THURSDAY / 08 JUNE 2017

RESEARCH PAPER SERIES

• RPS 2017-01: An Assessment of the Community Mortgage Program Implementation Strategy
  by Marife M. Ballesteros, Tatum P. Ramos, and Jasmine E. Magtibay

The Community Mortgage Program (CMP) is a financing scheme that enables organized residents of slums to borrow funds for land purchase and housing development. It is considered to be the most innovative and responsive government housing program in the Philippines. Nevertheless, the CMP still has weaknesses that have not been given much attention during the years of its implementation. Know more about the issues surrounding the CMP, such as those that pertain to program targeting, service delivery, and organization, and the current processes and overall performance of the CMP, including its variants—the localized CMP and the High-Density Housing Program. The study also provides recommendations on how the identified issues can be addressed. Click here to download the paper.

DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH NEWS

• DRN 2017 Vol. XXXV No. 1: Women and Children with Disabilities Face Dire Conditions, Study Shows
  by Research Information Staff
  

The first issue of the Development Research News (DRN) this 2017 primarily focuses on persons with disabilities (PWDs). Researchers from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), through a research project conducted with the Institute of Developing Economies-Japan External Trade Organization, found that women and children PWDs are still suffering from the same dire conditions as before. The banner story deepens the discussion on this matter and presents the key recommendations that PIDS researchers are offering to improve the situation of the PWDs. This issue also covers the major events of PIDS during the period. These events include the PIDS forum on food security, where PIDS Senior Research Fellow Roehlano Briones attributed the increase of rice prices to the government's policy on self-sufficiency, and the roundtable discussion on the future of the ASEAN Community, which PIDS organized with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. Click here to download the newsletter.

August 24, 2017, 9AM–5PM
ERIA-PIDS-MinDA-AS Public Symposium on “Building ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community and Nation Building”
Venue: Davao City, Philippines

June 20, 2017, 10AM–12PM
Book Launch: Banking on the Future of Asia and the Pacific: 50 Years of the Asian Development Bank
Venue: ADB Headquarters, Mandaluyong City
Click here for the invitation
Click here for the program

The Philippine Journal of Development is a professional journal published by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. 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.

• PN 2017-12: Have We Institutionalized DRRM in the Philippines?
  by Sonny N. Domingo and Ma. Divina C. Olaguera
  
  The Philippine archipelago is one of the riskiest places to live in given the natural geological and hydro-meteorological occurrences, aggravated by human-induced disaster situations. As such, an effective disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) scheme requires action on several fronts, such as governance, social protection, infrastructure, and resource management. This Policy Note assesses the extent of DRRM institutionalization in the country, as well as its knowledge and science application, regional and local cooperation, human capital and capacity building, accounting and administrative processes, and monitoring and evaluation options. Among others, it discovers an apparent institutional divide between the Climate Change Action Plan and the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Plan (NDRRMP), which is inconsistent in the context of a whole-of-government approach. The study calls for the government to harmonize this divide and to contextualize the NDRRMP within the broader perspective of DRRM and its defined thematic pillars. It also urges the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council to assume its leadership mandate as expressed in the law. Click here for the full article.
  
  
• PN 2017-11: Assessment of the Targeting and Financing Aspects of the RSBSA-AIP
  by Celia M. Reyes and Christian D. Mina
  
  The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) is among the first users of the Registry System for the Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) list—a registry of farmers, fisherfolk, and farm laborers mainly used to identify beneficiaries for different agriculture-related programs and services of the government—for the implementation of its special program, the RSBSA Agricultural Insurance Program (AIP). This Policy Note looks into the targeting and financing aspects of the RSBSA-AIP and uncovers leakage problem due to the lax eligibility requirements. It also finds that the PCIC has excluded a significant proportion of eligible agricultural producers from the said program simply because they are not found in the list. Know more about the issues surrounding the RSBSA-AIP and the recommended interventions to come up with a more holistic and efficient RSBSA list. Click here for the full article.
  
  
• PN 2017-10: Examining Energy Use and Weather Variability Through the Gender Lens
  by Connie B. Dacuycuy
  
  While substantial studies on energy use have been done in developing countries, there are limited researches analyzing such within the context of weather variability and gender. This Policy Note provides an analysis between the relationship of households' energy use and different sex composition in response to weather changes. The study reveals that the impact of weather variability is highest in female-headed households in rural areas. Moreover, it also observed a difference in the monthly electrical consumption between female- and male-majority households. Read about the results of the study and some recommendations to improve energy use in Philippine households. Click here for the full article.
  
  
• PN 2017-09: Do Men and Women in the Philippines Have Equal Economic Opportunities?
  by Jose Ramon G. Albert and Jana Flor V. Vizmanos
  
  According to the World Economic Forum, the Philippines has been leading the economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in advancing gender equality since 2006. The organization cited, however, that the country needs to improve economic opportunities for its women population. Using select indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals, it was found out that employed Filipino women indeed face more disadvantages than men. Discover the reasons behind the inequality and how the government can intervene to promote equal economic opportunities. Click here for the full article.
  
  

• DP 2017-20: National Accounts and Household Survey Estimates of Household Expenditures: Why Do They Differ and Why Should We Be Concerned?
  by Jose Ramon G. Albert, Ronina D. Asis, and Jana Flor V. Vizmanos
  
  Estimates of household expenditures directly obtained from the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) and household final consumption expenditures from national accounts have discrepancies, with their divergence generally growing across time. Such discrepancies have consequences to policy: poverty can be overestimated and income inequality can be underestimated if survey-based estimates are biased downward. This paper suggests that there are measurement errors, i.e., undercoverage of wealthy households and the underestimation of their expenditures in the national accounts estimates based on these surveys. Read more about why these surveys matter, what can be done to improve national estimates, and how measurement errors affect the economic standing of the country. Click here for the full paper.
  
  
• DP 2017-19: Rebooting Philippine Telecommunications Through Structural Reform
  by Ma. Kristina P. Ortiz, Ramonette B. Serafica, and Jose Carlos Alexis C. Bairan
  
  The quality of the Philippine telecommunication/information and communication technology (ICT) regulatory environment is significantly below what is considered international best practice. A package of structural reforms is needed to improve regulatory quality and support the efficient functioning of ICT markets. Know more about the recommended reforms to improve the current telecommunications structure of the Philippines through this paper. Click here for the full paper.