Galleries

Sustainable. Centered on the marginalized sector. Relevant.

Bjanca Ysabelle Mendiola (CDC student)

Development is such a broad term that can mean many different things as it is viewed by different eyes. As the world catapults into a new era, the quest for development is more urgent than ever. With the advancements of today’s technology, answers are just a click away. However, there are answers that outweigh facts and the general truth, and those are answers from within reared by learning and understanding. So, what really makes a topic development-oriented?

I did not expect that this question led me closer to home sooner than I thought. I manage to get some answers from two people. The first one was from an upperclassman in her 2^nd year stay, and according to her, what really describes a development-oriented topic is SUSTAINABILITY and RELEVANCE. Taking into consideration the role of the audience as the writer’s well of life, a topic must be relevant so that they can relate to it. Choosing a topic that stems from the community is one thing, but one must also be able to make the topic readable and easy to understand. Of course, it doesn’t end here. It is never enough for the audience to be aware, they must be prompted to act. Allowing your audience to be immersed and engaged in your work is the first step in ensuring sustainability. The topic must not only be relevant today but has an impact in the future. Remember that you aren’t just writing for the present but paving a way for tomorrow.

The second person whom I was able to conversed with holds a special place in my heart as she also comes from the same place as me. She just graduated this June 22 as cum laude under the CDC roof. As I asked her, she immediately responded with the word HOLISTIC. For a topic to be development-oriented, it needs to widen its scope not only to a single group but as much as possible tug the lives of many. With development itself being a complex process with intertwining factors, one must be able to identify and target different problems. Imagine hitting two birds with one stone (however I do not suggest that as hitting birds would be illegal under the Animal Welfare Act).

Thirdly, what really struck me the most is both of their answers coincided. A topic can be deemed development-oriented if it CENTRALIZES THE MARGINALIZED SECTOR. Yes, it was mentioned before that it needs to be holistic however, there is a huge difference between equality and equity, the latter being the one most prioritized. As development communicators in training, we need to identify the need for development: where it is needed? How is it needed? And who needs it? With that, we are guided on the necessary course of actions to be taken. With that, we are reminded of our pledge for service.

To identify what is necessary is essential and what is essential, is necessary

Zawadi

To identify what is necessary is essential and what is essential, is necessary. That is what Bjanca Ysabelle Mendiola and Chantale Francisco shared to me. Development has come a long way and as future development communicators, we are tasked in ensuring its steady flow. Problems are problems and they appear along the way but all problems have answers. It all rests on your shoulders whether which direction you will look and where where you will lean your ears to listen.

As a new development communication student, I am still in the process of gathering and learning the necessary knowledge about the field that I am in. There are a lot of things that I have yet to know and understand. One of those things is the characteristics of a development-oriented topic. With my luck, I got to talk to Ate Precious regarding the question. She gave me a deeper understanding of what the subject is, and her knowledge about its characteristics. These are the things that she mentioned:

---

---

A huge thanks to Ate Precious for having time to entertain my inquiries! ♡

• 

---

Grabe, isang buwan na pala. Akalain mo ‘yon, nasurvive ko! Who would’ve thought I would be spending half of my time every weekday in buildings I felt I never deserved residing? Who would’ve thought I would be grazing the abundant grass of the Freedom Park, thinking if I could make it without extending a year? Who would’ve thought my 5th grader self who swore she’ll never study in UP be gone spending her time finishing this weekly blog?

Besides the overwhelming feeling of being a student of a prestigious university, no one could deny the exasperating butterflies in the stomach making one go kilig over a dream come true and a 4-year contract of hardship. There’s this undeniable heartbeat drop you might fail, you might repeat a subject, you might extend your stay– it was butterflies all over. After a month, I have come to realize it’s not all about the bragging rights, the glorious UP name, and the not-to-be-too-engrossed in the academic pressure scheme. Through the tweets from my timeline, I wish to elaborate the things I learned in my first month in the University of the Philippines.

in dire need of a good cry

@iamAlyloony

Being in UP made me want to cry for a number of reasons: the possibility of failure, the usual lack of motivation, sometimes the fact I barely manage to survive the week. At times, I just happen to find myself crying relentlessly to sleep thinking, is being in UP worth it, or am I worthy to be tagged as an Iska. Behind the struggle, it is normal to cry and express disappointment. Personally, it consoles me, it lessens the burden I feel, it’s a mental call asking me to rest for a while and try again.

