Panay News Philippines

FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY BY IKE SEÑERES

The cycle of poverty reduction

POVERTY reduction is a cycle that starts with wealth creation. Or to be more precise, it starts with livelihood generation.

Generally speaking, livelihood generation means either opening more new jobs or starting new enterprises. In a manner of speaking, it could be said that self-employment which is actually a business could also be considered as a job. Either way or both ways, it would end up with wealth creation.

First things first, I would like to say over and over again that poverty reduction is not the same as poverty alleviation. I am saying this because even up to now, there are many government agencies and public officials who are passing off poverty alleviation programs as poverty reduction, and that is either a misconception or a deception.

Perhaps what they mean is that poverty alleviation reduces the pain of poverty, but still, it does not remove people from the numbers of the poor.

Further back, the cycle of poverty reduction actually begins with education. With good education, our graduates could either get a job or go into a business.

In between that, however, they would also need good health and a safe environment, because their jobs would be no good if they get sick or if they safety is threatened by an unsafe environment. On top of it all, they would need equal access to justice, because without equal justice, they could lose their jobs and their businesses.

As I see it, the entire cycle of poverty reduction fits into the JEWEL framework that I proposed, an acronym for justice, environment, wellness, education and livelihood.

Other than that, it could be said that the other basic needs such as food, water, energy and fuel could be acquired if our people would have the income that is necessary to pay for these goods and services.

On a more positive note, however, it is also possible that these four goods and services could be provided for free for everyone in communal communities that are governed by self-help principles.

In the many years that I have been involved in the livelihood advocacy, I have long concluded that the key to success is really marketing. It is relatively easier to start production as a project, but it is harder to sustain the project if the goods and services would have no markets.

That said, it is actually more practical to start product development with a specific market in mind, preferably with a specific customer or buyer in mind. This is one area where the private sector could come in and help, because they have the expertise to help in the development of new products, and they could possibly become the buyers themselves.

The Human Development Index (HDI) measures the performance of countries in terms of the standards of living, which roughly translates into the measurement of poverty reduction as well. It also measures the literacy rate and the mortality rate, which also translates into the measurement of education and wellness programs.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) also indirectly measures national performance in wellness, education and livelihood, and it also directly measures national performance in justice and environment.

All told, the combination of HDI and MDGs would cover all of the JEWEL programs. Aside from these two measures, the United Nations has come up with a newer measure called the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which gives a better and clearer picture of how the victims of poverty are deprived of specific human needs.

As it is now, no one is apparently measuring HDI, MDGs and MPI at the local level. Since this is simply a database challenge, I think it would not be difficult to implement a system that would monitor local performance in these three measures.

With so many advances in internet and mobile technologies, it is now possible to come up with a scorecard system that will grade the performance of local government units in all of the JEWEL programs.

This system could become very democratic if we allow anyone who has an internet or mobile device to rate their own local officials, let’s say from a low passing grade of 75 to the highest grade of 100.

To prevent malicious elements from abusing this system, all those who will be allowed to grade should be pre-screened and pre-registered.

The Local Government Code (LGC) allows the formal and official participation of non-government organizations (NGOs) in the Local Development Councils (LDCs) at the barangay, municipal, city, provincial and regional levels.

In response to this, the Gising Barangay Movement (GBM) is now organizing students to attend the LGC meetings at all levels, equipped with their internet and mobile devices. They are not only going to participate in the meetings, they are also going to record the proceedings of the meetings for submission to traditional media outlets and social media sites.

Since these students would actually become very familiar with the proceedings in the local council meetings, they would eventually become very credible sources of information as to how the LGUs should be rated in their performance scorecard.

This is a very exciting development, because it would not only compel the local officials to do better in their work, it will also remind them that indeed, there are actual poverty reduction targets that have to be met. Let’s see what happens next. (For feedback, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or text +639083159262)/PN

THE DENTIST IS IN BY DR. JOSEPH LIM

Kidneys and gum disease (Part 1)

GUM infections may affect the kidneys.

The key word here is “may” because there is no solid medical evidence yet – although research has linked serious gum infection to heart disease.

“This is a very new and emerging area, and there have only been a few studies,” says Dr. Vanessa Grubbs, an Assistant Professor and Neprology Specialist or kidney expert at the University of California San Francisco's (UCSF) School of Medicine.

She is pioneering the way to find the link between kidney diseases and periodontal or serious gum disease caused by bacteria trapped in the gum tissues that causes infection; persistent infection causes gum inflammation.

