For November 10, 2022

1. Complete the outline you submitted last Tuesday.

A Position Paper on ______________________

I. Introduction
A. Background Information (Provide factual information about the issue you
have chosen.)
B. Problem (What is/are the negative consequences of the problem?)
C. Position on the Issue (Thesis)
II. Counter Argument
III. Your Arguments
A. Support 1
Explanation, Evidence
B. Support 2
Explanation, Evidence
C. Support 3
Explanation, Evidence
IV. Conclusion

2. Check your outline by comparing its content and organization with that of the two sample position
papers or to the sample outlines provided here OR by answering the questions below.

Issue/Problem: Did you identify an issue or problem which you think you can help solve
by writing a position paper?
Thesis: Did you state your overall position/stance on the issue? Is your position a
recommendation for a course of action? Does it imply or directly state the
target reader/s (your agent of change/ a person, group, or institution like the
government) of the paper?
Arguments: Did you give three supports to your stand? Do your three arguments present
specific actions you want your reader/s to do? Did you explain your claims?
Did you support your claims with evidence (facts, figures, personal narrative)

Revise your outline as necessary.

3. Guided by what you have learned from the uploaded materials and from our discussion, and
following your revised outline, write a 3-page, 6-paragraph position paper. The purpose of the
paper is to convince you intended audience or agent of change to take a course of action to resolve
a problem. The intro should be 5-6 sentences (2-3 sentences background information, 1-2
sentences issue, 1 sentence thesis) only and the conclusion, 4-5 sentences. Use blue font for the
background information part, red for the issue part, and green for the thesis. Write your counter
argument paragraph (second paragraph) in 4-5 sentences. The three-paragraph body should
present and discuss your three supports. Provide proofs or evidence (facts, statistics, personal
narratives) to support your claims. Use green font for the topic sentence of each body paragraph.

4. For the format and citation, follow the APA Documentation Style (Please refer to the first folder,
Course Orientation, in the Content area of your course site). For font size and type, margin,
 spacing, format of the title page, page number, and other format concerns, click General Format in
the main menu.

Note: Number of pages of the final document is 5. (3 pages - essay, 1page - title page, 1 page for
the references)
Minimum of 3 references.

5. Submit your final outline and your position paper. (PDF) (Surname_1-7_PPWFinalDraft)

(The outlines below were written and submitted by Engineering students in their PURPCOM class, the
first one during the first half of the first sem, 2022-2023 while the second, last Monday.)

Illegal Logging Activities in the SM

 I. Introduction

A. Background Information: The Sierra Madre, which stretches more than 540 kilometers
from north to south on the island of Luzon, is a priceless area of biodiversity, a diverse
habitat of ancient forests and species found nowhere else on the earth. 
B. Problem/Issue:  The loss of trees due to illegal logging would mean loss of natural
habitat for many species of birds and other animals and cause more landslides and
flooding in affected areas. 
C. Position (Thesis): Given this fact, it is critical to halt deforestation and biodiversity loss
while significantly increasing afforestation and reforestation initiatives in the Sierra
Madre Mountain Range. 

 II. Counter-arguments

A. Present the counter-arguments: 

1. During the Enhanced National Greening Program, a recent endeavor to
rehabilitate the country's forested areas, billions of seedlings were planted. 
2. The "Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park (NSMNP) Act of 2001" was mandated
to assure the protection and conservation of the NSMNP's biodiversity through
sustainable and participatory development. 
B. Refute the counter-arguments: 

1. Survival rates for young trees have been low, and effective reforestation has just
compensated for persistent deforestation in other areas of the Sierra Madre
Mountain Range. 
2. Despite the mandate, the Philippine government's proposed Kaliwa Dam in
General Nakar, Quezon, will not only cause irreversible environmental damage to
the Sierra Madre, but it will also endanger several endemic fauna, disrupt
biodiversity, and displace many indigenous people local to the area.                     

III. My Arguments
 A. First, law enforcement should be strengthened to prevent activities resulting in
deforestation and biodiversity loss, such as illegal logging and mining in the Sierra Madre
Mountain Range. 
B. Second, programs that significantly increase afforestation and reforestation should be
implemented and monitored on a sustained basis to avoid the offset of continued
deforestation in other areas of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range

C. Third, Sierra Madre's protected areas should be heavily safeguarded by patrollers to reduce
frequent development aggressions from people who have profited from selling and
occupying land.

