Author: ovcre.upvisayas

Using a discursive approach to understanding social identity, we examined constructed and shifting identities in written discourse and the political outcomes associated with the shift in identity construction. We specifically analyzed the fact-finding reports of the five bodies of inquiry created to probe into the (mis)encounter of the Philippine Government’s Police Special Action Force, Moro rebel troops, and private armed groups on January 25, 2015, in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, Philippines. The ferocious firefight that took the lives of 67 Filipinos occurred in the midst of peace negotiations between the government and Moro rebels. Results showed shifts in identity construction among three of the five investigating bodies in their reports. From their investigating body identity, the Philippine police and Moro rebels shifted back to their respective group identities; while the Philippine Senate moved from being an investigating body to being a critic to being a defender of the police and the country. Shifts in identity construction justified their intention to strengthen their reputation as pursuers of peace and justice, reinforce the integrity of their respective social groups, discredit their opponents, and enhance their credibility as protectors of the country. Findings lend support to the conceptualization of social identity as discursively produced and actively performed in written discourse. Implications of the findings to peace negotiations are discussed.

Millennials were once the newcomers of the job force, but nowadays they already compose the majority of the working population. Their sheer number matched with their alleged issues with commitment, loyalty, and job performance makes them an interesting demographic to analyze. This study attempts to understand the elements of Organizational Commitment and its relationships with selected personal, job, and company characteristics, as perceived by Ilonggo millennials. The Three-Component Organizational Commitment Questionnaire developed by Allen & Meyer (1990) was administered using a nonprobability sampling technique. The results showed that Ilonggo Millennials are averagely committed to their current organizations by performing their core responsibilities despite their frailty to leave their current employers if presented with better external opportunities. It is imperative for organizations to nurture Organizational Commitment to unleash the Millennials’ maximum productivity, tech-savvy skills, and collaborative nature. An efficient way to do this is to involve fulfilling compensation packages, health insurance benefits, work-life balance, flexible working hours, and career advancement opportunities. The incorporation of these workplace elements is expected to significantly improve llonggo millennials’ Organizational Commitment which will ultimately contribute to favorable work performance, motivation, retention, and career satisfaction.

The study explores beneficiary participation in the context of two Philippine development NGOs. The research investigates the levels of beneficiary participation based on a participation typology. It also aims to identify the perceived stakeholder classification of beneficiaries by the NGO board of trustees, managers, and beneficiaries themselves. Finally, it seeks to understand how the perceived stakeholder classification of beneficiaries affects beneficiary participation. Utilizing a qualitative design through a multiple-case strategy, the study reveals that beneficiaries participate through participatory levels of consultation and information, public involvement, and negotiation and bargaining. All the managers perceive beneficiaries as collaborators, and the beneficiaries share the same perception of themselves. The study shows the pivotal role of management’s perception in shaping beneficiary participation. Simultaneously, the beneficiaries’ selfperception as collaborators encourages beneficiary participation. These findings highlight the significance of leadership perception in fostering active beneficiary participation. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of beneficiary participation. It offers insights for NGO leaders in high power distance countries to reflect on the intrinsic dignity and agency of the people they serve.

Philippine indigenous games were once a popular pastime for Filipino children. It kept them active, mentally stimulated, and it maximized the benefits of play across multiple developmental domains. However, the rise of digital technology has shifted Filipino children’s interests from active Philippine indigenous games toward sedentary play on their electronic gadgets, exposing them to the risks of extended screen time and lack of physical activity. This study examined the benefits of playing Philippine indigenous games, as seen by Filipinos born in the 1980s, prior to the computer technology boom in the country. Using online questionnaires, perceptions of N=130 study participants, 56 males, and 74 females, with a mean age of 37.18 (+/- 3.32 Sd), were analyzed to establish if early exposure to indigenous Philippine games aided Holistic Development. Results confirmed that the games are 95.25% perceived to support Holistic Development, particularly in the Physical, 95.38%, Cognitive, 93.85%, and Socio-emotional, 96.54% domains. Furthermore, content analysis of the data showed that Philippine indigenous games fostered larger-than-game life skill applications, connectedness, and sexdifferentiated mental and physical strengths, including positive indications of academic success. Measurement limitations, notwithstanding, this study contributes to empirical knowledge establishing Philippine indigenous games’ support to children’s Holistic Development through growth-permissive contexts, cohort experiences, and normative history-graded influences. It offers an empirical basis for institutionalized restoration, promotion, and preservation of Philippine indigenous games while advancing health, culture, and heritage. Future studies are recommended to consider cross-sectional, correlational, and long-term approaches across regions, sub-cultures, socio-economic, age, and gender groups.

Microfinance rooted in the concept and practice of inclusive business (IB) has gained global recognition as one of the financial interceders fostering poverty alleviation and development. This paper presents the findings of a study that examined the delivery of IB programs of microfinance institutions (MFIs), which feature the inclusion of low-income communities in the market value chain. Focusing on the Farmer Integrated Development Assistance (FIDA), a microfinance program offering credit assistance to poor and marginalized farmers, the study assessed the conventions of IB as applied by the MFIs in assisting farmers’ associations; microfinance operations; and social entrepreneurship. A qualitative research design was used, and primary data was generated through key informant interviews with the farmer-beneficiaries of the FIDA. Study findings reveal the features of FIDA’s IB program, the extension of various microfinance interventions to farmer-beneficiaries, and challenges and success factors in microfinance delivery. The FIDA program’s success was mainly attributed to the MFIs’ ardent commitment to their mission of providing opportunities for inclusive business growth for the low-income farming communities. Results also show how social entrepreneurship was concretized in terms of improvements in farming skills and market linkages as well as increases in the level of productivity and income of farmer-beneficiaries. The study recommends a governance posture, i.e., collaborations between government and other societal organizations in the delivery of IB programs to target beneficiaries.

