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Programs and Services
Over the last ten years, thousands of civilians, particularly in southern Philippines, were uprooted by recurrent episodes of militarization. The clashes between government forces and various groups fighting for reforms and self-governance have inevitably widened the crack in human security. They also harmed and put into peril the physical, economic, cultural and psychosocial resources of many communities. The displacement of indigenous peoples with the intrusion of mining companies and other so-called development projects into their homelands has aggravated the disruption of their social fabric. This has affected the well-being of many individuals while the social cleavage deepened in many villages where peoples of different cultures co-exist. Social violence, war and displacement are traumatic, life-threatening events. Their impact can be understood not only at the individual level because they are embedded in a historical, social context. Both individual and community suffering are socially embedded. Social trauma is produced in actual social relationships in which the individual is just one part. In this context, psychosocial intervention aiming at alleviating the suffering should address the social fabric of the community as well as the individuals who reels from traumatic stress. Therefore, reconstruction of the social tissue implies healing, empowerment, and community development. BALAY’s Mindanao Program for the internally displaced persons, families and communities combines projects and various activities that aim to achieve healing, empowerment and development for the communities and families covered by the program in Pikit and Tulunan in North Cotabato; in Datu Paglas and Datu Paglat in Maguindanao; in Columbio in Sultan Kudarat; and in Anggaan in Damulog, Bukidnon. The projects and corresponding activities undertake service delivery and promote advocacy for the benefit of the internally displaced persons most especially the vulnerable section of the population such as children, young people, women and the elderly. The Program likewise highlights peace building and human security framework in the conduct of its service delivery and advocacy. BALAY assists individuals and families in communities through the following activities: • Community and family visits
Program for Survivors of Torture and Organized Violence Torture has been used as punishment with the purpose of destroying the victim as a human being through systematic infliction of severe pain and psychological suffering. It has also been used to destroy the victim’s identity by forcing him to betray the people he knows or to denounce beliefs and values that are dear to him/her. Governments have used torture as a political tool to create fear and intimidate dissident groups with the purpose of preventing the population from expressing opposition towards government policies. Thus, countries subjected to a climate of terror may contain whole communities affected by violence. In 1986, the WHO working group broadened its understanding of torture to include other acts of “organized violence” such as imprisonment without trial, mock executions, hostage-taking, or any other form of violent deprivation of liberty. There is no justification for torture and organized violence in any form. It is a crime under international law and is prohibited in all circumstances, even in situations of armed conflict. However, torture continues to be practiced all over the world. In the Philippines, among those who suffer from ill-treatment and organized violence are the more than 200 political prisoners still languishing in jails nationwide. They were denied freedom due to political circumstances, practically all of them are charged with common crimes. They are spending time in congested prison cells under conditions that do not come near the United Nations minimum standards. In many cases, these prisoners are wanting in medical and psychological care. Their access to legal services is limited by high fees and access to responsible lawyers who specialize in human rights law. In many instances, their relatives find it difficult to visit and check their conditions due to distance and scarce resources. Balay assists political prisoners and torture survivors through the following activities: • Regular jail visits in different parts of the country BALAY is one of the conveners of the United Against Torture Coalition (UATC) which is composed of more than 20 organizations that work for the passage of an Anti-Torture Law in the Philippines. For many years, it has been supporting the observance of the International Day in Support of Torture Victims. It also campaigns for the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) and pushes for the creation of a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) to monitor prison conditions and dissuade authorities from committing torture and other forms of organized violence.
Program for Youth and Children The Philippines belong to the list of countries with the most number of people uprooted by civil strife. The Notre Dame University study in North Cotabato has estimated that 6 out of 10 internally displaced persons or IDPs in Mindanao are children. Their rights to survival, protection, development and participation are put in danger every time armed violence erupts. As the representative of future generation, children are real-time stakeholders in the struggle of humanity for survival and improvement of the quality of life. It is the task of duty-bearers to care for them. Families, institutions, and communities have big roles to play. The state has the primary responsibility to see to it that conditions are realized for the young to attain full development. Balay strives to promote psychosocial programs that focus on children and youth. It supports young people’s participation for their own protection and development. It calls on the government and other stakeholders to spare the children from harm and to nurture them as “zones of peace.” The following are the projects and services offered by Balay’s Youth and Children Development Unit: • Counseling services for young people and their respective families In partnership with the Department of Education Region XII, Balay has organized teachers’ training and delivered school materials for the integration of modules on peace, history of the peoples of Mindanao, psychosocial healing, disaster management, and rights of the child into the Makabayan and Araling Panlipunan subjects. Sixteen public schools in Pikit, North Cotabato have already benefited from this project since 2004. Balay facilitates the twinning of schools in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao and private schools in Manila. Known as ‘Building Bridges of Understanding and Solidarity Project’, students from Miriam Grade School and the Ateneo Grade School have been corresponding with kids in Rajahmuda High School and the Balungis High School in Pikit, Cotabato and in Pagalungan, Maguindanao. The project aims to promote understanding between children of different culture and circumstances. It seeks to generate modest educational support for children in need, and to enhance capacities of teachers through faculty development activities and inter-school visits.
The Municipal Council for the Protection
of Children (MCPC) and the seven barangays covered by the Space for
Peace in Pikit, North Cotabato are working with Balay for the strengthening
of Barangay Councils for the Protection of Children (BCPC). Aimed at
instilling a child-oriented governance and effective disaster risk management,
the project entails training of trainers in the community and the promotion
of the module known as Child’s Rights Programming in Community-Based
Disaster Management (CRP-CBDM). Crafted in collaboration with community
stakeholders in Pikit, the module has been adopted by the Office of
Civil Defense (OCD) to reduce vulnerability of children and the entire
local population in other disaster-prone areas.
The Research and Development Program (RDP) contributes to the development of the different programs and units of Balay, promoting institutional building, and instilling a “culture of learning” within the organization. BALAY promotes organizational building through documentation and knowledge construction as it works on a book that documents the development of the organization’s psychosocial framework and practice in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao. The various programs of the organization undertakes program development through knowledge-sharing and reflexive sessions that intend to apply insights learned from Balay’s psychosocial development praxis to enhance its psychosocial responses in the context of IDPs and TOV. As the program gained fuller understanding of how it may contribute to Balay’s psychosocial practice and organizational development, it had tried to produce articles, case studies and other related publications that served as its outputs. But more than these, its essential contribution is in helping to introduce new ways of looking at and doing psychosocial practice in different contexts, processing and preserving institutional memory, and helping to shape the organization into a learning one. Among the outputs of the Program include:
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