II. Conclusion

*This sample has counter argument part.

Security and Safety in our Village in Santa Rosa, Laguna

I. Introduction
A. Background Information
B. Issue/Problem
C. Position (Thesis): It is necessary that the homeowners association of Villa _____ ensure
the safety and protection of the residents to prevent any untoward incidents.

II. The association should invest in the training of personnel on proper evaluation methods and
practices to identify any suspicious individuals.

III. The association should also install more security cameras in key areas.

IV. The association should hire at least two roving guards to increase security patrol sessions even
during daytime.

V. Conclusion

*No counter-argument part

Position Paper: PHILIPPINE DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2008

The Philippines ranks among the world’s most  disaster-prone countries. It is highly prone to
natural disasters, particularly typhoons, floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and
tsunamis, lying as it does in the typhoon belt, in the active volcanic region known as the “Pacific Ring of
Fire,” and in the geologically unstable region between the Pacific and Eurasian tectonic plates. Aside
from the natural disasters that reap an especially heavy human toll each year, thousands are also
displaced by human-made disasters like armed conflict and development aggression. The intensifying
effect of climate change also aggravates the already burdened citizens with the worsening economic
instability worldwide. Given this reality, the urgency for a comprehensive disaster management system
and program is paramount.

Unfortunately, what we currently have in so far as government response is concerned is a

national coordinating committee    which as the name implies. coordinates and meets only    when a
typhoon is about to strike the country.    At the local level, effectiveness of the said structure is uneven
with some focused only on the release of their calamity funds which later on became a source of
corruption. Only a few exceptional cases led by the local disaster committees were able to go beyond
their limited resources and muster the heroic volunteerism of the ordinary citizen. While we commend
the initiatives of enacting the Philippine Disaster Risk Management Act of 2008, we at the CDRC,
together with our network of regional centers throughout the country, are pushing for a comprehensive
and pro-people disaster management approach that will truly address the people’s needs.

First, a comprehensive disaster management bill has to adequately address the root causes of
people’s vulnerabilities to disasters. The people’s poor economic condition only aggravates their
situation during disasters. The poor are the most vulnerable sector when calamities strike, making it
imperative to address poverty in disaster management.

Second, a comprehensive disaster management bill has to rely on building people’s capacities
toward attaining disaster-resiliency through the community-based disaster management approach. It
should highlight a proactive disaster management scheme, giving emphasis on people’s participation,
prioritizing the most vulnerable groups, families, and people in the community. It should adopt risk
reduction measures which are community-specific and enhance the existing coping mechanisms and
capacities within the community. It should recognize the supporting and facilitating role of the less
vulnerable sectors. It should be linked with the overall development framework.    Its efforts should
strengthen the people’s organizations at the grassroots level and provide positive conditions for the
poorest of the poor to be organized as disaster committees on the level of their communities.

Third, the bill should also define comprehensive and concrete disaster management programs
and services that focus not only during the relief and emergency phases but also more importantly on
the pre and post calamity phases of disasters. It should provide a comprehensive, all-hazard, multi-
sectoral, inter-agency and community-based approach to disaster risk reduction emphasizing on disaster
prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and rehabilitation.    In addition, this bill should be bold
enough to protect the majority of the Filipinos who comprise the most vulnerable sectors all the
necessary protections from all form of deprivations and exploitation from both internal and external
aggressors who hide under the title of development projects and recite the all too worn out formula of
“free market forces and considerations.”

