Dr. Eduardo Tadem highlights findings of AltDev–UNESCO study in two commentaries

FEATURE

Dr. Eduardo C. Tadem, Convenor of the Program on Alternative Development (AltDev) of the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS) and retired professor of Asian Studies at UP Diliman, featured the findings of the research by UP CIDS AltDev and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the conditions and responses of marginalized communities in the time of the COVID-19 in two commentaries published in the online news outfit Rappler on December 16 and 18, 2020.

The first article, published on December 16, provides an overview of the project, which is composed case studies of five grassroots communities: an urban poor homeowners association, a health watch program of a relocated urban poor community, a women’s micro social enterprise, an indigenous people’s community, and a school for indigenous children. The second article, published on December 18, offers policy recommendations in addressing the challenges confronted by these communities, including a shift to a “whole-of-society approach,” the restructuring of the management system of the health crisis, more responses targeted toward the poor and marginalized sectors, and measures that would directly benefit the working classes, rescue micro and small enterprises, and promote economic recovery.

The cases of the Ayta Mag-indi community in Porac, Pampanga; the Alyansa ng mga Samahan sa Sitio Mendez, Baesa Homeowners Association, Inc. (ASAMBA); the Maigting na Samahan ng mga Panlipunang Negosyante ng Towerville, Inc. (Igting); Bantay Kalusugan Pampamayanan (BKP); and the Lumad and Bakwit schools, which were studied in the research project, are hoped to bring about contributions to support the Philippine government in its decision-making process in mitigating the impact of the pandemic to marginalized communities.

Read the full articles on Rappler by clicking the following links:

“Philippine marginalized communities and the state in pandemic times” (December 16, 2020)
“Recommendations on meeting the marginalized’s needs in the pandemic” (December 18, 2020)