. Some even donating multiple times. And many even coming from the private sector. I’ve also had a couple of recipients who became donors themselves. 

I started the project more than 3 weeks after ECQ was imposed, and so I knew that people were suffering from donor fatigue already. But still, they came out and supported the project. 

Red: Being a part of the government, what do you think is the most important solution para mabigyan po ng ayuda yung middle class. And this comes despite na may DOLE-CAMP and SBWS na pong inannounce (and i also saw po na yung mga nabigyang ng CAMP na humingi earlier po ng ayuda sa inyo is also "giving back", so to speak, what is your reaction po?)

Kris: I understand that due to limited resources, government’s priority should be the most vulnerable sector, which is the poorest of the poor. But we should not ignore the middle class because they are in distress too. Government should find a way to include the middle class in its social amelioration programs. SBWS was a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done.

I’d like to propose that HKP be institutionalized and adopted government-wide. On our next payday, 5% of every government worker’s salary should be donated to a counterpart middle-income wage-earner suffering from no-work no-pay. 

Red: Ano po yung mga challenges in doing this project, especially that some of your donees did not have bank accounts and only rely on remittance services or electronic money transfer, like Gcash. 

Kris: You are right. I did not know that a lot of middle-income Filipinos still don’t have bank accounts. I thought that was presumed. Hindi pala. A lot of recipients wanted to receive the donations through remittance, but donors were hesitant. One, they didn’t want or couldn’t go to a remittance center. Two, they didn’t want to expose their names, address and number, which remittance required. Our compromise was to create Gcash accounts, but even that was a challenge. There were (are) still many recipients who could not or did not know how to.

Red: And lastly sir, what is your message to everyone who helped/donated, and also to those whom you helped, what would you say to them, and is the Hating Kapatid project still open for donors and those who still need help? 

Kris: I am eternally grateful to the more than 180 donors who contributed to the project. Government workers from PCOO, DOH, DOJ, DFA, HOR, Senate, SC, RTC, MTC, COA, Ombusdman, OSG, PAO, IC, GSIS, BSP, SEC, NTC, PLLO, CCC, TIEZA, BOC, UP, CHED, TESDA, NHA, UCPB, LGU-QC and LGU-Pasig. Some donors even donated multiple times.

And there were a lot of donors coming from the private sector. I won’t mention their names because they wanted to remain anonymous.

I started the project more than 3 weeks after ECQ was imposed, and so I knew that people were suffering from donor fatigue already. But still, they came out and supported the project. 

Thank you so much for your donation. God bless your generous hearts.

---end of interview---

Here is the link to Red's article, which came out on May 17, 2020: PCOO Executive helps those beyond SAP reach.

To donate to a Kapatid, please visit: www.facebook.com/hatingkapatidproject

Philippine Business for Social Progress

After my stint at the Ilocos Norte Provincial Board, I wanted to continue helping people.  But since I was covered by a year long ban to work in government, I had to do it in the private sector.

I found out about Philippine Business for Social Progress, allegedly the largest corporate-led foundation for social development in the Philippines.  It is comprised of over 200 member companies who pool in their resources to empower the poor and underprivileged through social development projects like building schools, awarding scholarships, providing credit facilities and conducting livelihood programs.  Member companies include Smart Communications, Landbank, Petron, Nestle, IBM, Aboitiz, TV5, and ICTSI.

PBSP also acts as program managers of development agencies.  The foundation currently implements projects for USAID, AECID and Global Fund, and has potential projects with AusAID and CIDA.

We have so many projects that its hard to keep track of each and everyone of them.  There's the Smart Schools Program where SMART donates 2 computers with 1 year internet connection to public schools all over the country.  The program includes training the teachers on how to use the computer.

Then there's the school building program funded by the Angelo King Foundation and Coca Cola, among others.  Just like what FCCCI and other NGOs do, PBSP also builds classrooms in public schools.

Like I mentioned PBSP has a scholarship program as well.  We implement the scholarship program of Petron and Landbank.  We support the student from high school all the way to college.

For health, we are implementing the Two Billion Peso (PhP 2,000,000,000.00) Sustaining TB Control and Ensuring Universal Access to Comprehensive Quality TB Care Program of the Global Fund.  It is our biggest project to date, which aims to reduce TB in the country.  Did you know we rank #9 in the world in terms of TB cases?

PBSP is also into microlending.  We provide financial assistance to small and micro enterprises, sourced from USAID and KFW.  Other poverty reduction projects include empowering mutli-purpose cooperatives with their livelihood and building livelihood centers for them.

I joined PBSP last November as their legal officer.  Among other tasks, I review all contracts and agreements entered into by the foundation.  I draft legal documents.  I act as Assistant Corporate Secretary.  And I also represent PBSP in its cases--the ones I can handle of course.  More delicate stuff is handled by our partner law firm.

PBSP recently celebrated its 40th Founding Anniversary last January 25.  The foundation is headed by Rafael C. Lopa as its Executive Director and Nicolaas Oreel as its Chief Executive Advisor.  The Chairman of the Board of Trustees is Manny V. Pangilinan.

PBSP Headquarters in Intamuro, Manila

PBSP Regional Office in Davao City, Mindanao

Management Team Meeting led by Executive Director Rapa Lopa and Chief Executive Advisor Klaas Oreel

PBSP Board of Trustees Meeting led by Chairman Manny Pangilinan

Annual Membership Meeting (25 January 2011)

40th Founding Anniversary of PBSP with Pres. Noynoy Aquino as Guest Speaker

PBSP is open to all companies, whether small business or MNC, to join the foundation to help reduce poverty in the Philippines.  Member companies contribute a small portion of their gross income to PBSP so that we can implement various social development projects.  Or, member companies can opt to fund their own projects through PBSP, like what Smart, Petron and Coca Cola did.

For more information, visit the PBSP website at http://www.pbsp.org.ph/ or call Membership at +632 5273742.