Explorations in the Crafting of Government’s Authority and Power Using Institutional Ethnography: The Case of the 2013 Zamboanga Crisis

Crisis response is a clear illustration of what Migdal (2004) posits in his Statein-society approach: the iterative relationship between State authority and social actors\u27 everyday practices. As the rise in recent natural and humanmade disasters call for proficiencies in crisis response, it becomes essential to observe how the variabilities in State-in-society responses unfold through institutionally coordinated everyday social relations. The situation reveals the need to theorize these relationships on the grounds of the dynamic coconstitution of State-in-society. This study employed institutional ethnography (Devault & McCoy, 2002; Smith, 2005); observing the interplay of various actors\u27 interests and strategies within institutional processes after the massive internal displacement that resulted from the 2013 Zamboanga siege. Whereas the Philippines is often portrayed as a weak State with a resilient population, this study suggests the Philippine State\u27s fluid crafting, as illustrated in how various social actors reinterpret, negotiate, and appropriate State, specifically the dispersed government\u27s power and authority during crises. The processes of assisting IDP provided opportunities for local and national actors to redefine their positions against one another and influence the crisis response process\u27s outcomes

Gains and Challenges of the Barangay Health Worker (BHW) Program During COVID-19 in Selected Cities in the Philippines

Background: The Philippine Barangay Health Worker (BHW) program extends the accessibility of health care services at the community level. BHWs are trained volunteers who perform various health-promoting and health-educating tasks and provide primary health care (PHC) services within their communities. However, the weak implementation of policies meant to protect their welfare, like the BHW Benefits and Incentives Act (Republic Act No. 7883), translates to challenges that impact the sustainability of the BHW program. This qualitative study aimed to explore the BHWs\u27 experiences with RA 7883 and how its implementation shaped their overall role as frontline health workers during the pandemic. Method: The researchers conducted key informant interviews in selected barangays in Biñan, Laguna, and Project 7, Quezon City. The participants included BHWs, community health workers (CHWs), co-workers, supervisors, clients, city program coordinators, and BHW district presidents. The researchers thematically coded the interview transcripts to analyze the data. Results: The experiences of the BHWs showed how the gaps in RA 7883 implementation influenced the different aspects of their position. The BHWs expressed the need for sufficient support through remuneration and training opportunities to strengthen their competence and confidence in accomplishing their extensive tasks. The politicization of BHW through patronage politics also created inefficiencies that were detrimental to achieving the program\u27s goals. Conclusion: The poor implementation of RA 7883 undeniably affected the BHWs\u27 motivation and the full realization of their roles. These inadequacies hindered the program\u27s goal of equitable and accessible health services

Challenges and gains in military relations between the Philippines and the United States

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/Leslie V. Advincula-Lopez, Development Studies Program and Institute of Philippine Culture Ateneo de Manila University, explains how, "changes in the global socio-political environment forced the Philippines and the United States to continuously re-calibrate the forms and mechanisms of their defense cooperation.

The complex history of US-Philippine health partnerships

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/Leslie V. Advincula-Lopez, Development Studies Program and Institute of Philippine Culture Ateneo de Manila University, explains that, "[l]ong before the term, global health diplomacy (GHD) became a buzzword in international relations, an efficient Philippine public health system... was a focal point of US-Philippine relations.

Orientalism Reversed: Images and Perceptions of the EU in the Philippines

The following sections are included: ORIENT AND OCCIDENT: EU–PHILIPPINE RELATIONS VIEW FROM THE SIDES: EU IMAGERY IN THE NEWS MEDIA IN THE PHILIPPINES Selected Media EU Media Visibility EU Framing in Media Sources Evaluation of the EU in Media Sources EU Perceptions among the Newsmakers in the Philippines VIEW FROM THE TOP: STAKEHOLDERS\u27 PERCEPTIONS OF THE EU The Importance of Different Regions to the Philippines (in the Present and in the Future) EU as a Great Power EU as an International Leader Relations between the EU and the Philippines State of Relations Euro Perceptions of the EU\u27s Enlargement ASEM Spontaneous Images of the EU Sources of Information VIEW FROM BELOW: EU PERCEPTIONS IN THE PHILIPPINE PUBLIC OPINION EU Partnership with the Philippines Images of Europe Development Actors and ASEM Nature of Ties with Europe SO WHAT? CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

How to make local government institutions work: some lessons on social change

This paper uses Beck\u27s concept of radicalization of rationality, as centered on the changing relationship between social structure and social agents, in understanding how Philippine local government institutions fulfil their varied functions. It traces the various strategies that enabled the municipal mayor and staff of a local government unit in Northern Luzon, who continually deal with the breakdown of bureaucratic and traditional modes of governance, to devise alternative practices, thereby making these practices correspond more closely to social goals. These strategies, singly or in combination, include displacement of existing institutional rules and their replacement with new ones; conversion, wherein rules remain the same but are interpreted and enacted in different ways; drifting with changes brought about by shifting environmental conditions, thereby resulting in a changed impact on the existing rules, and layering or the introduction of new rules alongside with existing ones. In conclusion, the paper points out that the potential of local governments to become sources of social change is hinged on the pursuit of two lines of engagement: making existing institutions fulfil their functions and enabling different social agents external and internal to these institutions to interact with each other in new ways. These pursuits, in turn, require the presence of individuals who can radically rationalize existing practices, a capability that is anchored on a perfect match between the challenge of the task and the skills of the person, resulting in motivation and commitment

Multilevel Pathways of Rural and Urban Poverty as Determinants of Childhood Undernutrition in the Philippines

This paper identified and compared pathways of childhood undernutrition among 308 rural and 310 urban children from low-income households in the Philippines. Multidisciplinary analyses based on quantitative and qualitative data revealed unique urban and rural constraints accounting for differing nutritional outcomes. Urban poor families were more food secure, though vegetable avoidance and poor micronutrient adequacy were observed. Rather than mitigate threats to undernutrition, rural households’ reliance on home food agriculture heightened risk to food insecurity, as the Philippines is vulnerable to crop-destroying tropical storms. Our findings suggest the need to strengthen local governance institutions to implement context-specific multisectoral interventions