France's International Program Produire au Sud Puts a Spotlight on PH Cinema on its 20th Anniversary

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

The Produire au Sud (PAS), the international training program designed for young directors and producers from Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and the professional side of the Festival des 3 Continents (also known as the Three Continents Festival), with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) as its official partner, presents one film and one film project representing the country in the festival from November 20 to 26 in Nantes, France.

The PAS 20th anniversary celebrations are within the framework of the 43rd edition of the Festival des 3 Continents. The PAS anniversary program this year includes the retrospective, “20 Years of Produire au Sud,” a diverse selection of eighteen films featured in the past to illustrate the success of  the workshop and festival through the years, using the occasion as well as an opportunity to reflect both upon the history of the workshop and its future position within a changing and dynamic industry. Part of the selection is Shireen Seno’s award-winning Filipino film Nervous Translation that took part in the 2014 Bangkok PAS workshop.

PAS alumni, Nervous Translation tells the story of Yael, a shy eight year-old girl who lives in her private world, and finds out about a pen that can translate thoughts and feelings of nervous people.

As part of the PAS 20th anniversary celebration, Festival des 3 Continents is hosting the 21st PAS workshop where The Boy and the Fight of Spiders (Diwalwal), directed by Jarell Serencio and produced by Alexandra Maria Poblete of Los Otros, is participating along with five other producer-director pairs and their respective feature film projects benefiting from the experience, teaching, and  training of a group of experts, from development to the beginning of production. Both Serencio and Poblete are physically attending the workshop in Nantes, with the support of the Agency.

Diwalwal, an FDCP Southern Voices (SoVo) Film Lab grantee and participant, is about a spider-obsessed 12 year-old boy living in the Southern Philippines, who uncovers a web of lies as he looks for the bodies of his brother and father after losing them in a tunnel collapse.

“As a partner to this prestigious international workshop, we are proud that our country is represented by the award-winning film Nervous Translation, which has been selected to be part of the retrospective for the 20th anniversary of PAS. For the 21st edition this year, our very own SoVo grantee film project Diwalwal, following in the former’s footsteps, is taking part in this workshop. We strongly believe that this journey will equip the participating filmmakers with the knowledge and tools they will need to complete their film,” said FDCP Chairperson and CEO Liza Diño.

The Festival des 3 Continents is an international competition with special screenings, retrospectives, tributes and thematic programmes, the festival presents a wide range of fiction and documentary films from Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The festival runs from November 19 to 28.

Science Camp helps kids make career decisions

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In response to the new education and career landscape brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) recently held a special online edition of its Climate Science Youth Camp to help high schoolers plot their future.

Held annually since 2009, with only a brief respite in 2020 due to the pandemic, the DOST-SEI Climate Science Youth Camp brings together scientists and researchers to give students and teachers a close-up glimpse at nature and how to take care of it.

This year’s virtual Camp was focused on the phenomenon of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), or the proliferation—sometimes due to pollution or climate change—of microscopic water plants that are toxic to many animals, including people. However, in addition to its usual emphasis on climate science, the Camp also focused on helping kids make sense of the post-pandemic landscape with the theme, “Finding A Career Path Through Research.”

Marine biologist and camp leader Dr. Aletta Yñiguez underscored the need for inclusivity and diversity in science research.

“We weaved a story between what we are doing for the HAB program and the routes we took towards science and our contributions in the program,” Yñiguez explained. “We have diverse roles but our paths towards what we're doing now don't necessarily follow the expected—from computer scientist to geologist to marine informatics, or biology and computer science or community work.”

“We wanted to show that you can and should be creative and innovative in approaching science and potential careers in research,” she added.

DOST-SEI Director Josette T. Biyo urged participants to pursue careers in science regardless of their backgrounds. “We hope that this camp has helped students get a better idea of the careers that are open to them. Anyone from any walk of life can help protect the environment, and anybody with a healthy amount of curiosity can learn to become a scientist,” she underscored.