Dr. Grubbs points to studies that show kidneys are similarly at risk just as gum inflammation can affect major organs like the heart – possibly through bacteria in the blood stream.

Based at the San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, Dr. Grubbs day job is to prevent chronic health problems linked to kidney disease.

She wants to take the management of kidney disease one level up by proving in a longitudinal, randomized and controlled study the link between gum infection and kidney disease. The study is a first of its kind.

“Dr. Grubbs’ research is really innovative and speaks to the idea that poor health in one area of the body may be related to poor health in other areas – even very different areas like gum infections and kidney disease, which most people would never think may have an effect on each other,” said Dr. Louise Walter, Professor in Residence at the UCSF School of Medicine.

Dr. Walter is also the Associate Director of the Career Development (KL2 Scholars) Program of UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI).

After years in the preliminary stages, Dr. Grubbs says her study received a major boost from the K Scholars program managed by CTSI; she herself was a K Scholar in 2011.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), she will now conduct a pilot study that will track kidney patients for one year; based on the results, the study duration may be expanded.

She is working with Dr. George Taylor and Dr. Mark Ryder, both dentists and professors at the UCSF School of Dentistry. They will start the first-ever randomized and controlled study to track the progression of kidney disease in patients receiving treatment for serious gum disease.

While all patients have both conditions, two-thirds will receive immediate and follow-up periodontal care. The remaining control group will receive dental care if it’s medically necessary.

Kidney function will be measured in several ways, such as analyzing unique biomarkers in blood and urine associated with kidney damage.

The link between gum disease and kidney ailments has deep implications for general health care as well as for kidney patients. It even offers a way to prevent kidney disease in the first place. (More in the next column.)

***

Dr. Joseph D. Lim is  the Dean of the College of Dentistry, National University, President/CEO of Dr. Smile Dental Care & Laser Center and honorary fellow of the Asian Oral Implant Academy and the Japan College of Oral Implantologists. For questions on dental health, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or text 0917-8591515./PN

Too many taxis in the city

PEOPLE POWWOW By HERBERT L. VEGO

EVERYTHING, it seems, is being done to solve the traffic problems everywhere in the Philippines but to no avail. Everything, yes, except to curb the transportation glut that has gone out of control due to laxity of government agencies in the enforcement of regulation laws and ordinances.

A long time ago, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) imposed the number-coding scheme in Metro Manila to solve the traffic congestion. Private vehicles with odd-ending plate numbers could hit the streets only on specified days – say Monday,  Wednesday and Friday – while the even-ending ones, on the other days. Only on Sundays do they roll together.

Read more...

HEAT FORCES GAME 7 James, Miami beat Spurs, 103-100 in overtime

MIAMI – LeBron James led a title-saving charge, and now his crown will be on the line one more time in Game 7.

James powered Miami to a frantic fourth-quarter rally and overtime escape as the Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs, 103-100 yesterday to extend the National Basketball Association (NBA) finals as far as they can go and keep Miami's repeat chances alive.

Losing his headband but keeping his cool while playing the entire second half and overtime, James finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, making the go-ahead basket with 1:43 remaining in the extra period.

''If we were going to go down, we're going to go down with me leaving every little bit of energy that I had on the floor,'' James said.

Tim Duncan scored 30 points for the Spurs, his most in an NBA finals game since Game 1 in 2003, but was shut out after the third quarter. He added 17 rebounds.

Game 7 will be here on Friday, the NBA's first do-or-die game to determine its champion since the Lakers beat the Celtics in 2010.

''They're the best two words in sports: Game 7,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

And two the Spurs were oh so close to avoiding.

They looked headed to a fifth title in five chances when they built a 13-point lead with under four minutes left in the third quarter, then grabbed a five-point edge late in regulation after blowing the lead.

But James hit a three-pointer and Ray Allen tied it with another. Just 5.2 seconds remained in regulation. The Heat were that close to the edge.

''It's a tough moment. We were a few seconds away from winning the championship and we let it go,'' Spurs veteran Manu Ginobili said. ''A couple rebounds we didn't catch, a tough three by Ray and a couple missed free throws.''

James was just three of 12 after three quarters, the Heat trailing by 10 and frustration apparent among the players and panic setting in among the fans.

Nothing to worry. Not with James playing like this.

He finished 11 of 26, even making a steal after his basket had given Miami a 101-100 edge in the overtime.

