Cebu Green Economy Series II

Today we started a two-day workshop for the city on environment. We were expecting that the mayor would come and do the welcoming remarks but unfortunately he was unavailable due to his busy schedule. So the group gave the task to me to do the welcoming remarks for the activity. I would just like to share this because in my opinion it is addressed to everyone.

"Welcome: Cebu Green Economy Series II - Convergence of Communities for Sustainable Cities

Honored guest and friends of environment, Welcome.

Every moment you expose yourself to the environment it only takes a little of common sense to know that the environment has changed.

Our natural resources now are ever being threatened by ever grown human activity which contributes to a large portion to environmental degradation.

The ever changing landscape, disappearing forest, extinctions, changing biodiversity, pollution are just some of the concerns among countless others.

Even our children can no longer determine how genuine some of our trees are. Some of our children today do not even know how endemic trees like the Catmon, Tugas, Santol and countless others look like.

The environment has change but that does not mean its all about adaptation, but is it also about cultural and social biodiversity.

Human activity has change this landscape, but the question is how far do we want this change to go? How far will we say that enough change has been brought into the environment? How far do we go in terms of development?

Initiatives like these challenges the brilliant minds of our ever grown abundant human capital to make hard and painful decision to ensure our future, our survival.

Friends of environment, let this be a challenge to all of us to come into a full circle. To use less, to conserve more and to protect more.

With that, in behalf of the Cebu City Government, The Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office which I represent, I would like again to say Welcome to the 2nd Cebu Green Economy Series."

Alliances

Some alliances are just to good to be true. Others are shrouded in mystery and lies. Others are made in heaven and while others last even beyond our lifetime.

Same is true with all forms of emotions like love, happiness, joy, hate and still holds true with relationship and friendship. But the end of some alliances can foster also the beginning of new ones.

We always learn from our mistakes which has brought man this far. The strongest foundations on earth were built from the mistakes and learnings of the past. Only time can tell on how far we will go and how far civilization will take us into the future.

Again, I have always been telling people this, "Our greatest responsibility is to pass on the wisdom, knowledge, the skill and good experiences that we have to the next generation". We are just stewards of this earth and that what we pass on to the next generation is our greatest gift to them.

Environmental Program

Today I had a taste of my first radio interview. It went quite well. The program was one hour. The discussion were more on environmental programs of the city. When I was with ICT, I was just at the back burner. No media interview, no nothing. This time, I get to interact with the public more. ;-)

This new job seems to be getting more and more interesting everyday. And it's true, one does not have to be a scientist to be an environmentalist. You just have to have a lot of common sense.

I will be writing about other activities here in the coming days related to Environment and hot ICT an a tool can enable better efficiency in preventing loss of life and property. Being close to environment has its advantages. I have more articles to write about and discovery and learn new things. ;-)

On Organic Farming and Junior Foresters...

I never realize three weeks have passed since I last blogged and in just a few days we have done several major activities. I can't discuss all of them in one blog so I'll just mention two for now.

First we went to one of the mountain Barangays to do forums on organic farming with the local farmers in the area. The community organizers were very accommodating and hospitable.

When we arrived the pilot area, freshly cut coconuts fruits coupled with some steamed japanese sweet corn were already set at the table. The place was a bit far but accessible. Farm to market road where already built although some of it need immediate repairs due to constant soil erosion and earth movements in the area.

The program started with a prayer, then the national anthem and acknowledgement of guests. Then the Barangay Captain/Village Chief gave his brief welcome remarks. I meet an old friend, a former City Administrator of which he said this is the first time he has ever set foot there. Same with me. ;-)

One the main reasons why this place was chosen as pilot for organic farming was because the use of pesticides is rampant in the area. As the discussions and presentations continued so did the temper of the people present in the forum. Most of the farmers were not convinced with the method of farming presented by one of the resource speakers. One farmer even strongly opposed to the idea and made a mockery out of it. I never realized that it was this tense. Fortunately, we were able to diffuse the arguements and all went well. I just hope we would be able to set an actual pilot area so that we can have a prototype and prove that organic farming can be economically viable, feasible, efficient, earth friendly and productive.