AND there’s nothing wrong to rest, and regain strength for tomorrow. Let’s all do ourselves a favor and survive college without neglecting our health, mentally or physically.

so thankful sa mga upperclassmen q guys omg ang dami nyo from diff courses hi hs batchmates pagpapalain kayo ni Lord

@tweetsnidara

In college, you have to be independent, and learn the art of productivity though sometimes you could be alone. However, the UP journey doesn’t require you to experience it only spending your days on a corner and nag how difficult it is to survive. Besides the friends I deem to see as partners until Sablay 2023, I found the calm spending time with upperclassmen. I learned to appreciate having friends you can run for help and company. I have to thank my schoolmates from Senior High constantly helping me out whenever I’m having a hard time. Neither of them have given me the glare, the talk or the eyebrow raise seeing I was again a freshman. Actually, they have made my one-month stay fun and bearable frequently asking how I’ve been doing and even volunteer to give me their notes. I never once felt lonely let alone the fact we just meet and talk for less than five minutes.

feels like i flunked my first two exams at uni..,,,,, and may mga susunod

will i survive bkbdkjwebkdnw Lord have mercy

@tweetsnidara

A friend of mine from Mapua replied to this tweet and told me:

I was used to the high school type of environment, the phase of life I eventually insist not to experience. I wish my hardship to be valid and real and truly acceptable whenever I complain: “‘Di ko na kaya.” My feet brought me to UPLB and it was indeed difficult. The pressure was suffocating, the anxiousness overflowing and I couldn’t adjust at first due to age difference. I felt left out, and alone. Faced with a mountain of work, essays, homeworks and to do’s, it was a check to feel small and as if a failure.

The first month embraced me and made me realize it is okay to fail, forgive oneself and try again. College was never a race and it will never be. It’s a phase of growth, learning and finding our own spotlight. I always remind myself to make “bawi” next time! At the very least, I shower myself with compliments to make me feel good about myself. #selflove Remember being average and mediocre today would just make our future talks so much inspiring!

A friend needed this today so I’m sharing it with all of you:

Wag mo i-compare yung page 3 mo sa page 50 ng iba.

@jaicabajar

I have long gone realized this is the sickness I’ve always wanted to delete in my system. I compare myself to people until I can’t successfully find myself as I aspire to be as smart, as active, as great as every UP student there is to exist. I’ve never encountered a day I didn’t feel alien to my environment. It was an everyday of questions: “Buti pa siya kung manamit mukhang taga-UP“, “Bakit ganoon ang galing nila magsulat kahit cramming?“, “Nag-aral naman ako pero bakit mas mataas ‘yung score nila kahit walang review.” I feel inferior, I feel small. And after a month, its just a matter of time and adjustment to accept there will always be someone smarter, and better. AND THAT’S OKAY. The best way to not question oneself is to focus on oneself.

Ang layo na ng narating natin kung babalikan mo kung saan tayo nagsimula.

Ngayon pa ba tayo susuko?

@diaryniATTY

Being an Iskolar ng Bayan was a dream come true not only for the once aspirant me from a year ago, but to my mother’s past self, too, who took the UPCAT and failed. Being an Iskolar ng Bayan was a slap to my family relatives assuming I was a dependent child aiming to finish in an expensive college. Being an Iskolar ng Bayan was a blessing for I am no contributor to the monthly financial matter we discuss in the family. Being an Iskolar ng Bayan was God’s sign I should go for the invitable dream of being an Abogado para sa Bayan.

Though I associate UP through a number of wants I achieved to find myself a little successful, it is oftentimes normal for me to question if it is okay to be here. Is it the right decision to shift courses? Is it normal to for your dream and settle to endure a new set of four years I need to give constant time and effort?

YES. And it all constitutes to a plan I don’t know of. I already experienced far more painful events in my life and for sure, college is just something I would laugh about someday. I need to remind myself I’m doing this for the ATTY in my name and for my family.

With the rapid change the world is currently experiencing, comes different emerging world problems that needs to be addressed. Some among these are the Sustainable Development Goals (SGD’s) that covers 17 world issues which different countries wanted to resolve by 2030.

This maybe is the greatest challenge a Development Communicator is expected to solve. But the problem lies not just with how we (Development communication practitioners) will inform other people about these circumstances but also, on how we will be able to look into these dilemmas in a developmental perspective and provide aid that will benefit the poor, the marginalized and the unaware. As well as on how we will be able to easily concern ourselves with development-oriented topics.

Looking at it there are questions that needs to be answered. What makes something development-oriented? What characteristics does a current issue have that associates it with the search and understanding of development?

To be able to provide other people the growth and the progress that they badly needed one practitioner must first immerse him/herself with topics which main idea is the focus to development. And so, here are the top three characteristics that I have found out that makes a topic development oriented.

Purposive

One among the top characteristic of a development-oriented topic is its purposiveness. One topic must be mainstreamed because it has a higher goal of serving those who needs it most. Just like how Atty. Vida Soraya S. Veroza, a Development Communication graduate stated in her interview in the Los Baños Laguna television show entitled “Dito sa Laguna.” During the discussion she said that as a Human Rights Lawyer, she always believe that as a development communicator she always has the capability to be the start of change, since DevComm is always mass oriented and biased for the poor (those who are left behind and disregarded by the majority) she believes that those who have less in life should have more in law.