Before that, he was 12 minutes from hearing the familiar criticisms about not being able to get it done, from having to watch a team celebrate on his home floor again.

Then he changed the game and erased that story.

The Heat, who haven't lost consecutive games since Jan. 8 and 10, had too much defense and way too much James for the Spurs in the final 17 minutes. They are trying to become fourth team to win the final two games at home since the NBA went to the 2-3-2 format for the finals in 1985.

James came in averaging 31.5 points in elimination games, highest in NBA history, according to a stat provided through the NBA by the Elias Sports Bureau.

This wasn't quite the 45-point performance in Game 6 of last year's Eastern Conference finals in Boston, but given the higher stakes may go down as more important - if the Heat follow it with another victory Thursday.

The Heat were in the same place as they were in 2011 at the end of their Big Three's first season together, coming home from Texas facing a 3-2 deficit in the finals.

This is a different team. And oh, what a different James.

They said they welcomed this challenge, a chance to show they how much mentally tougher they were than the team the Dallas Mavericks easily handled in Game 6 that night.

James made sure they did, looking nothing like the player who was so bad in the fourth quarters during that series.

He was simply unstoppable down the stretch of this one.

''He just made plays. I don't think there's any two ways to put it,'' Duncan said. ''We were in the right position to close it out and he found a way to put his team over the top and we just didn't make enough plays to do that.''

Kawhi Leonard had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs. Tony Parker had 19 points and eight assists, but shot just 6 of 23 from the field.

The Spurs had one final chance down 103-100, but Chris Bosh blocked Danny Green's 3-pointer from the corner as time expired.

Bosh had said Green wouldn't get open the way he has all series - and he didn't.

Green finished 1 of 5 from behind the arc after going 25 of 38 on 3-pointers (65.8 percent) in the first five games.

The Heat, the NBA's 66-win powerhouse during the regular season, will be playing a seventh game for the second straight round, having needed to go the distance to beat the Indiana Pacers in the East finals.

''See you in Game 7!'' the public address announcer hollered as some Heat fans tossed their white T-shirts - the ones that hang on chairs in the arena. These read ''First to 16 Wins,'' meaning the number of victories it takes to win the championship.

The race will go down to a final day.

The Heat are 13-0 after losses over the last five months, though this was nothing like the previous 12 that had come by an average of nearly 20 points. Nor was it like the previous four games of this series, which had all been blowouts after the Spurs pulled out a four-point victory in Game 1.

San Antonio had an 11-0 run in the first half, then a 13-3 burst in the third quarter for a 71-58 lead, and a final flurry late in regulation that seemed to have them ready to walk off with another title.

Parker's 3-pointer over James tied it at 89 with 1:27 left. He then came up with a steal, spinning into the lane for a 91-89 lead with 58 seconds to go. Miami coughed it up again and Ginobili made two free throws, and he made another after a third straight Miami turnover to put the Spurs ahead 94-89.

But James nailed a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, and the Heat had one more chance after Leonard made just one foul shot to give the Spurs a 95-92 edge. James missed but Bosh got the rebound out to Allen, the league's career leader in 3-pointers, who made another one from the corner to even it up.

The Spurs went ahead by three again in overtime, but James found a cutting Allen for a basket, then scored himself to put the Heat on top. They clinched it when Bosh blocked San Antonio's final two shot attempts.

Bosh finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Mario Chalmers scored 20 points and Dwyane Wade had 14.

After shooting 60 percent in Game 5, the Spurs hadn't cooled off when they traded Texas heat for the South Florida sun, making nine of their first 12 shots to open a 20-16 lead. Duncan made all six shots in the first quarter, but consecutive 3-pointers by Shane Battier and Chalmers late in the period rallied Miami to a 27-25 advantage.

Duncan made his first eight shots, scoring 13 straight San Antonio points over nearly 8 minutes in the second quarter. Boris Diaw finally stopped that stretch with a little scoop shot in the lane and Leonard tipped in a miss with 1.3 seconds left, capping the Spurs' 11-0 run to end the second quarter. It was 50-44 at the break.

With Duncan 37 and Ginobili nearly 36, the Spurs know they may never get another shot like this one.

Duncan knew how tough it would be to get back to the top six years ago, when the Spurs swept James' Cleveland Cavaliers for their most recent title.

San Antonio's leader told James afterward that the league would someday belong to him.

And on Tuesday, James refused to let it go. (AP)