The story of the Philippine environment during the past two decades is one of growing stress and resource degradation that has recently forced the Philippine polity and society to resolve the problem. This paper seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the issue of sustainable...

The Philippines is in the midst of a region where its neighboring countries are on their way to greater economic openness and deeper economic integration. The country has followed suit and is in fact a member of various international trade organizations. This paper focuses on two important...

The recent currency and financial turmoil in East Asia have led to the evaluation of current financial and macroeconomic policies. The Philippines, which has been the worst hit in the 1980 economic crisis has indicated greater resilience in the 1990 financial crisis. Experts have attributed this...

Using the principle of subsidiary and the general rule of optimal intervention, this paper reviews the current discussion in the WTO on resolving the issues of environment-related trade and trade-related environmental measures with the rules of the multilateral trading system. Economic growth,...

While agriculture sector has performed poorly during the 1980s, it still remains as an important sector in the country. This paper proposes a set of policy and institutional reforms to improve the sector’s performance focusing on three aspects: completion of the sector’s deregulation,...

Reduction in tariff rates has been one of the major developments in international trade. With the forged commitments in Uruguay Round and unilateral trade liberalization/tariff reduction programs under regional trading arrangements, further tariff reduction is expected. Despite the reforms and...

From a preferential tariff rate, ASEAN has decided to move to a free trade area by the first decade of the 21st century and the creation of an ASEAN economic region by the year 2020. Towards this end, member countries are expected to jointly address various trade concerns. Through unity and...

Using a political economy perspective, this paper establishes the strong relationship between rice and politics and explains recent developments in the Philippine rice landscape. Results of the analysis show that the price of rice has been a significant determinant in election results since the...

A sustained healthy growth in agriculture requires an equally sustained healthy growth in the macroeconomy. It is towards this end that this article suggests policy directions for agriculture sector. This article is presented at the 31st Annual Convention of the Philippine Agricultural Economics...

This paper discusses financial reform and development in the Philippines during the past one and a half decades and the challenges facing the financial sector in the light of greater international financial integration. Issues on prudential regulation and how it can be improved and strengthened...