CODE-NGO’s members who steer the network’s priority advocacies of Peace, CSO Good Governance, Asset Reform and Participatory Local Governance used Zoom and Facebook to inform and educate key stakeholders about important issues even in the time of the pandemic. As the lockdown and safety protocols restricted movement, the Advocacy Working Groups (AWGs) organized online meeting and webinars to give much needed clarity on government regulations, insights on land use, protest on repressive policies and share good practices of locally led efforts to respond to COVID-19.

The convenor for the AWG on CSO Good Governance, Association of Foundations (AF), put together information in a document that serves as a guide for NGOs and foundations on how to accomplish the requirements of the SEC and the BIR during the pandemic. Styled as a list of basic and frequently asked questions (FAQs), the document summarizes the pertinent details based on circulars and notices of the SEC and the BIR regarding internal governance of organizations such as how to conduct General Assemblies, submit annual requirements (ex. general information sheet and audited financial statements), and related information that may be essential in addressing organizational concerns which was brought about by the pandemic and quarantine orders. The AWG organized an online discussion about the content of the FAQs to further clarify this with the CSO community on June 26, 2020.

Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PHILDHRRA), the convenor for the AWG on Asset Reform, organized an online forum on June 30, 2020 entitled “Importance of Land Use in the Time of a Pandemic”. The forum gathered presentations from experts on land use planning and advocates for proper land use that benefits communities and the environment. This webinar zeroed-in on the intricacies of land use and how it can be utilized as the first line of defense in the advent of a pandemic. Speakers from the fields of land use management, agriculture, architecture & design, spatial analysis, and epidemiology were invited and presented their insight on the matter. The webinar was streamed in various Facebook pages.

The convenor for the AWG on Peace, Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks (MINCODE), and advocacy groups based in Mindanao convened the Barog Katungod, Kalinaw, Kagawasan [Stand Up for Truth, Peace and Freedom], initially to call out the government on the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 and for the President to veto it at that time when it was not yet signed into law. The group launched an online protest via Facebook on July 12, 2020 with cultural presentations and reading statements against the bill and the impact to human rights if the bill is passed into law.

Participation in governance at the local level remains one of the key advocacies of CODE-NGO, and during the pandemic the partnerships formed at the local level were utilized by CSOs and the communities that they serve. This was the highlight of the online forum organized by Central Visayas Network of NGOs (CENVISNET), the convenor of the AWG on Participatory Local Governance last July 16, 2020. The online forum was titled “The Role of LGU’s and Citizens’ Participation in the Pandemic” held via Zoom and also streamed in various Facebook pages. The forum featured local government partners including Mayor Vico Sotto of Pasig City who presented the partnerships they made with civil society organizations in responding to COVID-19 in their locality.

Towards the end of 2020, the AWGs took a step back and evaluated its work during the year to improve advocacy work in the context of the better normal.

COVID Pulse PH – Kamustahan through Chat Bots

The Zero Extreme Poverty 2030 PH Movement (ZEP) found ways to reach out to communities living in poverty and endeavored to know how they have fared in the pandemic. With its partners, the United Nations Development Programme in the Philippines (UNDP) and AI4Gov, ZEP conceptualized and implemented COVID Pulse PH, a survey tool deployed through messenger chatbots which can be accessed by poor households. ZEP tapped its members CENVISNET, Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies (PHILSSA) and CODE-NGO to gather its members to facilitate the deployment of the chatbot survey in the community. The CSOs involved in the Metro Manila deployment are Aksyon sa Kahandaan sa Kalamidad at Klima (AKKMA), Educational Research and Development Assistance (ERDA) Foundation, Community Organizers Multiversity (COM), Foundation for Development Alternatives (FDA), Foundation for the Development of the Urban Poor (FDUP), Kalipunan ng mga Sektor sa Caloocan (KASECA), Muntinlupa Development Foundation (MDF), Peoples Alternative Study Center for Research and Education In Social Development (PASCRES) and areas of Hapag-asa, Caritas, International Care Ministries (ICM) and Promised Land Child Development Ministries. In Metro Cebu the survey was facilitated through the efforts of ZEP members and partners – CENVISNET, Fellowship for Organizing Endeavors (FORGE), A2D, Feed the Children, Initiative for Movement-building, Political Action, and Community Transformation (ImPACT) and the Cebu Integrated Network of Youth Organizations. The survey results show and validate the fears of development actors regarding income loss, food insecurity, and rise in poverty as effects of the pandemic. For example, in Phase 1 which was rolled out in May 2020 that reached 3,144 poor and vulnerable households within 10 cities in Metro Manila and 4 cities in Metro Cebu, 83% of households report a decline in income with 32% declaring total loss of income. With businesses closing down and unemployment at an all-time high, job insecurity is a consistent sentiment shared by the respondents, among which 2 out of 3 are working in the informal sector.

Alongside the grim statistics shine a sliver of hope as the survey also asks respondents about their “diskarte” to make ends meet. Despite the hardships that the households were experiencing, there are uplifting stories of individuals who came up with ingenious methods to get by. From backyard gardening, online selling, and relying on cheaper sources of food – 68% of households used different coping strategies to provide for their family and survive the pandemic.

The volunteer enumerators who helped facilitate the utilization of chatbots to answer the survey see another angle in the whole process. The community facilitators, parent-leaders, social workers and community organizers assisted the household heads in answering the survey using smartphones and free data, or sent out the survey link to younger heads so they could respond remotely. Everyone picked up important lessons and insights. The respondents from the communities saw the gesture of volunteers who reach out to them as some form of “help”. By simply asking about their situation through “kamustahan”, the people in the communities felt grateful for being given a chance to tell their story. The chatbot therefore provided an innovative method of collecting data in an inclusive and potentially real-time manner. Not only can this potentially bridge the digital divide, but it also provides a safe space for the poor to share their sentiments. Indeed, recovery starts with a simple “Kumusta ka?” [How are you?]