UNIT III
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION: VALUES, GOALS AND PRINCIPLE
I. Introduction:
Organizing rural folks does not only imply the realization of any objectives. It also
builds people first and foremost. It goes deeper than meets the eye. Change must
first be internalized and made as way of life. It is only then that the outward
manifestation of change be made. Such will ensure that changes made are
appreciated and sustained. Changes made will in turn be the inspiration to do the
next moves towards bringing in progress and development. These are the basic or
fundamental differences of community organization from that of superficial
organizations that are established to meet short term needs. These later types
emerged in the political landscapes with the view of ensuring mass supports of
politicians during elections. This muddies the spirit and noble purpose of community
organization.
II. Values of Community Organization
1. Human Rights
Are basically held principles anchored mainly on the belief in man’s worth and
dignity. It includes the right to life and survival, to self-determination and to
develop as person and as people.
2. Social Justice
Means equal access to opportunities for satisfying man’s basic needs towards
upholding man’s worth and dignity. It requires the equitable distribution of
resources and power through people’s fullest participation in their own
development.
3. Social Responsibility
Premised on the belief that man as a social being must not be limited to his
own concerns but should reach out to others and move jointly with them in
meeting common needs and problems. Likewise, society has the
responsibility to ensure an optimum environment for the fullest development
of its members.
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III. Goals of Community Organizing
1. People’s Empowerment
Empowerment means the long-term strategic process of transferring
economic and social power from one center to another and or the creation of
new centers of socio economic power in competition with traditional centers.
People’s power is the collective consciousness and action on social issues
pushing for social transformation and premised on truth, justice, freedom, and
liberation. It is organized by the people and is used by them to advance their
collective interest. It requires people’s participation and a dialogical
relationship among themselves.
Through the process of community organizing, people learn to overcome their
powerlessness and develop their capacity to maximize their control over their
situation. It is the progressive realization of the power that they process and
the ability to influence the course of history that dramatically erodes the
dehumanizing effects of powerlessness. In the process of confronting the
structure and institutions that oppress them, people are transformed from
dehumanized objects into human beings who assert their rights, determine
their destiny and start with dignity as a whole human being.
2. Building Relatively Permanent Structures and People’s Organization.
Community organization aims to establish and sustain relatively permanent
organizational structures that best serve the needs and aspirations of the
people. These structures ensure maximum people’s participation while at the
same time provide the venue through which the people’s organization can link
up with other groups and sectors. It is trough these structures that people can
begin to test alternative ways of doing things and internalize a new system of
values so that localized experiences become the building blocks upon which
the blueprint of a more desirable future is based.
3. Building Alliances
People’s organization and community organizers should build and/or join any
or all alliances that are useful to the people. This refers to sectoral alliances,
other people’s organization and alliances, multi-sectoral coalition, regional
and national alliances, political parties and international organization.
However, one should always be conscious of the differences between:

Tactical Alliances – short term level of issues and therefore forged at
times with the enemies, and
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
Strategic Alliances – long term, on the level of issues as on the more
comprehensive bases of unity, with friends and like minded groups,
especially those with whom a unified political line is possible. Such
alliances must not detract from the autonomy and independence of the
people’s organizations and must be based on a genuine respect for the
integrity of each group and must ensure genuine people’s participation.
4. Improved Quality of Life/Standard of Living
Community Organizing also seeks to secure short and long term
improvements on the quality of life of the people. Immediately, the process of
mobilizations can gain concessions for fulfilling the basic needs for food,
clothing, shelter, education and health. In the long term, community
organization should create a conducive environment for the development of
human creativity and solidarity through the equitable of power and resources.
5. Popular Democracy
Corollary to the other goals, popular democracy means popular
empowerment of the development of people’s organization that shall serve to
facilitate sustained people’s participation in decision making and governance.
At the level of formal government processes, it calls for effective devolution of
power to the grassroots, decentralizing policy-making structures and bringing
points of decision making closer to the grassroots and more accessible to
popular involvement. It will mean some form of socialization of state power
with sectoral representation on all level of policy making. It is characterized by
the pluralism in political vision. Democratization of wealth or access to social
resources is a precondition to popular democracy.
6. National Social Transformation
Community Organizing seeks not only the solution to the existing problems
but ultimately works towards a transformed society with the following features:

Democratic because it is premised on the foundation of a strong, popular
autonomous people’s organization. This is in complete contrast to an
over centralized system where the state exercises too much control and
where an oppressive bureaucracy necessarily develops.

