Poverty incidence in the Philippines is rising based on the national official data released by the National Statistical Coordination Board. Poverty incidence among population rose from 24.9 percent in 2003 to 26.4 percent in 2006 and then inched up further to 26.5 percent in 2009. This is in...

Depicting the Philippines as a prescientific society, this paper discusses how the environment plays a significant role in shaping the culture of research and scientific productivity. Such conducive environment includes having an adequate think space, a supportive and engaging critical mass, and...

Based on available statistics, between 127 and 130 million people in Southeast Asia lack access to electricity. At least 228 million still rely on traditional biomass for cooking and lack access to clean and modern cooking facilities, with dire consequences for their quality of life and human...

The Employed Program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) caters to those in the formal sector. Included are those in the government and private sectors with a formal employer-employee relationship. Coverage levels for both the government and private sectors are promising...

The Individually Paying Program (IPP) is the voluntary component of the Philippines` social health insurance program. The program caters to those in the informal sector and those without a formal employer-employee relationship. Coverage levels for the IPP were found to be considerably low with a...

This study established the breadth of socialized Philippine health insurance, known as the PhilHealth Sponsored Program. It examined the extent of coverage relative to its target "poor" population, how much coverage rates varied across provinces and the factors likely to explain variation....

Studies find increasing frequency, intensity, and impacts of natural disasters, especially as they interplay with the negative effects of climate change, environmental degradation, and rapid urbanization. The financial implications could be massive, especially in terms of damages on private...

This paper is a narrative account and assessment of the grassroots participatory budgeting (GPB) process in three municipalities of the Negros Province, namely, Sagay City, Hinigaran, and Cauayan. The GPB process was implemented with the objective of empowering civil society organizations (CSOs)...

The Aquino administration through the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC) and Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Cluster (GGACC) launched the bottom-up budgeting (BUB) exercise in 2012. The strategy hopes to empower civil society organizations (CSOs) and citizens` groups to...