Second activity was the awarding of 77 school children with school supplies. Prior to this, they were given school supplies. The objective of this program was to encourage children to grow their trees planted several months before. The children were very happy getting their school supplies. The school supplies was in cooperation with one major telco company. Children were reminded to protect their trees and was designated junior foresters. They all agree and were very receptive to the activity. We hope that this will encourage other children to participate in this new program to plant, protect and grow trees. ;-)

The Scare! Earthquakes and Fake Tsunami Alarms!

I can't imagine how scared most people were. A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the city around lunchtime sending people running out to the streets. I was outside walking towards the office when the earthquake struck. I did not feel anything. Maybe I was to close to the ground, to close to the environment. ;-)

I even did not know what was happening when I saw them running out of the building and asking what went wrong. At first I thought the building was on fire then I asked one fellow and he said it was a powerful earthquake. About 30 seconds they say.

I called Mariposa to check on her because she's in another neighboring island. The epicenter was on her island but she was safe. Called my mom and sisters and they too were ok. Then the lines went down. The communications network was flooded with numerous calls. I can't call anymore but the internet was still accessible.

I went back to the other office to get my things. Work was already suspended at time. Nobody was allowed to enter the building. I saw my friend and she offered to clean my nails of which I said, "ok ;-)". A few minutes after, text messages started coming in. There was a tsunami they say. People started running like crazy looking for higher ground. I on the other hand continued with my activity not knowing the mayhem happening outside. When we were done, I went to the plaza and saw some of my friends and asked, "Why is the plaza empty?". He said, "all of them have fled to higher grounds because there is a tsunami". The office by the way is near the shore, so I went out to the shore and checked. It was clear! It was a fake tsunami alarm. I was laughing then got upset a few minutes after with the thought on how people believe these stories.

First, you can not out run a tsunami if ever there was one. Second, the only thing that you can do is look for the nearest higher ground or hold on to something and pray. Funny thing is it's impossible to have tsunamis in our place because, first we are not facing a large body of water or an open ocean and second we are surrounded by other islands. Tsunamis also happens just a few minutes after an earthquake. They got the alarm a few hours after which I find oddly stupid.

It really is a big advantage if you know your environment well or you get to know the environment you live in. We are responsible for our own actions and we have to give people the right information, not take advantage of the panicky situation. With that you don't have to panic like most did. It did more harm than good. ;-)

Three Weeks... ;-) IT and Environment!

So far so good. The three weeks being environmental officer has been fruitful. Challenging and demanding at best but fruitful none the less. ;-) I guess I can still put this as another feather on my coat. We just finished our first major environmental activity for the year. Thanks to the KITA Environmental Cooperative and Dr. Kogi Takakura, the man and the mind behind the Takakura Composting Method. I'm not a subject matter expert on this but you can try searching for it on the net. There are plenty of resources online on how make one and the benefits of going into this composting method. Before I forget, Thanks to the Chairman or woman who I believe is the source of my inspiration right now for the Environment. Thanks Councilor Nida Cabrera! Thanks also to her very supportive staff and thanks also to the SWMB Secretariat Mai and Ryan. Thanks also to the one and only Environmental expert of the city, Engr. Maria Concepcion Encabo. Cheers guys and gals!

Next challenge? A new office which the City Administrator promised me. Well let's see if promises are not made to be broken. Crossing my fingers! A much bigger challenge though is the upcoming Environmental Summit. For a person with an IT background, I still have to probe further on what are the things IT can apply to help the environment. In my opinion initially, Information campaigns and research, research, research! ;-) Wish me luck on my next project! ;-)

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Gong Xi Fa Cai! (恭禧發財)

Welcome the Year of the Water Dragon!

My New Designation...

