At initial reading of the press invite from the World Bank (WB), a familiar word quickly caught my attention. “World Bank Seeks Solutions from the Philippines Tech Community for the First Ever Sanitation Hackathon,” the WB media advisory announced. I thought this international financial institution is tolerating what could be a serious cyber crime of “hacking” computers.
A further reading of the WB media advisory explained the concept. “A hackathon is an intensive brainstorming and programming marathon, drawing together the talent and initiative of software developers,” the WB advisory explained.
Participants in this event that will take place from December 1-2 will “try to come up with simple applications that can be easily applied to real-life situations.”
The event is organized by the WB, the Water and Sanitation Program, Google Developers Group, Google Business Group, and Blogwatch and with the sponsorship of Globelabs and Globe Telecoms, Maynilad, PLDT and SMART.
The WB advisory is actually inviting media coverage of a two-day event dubbed as “Sanitation Hackathon” at the Globe Telepark in Salcedo Village in Makati City. “Manila will be the national host for the first-ever Global Sanitation Hackathon which will simultaneously take place in the cities of Davao, Cebu, Zamboanga, Baguio and Bacolod,” the World Bank announced.
The Philippines is among the 12 global sites selected by the WB to this event aimed at using information technology to solve the problem of inadequate sanitation in our country.
The other sites for the “hackathon” event will also take place in Jakarta, Indonesia; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Pune, India; Lahore, Pakistan; and Cape Town, Africa. Obviously, the Philippines belongs to this category of countries which has severe lack of proper sanitation facilities.
Ironically, the WB pointed out, there are “more people today who have access to mobile phones than a clean toilet.”
In the specific case of the Philippines, the WB pointed to a report in July that there are 101 mobile subscriptions for every 100 Pinoys.
“The ubiquity of cell phones in the developing world creates an opportunity for mobile technologies to offer solutions to sanitation challenges,” the WB pointed out.
“Sanitation shortages cost thousands of lives daily and billions of dollars in economic losses annually,” it noted.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported earlier this month that more than 26 million Filipinos have no access to toilets. Citing records of a joint monitoring program of the UNICEF and World Health Organization (WHO) for 2012, UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Specialist Dr. Michael Emerson Gnilo bared results of their monitoring that of these 26 million, 7.4 million are still “openly defecating” due to lack of toilets at their homes.
The monitoring, done every two years, showed that a majority of these toilet-less households are found in rural areas in Masbate, Northern Samar and provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, to name some.
This UNICEF finding is validated by an official survey of the National Statistics Office (NSO) that indicated the number of Filipinos who openly defecated had increased by 12 percent from 1998 to 2008. They come from the 20-percent poorest population. Poverty and lack of supplies are the primary reasons for the failure of many households to put up toilet bowls at their houses.
The UNICEF official underscored having sanitary toilet facility is vital to the attainment of many targets in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) like MDG 1 on the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; MDG 2 on achieving universal primary education; MDG 4 on reducing child mortality rates; MDG 5 on improving maternal health and MDG 7 on ensuring environmental sustainability.
For the Philippines, the WB said not having adequate sanitation led to a loss of $1.4 billion or 1.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005, which is their latest available data. Latest economic performance figures, however, give a sense of hope and optimism.
For the third quarter this year, the Philippine economy — as measured by GDP — reportedly grew by an average of 7.1 percent from a year-ago level. The GDP measurement does not include export receipts and the foreign exchange remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) that have kept our country’s economy afloat through the continuing financial crisis in Europe.
The GDP, in layman’s language, are the goods and services produced within our country. So the 7.1 percent increase noted in the GDP for the third quarter this year should translate to more jobs and income for the people and therefore improve the living condition in our country.
Of course, cynics and skeptics (not to mention the critics) would readily argue they certainly don’t feel this 7.1 percent GDP growth. Viewed on per capita basis (or per individual basis), the economic gains are negated by the much faster rising prices of gasoline, electricity rates, and basic consumer products. This is because salary and wages have remained the same, if not rose as much.
As expected, the Malacañang mouthpieces were quick to attribute GDP growth to the leadership of President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III. “This was possible due to sustained confidence in the leadership of President Aquino and his administration, which has consistently equated good governance with good economics,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda declared.
But Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima beat the Palace drumbeaters with his own glowing declaration on the 7.1 percent GDP growth. This, he said, proved “that economics of good governance or Aquinomics works!” Purisima vowed: “We will continue to focus on the fundamentals of Aquinomics to make sure that we are able to achieve our growth aspirations.”
Whatever happened to the “inclusive growth” as the slogan of P-Noy’s economic program? If the GDP growth does not trickle to a broad base of people down the economic totem pole, then there is no such inclusive growth to speak of. It will just be like any other sloganeering! Then flush it down the toilet bowl, if there’s one.