PIDS Book 2020-01: Navigating the New Globalization:
Local Actions for Global Challenges
by Philippine Institute for Development Studies

The New Globalization has reached the Philippine shores. To assist the country in crafting relevant policies on this phenomenon, the fifth Annual Public Policy Conference (APPC) became the stage for a critical analysis of the issues surrounding this new phase of growth. Among others, it emphasized the globalization's impact on Philippine trade, environment, public health, equity, social cohesion, and information sharing.

This volume is a compilation of the studies and papers presented during the fifth APPC. It provides government leaders, policymakers, the academe, and the public a useful reference material on the New Globalization. Click here to download the proceedings.

PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT

Philippine Journal of Development, Vol. 44 No. 2
by Various Authors

This volume of the Philippine Journal of Development features articles on migration, performance and competitiveness of local small and medium enterprises (SMEs), trade and investments, and energy. The first article examines how Filipinos' social standing, migration culture and history, and perceptions of the government collectively influence their intentions to migrate, particularly for employment reasons. The second article looks into the benefits of supply chain integration for local SMEs and their stakeholders while the third article focuses on the likely effects of China's massive infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative, on Philippine trade and investment. Concluding this issue is an article that reviews the country’s legal and regulatory framework for distributed energy resources. It gives recommendations on how the Philippines can adapt to current trends in the global energy sector especially in small-scale power generation and storage technologies. Click here to download the paper.

DISCUSSION PAPERS

DP 2020-21: Assessing the Resurgent Irrigation Development Program of the Philippines:
Synthesis Report
by Arlene B. Inocencio and Albert Dale Inocencio

This paper synthesizes the results and findings of the four component studies under the resurgent irrigation development assessment: assessment of national irrigation systems, assessment of communal irrigation systems, the water resource assessment, and the governance components. This synthesis is structured according to the research questions posed in the component studies along the project cycle. The first two components provided technical and institutional evaluations of selected national and communal irrigation systems across the country, from project identification, preparation, appraisal, and selection to project implementation, operations maintenance, and monitoring and evaluation. The water resources component of the study assessed irrigation service areas based on their orginal design and compared them to the actual service areas with regard to water availability, land use (including flood vulnerability), and status of irrigation facilities. The governance component, on the other hand, discussed and analyzed the governance mechanisms for the irrigation sector and the irrigation project from planning to monitoring and evaluation. Click here to download the paper.

DP 2020-20: Review of Indigenous Peoples Policy and Institutional Grounding
by Sonny N. Domingo and Arvie Joy A. Manejar

Around 300 million indigenous peoples (IPs) have been identified across 70 countries. Fourteen million of them are located in the Philippines, with their cultural zones taking up as much as 44 percent of the country's land area. There has been much confusion regarding their identity and rights, resulting in a lengthy policy and institutional evolution in the sector. This, eventually, resulted in the passage of the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act (IPRA) in 1997 and the establishment of the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples. It took almost a decade for the institution to issue salient guidelines and regulations under the IPRA. The delay also affected numerous opportunities in the sector, such as in leveraging indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) and their ancestral domains against encroachment. The landmark legislation safeguarded essential core rights of the IPs/ICCs. While the IPRA seemingly provides enough protection to IP/ICC rights, the protection of these rights remained contentious on the ground. The IPs/ICCs true empowerment is visible only through their claim and stewardship of ancestral domains, preservation of the integrity of their cultural heritage, and the protection of their basic human rights and social entitlements. Going forward, the IPs/ICCs must assume their rightful place as empowered stewards of their historical domains, and mainstream their interests and advocacies. The Commission, as the enabling institution, must review its bureaucratic functions and address the roots of certain weaknesses to better deliver mandated services and own its critical role in safeguarding the welfare of IPs/ICCs. Click here to download the paper.

DP 2020-19: Looking at Local Government Resilience through Network Data Envelopment Analysis
by Sonny N. Domingo and Arvie Joy A. Manejar

The study looks into the disaster risk resilience of provincial governments in the Philippines using World Bank (WB) socioeconomic resiliency estimates and cross-sectional data generated by the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine Statistics Authority. Treating provincial governments as decisionmaking units (DMUs) with bureaucratic sub-units at the provincial and city/municipal levels, composite efficiency scores were generated using an integrated Data Envelopment Approach. A WB-generated socioeconomic resiliency scorecard at the provincial level provided comparative output references for the model. Results show that disaster risk reduction and management inputs at the provincial and sub-province levels greatly contributed to improving socioeconomic capacity and decreasing asset risk. However, DMU efficiency scores varied across the different sub-regional domains. A majority of provincial sub-DMUs also got higher efficiency ratings compared to their municipal/community sub-DMU counterparts, implying the need to rebalance support and disaster resilience-related initiatives at the sub-provincial levels. Click here to download the paper.

Health decentralization in PH ineffective

Studies on health decentralization released by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) found major issues in the policy's design and implementation. The author, PIDS Supervising Research Specialist Janet Cuenca, discussed these at a recent webinar jointly organized by PIDS and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

In her first study, Cuenca examined the effect of health devolution on hospital inpatient services in 54 provinces, including their component cities and municipalities. READ MORE

PIDS and IPOPHL to pursue joint efforts in intellectual property and innovation

The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) to explore opportunities for cooperation in the field of intellectual property and innovation, including joint research projects and training, capacity building and analysis, and resource and information sharing.

The MOU signing was led by PIDS President Celia Reyes and IPOPHL Director General Rowel Barba in a virtual ceremony on June 30, 2020. READ MORE

POLICY ISSUE AT A GLANCE

Do We Have Enough Health Workers in PH?

The country's health human resource density appears to be sufficient based on national figures. However, when disaggregated, less than a quarter of local governments have the ideal density proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). This maldistribution of healthcare workers can aggravate the already unequal access to healthcare services.

This infographic attempts to answer the following questions: Who are the health workers? Where are they? Why are they there? It also flags some issues and puts forward some policy recommendations to address the uneven distribution of health workers in the country.

This infographic is based on PIDS Discussion Paper titled "Who Are the Health Workers and Where Are They? Revealed Preferences in Location Decision among Healthcare Professionals in the Philippines" written by Michael R.M. Abrigo and Danica Aisa P. Ortiz, senior research fellow and former supervising research specialist, respectively, at the PIDS.

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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© 2020 Philippine Institute for Development Studies.