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PIDS Updates

WEDNESDAY/ 26 JUNE 2019


PUBLICATIONS


POLICY NOTE

3PN 2019-06: Mobilizing Local Governments
To Prevent Child Stunting
by Alejandro S. Herrin, Michael R.M. Abrigo, Zhandra C. Tam, and Danica A.P. Ortiz

This Policy Note reviews the current international and national focus on child stunting prevention, including health and nutrition programs and status of nutrition outcomes among mothers and children. It finds that while the national government has already devolved the implementation of health and nutrition programs, these interventions have yet to produce sufficient national impact. It notes a number of factors that limit the performance of local governments in the prevention of child stunting. These include the difficulty of aligning their priorities with national targets, aggravated by inadequate local data for priority setting, and the limited local resources for health and nutrition. To address these issues, the study urges the national government to develop a comprehensive national guideline and operational strategies to guide local governments and likewise suggests adoption of local nutrition ordinances that implement the national law. Moreover, it argues that ensuring the implementation of stunting prevention program at scale across local governments to produce national impact requires reducing the large inequalities in financial capacity that currently exist. Click here to download the paper.

 

DISCUSSION PAPERS

DP 2019-05: Examining the Women's Low Labor Market Participation Rate in the Philippines:
Is Housework the Missing Link?

by Connie Bayudan-Dacuycuy

While the Philippines has achieved several milestones advancing gender equality in the country, there are some areas that can still benefit from further government interventions. One such area pertains to the moderate female participation in the labor market, which hardly improved in the last 26 years. The lackluster participation of women in the labor market presents a continuing concern, and this is amply reflected in Philippine Development Plans and laws designed to support working women. However, other important factors remain to be addressed, and this paper looks into the role of women's housework. The paper also discusses the role of housework on men's market work. Doing so provides a holistic perspective and hence, a better narrative to ensure that both men and women equally benefit from development. Results indicate that housework affects both men and women's participation in market work. However, the study finds a bigger increase in women's market work participation when they do not engage in nonmarket work and a bigger decrease when their spouses do not share in the household production. Click here to download the paper.

DP 2019-04: A Note on the 2019 President's Budget
by Janet S. Cuenca

This paper attempts to assess the proposed shift in the country's budget system from obligation-based to cash-based budgeting and its implications on the 2019 proposed national budget. In the process, it aims to inform policy deliberations on Senate Bill 1761 (formerly Senate Bill 1450), otherwise known as the Budget Reform Bill, by discussing the concept of cash-based budgeting with focus on its advantages and disadvantages and its implications on the proposed national budget for 2019 and on government operations and practices. It also examines the past disbursement performance of the national government as well as the factors affecting its performance. The paper argues that there is a need to reconsider the shift from obligation-based to the annual cash-based budget scheme—a move initiated by the Department of Budget and Management—in view of the perennial issues faced by government agencies/units. Click here to download the paper.



 

EVENT

 

June 19, 2019, 2:00–5:00PM
Public Seminar on Labor
and Education

Venue: PIDS Conference Room, 18th Floor, Three Cyberpod Centris - North Tower, EDSA corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City

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CALL FOR PAPERS

PJD

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.



PRESS RELEASES

3 K to 12 can enhance technical, soft skills of senior high students—PIDS study

Senior high school (SHS) students believe that the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, also known as the K to 12 Program, will help them firm up their choices and plans for their college education and future careers, as well as develop their technical and soft skills.
 
This is according to a study released by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) titled “Senior High School and the Labor Market: Perspectives of Grade 12 Students and Human Resource Officers”. The research team was composed of PIDS Senior Research Fellow Aniceto Orbeta, Jr., Consultant Marites Lagarto, Senior Research Specialist Ma. Kristina Ortiz, Supervising Research Specialist Danica Aica Ortiz, and Research Analyst Maropsil Potestad. READ MORE

3Mining laws in PH face implementation issues, PIDS study reveals

Various issues hound the country’s mining industry, a study published by Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) revealed.

In her policy noted titled “Challenges in the Philippine mining industry”, PIDS Consultant Eligia Clemente highlighted problems in the implementation of mining laws, particularly in the issuance of permits and ordinances of local government units (LGUs), as well as in the declaration of indigenous people (IP) claims. She also found institutional issues within the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). READ MORE

 

3 More boys drop out of school than girls in PH's basic educ—PIDS study

More boys drop out of school or obtain failing grades compared to girls in basic education, a research study of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) revealed.
 
The PIDS research paper titled "Boys Are Still Left Behind in Basic Education" showed that about two-thirds or 65 percent of out-of-school children (OOSC) in 2017, aged 5-17 years, were composed of boys. It also revealed that 22 percent of boys between ages 12 and 15 did not reach the upper secondary level compared with girls at 12 percent. This is also similar in the lower secondary level (12-15 years old) wherein the OOSC rate for boys was at 8 percent and 3 percent for girls. READ MORE

 

3 Refine social protection programs—PIDS study

As public spending on social protection programs increases, government should continuously improve the design and implementation of these programs.
 
The Philippine government spent 5.8 percent of its total annual budget from 2009 to 2017 on social protection, according to a study of state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) titled “A Public Expenditure Review of Social Protection Programs in the Philippines”.

Social protection programs under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) received the lion's share of the government's social protection budget in the said period—an average of 0.04 percent of the national budget or about 45 percent of the annual budget of the DSWD. READ MORE


3 Increase local revenues to improve antenatal care access in PH—PIDS expert

Women from more vibrant local economies have greater access to antenatal care services.
 
This was according to Michael Abrigo, a research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), who presented his study titled “Devolution of Health Services, Fiscal Decentralization, and Antenatal Care in the Philippines” during a public seminar organized by the Institute.

Based on the study, Abrigo mentioned that utilization of antenatal care services has generally increased for the last 25 years, or since the early years of the implementation of the Local Government Code of 1991. READ MORE

 

3 PH improves on SDGs—PIDS

The country is making headway in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in terms of increasing labor productivity and reducing income equality, said a senior research fellow of state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

Citing results of the Philippines 2019 Voluntary National Review (VNR) Report on the SDGs during a policy dialogue recently organized by the Institute and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Dr. Jose Ramon Albert said the Philippines’ labor productivity grew by 8.4 percent in 2017. READ MORE

 


INFOGRAPHICS

POLICY ISSUE AT A GLANCE

How Has the PH Government Spent on Social Protection?

Social protection is one of the government`s main policy instruments to eradicate poverty and to reduce the vulnerability of the poor and marginalized to economic and social risks. How does the government invest in social protection programs? How has the design and implementation of these programs changed in the past decade?  

This infographic looks at the different social protection programs in the Philippines and how much the Philippine government has invested in these programs in recent years. It also compares the various programs in terms of budget allocations and provides some general findings and recommendations on how to further improve these programs.

This infographic is based on PIDS Discussion Paper Series No. 2018-31 titled A Public Expenditure Review of Social Protection Programs in the Philippines written by Dr. Charlotte Justine Diokno-Sicat and Ms. Maria Alma Mariano, PIDS research fellow and research specialist, respectively.

 

To view in actual size, visit the PIDS website or the PIDS Facebook page.

 

FACT FRIDAY

Every Friday, PIDS releases nuggets of research results culled from different PIDS studies. Here are the latest #PIDSFactFriday issues.

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© 2018 Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

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