Online pre-registration is now open via mbscdo.com. All announcements regarding this upcoming event will be posted on MindanaoBloggers.com.

The 2nd MBS was held last year in General Santos City, and the first was in Davao City in 2007. This year’s theme means “Changing the way people see Mindanao”, and the whole conference will focus on Mindanao tourism.

Kudos to the Cagayan de Oro team, led by ChiQ Montes!

Today, the Republic of the Philippines celebrates the nation’s 111th Day of the Declaration of Independence. Since last night, blog post upon blog post have been published to commemorate this momentous event. Now, especially, the meaning of being a free and independent nation is deeper and more poignant for a growing number of bloggers.

Here are a few posts about our national holiday:

• A Birthday Card…
• Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!
• Being Filipino
• Philippines Independence Day
• 111 Years of Philippine Independence + the First Ever Filipino Google Doodle
• Quickie History Lessons: Philippine Independence
• A Filipino Coming Out Story

Designer Villages Challenge: A Global Campaign for Climate Adaptability

(Manila, Philippines) — The Philippines is pioneering a project on climate change adaptation aimed at building communities that would not only be sustainable but also be prepared to deal with the adverse impacts of climate change.

The project, Designer Villages Challenge, is the country’s contribution to the celebration of the United Nations Year of Climate Change.

Led by Provincial Governor of Camarines Sur L. Ray Villafuerte, the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation and the My Shelter Foundation, the project unites government agencies, different non-government organizations (NGOs), and academic institutions to launch this Philippine initiative on Climate Adaptation.

According to the Global Climate Index, Philippines is one of the ten most afflicted countries in the world in terms of impact in the number of lives and property lost as a result of damage due to climate, and these are mainly in the form of increasing intensities of typhoons visiting the islands annually. This is due mainly to the high vulnerability of rural areas and very little capacity for adaptation (attributed to poverty and lack of awareness on the rising dangers) of the people at risk.

These upcoming humanitarian disasters, and potentially mass migration, will lead to a high state of conflict and insecurity for the 70 percent rural and 40 percent poor living below the poverty line.

The Designer Villages Challenge will focus on selected climate hotspots in the Philippines, Camarines Sur, a province located in the Bicol region that is frequently devastated by typhoons.

The Manila Observatory, a private non-stock, non-profit, scientific research institution, recently completed a study on the future challenges of climate in the Naga region, which indicate the growing intensity and shifting typhoon pattern to the south of the archipelago (Visayas and Mindanao) with the path affecting thousands of unprepared communities unused to these types of storms.

The study has inspired the building of a redesigned low-income community which will be the new blueprint of how people in the vulnerable coastal and rural areas and cities can successfully cope with impacts of climate variability. The knowledge generated from the study will also facilitate the development of policies that address these humanitarian challenges.

Part of the campaign is a competition that would invite architects and planners to contribute to rural adaptability to climate change impacts in the form of architectural resiliency to strong typhoon, winds and heavy rains. It is an “Architects Wanted Ad” to encourage the best minds in the world to sketch up new blueprints for low income (US$2,000 below) housing that is both disaster resistant and sustainable.

Capacity building in the present social networks such as community, non-government, and government organizations involved in these areas will allow a shift into post-disaster mitigation to preparing ahead of the storm.

The main hypothesis of this project is having safer structures ahead of time that will lead to less injury, number of climate refugees, and loss of life and property.

The project’s main partner and beneficiary is Gawad Kalinga, the largest and most active non-government slum upgrading and rural community builders in Asia who will be using the new blueprint for villages in critically vulnerable areas designs. The top three winners of the competition will win monetary awards. In addition, all top three designs will be built, in partnership with three separate prototype master-planned communities of 30 houses each as envisioned by their authors.

The competition brief, which would explain how the villages will be designed based on the key points of climate change challenges, data on the site and province, among others, is still being finalized by the United Architects of the Philippines, Gawad Kalinga and My Shelter Foundation.

The first press launch will be at the Institute of international Education (IIE) where Illac Diaz, a Hubert Humphrey Fellow and lead proponent of the global adaptability challenge, and Tony Meloto, founder of Gawad Kalinga, will be speaking before invited guests from the United Nations, architecture magazine editors and institutes for architecture to inform them of the current Philippine challenges for climate adaptability. He will be accompanied by a delegation of Philippine governors, mayors, and climate experts who would like to call attention to the Philippine Imperative for Climate Adaptation.