Financial literacy is important in today’s fast-paced environment. Financially literate individuals understand basic finance concepts, prioritize their expenses, have enough savings, and invest in the right portfolio. These lead to financial security and better decision making of individuals and groups, and are vital to economic development. Related to financial literacy are financial attitude and behavior, which can be described as the motivation and the action after knowledge. Youth and women must be given attention in inclusive finance policies. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), young adults exhibit low financial literacy, and that a gender gap exists. In this study, financial management is discussed in the context of assigned social roles and socialization factors. To assess the level of financial literacy, attitude and behavior of University of the Philippines Visayas students (from Iloilo City and Miagao campuses) and to determine if there is a gender gap, 271 respondents were surveyed, with 188 female respondents and 83 male respondents. Results show that males score higher than females in financial literacy, and the difference is statistically significant. For financial attitude, there is no significant difference in key areas, but female college students have become more aware of the importance of financial literacy during the pandemic. For financial behavior, while there is no significant difference between females and males, females perform better financial planning, and males tend to save regularly. The results of this study have implications on the crafting of gender-responsive financial literacy courses, and on a larger scale, on national financial inclusion policies.

Financial literacy has been considered a life skill necessary for making sound financial decisions. Yet numerous studies around the globe have documented low levels of financial knowledge among different populations and socio-demographic groups. This study presents the results of a financial literacy survey conducted among primary and secondary education teachers in Southern Antique, Philippines. Using the instrument developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development/International Network on Financial Education (OECD/INFE), the results show that the average financial knowledge score of the respondents is 4 out of 7, and less than half are assessed to have good financial knowledge. Difficulties were noted in interest calculations and understanding the time value of money and diversification. Ordinary least squares (OLS) and stepwise multiple regression analyses further reveals that higher knowledge scores are associated with teachers with high family income, those who have taken graduate studies, those with numerous family dependents, and those teaching at secondary (high school) levels. These findings have implications for policy recommendations on financial literacy interventions.

This paper assessed whether non use values were affected due to the oil spill from the M/T Solar 1, which sank offshore south Guimaras on August 11, 2006. Contingent valuation survey was conducted through personal interviews of 250 randomly selected respondents in Poblacion, Calinog, Iloilo. Results confirmed there were non use values reflecting preference towards the prevention of oil spills similar to what happened in Guimaras and vicinity. Moreover, 41% of the respondents would be willing to pay a contribution which will build a trust fund to be allocated for a program that will minimize or prevent the occurrence of oi l spil ls. Respondent WTP was computed using the survivor function, at PhP74.50, which could translate to PhP92.5 million for the whole Western Visayas, and can reach PhP1.1 billion for the whole country. This confirmation of affected nonuse values and its potential magnitude if included in oil spill damage compensation can prevent or decrease possible occurrence of similar oil spill(s) in the future.

Mangroves forests are important ecosystems for the goods and services they provide humanity including timber support to fisheries, carbon sequestration, protection from storms and tsunamis and even recreation among others. The total economic value of mangroves includes direct, indirect, option and non-use values. Unfortunately, mangrove ecosystems face intense pressure due to anthropogenic activities. Among those that severely damage mangroves forests worldwide are oil spills.

This study values the damage of the Solar I oil spill on mangroves in Guimaras last August, 2006 particularly indirect use values of four selected ecosystem functions namely litterfall, nursery, storm protection and soil erosion prevention functions. These actual and potential losses of the damage were estimated using benefit transfer method. Actual losses based on tree mortality of 0.97 hectare is equivalent to Php92,255 for the initial year. Potential losses range from PhP 3.99 million to PhP 6.6 million under the assumed best case scenario of 6.45 hectares or 1% damage of mangrove cover and PhP 59.8 million to PhP 98.7 million under worst case assumption of 15% damage.

The figures presented in this study could be viewed as indicators of the social loss arising from the damaged mangroves caused by the oil spill and should be appreciated in terms of the insight they provide on the extent of this loss. The study recommends that monitoring of actual mangrove damage should be conducted to serve as basis for original valuation studies. It is also suggested that original valuation studies on a wider range of ecosystem services of mangroves in the Philippines be done to provide basis of their total economic value.

This study involved the valuation of direct use value of environmental damages due to oil spill in southern part of Guimaras Island. Direct use value is treated as a component of the total economic value (TEV). A field survey was conducted on October 6 – 28, 2006 to generate data on income changes from livelihood activities and changes in recreational benefits of households whose livelihoods and recreational benefits were impaired by the oil spill. The study had a sample size of 615 households and respondents were chosen using stratified random sampling.

The study revealed that the oil spill greatly affected the livelihood and recreation activities of the respondents in Guimaras Island. The foregone income from the livelihood activities affected by the oil spill in southern Guimaras was about P 42 million. Meanwhile, the lost recreational value at wage rate of P12.38 per hour, ranged from about P 43 million at 20% wage rate to P 2 million at full wage rate.

The estimated direct use value of environmental damages due to the oil spill in Guimaras Island ranged from P 42 million at 20% wage rate to P 44 million at full wage rate. Given that the sample was about 4.42 percent of the 13,917 directly affected households, by ratio and proportion the indicative direct use value of environmental damages due to the oil spill in Guimaras Island would range from P970 million to P1 billion. This amount represents the upper bound estimate loss of benefits of affected households due to the oil spill.