The San Juan Cemetery Project aims to address the overcrowding and disarray of the public cemetery in San Juan town by engaging citizens, particularly the global Filipino community with roots in San Juan. An anonymous person will initiate the project online to discuss the problem and potential solutions. Key stakeholders include local citizens, youth and student groups, and local government officials. The project will start with an online story about the cemetery issue, drive discussion on social media, and link to groups on the ground to take action. Opportunities include increased internet access, while risks include lack of participation or follow through. Measures of success will include policies enacted and ongoing online reporting and dialogue.

1. The San Juan Cemetery Project
Engaging the global Filipino locally

2. The Challenge
• San Juan town’s public cemetery is overcrowded and in disarray
• No one is taking charge to address the problem
• Collective action problem
• Governance failure
• Brain drain and the vanishing middle class in the Philippines
• Absence of civil society and the media

3. Objectives
• Engage and mobilize citizens particularly the global Filipino to come up with
policy and action on the San Juan Cemetery problem.
• Experiment on a model to effectively engage the global Filipino in local
governance

4. Key players
• The project will be initiated by anonymous person online
• Other key stakeholders:
• Citizens particularly the global Filipino who hails or has roots from San Juan
• Youth and student groups
• Local government officials particularly the Mayor, local legislative council, department
heads of the local government
• Parish Priest and Parish Pastoral Council

5. How it works
INITIATE
• Online feature
story and
information on
the San Juan
public cemetery
problem is
published online
MOTIVATE
• Drive internet
traffic to site
using social
media and
network analysis
• Guide discussion
towards
solutions and
actions
ACTIVATE
• Link up to youth
and student
groups to
provide the loop
on the ground

6. Risks and Opportunities
Opportunities Risks
• Philippine government will provide free wifi in
public town plazas across the country stating
July 2015 providing more citizens with access to
the internet
• Proliferation of reasonably prized mobile
devices
• Social media and innovative online petition tools
• Barriers to internet access could prevent citizens
based in San Juan from providing feedback
• No takers on the ground to take the petition or
do action on online recommendations
• No or minimal reaction

7. Measures that matter
• Moratorium on the construction of new concrete tombstones within the
existing cemetery
• Designation of an authorized person to manage the public cemetery
• Monthly online reporting and dialogue mechanisms
• Also, reception and response of global Filipinos, nascent organizations on
the ground and local government