The Conference will be held at the (3rd floor) Bulwagang Tandang Sora, College of Social Work and Community Development, University of the Philippines (UP), Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1101.

The venue is located in the vicinity of UP Diliman Campus which lies at the heart of Quezon City on 493 hectares of sprawling terrain.

25 October 2024 | 7:00 AM- 5:00 PM

Participants are encouraged to  register in one of the field visits coordinated by the organizing committee. These activities will have additional costs that will be shouldered by the participants. For those who are interested to join, payment will be collected during the conference proper.

There are five identified communities that the participants may visit upon registering on the link provided. Participants will shoulder the cost pegged at P2,500.00 or $45.00 to cover the transportation and meal/s during the field activity only. 

The field site visit has the following objectives:

Objectives:

• To present actual and innovative social development practices in various field partners highlighting different social development approaches and strategies;
• To serve as a platform for knowledge exchange and venue for praxis processes between social development initiatives that help shape equitable and human-centric outcomes;
• To learn with communities the significance of their social development interventions given the multifaceted disruptions and polycrisis in the field of social development.

Profile of Partner Communities

1. Association of Malunggay Farmers Entrepreneurs (AMFE)

AMFE is located in Barangay Gulod, Laurel, Batangas. Majority of its members are women. AMFE was established in 2022 with 361 members. It initially started in moringa powder production. Their collective vision is to have a  healthy, prosperous, and developed community where all members are working together and collectively contributing to the organization’s progress.

AMFE has various social development programs including economic development, savings mobilization, creating micro finance for their members, insurance and business investment. Currently, they are very active in promoting food security for social enterprise, exploring other vegetable production that will benefit members and the community. AMFE is also active in lobbying social development policy.

2. Molinete Farmers Association (MOFA)

MOFA is a farmers’ organization in Barangay Molinete, Laurel, Batangas with 167 members. MOFA is promoting and practicing the natural farming system. It was organized in 2013 envisioning an organization that unites all members, with good knowledge and capacity in food security. MOFA is implementing different social development programs through community organizing and community development initiatives.

Currently, they are in the process of establishing an “Agri-tourism” in partnership with other government institutions, particularly with the Department of Agriculture – Agriculture Training Institute. They are also implementing various agricultural approaches like production of organic fertilizer and other agricultural products that can help improve members and organizational development.  

3. Ayta Community in Floridablanca

This is an Indigenous community in Barangay Nabuclod, Sitio Camachile, Floridablanca. It is located in one of the provinces in the Philippines and considered as one of the oldest Ayta communities that constitute the Ayta ancestral domain. It has 800 families. This community however, learns to adopt different social development strategies through partnership with other potential stakeholders.

Currently, they are enjoying various social development programs in support of other partners. They have education and literacy, leadership and skills development for out of school youth, college scholarship for Ayta youth,   health programs and agriculture related initiatives that uplift the well-being of the IP community.

4. Coalition of Services for the Elderly (COSE) Field Site

Pinagsamang Lakas at Karunungan ng mga Nakatatanda (PILKAN) (Combined Strength and Wisdom of Older Persons)

PILKAN Federation consists of 15 Older Person’s Organization (OPO) members, with 1,119 individual members, 914 females and 205 males. The federation has membership from three (3) barangays in Quezon City: Barangay Commonwealth (12 member OPOs), Barangay Holy Spirit (2 member OPOs), and Barangay Batasan Hills (1 member OPO) all are in Quezon City. 

Established in 2004, PILKAN has been in existence for 20 years, although many of its member OPOs were established in the early 1990s. The federation implements various programs/projects and activities including: 

1. 1. 1. Health: formation and development of community gerontologist and homecare volunteers. The volunteers conduct home visitation to frail, sick and bedridden older persons in the community. 
      2. Income generating projects: they managed a water refilling station, and community savings and lending initiatives.
      3. Pondong Damayan (mutual aid) – provision of cash assistance to the families of deceased members.
      4. Resource mobilization: conducts fundraising activities like solicitation, lolo-lola valentines money contest, bingo socials, etc.
      5. Advocacy: awareness raising on the issues, rights and privileges of older persons, lobbying at local and national levels for program/policies related to older persons, etc.
      6. Emergency Response: peer counseling and psychosocial support, collection/distribution of relief goods
      7. Formation and Development of Local Community Organizers’ Volunteers (LCOV) to provide support to OPOs and increase in membership
      8. Socialization activities: Annual beach outing; birthday celebration, etc.

PILKAN continues to serve its community by addressing the needs of older persons through these diverse and impactful initiatives.

For more information please visit the COSE Website.

5. Good Neighbors International Philippines Community Development Project (CDP)

San Isidro, Rodriguez, Rizal – Formerly known as Montalban, the town of Rodriguez is the largest town of Rizal Province. The town is situated near urbanized areas, towns and cities such as Bulacan, Metro Manila, San Mateo and Antipolo. The land usage of the town was greatly affected because of the proximity of Rodriguez, Rizal to these cities.