Fourth, any bill which would address disaster in order to be truly effectively managed and
implemented should set up machinery which would be free from the influence and depredations of
politics and any undue influence of religion, gender and race.    In order to guarantee this, an
independent body of civilian led and citizenry-based machinery should be set-up at the national level and
organize up to the level of the barangays.
Since armed conflict is turning to be one of the major human-made disaster concerns – it is but
appropriate to separate the efforts of the military and police to attend to disasters as part of their civil-
military operations from that of a    truly independent and “neutral” effort.    In addition, the military and
police in turn could be well utilized on the more urgent and technical work of rescue where their
expertise could be put to best use.
 Of course, the machinery we have in mind though independent should be within the ambit of
government and promote the values and principles of the latter as enshrined in the constitution.    In fact,
the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Anti-Poverty Commission could
effectively run this machinery which could be in the form of a commission or whatever this august body
may deem more appropriate. In lieu of the military and police forces, the efforts of the civilian body
could enlist the participation of established religions and churches who had put up their unblemished
reputation on helping the poor. Without imposing, the bill should be able to monitor efforts of other
NGOs and corporate entities and provide an effective venue for pooled resources and efforts based on
voluntary cooperation. And in the very end, the effectiveness of this “disaster bill” would be proven its
real worth on the day when it shall conclude that there is not    much more work for it to do as the
conditions both natural and societal have improved to a point that no major danger or vulnerability is
left for it to attend to on a full time basis.    This is a dream all right but would be sufficient to guide the
course of action of any individual, group, institution or organization who would like to address the issue
of disaster.   

*With counter argument

2018 Position Paper

Every school day, federal child nutrition programs provide nutritious meals that are critical to the
health and academic success of more than 30 million students nationwide. The federal government plays
a vital role in the success of these programs: providing reimbursements for each meal served, ensuring
equal access to free and reduced price meals for students in need and administering national nutrition
standards.
The School Nutrition Association (SNA), representing 57,000 professionals who work on the
frontlines in school nutrition programs, urges Congress and the Administration to protect students by
strengthening the federal government’s commitment to these programs. Congress should bolster
historically under-funded school meal programs, which contribute to economic growth and national
security, and USDA should continue to minimize unnecessary regulatory burdens. SNA specifically
requests that Congress:

1. Oppose any effort to block grant school meal programs. Block grants will dismantle an effective and
crucial federal program, putting students at risk by cutting funds and abolishing federal standards for
school meals. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warned that block grants could
“eliminate access to nutrition programs for some children and reduce it for others.” Fixed-sum block
grants would leave states without adequate funds to respond to unforeseen circumstances, including
natural disasters or economic recessions. Students in need would go without.

2. Support H.R. 3738, the Healthy Breakfasts Help Kids Learn Act, to provide 6 cents in USDA Foods
(commodities) for every school breakfast served. Currently, commodity support is only provided for
school lunch. Expanding USDA Foods to support the School Breakfast Program will allow more students
to benefit from a nutritious school breakfast, help schools cover rising costs and advance USDA’s mission
of supporting America’s farmers.
3. Continue to monitor and support USDA’s work to simplify overly burdensome child nutrition
mandates to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. Duplicative administrative requirements divert
school nutrition professionals’ attention from their mission of nourishing students.

4. USDA is modifying federal nutrition regulations to help school menu planners manage challenges and
prepare nutritious meals that appeal to diverse student tastes. Overly prescriptive regulations resulted in
unintended consequences, including reduced student lunch participation, higher costs and food waste.
Therefore, SNA asks Congress to monitor USDA’s efforts to provide school meal program flexibility. The
final rule should:
• MaintaintheTarget1sodiumlevelsandeliminatefuturetargets.TheInstituteofMedicinewarnedtha
t “reducing the sodium content of school meals as specified and in a way that is well accepted by
students will present major challenges and may not be possible.” (School Meals: Building Blocks
for Healthy Children, 2010)
• Restore the initial requirement that at least half of grains offered with school meals be whole
grain rich. The current mandate that all grains offered be whole grain rich has increased waste
and costs and contributed to the decline in student lunch participation. Students are eating more
whole grains, but schools still struggle with students’ regional and cultural preferences for
specific refined grains, such as white rice, pasta, grits or tortillas. The temporary whole grain
waiver process is inconsistent across states, limiting the availability of waivers to struggling
schools unable to meet overly burdensome application mandates.

*No counter-argument

* I will be online from 2:00-3:00.

Please Note:

1. File: PDF Surname_1-7_PPWFinalDraft

2. Please add 1 page for the outline. (Title page, Outline, Paper(3 pages), References page)
3. Those who will be revising the outline and may not be able to finish writing the 6-paragraph
essay today, you may skip the counterargument and the concluding paragraphs and submit
these two paragraphs on Saturday.