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PIDS Updates

THURSDAY / 26 JANUARY 2017
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IN FOCUS: Nongovernment Reforestation in the Philippines

This study reviews and assesses nongovernment reforestation in the Philippines vis-à-vis government and total reforestation using primary and secondary data. The objective is to identify issues and problems related to nongovernment reforestation and recommend actions that can be undertaken to address them. It finds that government reforestation dominates total reforestation, while nongovernment reforestation only has a relatively small contribution in recent years. During the first three years of implementing the National Greening Program, the growth of nongovernment reforestation had been erratic, increasing in 2011 but decreasing in 2012 and 2013. This study asserts that private reforestation—or reforestation conducted by the private sector under no agreement with the government—has been the main driver of nongovernment reforestation at present. However, its full development as an industry has been hindered by various institutional, production, and marketing issues and problems. This study recommends ways to address these problems and issues to move nongovernment reforestation forward.

DOWNLOAD THE RESEARCH PAPER HERE

Know what other PIDS studies have to say about reforestation and the National Greening Program. Visit the SocioEconomic Research Portal for the Philippines. Simply type “reforestation”, "tree planting", "private reforestation", "national greening program”, and other related keywords in the Search box.
EVENTS

March 30, 2017
Roundtable on The Future of the ASEAN Community:
Unlocking ASEAN’S Next Chapter
Venue: TBD

February 9, 2017
Seminar on Global Uncertainty: Regional Headwinds and the Philippines' Economic Promise
Venue: PIDS Conference Room, 18th Floor Three Cyberpod Centris - North Tower, EDSA cor. Quezon Ave., Quezon City

 

CALL FOR PAPERS

PJD

The Philippine Journal of Development is a professional journal published by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). It accepts papers that examine key issues in development and have strong relevance to policy development. As a multidisciplinary social science journal, it accepts papers in the fields of economics, political science, public administration, sociology, and other related disciplines. It considers papers that have strong policy implications on national or international concerns, particularly development issues in the Asia-Pacific region.

CLICK HERE for the guidelines in the preparation of articles. Submissions and inquiries may be sent to PJD@mail.pids.gov.ph.

NEW PUBLICATIONS

PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT

This volume is significant for two reasons. First, it introduces the new Editorial Board members who will be providing direction and guidance to the Philippine Journal of Development (PJD) in the next five years. Second, it also introduces some changes in format. We redesigned the cover, adjusted the journal’s dimensions, and improved the layout. All of these are meant to make the PJD more user friendly to its readers. This combined volume, which consists of eight articles, includes topics on the Pacific Alliance for the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, liberalizing trade in APEC environmental goods, Philippines-United States free trade agreement on trade in goods, services–manufacturing linkage, competitiveness of Philippine services, stock market development in the Philippines, domestic resource cost in Philippine agriculture, and health accounts estimates of the Philippines. Click here for the full volume.

 

DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH NEWS

This final issue of the Development Research News (DRN) in 2016 highlights social protection measures like the government's Agricultural Insurance Program that seeks to mitigate the negative impact of disasters on agriculture and help small farmers and fishermen recover from shocks. The multisite impact evaluation study conducted by PIDS shows the program fell short of its objective. Reasons include the low uptake of the program attributable to its limited presence at the grassroots, the insufficient amount of insurance coverage, and the inefficient settlement of claims. Calls for program enhancement also go to the implementers of the Students' Grants-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation and the utilization of the Motor Vehicle Users Charge, which are also featured in this issue. This DRN issue also highlights the value of collaborative partnerships as avenues for shaping and enriching policy discourse and development, policy research, and knowledge exchange. This is exemplified in the Socioeconomic Research Portal for the Philippines project and the Institute's collaboration with fellow think tanks Korea Institute for International Economic Policy and Asia Competitiveness Institute of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Click here for the full issue.

 

ECONOMIC ISSUE OF THE DAY

This Economic Issue of the Day discusses the basic concepts of mergers and acquisitions as well as their advantages and disadvantages to the economy, in general. While mergers do not necessarily harm market competition, this paper calls for firms to abide by fair competition laws and regulations, particularly the new Philippine Competition Act, which provides the guidelines on competition-related activities. It likewise argues that these business activities can be good or bad depending on the extent to which they are likely to create substantial changes in the market structure and the probable impact on consumer welfare. Click here for the full article.

 

POLICY NOTES

DISCUSSION PAPERS

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PRESS RELEASES

3Experts gather to discuss issues on federalism

State think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) hosted the assessment and coordination meeting of the Federalism Initiative Project last January 16 at its office in Centris, Quezon City. The meeting was attended by experts in the fields of political science, governance, economics, and finance from government, academe, and international organizations.

PIDS President Gilberto Llanto, in his opening statement, emphasized the importance of carefully studying the proposals to shift from the current government structure to a new one. He noted that the studies and discussions from this group could serve as valuable inputs in the current political discourse on federalism. READ MORE

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PIDS study calls for greater transparency and accountability in spending MVUC fund

To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the collection and disbursement of the Motor Vehicle Users Charge (MVUC) fund, a study by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) is calling for greater transparency and accountability among government agencies involved in the program.

The call was in response to allegations of misuse and politicized allocation of the MVUC fund. For example, a 2009 World Bank study noted that MVUC funds were used to fund employment-generating roadside maintenance programs such as sweeping, beautification, and planting. READ MORE

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Giving crop insurance to poor farmers helps reduce poverty—PIDS study

Crop insurance can be an effective safety net that can significantly reduce poverty among agricultural households. This is according to a study by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

In a forum held at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, PIDS Senior Research Fellow Celia Reyes noted that around half of the households who are engaged in agriculture can be considered as sometimes poor. READ MORE
DATABASE UPDATE

EXCHANGE RATE

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The peso-dollar exchange rate continued to go up in December 2016, reaching a monthly average of PHP 49.82. It is the highest rate registered in 2016. This is also higher compared to PHP 47.23 in the same period in 2015. It brought the average peso-dollar exchange rate for 2016 to PHP 47.49, which is higher than the PHP 45.50 in 2015. To download the time-series data on monthly average peso-dollar exchange rate, please click this link: http://econdb.pids.gov.ph/tablelists/table/905.

Source of data: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

 

PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE INDEX

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Philippine Stock Exchange Index ended at 6,804.64 for the month of December 2016. This is lower compared to 6,781.20 for November 2016. To download the time-series data on Philippine Stock Exchange Index, please click this link: http://econdb.pids.gov.ph/tablelists/table/643.

Source of data: Philippine Stock Exchange

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© 2017 Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

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