Reactive oxygen species

Education and outreach is an integral part of all soft enforcement approaches. Knowledge of the basic reasons behind coastal laws designed to protect the common good provides the foundation for voluntary compliance. Education and outreach must be initiated at all levels of the society, from the decision-makers to the resource users, and at all stages in the CRM process. It must also take into consideration the sociocultural dynamics of the community, the appropriate social

marketing instruments, and development and program support communication.

Decision-makers’ education

A successful local education and outreach program emanates from informed decision-makers.

Key decision-makers in the community are mostly bound by limited political terms of office such as the Governor, the Mayor, the Sanggunian, and the Barangay Chairman. Education and

outreach programs therefore must establish a mechanism that addresses changing personalities in the local bureaucracy. This can be achieved by institutionalizing environmental education

programs at both national and local levels.

The DILG through the Local Government Academy (LGA) is mandated to capacitate local chief executives by providing continuous education on all relevant issues of governance. Similarly, the DENR and DA have the mandate not only to provide technical assistance but to actually transfer appropriate technology to the LGUs to encourage self-determination. Adjunct to the changing political leaders are law enforcement officers, such as the head of the local police, whose decisions rely on good information available to them. The DILG and the PNP, the agencies that provide training and continuous education to the police, must also include coastal management subjects in their curriculum.

Community education

Community education and outreach programs must consider indigenous learning systems and cultural values systems. Indigenous learning systems refer to the inherent and time-honored mechanism by which local communities acquire information. Coastal communities are largely rural in nature and therefore communication avenues available to them may have stark difference from that of the urban communities. Many urban communities acquire information from

television and newspapers while most rural communities get theirs from pulong-pulong (meetings) of barangay leaders, others from gatherings called on by informal leaders such as clan elders or the local church leaders while others from comic strips and soap operas provided by AM radio.

Cultural value system refers to the set of norms or conduct, traditional knowledge, and beliefs that prevail in communities. A cultural value system is the natural mechanism by which order is maintained in communities because it has its own set of informal rewards and punishments (Panopio et al. 1992). Laws, ordinances, and even local plans that come into conflict with the cultural value system may result in problematic enforcement especially if education and outreach programs that support them are weak. Some communities in fact do not acknowledge their actions as violative of any law when such actions are regarded as traditional as in the case of whale hunting. Others comply only in the presence of law enforcers. But what remains to be explored further is how newly introduced restrictive acts are harmonized with the existing belief system and practices with minimal or no resistance at all from communities.

Working within the cultural value system is important not only for inputting knowledge but in promoting behavioral change over time. The law, with its rewards and punishment, as a “social product” can only be socially accepted if certain sociocultural attributes of the community are incorporated in the enforcement design. It should be noted that the Philippine value system such as hiya, utang na loob, pakikisama, and others have bi-polar character (Panopio et al. 1992)

meaning they can be used both to justify violation and uphold the law at the same time (Table 13).

Table 13. Examples of bi-polarity of the Philippine value system (Andres 1985, 1998).

Cultural value To the detriment of the law To the advantage of the law Hiya

ŠCommunity members are ashamed to confront or report neighbors who engage in illegal fishing activities if such activity is rampant in the community

ŠEnforcers find it difficult to apprehend violators to whom they are beholden

ŠFisherfolk are compelled to join peers in illegal activities to show their unity with them

ŠFisherfolk challenge the law as a means of gambling their fate

ŠFisherfolk are compelled to engage in illegal activities when family survival is at stake

ŠYounger generations do not correct wrongdoings or wrong notions of the elders who engage in destructive fishing because it is a sign of disrespect

ŠLocal leaders are lenient in throwing the books at violators with whom they have personal ties especially if they are relatives or friends

ŠCommunity members are lenient to visitors and outsiders such as tourists, as good hosts, even if they violate coastal laws

Š Community leaders stubbornly circumvent the law to keep up with their image or stand by a previous pronouncement even if proven wrong

ŠCommunity members endure the hardships attached to muro-ami operations to survive

ŠCommunity members are ashamed not to confront or report neighbors who engage in illegal fishing especially when most members of the community comply with the law (pakikisama)

