I'm back from field work and data gathering for my research. There are still gaps and contradictions of data from the same government agency. Now that's very frustrating-- it is the backbone for my analysis yet it is lacking. I was often being passed from one office to another, from one staff to another. And when I went to the responsible person since that's what his/her designation is, I was told he/she is not allowed to disclose the budget since they have a memorandum not to give the exact amount as how much they get for their rice sufficiency budget. It's a public document and as a taxpayer I do have the right to know where my taxes are going. But they do have a different idea of 'transparency.' They can give me other data except for the budget. Now that smells fishy, right?

I could not push the person since she's only a staff and the order was from the Region. Now, I am having headache. But well, it was also a memorable experience as to how I would use my creativity just to make a subtle coercion on getting the needed data. Ha!