Every change in administration warrants internal change. I just didn't expect this to happen a bit sooner. ;-) Maybe I guess I'm just this good that starting today I will be OIC for the Environmental Office of the City. You heard it right! My new title is City Environmental Officer. An IT guy in an environmental office, that's something you don't hear happen everyday. ;-)

As what the Secretary to the Mayor said during our talk while she was ready to hand me the memorandum for my new assignment (in the presence of the "Assistant" Human Resource Head) said that the Mayor has seen that I have the potential to jump start and organize the office since for almost three years from the inception of the ordinance the office is still in limbo and that the Mayor believes that I was the "right person to the position" and one who is strong enough of organizing it. No offense to the one currently in-charge of handling it, those were not my words. ;-)

Funny thing was, I think the City Administrator and the Secretary to the Mayor were not talking to each other since they have different statements released to me and to the public. (You be the judge of that). True, honesty and politics never go hand in hand. I would have appreciated it very much if they were in sync as not to embarrass nor offend anyone as they have tried so hard not to offend me. But of course, the point here is to insult not to offend but I can take that since they actually did a great job of not offending nor insulting me but insulting themselves by showing how lame they can make an excuse and how disorganized are their thoughts.

Anyway, since this is a new post and I have a new office to setup and a new assignment, that doesn't mean that I can not talk about IT here anymore. IT is a tool and an enabler. I guess there is so much things interconnected to IT as well as so many other things interrelated to environment.

Wish me luck! :-)

Information Security and Management

Information security and information management is one very crucial thing nowadays. As the world gets more and more interconnected and information readily available, the need to secure and manage this information is growing.

Mobile devices are even making these even more challenging. Just a few days ago, a friend of mine lost a mobile device with it configured all information to mobile banking, social networking configuration and anything that has something to do with online.

How far would you tighten security or loosen it? Policies are very important then. Policies at all levels and how much information can be given freely or information to be secured is very important. The bigger challenge here is that more executives and middle managers think that it is solely the responsibility of Information Technology experts or worst the Information Technology Departments. Well think again.

Determining value and the importance of information can better be determined by data creators, owners and users. So, the next time you think about information security, it's not solely the responsibility of one department but rather it is an organizational responsibility to management and secure it.

IOS 5 is here

Just heard that IOS 5 has been released. Update is now available. Updating my iPod touch and iPad. ;-)

A first taste of internet....

 

Although Internet started in the 1950's and 60's, the first time it landed in the Philippines was in early of 1995 and two schools were the first recipients of  internet. These were the University of San Carlos - Technological Center in Cebu City and University of the Philippines, in Diliman, Quezon City.  The rest followed after that.  

I was one of the more fortune ones to ever first try it out since I was a working scholar of the University of San Carlos assigned to the Computer Lab. It was not until when two years after I graduated when I had the taste of the first popular internet broswer which has a symbol above. Can anyone still remember this logo? :-)

Mortality...

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They should somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." - Steve Jobs

Remembering the past... The Apple II

I guess some of you still remembers this. ;-) Well I have used this sometime in my lifetime and believe me, I have written thousands of lines of codes for this machine using Apple Basic which was preloaded into the system. I use to write programs for this machine during my High School days. ;-)

Farewell Steve Jobs...

Today the world mourns the passing of one of the greatest minds in the world. The person who inspired me during my younger years to become who I am. A symbol of innovation, perseverance and intellect. The man behind the company symbol, "the apple with a bite". My idol... Steve Jobs.

Since I was twelve, I already had an experience with the inventions he created, the Apple II computer. Working side by side with my personal TRS-80 computer and Texas Instrument TI/99A, I was able to compare these three and that time, the Apple Computer was already years ahead of the rest. And as I type this blog on the i-Pad 2 loaded with the Blogger+ software, I can't help but think how these things have touched my life and the life of others. We will miss you Steve and we will always remember you...

I dedicate this blog to you... Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011)

I'm back with my new Tab... Goodbye Galaxy...

I'm Back Again...

New devices are making things easy. Today, I just finished configuring my new device. The apple of my eye so to speak in the IT world. ;-) I even bought a wireless keyboard for it. Ah...The convenience of being wireless. It's so amazing this tablet technology is but again it's never about the device. Rather, it's about how people use the device to maximize productivity and improve on performance. I am loving my new iPad. It's just simple awesome and very light and fast. ;-) But still love to play with the android though... ;-) But wait... IOS5 is coming mid-fall.... Will to wait it out... ;-)

The inconveniece of convenience

There is always inconvenience when it comes to making things convenient for organization to take control of software applications/programs running in support to operations.

One example I can site are programmers. Programmers are like artist. But if you don't tame this artist and set your objectives straight, you get unwanted results and horror stories even beyond the artist's imagination. For year IT Managers and Business Owners has been trying to tame these artist and most if not always, managers, corporations, and business owners always get stuck with software applications which are either too complex, too difficult to modify or even at most impossible to work with.