Rodriguez, Rizal is a host municipality that houses garbage disposals from various cities such as those from Metro Manila. According to DENR, A total of 4000 to 6000 tons of garbage are transported every day from Metro Manila to Rodriguez Sanitary Landfill which is located in Barangay San Isidro. With the closing of the Payatas Sanitary Landfill, the members of the Informal Waste Sector in Rodriguez grew which resulted in the opening of various illegal waste management practices. These practices include scavenging or waste-picking, private dumpsites, and junk shop operations among others. 

San Isidro barangay is the northernmost barangay of Rodriguez municipality. It is relatively isolated because it is only accessible through the undeveloped Quezon City Batasan Road and the Marikina-San Mateo main roads. The area is composed of small villages called sitios which are mostly located in mountainous areas. Despite this relative inaccessibility, its proximity to the metropolis and to highly urbanized towns has somehow affected its land use and growth pattern through the years. 

San Isidro has approximately 26,432 households with an approximate population of 162, 000. It is the 7th largest barangay in terms of population size among 42, 036 barangays in the Philippines and the 2nd largest barangay in terms of population size among the 11 barangays of Rodriguez municipality. The area has a fast-growing population because it is an identified relocation area of informal settlers from Metro Manila. Almost 75% (reference is Rodriguez Situational Analysis report) of the household are relocates who are characterized as unskilled, have low educational attainment, no permanent jobs, and are unemployed. In fact, results of the home visit monitoring of the San Isidro CDP and Southville CDP showed that 62% (reference is GNI Philippines home visit monitoring conducted in year 2017 by the staff of the San Isidro CDP and Southville CDP) almost 2, 500 home visited sponsored families especially the parents are unskilled, employed as scavengers, laborers, service crew, saleslady, janitor, messenger, among others. The home visit monitoring is the house-to-house home visit conducted by the staff to the houses of the sponsored children and families. The purpose of this activity is to monitor the status of the children, further assess their situation and build better rapport.

The broad land use of the barangay is quarry, garbage dumpsite/landfills and rice field/agriculture. The forest lands used to be much more extensive, but these have been reduced by shifting cultivation, logging and mining. Huge portion of its land is used for sand and gravel quarrying, and as landfill/dumping areas of the garbage coming from the metropolis in Metro Manila. As such, a significant number of the population in San Isidro is engaged in scavenging or picking up garbage as their source of income. Around 400 to 500 women are involved in waste scavenging in San Isidro.  Scavenging as a form of livelihood or employment generates very low income aggravated by its highly hazardous working condition. Moreover, the presence of the landfills/dumping areas exposed the community to a lot of environmental problems and health hazards. 

For more information please visit the GNIP Website.

The Conference Organizing Committee collects conference payment both for presenters and non-presenters. The registration fee covers the conference materials, lunch and snacks during the conference, and two dinners. 

To enable us to make all the necessary preparations smoothly and to have you officially registered, kindly ensure to pay the registration fee. Please refer to the following bank details and links for payment of registration fees and packages:  

1. For Filipino Participants and Local Student Participants Residing in the Philippines

a. For Filipino Participants: Regular Rate is Php11,000.00

b. For Local Student Participants: Regular Rate is Php5,500.00

c. For CSWCD Faculty and REPS: Regular Rate is Php4,500.00

Bank Name: Philippine National Bank (UP Campus, Diliman, QC)

Account Name: UP Social Action and Research for Development Foundation, Inc.

Account No: 108 610 139 438

Swift Code: PNB MPHMM

2. For Student from Developing Countries

$100 regular rate: https://buy.stripe.com/fZeaGs4dob619AA9AK 

3. For Student from Developed Countries

$150 regular rate: https://buy.stripe.com/00g9Co39k4HD7ss3cn 

4. For Participants from Developed Countries 

$300 regular rate: https://buy.stripe.com/bIY8ykbFQ8XT5kk9AN

5. For Participants from Developing Countries 

$200 regular rate: https://buy.stripe.com/28o5m811c1vr7ss4gs

6. ICSD member developing countries

$180 regular rate: https://buy.stripe.com/fZedSE39k5LH8wwdR4

7. ICSD member developed countries

$250 regular rate: https://buy.stripe.com/6oE29WeS2b61eUU6oD

Kindly accomplish these two forms to complete the registration process:

1. Registration Form
2. Payment Validation Form

Once our finance committee has confirmed the deposit, we will send you confirmation of registration with an accompanying logistics note. The official receipt will be given during the conference.

If you have already accomplished both forms, kindly wait for further updates from the ICSD-AP Conference Secretariat. Please do not double register.

Nationals from 157 countries who are traveling to the Philippines for business and tourism purposes are allowed to enter the Philippines visa-free for a stay not exceeding thirty (30) days, provided they hold valid tickets for their return journey to port of origin or next port of destination and their passports valid for a period of at least six (6) months beyond the contemplated period of stay. Chinese Nationals, including citizens of Hong Kong and Taiwan, will need a special permit. For more information about visa and immigration, visit https://immigration.gov.ph.  

If you’re coming from an area where yellow fever has been reported, you’ll need a certificate of  vaccination. For more information, visit http://www.doh.gov.ph/.

