The Mahintana Foundation, spearheaded
by Mr. Martiniano L. Magdolot, the President & CEO graced the Europe Day
Celebration held at Dusit Thani Manila, Makati, Philippines on May 9, 2019.
Joining him are Mr. Jobe C. Tubigon and Mr. Roel Ian P. Blanker, the managers
of the EU-funded projects of the organization and also Ms. Jean Jumilla, one of
the project’s Admin and Finance Officer and Mahintana’s Accountant. The Europe
Day marks the birthday of EU, a political and economic union of 28 member
states that are located primarily in Europe. The event highlights the friendship
and partnership of the EU and the Philippines that was attended by various
government officials, civil society organizations, embassies, and EU officers
& staff. This also served as an avenue for organizations involved with EU
to get to know each other and exchange contacts for possible collaborations. The
Europe day is also celebrated worldwide thru its delegation offices.
Three from the Dole Philippines School (DPS) Grade 12 students of HUMSS strand, Gilmore Leaño, Sairah Sipe, and Ronjey Rendon, underwent the 2-week Student Work Immersion Program in Mahintana Foundation Inc. in January 2019. Mr. Leaño and Ms. Sipe were designated to work in the Ridge-to-Reef (R2R) Project under the supervision of R2R Coordinator Ms. Ella Mae Babao. On the other hand, Mr. Rendon was assigned in Nutripan Project under Ms. Yvonne Templonuevo’s watch. Admin & Finance Officer Ms. Liza D. Hora received a Certificate of Appreciation from DPS in behalf of the organization. Adolescent Reproductive Health Volunteer Ms. Wiki Hamilton was also recognized in the speech for her invaluable support to the immersion work experience.
During the Grade 12 Culmination Program of DPS on March 8, 2019, the immersion students were given the opportunity to share their work experiences. Booths were also set up with photos of their immersion work. Mr. Leaño representative of the HUMSS students who worked in Mahintana, shared:
“No one has ever become poor by giving.” Yes,
nothing is going to lose when you help someone.
“Building resiliency and sustaining
development has been the bullseye of the institution. Empowering people’s
capacity has also been greatest investment – we learned, through this institution,
on how to help others by helping themselves. It is not just all about helping
others and giving what they need but also helping them to stand and live by their
own efforts. As we entered the foundation, the Mahintana force had embraced us
with love and care as if we had never felt like anyone else inside the room. In
fact, they treated us like family. Two weeks were a bit short for us. Short as
it was, however, we cherished the moments that the institution had taught us.”
More than the appreciation of the environmental and socio-economic development interventions, he cherished the learnings and experiences, as well as, relationships built with the mentors and co-workers in Mahintana. Also, he mentioned that with Mahintana, they were able to immerse with the culture and dream of the community and travel to the project sites as an exhilarating experience. Mr. Leaño encouraged the incoming Grade 12 HUMSS and Grade 11 students to freely express their insights and creative juices in developing the society.
HUMSS, or Humanities and Social Sciences, is one of the tracks offered to senior high school in DepEd’s Kto12 Program. It is the strand for students who will take up communication arts, liberal arts, education, and other social science-related courses in college. Meanwhile, the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) strand students worked in Dole Philippines, Inc.
More than 30 Mahintana and Dolefil Community Relations (ComRel) staff underwent the Basic Supervisory Training-Workshop on February 28 to March 2, 2019 at Dolores Farm Resort, Polomolok, South Cotabato. This development training aims to help the staff understand the roles and functions of a supervisor, as well as, enhance their skill sets such as leadership, planning, effective communication, control function, time management, and facilitating meetings.
In the span of 3
days, there were various discussions, group activities, and individual
quiz-type sessions. Structured Learning Experiences (SLEs) were designed to
test the physical and mental stamina of the participants. The participants were
expressive of their thoughts, feelings, and work experiences that may be
beneficial to other participants. One of the significant activities was the
opportunity to communicate with all the attendees one-on-one, which was
according to the trainees, very liberating.
“Persistence, dedication and willingness to be accessed by people who want to develop you”are just few of the advices given by the resource speaker Ms. Janet Obra. Mahintana Admin & Finance Officer Ms. Liza D. Hora encouraged the body to open themselves in learning more. She recounted the experiences and pains of working in a dynamic organization such as Mahintana, yet, she counted it all joy to seeing the results of community organizing especially raising leaders who will continue the work to do and more. During the post evaluation session, the participants shared their impressions about the said training-workshop.
Mahintana Foundation, Inc. President & CEO Mr.