WHAT IS THE DESIGNER VILLAGES CHALLENGE?

The global Designer Villages Challenge is a powerful collaboration of service and leadership between Gawad Kalinga and My Shelter Foundation in the bid to provide innovative housing and community solutions that empower people and are adaptive to the present challenges of climate change.

In January of this year, the Philippines’ largest low-cost community builders, Gawad Kalinga, mounted a local design competition, challenging senior architecture and interior design students to raise the bar of excellence for GK communities around the country and the world by harnessing their talents and skills into building the most beautiful, environment-friendly and sustainable GK villages for the poorest of the poor who otherwise cannot afford their services. May 8, 2009 was the last day of submission of entries and awarding will be in September of this year.

Similarly and exactly the year before, My Shelter Foundation together with its partners, Gov. L Ray Villafuerte, the National Disaster Coordinating Council, the Private Sector Disaster Management Network and the United Architects of the Philippines mounted an international competition with the vision of culling emergent technologies from the world’s architects who can create sustainable new design solutions for schools to improve the overall learning conditions of the children, and to revolutionize the blueprint in making the structure resilient to strong and typhoons. The winning design is a sustainable bamboo school by Eleena Jamil of Malaysia which began construction at the Nato Elementary School area last May 15, 2009.

This year, these two engines for changing Architecture For low-income communities, one for better sustainable design and one for disaster resiliency, together with Gov. Lray Villafuerte, the United Architects of the Philippines and other government and non-government partners, a new challenge in 2009 is presented to local and international architects, designer and planners when they are brought together through a competition platform to find solutions to the problem of obsolete, low-cost residential building designs in the developing word in the midst of climate change. It is hoped that a broader international network base will bring in around 2,000 design entries to complete a full master plan of a climate resilient community for rural areas of the country. The scope of the design will be based on master planning a low-income community of 30 houses based on affordability (<$2,000 USD), typhoon and earthquake resistance, sustainable development, innovative construction technology, scalability and flexibility of use.

This project is in honor of the 90th year anniversary of the Fulbright Program and the 30th year anniversary of the Hubert Humphrey Program. The Fulbright Program promotes leaders who unite the world through a dialogue of peace and understanding through educational exchange.

The Designer Villages Challenge will have its 1st press launch on June 16, 2009 at 4:30PM at the Institute of International Education at the United Nations Plaza in New York. The following will be speaking: Allan E. Goodman, President, Institute of International Education (IIE), Consul General Cecilia B. Rebong, Tony Meloto of Gawad Kalinga, Governor Lray Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, Philippines and Illac Diaz, founder of My Shelter Foundation and alumnus of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program.

Bloggers are encouraged to come up with their list of 10 new blogs (created anytime from May 2008 onwards) that they think have the potential to become influential in their sphere or chosen genre. What’s interesting is that, this writing project has become a vehicle upon which new blogs do become influential by virtue of their nominations.

The project is now on its third week. Each week, Janette aggregates all the nominations and outputs a running total of all the nominated blogs. Head on over to the Influential Blogger site and join this worthwhile activity!

It was unfortunate that the bloggers, including myself, were not able to attend the Roundtable Talk on the Right to Reply Bill. Not all bloggers were able to attend the roundtable talk because :A number of us still have day jobs and as such it is harder to go to events on a weekday and if it is far from the office. But we did get to see the pdf version of the bill and the statement of the NUJP.

And after reading the bill. As a blogger a few thoughts come to mind. In a blogging platform it is easier to put in the right to reply. For it is easiest platform to do such changes. And of minimum cost. And initially it seems a better alternative to libel.

But … a few things have to be explained further.

A document emailed after the NUJP roundtable talk points to concerns over the proposed bill. Here is the statement of the NUJP about the proposed Right To Reply Bill:

UNIFIED STATEMENT ON RIGHT TO REPLY BILL

1. The Right to Reply Bill is an ill-conceived piece of legislation
that violates two of the most cherished freedoms guaranteed by the
Constitution, those of the press and of expression.

2. It is both unfortunate and ironic that the principal authors of
the bill in the two chambers of Congress ought to have known better,
Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. having earned his reputation as a
champion of civil rights and Bacolod Representative Monico Puentevella
having been president of the Negros Press Club.