Nationalistic because its focus is on the Philippines. A community
organizer must be consciously pro-Filipino and, therefore, anti
imperialist.

Self-Reliant and Self-Governing because we must retrieve our
sovereignty if we are to start our own destiny.
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
Equitable distribution of wealth according to his or her own effort,
contribution and need.

Collective ownership of the vital means of production, which refers to the
collectivization of those that are used for the exploitation of other human
beings and/or those, the private ownership of which deprives others of
the means of survival.

Pluralistic and mass-based because it allows for the freedom of different
political forces to pursue their own political line on the presumption that
in the final analysis a political line can be validated only by the people.
IV. Principles of Community Organizing
1. People’s Participation
It is the sharing of duties, power, benefits / privileges. It is the involvement of
the poor and powerless in their development, especially in all phases of
decision-making. Community organizing recognizes and respects the primary
role of the people in the task of social transformation. Community organizing
must therefore be participatory and mass-based.
2. Self-Determination
The need for challenge must come from within, from people’s awareness of
their own problems and their will to act on them. People are the makers of
history and have the power to shape their destiny if only they are made aware
of their options, the consequences of each option and should be responsible
for their choice/decision. This implies a respect for their ability to confront,
understand and deal with the roots of their problems, and to build their own
vision in an alternative society.
3. Experiential Learning
Community organizing involves learning through practice, e.g. the continuing
refinement of theory and understanding through practice. Action reflects
people’s experiences on collective decision-making. Mobilization facilitates
the learning and development of knowledge, attitudes and skills in problem
solving.
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4. Self Reliance
The process that releases the creative energy of people through the
maximum and optimum use of local human and material
resources/capabilities. It includes all aspects of the following objectives.

Priority on producing for and meeting the basic needs of all members of
society and by society

Maximum initiation of development by local people, and full participation of
the people in all phases and aspects of the development process.

Priority focus on the development and optimal utilization of local
resources, structures and processes.

Stimulation and nurturance of indigenous initiative, creativity, knowledge,
skills and culture.

Reduction in the scope and opportunity for relationships based on
dominance or dependence between sectors and groups involved in
development.

Maximum sharing of both benefits and costs of development at all stages
and across all sectors and levels of society.

Promotion and support of indigenous social institutions, especially those
strengthening the family and cohesive communities that link and
collaborates together on an equitable basis.
V. Organizational/Tactical Principles
Unlike the basic principles outlined above, tactical principles are more specific and
serve as guidelines for tactical operations in organizing.
1. Start where the people are. Organizers may have to begin with the felt needs
which maybe concrete, simple, short term and personal issued by many
people in the community.
2. Recognize Self-interest. Interest as an initial motivating factor for people’s
involvement, but to be effective, it must aim at multiplicity of goals to ensure a
bread base of support. Self-interest must later be transformed into acts which
liberate not only some people but also the whole oppressed class.
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3. Use conflict or controversy in agitating change. Organizers should identify
widely and urgently felt community problems and for discontent to stimulates
people to action.
4. Initial activities/projects must be specific. With immediate end and feasible
results to create self-respect and confidence among the people through
success.
5. Move from simple, short term issues to more complex, abstract, systematic
and structural issues gradually buildings on the people’s experiences and
growing capabilities. Tackles all problems especially the root problems. This
means to consider the personal, social, structural problems on the micro level
as related to the macro. The people must develop progressive, strategic and
tactical plans and actions.
6. Create historical models as symbols of possibility of what can be done and
what people are capable of. This encourages people to have both patience
and sense of urgency.
7. In establishing people’s organization, its structure should have:

Maximum people’s participation

Maximum control by the people. There should be structural measures
to avoid the leader-oriented and too centralized decision making
process.

Simplicity. Avoid bureaucratic structures by setting up the necessary
and functional committees only.
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