Everything that a man does under Development communication is a search for a topic that has the purpose to lift and alleviate the burdens that a certain individual carries up to now. The kind of purpose that will be able to present the definition that Prof. Nora C. Quebral, professor emeritus stated in her definition of Development Communication as: “the science of human communication linked to the transitioning of communities from poverty in all its forms to a dynamic, overall growth that fosters equity and the unfolding of individual potential.”

Moreover, the purposiveness of the topic makes it relevant to the people. This is because the topic itself seeks for attention to be addressed and resolved for the betterment of the community it is situated.

This point out to the second characteristic a development-oriented topic must possess relevance.

Relevant

Despite the hindrances of being competed with Mass Communication, Dr. Rogelio P. Matalang another Development Communication graduate and practitioner pointed out in his interview with Dito sa Laguna the importance of DevComm to the society today. This is because the course makes sure of tackling relevant issues linked with a certain community or group of people one practitioner involves him/herself into. This was supported by Sly Custodio, a Development Communication student of the University of the Philippines Los Baños who stated that one characteristic of a development-oriented topic is its relevance to the context it is set, that is why if one writes for LB Times (Published Newspaper of Los Baños Laguna) you must discuss issues that concerns Los Baños.

Relevance makes anything produced within any media landscape or any developmental approach easier because topics are something the target audience can relate into. This further helps the communicators connect with the masses, this provides them the capability to catch the attention of their addressees.

Last of all is its characteristic to be centered to growth.

Centered to growth

“…this is the one that I would like (to do). To serve my community, see to it that I can be of use to my people.”

Prof. Sarhaila Latip-Yusoph

The last thing that I get from this activity is the characteristic of a development – oriented topic to be centered to growth. Prof. Quebral, the woman behind the term Development Communication discussed how she sees a development-oriented topic to be purposive, pragmatic and value laden according to her book Development Communication Primer. This all seeks progress, progress that is achieved through logical, rational, realistic and acceptable process.

Indeed, it was hard to easily see these characteristics to just any issue the world is facing today, and as a development communicator it was our toughest job to see through this dilemmas and be able to know development-oriented topics/issues that the ordinary Juan and Aling Maria of the country faces every day.

Let me end this with a challenge from Professor Sarhaila Latip-yusoph on her interview in Dito sa Laguna.

“(my greatest goal is) to emancipate our people from the feeling of having all these frustrations in history to something that can really be used towards creating change in the society.”  

Prof. Sarhaila Latip-Yusoph

• 

Recit class, at the start, was a foreign concept for me. Looking at my schedule and seeing a subject that has a different schedule and room made me think of why it was like that. But then discovering why it was like that made it make sense. To have a separate class from the lecture one will make our professors’ lives and ours easier, as well as have a more effective layout of work.  The first exercise for DEVC11 Recit brought about a huge talk and confusion among us freshmen. Being required to get a “development-oriented” topic when we don’t even know how to identify one is impossible. It was a huge relief that the upperclassmen of CDC helped us. And these are what they said, as to what makes a topic development-oriented:

For the people

If it concerns the public and not just the university or organization.

Dane Lopega

Topics included should help not just a group of people, but everyone else too. It should be beneficial to all, or in another word, for the greater good.

To address an existing problem

It should be answering or gearing towards the improvement of a currently neglected situation.

Nur Lemuel Castillo

You cannot give out a solution to something that is not a problem. And so, development-oriented topics should have the objective of solving a problem, to improve situations for everyone.

Is inclusive

Ang dapat yung improvement ay walang nasasagasaang rights/welfare ng mga communities or people. In the context of DevComm, it should be inclusive.

Nur Lemuel Castillo

This statement made me think of how every person has his/her own definition of “development”. It is an important idea to note that development in this context should not trample or step on someone else’s life. And so, the construction of homes in exchange for our fellow countrymen being homeless is not a development topic to consider.

These are the statements that guided me all throughout choosing the Development-oriented topic for my recit class. It made me understand more of what context of development we will be working on during our whole college life in CDC.

Many use the term “development” without really knowing what it means. Development is a term directly associated with the words growth and positive changes. It means utilizing our knowledge, abilities and capabilities to achieve an end goal. In our society, however, the zenith of power lies mainly from people who misinterpret the term “development” and thus, cannot come up with a development-oriented topic.

To be able to achieve development, we must formulate development-oriented topics. We can do this by understanding what constitutes a development-oriented topic.

What makes a topic development-oriented?