3. It is also clear, from the pronouncements of both lawmakers,
that this bill is a product of the sorriest excuse for legislation –
personal pique.

4. The House version of the bill, HB 3306, parrots the Senate’s
SB2150 except it would have the reply run a day after receipt instead
of the three days the Senate grants, and seeks to impose heftier fines
and the absence of self-regulation (in the case of block-timers) and
sunset clauses.

5. Both bills state that “all persons…who are accused directly or
indirectly of committing, having committed or intending to commit any
crime or offense defined by law, or are criticized by innuendo,
suggestion or rumor for any lapse in behavior in public or private
life shall have the right to reply to charges or criticisms published
or printed in newspapers, magazines, newsletters or publications
circulated commercially or for free, or aired or broadcast over radio,
television, websites, or through any electronic devices.”

6. They also would mandate that these replies be “published or
broadcast in the same space of the newspapers, magazine, newsletter or
publication, or aired over the same program on radio, television,
website or through any electronic device.”

7. The danger in the right to reply bill is that it would legislate
what the media OUGHT to publish or air, while casting a chilling
effect that could dissuade the more timorous from publishing or airing
what they SHOULD.

8. The bills would free public officials, especially the corrupt –
and they are legion – of accountability and give them carte blanche to
force their lies on the suffering public.

9. As one article on the right to reply bill says, “It lumps
together imputations of a crime with simple criticism ‘of any lapse in
behavior in public or private life’ or what would otherwise be
considered ‘fair comment.’ There is no judicial review. It does not
differentiate direct and indirect criticism. It has been noted that
under the proposed law a journalist does not even have to be in error
to draw a right of reply claim.”

10. We would be the last to say that the Philippine media are
without fault. Yes, we understand perfectly the frustration and anger
of Pimentel and Puentevella over some media outlet’s refusal to air
their sides on issues.
11. Alas, but we cannot allow the sins of the few to be an excuse
for the wholesale muzzling of a free press and the suppression of free
expression. To do so would to allow bad governance to triumph.

12. We call on Senator Pimentel and Representative Puentevella to
withdraw their bills.

13. We urge the media and the people to close ranks against the
passage of this bill, to challenge it before the Supreme Court if it
is passed, and, if even that fails, to defy it by refusing to comply.

14. No less than our freedoms are at stake. This is a battle we
cannot afford to lose.

February 9. 2009

One the contentions or things that needs further explanation is this passage:

All persons natural or juridical who are accused directly or indirectly of committing or having committed or of intending to commit any crime or offense defined by law or are criticized by innuendo, suggestion or rumor for any lapse in behavior in public or private life shall have the right to reply to the charges published or printed in newspapers, magazines, newsletters or
publications circulated commercially or for free, or to criticisms aired or broadcast over radio, television, websites, or through any electronic device.

You can download and read the Senate version of the proposed law here.

The office of Senator Aquilino Pimentel, one of the Authors of the proposed law, explained it in a letter that was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer last October 31, 2008:

The fear of media practitioners that the bill on right of reply will curtail the freedom of the press is completely unfounded, based on the following reasons:

The bill on right of reply merely gives persons to express the other side of a controversy in which they are unduly maligned, with more or less equal treatment as the report being questioned.

This bill will instill a greater sense of responsibility among journalists, and even boost the credibility and objectivity of the media, while at the same time, enhance the freedom of expression of the people.

This bill recognizes the fact that the freedom of the press in this country is not absolute. The spirit of fair play and balanced reporting ordains that both sides of the controversy are presented, thereby requiring the corresponding obligation to allow the publication of replies from persons unduly maligned by the media.

Ultimately, the enactment of the right of reply will redound to the benefit of the media practitioners.

LUZVIMINDA D. LAVARIAS, director 4, Office of Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., os.pimentel@senate.gov.ph

- Source

It might be useful to note that media outfits like the BBC have their right to reply policy:

When we make allegations of wrong doing, iniquity or incompetence or lay out a strong and damaging critique of an individual or institution the presumption is that those criticised should be given a “right of reply”, that is, given a fair opportunity to respond to the allegations before transmission.