ŠEnforcers are ashamed (hiya) not to enforce the law especially when they are beholden to the community and its leaders

ŠFisherfolk avoid joining peers who engage in illegal activities to show unity with the community

ŠFisherfolk uphold the law (paninindigan) and leave their fate to whatever they can gain from it

ŠFisherfolks avoid in engaging in illegal activities as this may hinder chances (bahala na) of the family from improving economically if one member is appre-hended

ŠYounger generations correct wrongdoings of elders with the intention of protecting them from possible harm (mahigpit na pagkakabigkis ng pamilya)

ŠLocal leaders are ashamed (hiya) of not prosecuting violators with whom they have personal ties especially if they are beholden (utang na loob) to the commu-nity who put them to power

ŠCommunity members, as good hosts, forewarn visitors of possible difficulty they may encounter if they violate coastal laws

ŠCommunity leaders enforce the law at all cost even if political risk is high

ŠCommunity members endure the little gains of complying with the law instead of supporting illegal activities

Coastal law enforcers and community decision-makers hence must be able to use these values to serve the purpose of the law before others exploit them. Planners must look at conditions whereby positive use of cultural values are maximized. The municipal social welfare and development officer, whose training is usually on community organizing and community management, will be in the best position to assist CRM planners and coastal law enforcers in designing a management option with cultural flavor. NGOs, POs, the academe working with cultural communities or those academicians specializing in sociological or anthropological studies may also contribute their knowledge and experiences in understanding cultural value systems as they apply to law enforcement.

Social marketing

There are many social marketing instruments available for education and outreach programs on a national scale, namely: production of specialized training modules on coastal law

enforcement; conduct of conferences, seminars, and conventions; publication of posters, flyers, and brochures; organization of special events; advertising, media advocacy, public relations; and celebrity endorsements, among others. To complement national programs, LGUs may put up community signboards; utilize public communication media such as local government-run television and radio stations; conduct periodic dialogues, seminars, and training of key

stakeholders; initiate community stage plays, puppetry, and role playing through the Sangguniang Kabataan and the youth sector; utilize ecclesiastical opportunities such as pastoral letters,

fellowships, and all other modes of worship; and network with POs, NGOs, and informal leaders who may have influence on the community. Some LGUs and FARMCs have their own newsletter and programs on the local radio station.

Contrary to popular beliefs, social marketing strategies need not be expensive. Signboards posted in municipal and barangay halls, for instance, are effective means of legal marketing and advertising CRM plans and programs and law enforcement interventions (Figure 10). Private-run broadcast media organizations may also air developmental modules upon endorsement of the PIA.

Development and program support communication

This refers to the development, production, and dissemination of IEC materials whether print, broadcast, dramatic, or other visual arts. Ideally, this communication strategy is two-way with information provided to and by the community and jointly developed by program

implementors and key members of the community. The result of this communication exercise thereby becomes the product of the community. Community ownership of communication

messages is essential in incorporating the cultural value system within the communication process.

There is no uniform way of doing development and program support to communication because the effectiveness of communication instruments are area-specific and culture-bound.

Some communities are receptive to broadcast programs especially among island towns that depend on the radio broadcast on almost all information needs on a day-to-day basis. Others are more inclined to monitoring exercises such as keeping logbooks with which to provide

chronological records that may be useful for establishing trends, documenting violations of local ordinances, or substantiating advocacy campaign. Other communities have ready support

structures such as a CRM office or resource center or CRM Desk that may showcase documents such as the Philippine Coastal Management Guidebook Series, copies of the LGC, the Fisheries Code, administrative issuances and other national and local laws relevant to CRM. In some areas, police stations, coast guard stations, NGOs and POs are able to provide communication materials on CRM.

Figure 9. Social marketing strategies to promote compliance with coastal laws.

Mangrove

water boundaries and use zones Signboards stating municipal ordinances and regulations

CRM desk and resource center with pertinent national and local laws, CRM plan, and educational materials Posters and modules on

CRM in curriculum

Signs posted at land boundaries of marine sanctuary stating rules

Pastoral order taxings

Lists posted of registered fisherfolk and licenses approved for coastal and shoreline use Island