Visa and Entry Requirements

For participants requiring a visa, applying for a Philippine visa will require that the applicant’s passport be valid for six (6) months beyond the applicant’s date of departure from the Philippines. The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the issuance of visas through Philippine diplomatic and consular Foreign Service Posts (FSPs) abroad. Please visit: https://evisa.gov.ph/page/policy

All passengers must register at the eTravel platform within 72 hours prior to arrival or departure in the Philippines. You may Register here: https://etravel.gov.ph/. The eTravel platform has replaced the paper Arrival and Customs cards that travelers must submit upon arrival in the Philippines for immigration clearance.

When booking your flights, take note that the earlier you book, the cheaper it costs; and that domestic airlines are notorious for flight delays by an hour or two, so you may want to opt for the earliest flight possible. Give at least a three 3-hour interval between your arrival time and departure time.

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is the only airport serving the capital and has 4 different terminals. We recommend the following transport options upon arrival at the NAIA:

• Metered Taxi: For those who will get a metered taxi, please ensure that the taxi meter is working properly. While you may give a tip to the driver, you may refuse any solicitation from the driver that may find unreasonably high.
• Coupon Taxi: Find the dispatch station near the Arrival or Departure hall exits. You will be charged a fixed rate based on your chosen destination. It is available at the arrival curbside areas
• Grab Ride: The best and most convenient way to and from the airport to UP Diliman is via Grab Car – a safe ride-hailing system or Transportation Network Vehicle Service (TNVS) in the country. There are Grab Booths located in the arrivals area in NAIA. Fare rates may range from PhP600.00 to PhP 1,500.00 depending on traffic conditions. You may also book a car or taxi via the Grab app which you will need to install first on your smartphones.

For the list of accommodations near UP Diliman, you may download the file below:

Accommodations for the ICSD Participants

Language.

The primary language of the conference is English, which is widely spoken and understood in the Philippines, especially in academic and professional environments.

Most Filipinos living in the cities can understand and speak conversational English. The three most commonly used local languages are Filipino (known also as  Tagalog), Ilocano (commonly spoken in the Northern part of the country) and Cebuano (spoken in the  Visayas and Mindanao).

Climate.

Metro Manila has a tropical climate with temperatures ranging between 25°C and 35°C (77°F to 95°F). June through October is also considered the rainy season. Typhoons come and go. It will be practical to bring a raincoat or umbrella.

For weather updates and information on typhoons and rainfall, you can follow the Quezon City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (QCDRRMC) on Facebook or you may visit: https://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/weather.

What to wear.

Light, breathable clothing will be applicable because it is warm, humid and rainy. Wearing sun protection is also recommended. For the outdoors, use a  jacket, raincoat or umbrella. For the air-conditioned plenary session hall and function rooms, a light  jacket or shawl might be needed.

Currency.

The currency used in the Philippines is the Philippines Peso (PHP). The US Dollar exchange rate is PhP 57.00 to PhP 59.00 and the Euro is around PhP 63.00. The latest exchange rates are available on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas website.

There are 1000, 500, 200, 100, 50 and 20 peso notes; 20, 10, 5, 1, 0.25, 0.10, and 0.05 coins. You can exchange your currency at the airport and there are also money changers around the city and in shopping malls. Traveler’s checks may be cashed at any bank.

There are automated teller machines (ATM) should you need to withdraw cash from your bank  accounts. If you will withdraw more than $500.00, you need to transact directly with the bank teller.  Most banks are open from 9am to 3pm during weekdays. Some banks close later depending on the  bank and its branch office.

Not all establishments (like most fast-food set-ups) accept credit cards but most major restaurants,  supermarkets and boutiques in malls do so. To be sure, just ask the salesperson before making your  purchase.

Electrical power and computers.

Standard electrical current is 220 volts at 60 cycles. It is always safe to  check the voltage requirements of your equipment before plugging in. Electrical sockets are usually for 2  flat parallel pronged plugs. If your gadgets have a different plug (e.g., rounded, 3-pronged) and you  foresee a need to charge them, please bring a socket adapter. 

Charging of laptops and electronic gadgets in the conference venue is free of charge. 

Medical.

Please don’t forget to bring your maintenance medicines. In case of medical emergencies, the nearest emergency room is the University Health Service inside the campus. For more information, https://ovcca.upd.edu.ph/offices/university-health-service/.

The Conference Secretariat will also have a first-aid kit and a team of paramedics.

Safety and Security.

The conference host will set up security measures in coordination with the UP Diliman Public Safety and Security Office inside the campus. 

Please keep your valuables, e.g. cash, jewelry, in the safe in your hotel room or with you at all times.

Be extra watchful with your computer, camera, mobile phone and other expensive electronic gadgets,  especially when you are outdoors. As in any city, there are also cases of hold-ups, snatching and  pickpockets, so be aware of those around you when walking on the streets or in the malls. If you want to go around some places in the city, it is better to go with a group.

About the Philippines.

If you wish to have some general and tourist information about the Philippines,  please google it. The real economic, political, social and cultural situation will be discussed in the  conference.

Lea D. Garzon

+63951896637

Judith M. Pangilinan

+639664017887

Karleen May C. Reodique

+639175217917