A Peso and a Quantum Leap for the Caterpillars

Pope Francis Village carries the byword of community participation from its inception to site development planning, house designing to actual building of houses. This archetype of participatory approach became more prominent when the 550 families decided to come together, regardless of their varying socio-economic backgrounds and origins to form a unified Homeowners Association. It was further demonstrated during the determination of criteria and process for block and lot assignments of individual families. Some would say, the approach is full of dynamism as members engage themselves in a healthy form of contestation, co-optation or cooperation until they arrive at a consensus with the rest of their block members.  The same approach again served as an overarching backdrop of the recent election of block leaders.

In a series of cluster assemblies spearheaded by the social team, community members were asked to craft and level-off on the criteria for choosing their leaders per housing block. Among the desirable traits that they are looking from a block leader ranged from someone with a strong sense of responsibility and integrity, resourcefulness, one who decides with fairness and transparency and most importantly who is willing to share his or her time for meetings and other important activities of the association.

But why in the first place Pope Francis Village deemed it necessary to have block leaders? Currently, the Homeowners’ Association has fifteen elected officers. With a settlement as huge as Pope Francis Village, the multifaceted concerns associated with incremental house improvements, utilization and maintenance of common spaces, water and waste management, livelihood, education and advocacy, youth organizing, disaster risk reduction and management and health among others may not be effectively handled if only a handful of leaders are doing the job. Much of the work particularly on enforcement of policies and monitoring could reap positive results if there are additional warm bodies who will take on the coordinating role and look after the concerns of every block and see to it that these are timely addressed by the HOA.

For the social team, the only guarantee that members will rally behind their block leaders is to give them the freedom to choose the most capable and deserving for the position according to the criteria that they themselves set.  To facilitate the election, members were clustered based on their block assignment and were asked to nominate at least two persons whom they think is fit to assume the position. Members cast their votes by raising their hands.  The nominee who got the majority votes automatically becomes the block leader, and the second with the next highest votes becomes the assistant block leader.

There were some instances (as in the case of Block 6, Block 26 and Block 43) when community organizers have resort to a toss coin in order to break the ties. A peso may be a symbol of a healthy and competitive election, but it means a quantum leap for whoever wins the tie breaking match. The block leaders form part of the pillar of Pope Francis Village HOA. They are not only envisioned as  support arm of the HOA in terms of carrying-out its programs and estate management policies but they’re also the intermediary layer that connects individual households to the larger community within and outside of Pope Francis Village.

The elected block leaders have since take on some vital facilitating roles such as in the replication of bayanihan savings as part of the community’s internal resource mobilization strategy. They also lead the synchronize site clean-up and regular upkeep of drainage canals along their assigned blocks. As potent channels of information, the block leaders are tasked to frequently coordinate with their members for any relevant updates on Pope Francis Village. The latest of which was the dissemination and getting concurrence of their members on the initial guidelines to be enforced soon by the HOA concerning future alteration, additions or improvements on housing units including the use and maintenance of common facilities. Some of these leaders may need to undergo fundamental trainings on community organizing work and learn even the most basic of the technical facet of estate management. Although these things can be learned over time, it is only with ample commitment, confidence and solid support of people whom one is leading can transform a leader from a caterpillar to a full-grown butterfly.