Our request for a response must be properly logged with the name of the person approached and the key elements of the exchange. We should always describe the allegations in sufficient detail to enable an informed response. The response should be reflected fairly and accurately and should normally be broadcast in the same programme, or published at the same time, as the allegation. There may be occasions when this is inappropriate (usually for legal or overriding ethical reasons) in which case a senior editorial figure or commissioning editor for Independents should be consulted. It may then be appropriate to consider whether an alternative opportunity should be offered for reply at a subsequent date.

In very rare circumstances where we propose to broadcast a serious allegation resulting from our own journalism without giving those concerned an opportunity to reply the proposal must be referred to a senior editorial figure and Controller, Editorial Policy or for Independents to the commissioning editor and Controller Editorial Policy. The allegation must be in the public interest and there must be strong reasons for believing it to be true. Our reasons for deciding to make the information public without requesting a response from the individuals or organisations concerned may include possible interference with witnesses or the possibility of legal action to delay or even prevent transmission.

- Source

As of February 23 it seems that the proposed law is being scrutinized anew, given the concern aired by members of the media or media group: Senator Escudero has said,“he will review the right to reply bill before it goes to the bicameral committee for final deliberation”.

The Right of Reply bill like any piece of law will have a large impact on all those who are covered or to be covered by it. And it seems that feedback and concerns about the proposed law should be considered. And if there are reservations and fears about it then there is a need for the authors and lawmakers to address it. And although as a blogger I personally believe that it would be easier for us to comply with the proposed law, there is a need to answer and address the concerns and fears of our fellow-citizens in media. Especially at present when almost anyone can publish or broadcast from the Web this is very important. This covers us all.

iBlog is, in my view, the realization of what the Filipino blogger had been yearning for, and has paved the way for other likeminded events to follow.

From the South, the Mindanao Bloggers Summit is now gearing up towards its 3rd annual conference, which will be held in Cagayan de Oro City this year. MBS, while patterned loosely after iBlog, is more of an advocacy undertaking by the bloggers of the Philippine South. Its purpose is to make the world more aware of the true and down-to-earth images of Mindanao through Mindanaoans’ various and myriad blogs. To achieve the Summit’s goals, bloggers gather at a different city each year.

The MindanaoBloggers Community is spearheaded by yours truly, with Andrew dela Serna, Migs Hipolito, Ria Jose and Winston Almendras in the core group.

In keeping with the an organized community’s penchant for recognition (vindication?), an awards body has also been instituted: the Philippine Blog Awards. The 3rd Awards, as well as the organization behind it, is to be presided by Juned Sonido, with the able backing of his team, including Gail Villanueva, Jayvee Fernandez and Aileen Apolo, among others.

Perhaps the most prestigious event that has had an impact upon the local blogosphere is WordCamp Philippines, which had its debut last September 2008. Attended by close to 300 WordPressers and enthusiasts, and graced by no less than Matt Mullenweg himself, the event was a big success. Planning for WordCamp Philippines 2009 is already in the pipeline. The organizing team is the same one behind the Mindanao Bloggers Summit.

It is interesting to note that the ‘movers & shakers’ behind these — and other similar but smaller — bloggers’ events belong to one loosely-knit yet cohesive group of individuals. This year, the main organizers have started to realize the need for more fluid interaction in order to better coordinate efforts and movements. Communication lines need to be more open so that there might be no unnecessary duplication of material (content scraping is indeed evil!), and that no two events impinge upon each other in terms of scheduling. Of course, there is also the question of the availability of sponsorships.

The Philippine Blog Press shall endeavor to report on the progress of these, as well as other similar, events.

Mabuhay ang blogistang Pilipino!

Dinagyang festival photo by Byahilo.com

Late last month, über-popular and highly-respected travel blogger, Enrico Dee of Byahilo.com, made it known to his fellow bloggers that a certain publication in Iloilo City had used several of his photographs without permission. Dee, who travels around the country to cover various festivals and regional events, has lodged a complaint against Panay News [website] for the unauthorized use of his photographs of the Dinagyang Festival.

Dee’s blog post about this “dastardly act” is found here.

In an emailed interview, Dee told The Philippine Blog Press:

My problem with Panay News started January 2008 when they used 2 of my photos in their newspaper. The photos bear my watermark. At that time I just let it slip away. Then this January 25, they used again 4 photos for the Dinagyang Special Issue. This time I got so enraged because the watermarks of my photos were removed and I was never acknowledged as the source of the photo. Immediately upon arrival in Manila, I sent them an email charging them for the photos they used. I charge them EIGHT THOUSAND PESOS for the 4 photos.