1. It has a significant IMPACT to everyone – A development-oriented topic goes beyond the boundaries of society. It must seek to bring change not only in a particular group or organization but to all people in general. Everyone should be able to benefit from it.
2. It is ACHIEVABLE – The topic should be realistic enough for it to be achievable. It should be attainable for it to be successful. It must not outstretch our capabilities and deliver us to further constraints.
3. It addresses RELEVANT issues in the society – To be able to make people care about the topic, its relevance is a must. A topic’s relevance will make it more prominent and it will increase the chance for people to remember your topic.
4. It adheres to the Sustainable Development Goals – A development-oriented topic adheres to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because the SDGs will offer a road map or a blueprint of what should be done in the future.

Sustainable development is the pathway to the future we want for all. It offers a framework to generate economic growth, achieve social justice, exercise environmental stewardship and strengthen governance.

Ban Ki-moon

Development should start on us and on the development-oriented topic that we chose. Today is not just any other day. This day, we should start the development. Today, we should get the ball rolling.

“Development” comes in different forms. The definition of development for one person can entirely different for another. In this context, recognizing and writing development-oriented topics can be challenging.

• 

Where does one go when he/she finds himself in an unfamiliar place? Any sensible person would know that to get back on track, he/she ought to ask guidance from people who already took the same path. This action would not only let that person know where to go but would also allow him to know how to get there.

In order to write about a development-oriented topic or even just to identify one, we should be able to know what encompasses it and what are the conditions for a topic to be “development-oriented”. Accordingly, I asked 2 upperclass students of DevComm in UPLB to share their insights on the task at hand.

According to Rainielle Kyle Guison (Batch 2018), she considers something to be development-oriented already if it emanates the presence of development . She also gave emphasis that development-oriented things are those centered to help, especially the marginalized. This was also mentioned in our lecture class, that for something to be considered development-oriented, it should always start from bottom-up or coming from the field where development is primarily oriented for. Most commonly, this field comes in the form of the marginalized sectors.

In addition, Nur Lemuel Castillo shared his ideas about development-oriented topics which are as follows:
1. A topic is development-oriented if in promotes any of the 4 Es of Devcom
2. A topic is development-oriented if it deals with stories of marginalized communities
3. A topic is development-oriented is it tackles open ended issue.

The ideas mentioned above are just some of the many ways on how we can define what a development-oriented topic is. Throughout the course of DEVC 11 (or any other course that is), we shall continue to learn more and broaden our idea about what development is and more importantly, how it should materialize in the way that is favorable for people of all status.

• 

When we are tasked by our professor to write a blog of the characteristics of development-oriented topics. I tried asking from the upper-class and alumni who encouraged me to take DevCom as my college course. I asked them, “For you, what characterizes a development-oriented topic? “ and these are the top 3 frequent answers I received from them.

• A development-oriented topic shall be for the people for it should be for the improvement of the common welfare. The goal of these topics is to answer the questions “What do they need?” and “How are we going to cater that need to help them ?”, it always seeks to go closer to what people understand to inform them that would help them in their lives.

• I believe these two should be hand in hand. A development-oriented topic must be packed with information that people needs to know to help them in the decisions that they will make. It is not to impose them but allowing them to process this information. Since these topics usually cater to information that is not that attractive, it should be also engaging and simply understandable by people that come from different age groups and classes.

• Lastly, it should be goal-oriented wherein it needs to achieve something and it has to have a direction for development to be attained. Also, these topics shall manifest having the lens focused on what it is to come, which is to change for the betterment.

As a writer, it is imperative that we are familiar with our community. And as development communicators it is our way of understanding the situation in the community in order for us to truly serve their needs.

In a group of three, only one hails from Laguna but honestly, even he was not familiar with the barangay assigned to them. It was a totally new experience for them to travel to a small barangay near the the beautiful lake of Laguna. Barangay Tadlac is a small barangay along the border of Calamba and Los Banos along with other small barangays.

In order to provide the following data, the group decided to use the method of a face-to-face interview. It was way easier to get the information in that exact manner. The assigned person of Brgy. Tadlac was also accommodating and welcoming. She even gave us a printed output of all the information that we need. Additionally, unlike the other groups, we were not required to provide a letter. That is why we didn’t have much difficulty gathering the data. Aside from the data required, we also found out about upcoming activities of the barangay for the community in which will be helpful for us to identify the needs of the community through those programs. This activity also served as an opportunity for us to observe the community and determine where it’s at in development.

Here are some tips to effectively and appropriately gather data from your local barangay:

• Research. Before going to the barangay, make sure you know how to get there and where to go in order to get the information you need.
• Documents. Provide the necessary papers, letters, or requirements if the office requires you to in order to provide you with the information you need.
• Tools. Bring the necessary tools for data gathering such as a pen, notebook, audio recorder, camera, and such.
• Manners. Be polite and have the confidence enough to ask questions or for clarifying information. Also, be patient and flexible enough to adjust to the office policies because sometimes they would ask you to schedule an appointment to maximize your visit and gather the needed data.