The 2021 Climate Science Youth Camp was attended by over three dozen students and teachers, from the NCR as well as from as far away as Region III and Region IV-A. The DOST-SEI plans to expand the Youth Camp offerings to include even more regions and participants, with meteorology and geology as key topics for 2022.

DOTr reaffirms its commitment to sustain swift budget disbursement in aid of economic recovery

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The Department of Transportation (DOTr), under the leadership of DOTr Secretary Art Tugade, reaffirms its commitment to sustain swift budget disbursement following the approval of the Senate Plenary on the agency's budget for 2022.The Senate Committee on Public Services led by Sen. Grace Poe presented its counter budget for the DOTr during the deliberations on 22 November 2021.

“While the proposed budget for next year is lower than what the DOTr has outlined in previous presentations and coordinations, we nevertheless commit to the fullfilllment of its mandate in the remaining term of office with whatever approved budget will be made available,” DOTr Undersecretary for Finance Giovanni Lopez said.

On the matter of faster budget disbursement, the DOTr is most proud to inform the Senate that the DOTr is one of five (5) line agencies that had been cited by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for accelerated budget utilization in the first nine months of 2021.

The said DBM report published widely notes: "To cover the cash requirements of agencies' programs, operations and projects, the DBM issues NCAs to government-servicing institutions such as the Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines and Philippine Veterans Bank. NCAs are valid until the end of the quarter in which they were issued.”

“It said that a higher NCA utilization rate reflects line agencies' ability to release funds and deliver programs and projects on schedule.”

“Five agencies that used their entire allocation for the period were Department of Transportation with P45.88 billion; the Judiciary with P31.41 billion; Civil Service Commission with P1.28 billion; Commission on Audit with P9.20 billion; and Office of the Ombudsman with P3.09 billion.”

In 2015, the disbursement rate was at 47.86% (over allotment). In 2016, the DOTr had 60.77% but it dropped again in 2017 (38.57%) as most projects were still for bidding at that time. In 2018, it had 40.38%. This was the year when the agency started with the "no advance payment" policy.

To note, the DOTr is the only direct line department that was cited by the DBM in its report. This is an acknowledgement of how fast and efficient the DOTr has been utilizing its budget, especially given the conditions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2019, the DOTr's disbursement rose to 74.5% but it dropped to 64.57% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of September 2021, the agency's disbursement rate was already at 63.15%.

Meanwhile, the DOTr's perceived low disbursement rate is largely attributable to the following:

1. The disbursements reflected in the Financial Accountability Report (FAR) No. 1 do not include loan proceeds disbursements which get booked-up/recorded only upon issuance by DBM of the Non-Cash Availment Authority. To date, the DOTr is yet to receive our requested NCAA from DBM totalling around P75 billion which represents our loan proceeds disbursements for this year and even for prior years' dating back to 2018.

2. As a measure to ensure that no payment is released for infrastructure projects contracts without corresponding accomplishments, DOTr; in 2018, has instituted the no "advance payment" policy, particularly, for locally-funded projects. Hence, contractors get to be paid only once they have achieved at least 20% physical accomplishment.

3. There were also delays in the release of the DBM of the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) for all GOP disbursements. Particularly affected by this are locally-funded projects disbursements, which, although already needed for progress billings settlement or fund transfers to our implementation partners, had to be put on hold pending receipt of their covering NCAs. Proof of the DOTr's efficient utilization of available NCAs is the recent report published by the DBM which recognized the DOTr as one of the top performers in terms of NCA utilization. According to the DBM report, the DOTr has a 100% rate of NCA utilized vis-a-vis the amount of NCA released.

"We wish to express our gratitude to the Senate Committee on Public Services led by Sen. Grace Poe for the approval of the 2022 budget of the DOTr and its attached agencies. As with the challenge to disburse the budget faster, we will be more than pleased to coordinate with the office of Senator Poe and provide all the details on the DOTr's accelerated use of its 2021 budget. Rest assured that we will be consistent in performing swift disbursement of the agency's budget as what we have committed and performed in the previous years," Usec. Giovanni Lopez said.

The DOTr will also consider the added inputs that the good senator may provide, all in the spirit of mutual cooperation.