Quick History: Bayambang's Rebolusyon Laban sa Kahirapan

Quick History: Bayambang's 'Rebolusyon Laban sa Kahirapan' (Revolution Against Poverty)

(Note: The national government has taken notice of our LGU's grand program. Nakakaproud lang. I don't understand any of the hate the Quiambaos are getting from bashers whose identities are a big question mark.)

The conceptualization of Bayambang's Rebolusyon Laban sa Kahirapan and the creation of its accompanying blueprint, the Bayambang Poverty Reduction Plan, were the result of heated discussions in one meeting in 2017 involving the Local Poverty Reduction Action Team, a special body (a group composed of LGU officials and staff, national agency officials and staff, and private sector representatives) tasked by government with initiating meaningful poverty-alleviation drives, as per Local Government Code or Republic Act 7160.

It so happened that then Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao is one passionate man when it comes to poverty alleviation. So steadfast was his commitment to the cause that, one fine day, in a solemn National Heroes' Day celebration in August 28, 2017, he dramatically declared a Rebolusyon Laban sa Kahirapan for the whole municipality. He asked rhetorically, we Filipinos may have set ourselves free from foreign invaders, but have we freed ourselves from poverty? (He would reveal much later on that the date was the same day Martin Luther King made his historic declaration, "I Have a Dream.")

Then in succeeding days, upon the mayor's orders, the local government officials found themselves immersed in making a series of initiatives toward this purpose: to stamp out poverty in the town of Bayambang, Pangasinan, once and for all.

Among other things, the mayor made it clear that he wanted the LGU to craft a concrete plan, which was to become the Bayambang Poverty Reduction Action Plan 2018-2028, which was to be a ten-year plan.

It was a tall order, particularly for his then Municipal Administrator, Atty. Rodelynn Rajini A. Sagarino, who happened to be a former staff at the Presidential Management Office and the National Anti-Poverty Commission. It was so overwhelming to even begin to think about the enormity of what it entailed. Even though Atty. Sagarino came from NAPC, she was the first one to admit that she didn't know everything about the complex animal called poverty, much less how to combat it on the municipal level.

As the administrator, she knew the municipal government had to strategize. The first thing she did was to hold a series of consultation with various sectors of society through various summits. Together with her core team, which eventually became a new department called the Bayambang Poverty Reduction Action Team, she organized a Farmers' Summit, Negosyante Summit, Youth Summit, and so on, and then eventually gathered all the basic sectors into one whole-day affair filled with dialogues and discussions. The inputs needed from those who were actually affected by poverty were thoughtfully gathered and organized.

From these public consultations, the Revolution Against Poverty emerged to have five major thrusts or categories: Good Governance, Environmental Protection and Disaster Resiliency, Agricultural Modernization, Economic and Infrastructure Development, and Socio-cultural Development and Social Protection. A focal person was appointed for each thrust, making BPRAT a coordinative body that is on the lookout for duplication of projects, thus avoiding the wasting of limited resources.

Atty. Sagarino then had to invite over NAPC to teach the LGU-Bayambang how to go about this business of making such a plan.

Eventually, she also hired a technical consultant from the private sector, a veteran in community development work, to coach the participants through a writing workshop.

All departments worked hard on their assigned parts until, little by little, they were able to actually come up with an entire plan in book form. The LGU published that book, BPRP 2018-2028, and gave all LGU departments and various sectors a copy.

Today, the LGU is in possession of a solid blueprint or 'bible' from which to base its programs, projects, and activities (PPAs) focused on poverty reduction or alleviation, if not elimination.

Since then, the local government has updated its 'bible' twice in response to the covid-19 pandemic (the "new normal") and the new socio-economic realities after that, particularly the inflation brought about by the Ukraine-Russia war.

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In creating the Plan, the LGU, at the outset, promoted a sense of ownership of the plan among Bayambangueños by making sure they were there in the crafting process since Day One. The officials made sure the inputs are their own inputs together with inputs from the LGU per se. In the end, the work product is a collection of ideas from all sectors.

If some people ever saw the project with some reservation, the trick in encouraging all sectors to attend lay in convincing them that the issue of poverty was worth sitting down for and contemplating for days on end. Understandably, a lot of people could get impatient with long hours of talks and workshops, but to ensure that they'd show up at all, Atty. Sagarino came up with this crazy idea of holding a raffle draw, with draws made all throughout the sessions throughout the day, and with attractive prizes too such as home appliances.

It so happened that Bayambangueños were lucky to have a generous benefactor, the mayor, supporting the project every step of the way, oftentimes with his own funds and resources.

The locals must have sensed the importance of the grand project, and maybe were able to discern the sincerity behind it, that its major proponents were spouting were neither mere grandstanding nor glittering generalities for political gain that were long on promise but short on output.

Additionally, of course there was the novelty of it all. With no template to work on, nor any precursor LGU or municipality having done before or doing what Bayambang was doing at the time -- Anti-Poverty Summit, Poverty Reduction Plan, and all -- the sheer novelty of the effort must have attracted the target participants.

Now, making a tangible plan is one thing; actually implementing suchit is quite another.

In the case of implementing the BPRP, leadership was apparently the biggest factor to its fruition. With a successful businessman and philanthropist as mayor -- as unconventional as it gets, Cezar Quiambao was the man fit for the job. A technical guy and a very smart cookie (and a CPA), he was the no-nonsense character the project needed.

With such a leader dead serious in pursuing his goal, everyone had to work themselves off until the job got done. He didn't stop until he saw results, and his administrators and supervisors must have imbibed that impatience with coming up with results. Monitoring, updating, evaluation activities are regular, in fact done quarterly, or else nothing gets done meaningfully. The LGU also believes it owes it to the public to ensure that the ideas they have contributed get done in the end, so they won't feel betrayed.

Non-performing or under-performing departments received a strong reminder, if not a reprimand, if they didn't deliver.

To ensure alignment and convergence between national development plans and local initiatives led by LGUs, the LGU invited officers from the DILG to guide the LGU in making sure that there is indeed convergence between BPRP and other mandated plans, not just CDP, but also ELA, AIP, CLUP, and even SDG and MDG. This way, the BPRP does not end up contradicting other mandated plans.

An incredibly hardworking and knowledgeable planning officer and planning department also make sure to check for any inconsistencies.

Resources were also allocated for these endeavors, so alignment among all these mandated plans with the anti-poverty plan is achieved.

On the Rebolusyon's 8th year, after a few changing of hands, Bayambang has 6 Rural Health Units on top of a privately owned tertiary hospital, a sprawling park and pilgrim site as tourist attraction, a polytechnic college, dozens of high-impact infrastructure projects both completed and ongoing, and a host of new business establishments, among other initiatives and developments. Not yet there, but a long way off from where it started. Its Revolution Against Poverty -- a revolution without the requisite violence but instead armed only with heart, daring, passion, persistence, foresight, knowledge, and hard work -- is, I must say, going strong. It may have even set a precedent nationwide.