Documentation is a one way of setting the pace and controlling them. By experience, this is has been proven effective. To make it even more effective, systems analyst does the documentation and set standards.

But in an organization I work for, there are other factors that affects systems development. Even changing political priorities can in one way or the other affect design and change the requirement overnight. Standards is also one very important element that should be introduced and strictly implemented. With that said, it makes this job interesting at the same time challenging. Cheers to my team!

Fuel Rationing. Is this the right solution?

Early this morning fuel prices again have risen to new record highs. I'm taking the public transport to help ease in my own small way the inefficient way of consuming fuel by going to the office alone inside my car. I normally drive alone simply because like any other household people will always have have different destinations and work schedules. The Department of Energy is planning of issuing cards to ration fuel consumption at the same time monitor it to be able to better assess the current fuel consumption of the motoring public.

In my opinion I find this too short-termed. You can't just keep to rationing when there is a price surge or when there is a shortage. You can not just simply keep on collecting data. You have to find real solutions to real problems. As everybody knows fuel can be transformed into energy and this energy is what sustains economic security and social stability. National governments should find specific and attainable solutions to this fuel crises that is being felt everywhere. Alternative fuel sources are abundant it is just that we can not keep a blind eye to this. We need to tap these sources. We need to revamp laws that oppose to the development and usage of these.

We need to create an infrastructure of an effective and efficient mass transportation system to carry people and goods to places where it is needed and wanted. Of course there are no.straight and simple solutions to that but we have to try. We have to manage and balance everything putting with the utmost importance the protection of the environment we live in because this is the only home we have. We need to show future generations and educate them what is right if we are to survive as people living on this planet. We need change.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Installed blogger for My Android Tablet Phone.

Still up this late. Can't sleep. Got a text from my honey in Bacolod. She just went home from the office. So what do you do when you're up? You tinker around with your devices. One thing I remember was that I haven't posted any new entry on my blog. Too busy and internet at the office is vey slow. Still waiting for my line upgrade.

So, remembering that I had downloaded several useful tool on my android tablet but forgot to download something for my blog. So I went inside the Android market and started to search and found this application called Blogger-droid. I immediately downloaded the apps and configure it. Now I can blog anytime anywhere through my android phone. Pretty cool. I love it. Not that easy to use but adequate for me. Now I have no excuse not updating this blog. Cheers to the maker of this app!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Recycled

Found a lot of plastic bags. Folded and stored them in a jar for future use. ;-)

Budgets Cebu City LGU Style

The past few weeks has been nothing but series of meetings and presentations. The year is ending and it's budget season once more. The normal way of doing it is plan everything out for next year be it Capital Outlay, Maintenance Expenses and Personal Expenses of course and then include everything you need in next years budget in an Annual Investment Plan.

Since I joined the organization this has not happened yet. Their way of doing it is "skin and bones" budget and then just ask for additional budget in a Supplemental Budget (SB). But before a SB can happen, the City Treasurer has to certify if there is enough surplus to fund the SB of which the Budget Officer will also concurring. If there isn't enough then the other option is go into borrowings.

This year we are already on SB 5 (meaning we are already on our fifth supplemental budget for the year), the biggest ever in the history of the Cebu City. Question still left unanswered is, "Is there enough sources of funds?". Only the treasurer can answer that with the City Accountant will concur by generating financial statements.

But what is more intriguing about this SB is that the largest items in this budget are all ICT related and of which I had not been consulted, ever! This has caught the attention of a lot of the people from the different departments and offices of City Hall. Why? Because all of the budgeted items do not have a breakdown and no clear explanation of how it will be used. City councilors suddenly are questioning the motives of items and that why my department was never consulted in the first place. Then the woman behind it all emerged. It was one of the department managers. She was the culprit behind all of this. Was it Illegal, Unnecessary, Excessive, Extravagant, Unconscionable (IUEEU)?

Final decision? Budgets were cut, some items deleted and control of the technical description of the budgets given back to the department's control.

Lastly, I would like to thank all of the people behind me and who made this possible. She could have gotten away with it. By the grace of god she didn't

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8