But the management team did not bother to reply to my e-mail. So I was forced to blog about it and spread to the entire cyberspace their dastardly act.

A few days later their writer, Prince Golez, sent me an SMS asking for apology, admitting that he copied my photos from the Internet. I did not accept his apology, instead, I asked him to inform his boss to reply to my email and respond to my demand to pay. But until now, I have not heard a word from them.

Apology is no longer enough for a crime that has been committed twice. I really felt violated.

As of this writing, Dee has not received any compensation, but Panay News has reportedly apologized in writing for the aforementioned infringement.

This was not the first time that a blogger’s work — photos, original articles, what have you — has fallen victim to plagiarism. A frustrating reality is that, many unscrupulous individuals and organizations scrape huge amounts of content off of blogs and republish them online for profit without proper compensation to the bloggers. These “content scrapers” aim to generate content in order to create Web sites meant for SEO. Most of these scrapers hide behind the blanket of anonymity afforded by the Internet, and are thus virtually untraceable.

What is appalling is when members of ‘traditional’ media, normally considered the bastion of journalistic ethics, are the ones caught red handed.

This writer has personally heard print and broadcast media practitioners proselytizing to bloggers about ethics: that bloggers have no sense of journalistic responsibility. In some ways, that is difficult to refute — many bloggers do fall into the trap of publishing stories without proper research, nor even a cursory background check. The reading public, for the most part, excuse bloggers for such lapses, chalking it up to inexperience and lack of formal journalism training.

But for a media company, especially one that prides itself to be a respectable news organ in its locality, it is next to unforgivable to commit plagiarism.

Dee further disclosed to this writer that this was not his first case. He said that he feels very frustrated because he spends thousands of pesos for airfare, accommodation, food and other expenses, only to have his work stolen by these companies. However, Dee said that “[t]here are media companies that really take extra effort to ask permission from me to use my photos and I salute them. They know that it is not an easy thing to stay under the sweltering heat of the sun, getting burned to take photos.”

There are a number of services on the Internet that assist bloggers and other content providers monitor potential copyright infringement. Sadly, no such thing exists for cases when “offline” plagiarism happens — bloggers must therefore remain vigilant against such incidents.

(Do you think you have been victimized by copyright infringement? Let us know and we’ll try to investigate.)

This is the initial and raw manifestation of the BlogPress.ph logo. We plan to enhance it further before final deployment on site launch, which will be this March 2009. We would really appreciate it if you, dear readers, could provide feedback regarding the logo and the Web site’s overall “look & feel”.

And the idea struck me! BlogPress.ph — originally intended to symbolize all forms of blogging by amalgamating the names of the two largest blogging platforms — a voice for the Filipino bloggers as a whole!

What urged me to create The Philippine Blog Press was the vision to establish a focal point for both bloggers and their larger community. I envisioned an information portal (do forgive the anachronism) for answering questions such as, What’s going on with the Filipino bloggers these days?, Why do I need to be more conscious of my freedoms, as well as responsibilities, as a writer?, What can blogs do for my company?, and the like. In other words, a serious publication that would report on all and sundry that fall under the purview of the Philippine blogosphere.

The intended audience, therefore, is not only those who blog, but non-bloggers yet Internet-savvy individuals as well. I believe that there is a need for everyone to somehow make sense of this “emerging” or “new” form of media. Even bloggers themselves get confused — how much more those who merely read blogs and do not yet grasp the enormity of the medium?

I am very grateful for the immediate torrent of support from my fellow bloggers and colleagues. As soon as I sent out the call for contributors, the response has been most encouraging. This is a good sign: The Philippine Blog Press is on a certain path to success. Towards realizing the vision.

BlogPress.ph will be formally launched in March 2009. By then, we will have organized ourselves into an online publishing outfit. Some might view this as ironic: bloggers becoming like journalists? Well, there is a growing sense that the so-called “new media” will not necessarily supplant the “old”. It is my view that there will be a fusion of the two, and The Philippine Blog Press might just form part of the evolutionary process.

Interested? Click here to apply!