Martiniano L. Magdolot was invited to attend the South Cotabato State of the Provincial
Address (SOPA) delivered by Governor Daisy P. Avance-Fuentes on February 18,
2019 at the South Cotabato Gymnasium and Cultural Center. The SOPA focused on
Good Governance, Value Chain-approach to Agriculture & Tourism,
Infrastructure Development, R2R Approach and Biodiversity Conversation,
DDR-CCA, and Convergence Approach to Social Services Delivery.
As an existing partner of the provincial government of South
Cotabato in many years, Gov. Daisy acknowledged the efforts and participation
of Mahintana in implementing programs in promoting: a) advancing a culture of integrity through
the South Cotabato Integrity Circle (SCIC); b) transparent and participatory
governance through Open Government Participation (OGP) commitments; c) poverty
reduction through converging initiatives; and d) excellent and accessible
health care services.
SCIC was recognized by Development Academy of the Philippines
(DAP) as one of the five 2018 Best Government Practices. Mr. Magdolot sits as the
Vice Chairperson of SCIC. Second, Mahintana’s commitment to the South Cotabato
OGP are the Open Monitoring and Open Legislation through the foundation’s
RESOURCEGov Project. For the Open Monitoring, the Provincial Project Monitoring
Committee (PPMC) is assisted by the project to make ODK-based forms for
paperless project monitoring. The South Cotabato Sangguniang Panlalawigan uses
the LITS to archive legislative documents as action for the Open Legislation
Commitment. Moreover, the Province of South Cotabato was recognized as the Most
Innovative Province for the Convergence Program for Poverty Reduction. For the
health services, the province is identifies as the pilot province in Region XII
by the department of Health (DOH) to establish the Service Delivery Network
(SDN).
As one of the seven grant awardees of the European Union Access to Sustainable Energy in the Philippines (EU-ASEP) Call for Proposals (CfP), Mahintana Foundation, Inc., presented the SOLARES Project during the official launching of the grants awarded under EU-ASEP CfP on January 30, 2019 at Waterfront Insular Hotel, Davao City. Mr. Martiniano L. Magdolot, President & CEO, Mr. Jobe C. Tubigon, Program Manager, and Mr. Roel Ian Blanker, Project Manager, represented Mahintana during the event. Mr. Jobe C Tubigon presented the SOLARES project on behalf of Mahintana.
Prior to the presentation of grant awards, Asec. Redentor E. Delola of the Department of Energy (DOE), provided the welcome remarks during the opening session. He thanked EU for its support to renewable energy through ASEP which has become a vital partner of DOE to attain its goal of 100% electrification by 2022. Mr. Enrico Strampelli, Head of the Development Cooperation of the EU Delegation to the Philippines, shared a message of support on behalf of the EU delegation. He said there were at least 73 applications in the competitive EU-ASEP Call for Proposals which had proposed sustainable renewable energy solutions in the remote areas of the Philippines, particularly Mindanao. Of the 73 applications, only 7 were selected based on their feasibility and sustainability mechanisms. Mr. Willy Hick, Programme Office, Development Cooperation Section, EU Delegation to the Philippines, provided the overview of EU-ASEP Program. He shared that when you have a partner like DOE that speaks with so much enthusiasm and commitment in the ASEP program – that’s the EU wants in all their development programs. After the overview, each of the 6 Projects awarded under the EU-ASEP CfP were presented. After the presentations of the awarded projects, Asec. Romeo Montenegro, Deputy Executive Director, MINDA, shared the updates on the Mindanao Power Development Program including the Mindanao Power Outlook.
In the morning session, Mahintana also participated in the consultation and validation workshop on the program framework for Sustaining Peace and Accelerating Socio-economic Development in Mindanao.
Mahintana Foundation Inc., in partnership with Dole Philippines Inc., distributed gifts to the 63 schoolchildren in Brgy. Sumbakil, Polomolok, South Cotabato. Thirty-five (35) kindergarten pupils of Sumbakil Elementary School and 28 pupils of Sumbakil Day Care center received bags, school supplies, tooth brush, toothpaste and vitamin supplements. Brgy. Sumbakil Captain Asgar Mangelin welcomed Mahintana staff and thanked for them for the gifts. Mahintana Admin and Finance Officer Ms. Liza D. Hora gave the message in behalf of Mahintana and Dole Philippines. The schoolchildren also enjoyed the games and snacks prepared. Nutripan bread, Calamansi juice and ice cream were given as snacks.
In the afternoon of December 7, 2018, Mahintana staff underwent the Basic Life Support Training facilitated by the Bureau of Fire Protection Polomolok Fire Officer 2 (FO2) Paulo Manansala and FO1 Ranvic Jay Encontro.
The participants learned the proper way of the doing the Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), techniques and maneuvers on how to bring the victims of cardio and respiratory arrest back to life, techniques how to help a choking person, and the different pulses in the body to check in a victim. A demo of how to do the CPR and help the choking person were conducted.
