Population, Poverty, Politics and the Reproductive Health Bill

Following an earlier paper titled “Population and Poverty: The Real Score” (UPSE Discussion Paper 0415, December 2004), the present paper was first issued in August 2008 as a contribution to the public debate on the population issue that never seemed to die in this country. The debate heated up about that time in reaction to a revival of moves to push for legislation on reproductive health and family planning (RH/FP). Those attempts at legislation, however, failed in the 13th Congress, and again in the 14th Congress. Since late last year, the debate has been heating up further on the heels of President Noy Aquino’s pronouncements seeming to favor RH/FP, though he prefers the nomenclature “responsible parenthood”. With some updating of the data, this paper remains as relevant as ever to the ongoing public debate. It is being re-issued as a Discussion Paper for wider circulation.population, reproductive health, poverty, Philippines

Valuing and Managing the Philippines’ Marine Resources toward a Prosperous Ocean-Based Blue Economy

The ocean-based “blue economy” is a significant part of the Philippine economy that has largely been taken for granted despite its enormous potential. It is of critical importance to a substantial segment of our population dependent on the seas and coastal resources for their livelihood and sustenance, appreciably enlarge the country’s wealth, and significantly contribute to its gross domestic product. This paper attempts to review the major issues concerning marine ecosystems in relation to the country’s pursuit of the blue economy. It discusses the economic and social activities in relation to the seas and coastal areas, and provides updated estimates of the real value of the country’s marine ecosystems’ goods and services. Based on primary and available secondary data, the marine ecosystems (excluding the continental shelf) can contribute a conservative monetary value of US$ 966.6 billion to the economy. In light of the risks and threats to the blue economy, the paper further discusses the country’s current national initiatives and involvement in regional collaborations toward ensuring its health and sustainable development. Given the Philippines’ vast largely untapped potential, a recommendation for the creation of a Department of Marine Resources, separate from the Department of Agriculture, seems in order

Urbanization and Spatial Development in the Asian and Pacific Region: Trends and Issues

The spatial dimension of development became a major concern in developing countries in the mid-1960s. A combination of factors brought this about, including the acceleration of both population growth and rural-urban migration, growing employment and income distribution problems, the tendency of growth in some regions to lag behind that in others, and the phenomenon known as core-periphery polarization. Further, there has been an increasing realization that urbanization and the spatial concentration of economic activity are directly related to the distribution of the benefits of development and the satisfaction of human needs, since both people and resources have specific locations. Because of such constraints as friction of space, market segmentation, inadequate information and imperfect mobility, the access to resources and services or to the benefits of development in general continues to be patently uneven. The development experience of countries in the Asian and Pacific region and elsewhere indicates that there is no spontaneous smoothing mechanism built in the economic growth process or that if such a mechanism exists, it operates at a painfully slow pace

Aspects of Urbanization and the Environment in Southeast Asia

Urbanization, involving changes in human settlement systems over time, is commonly perceived as an integral part of the development process. In developing Asia, which has been widely acclaimed as the world’s most dynamic region, especially in the 1980s, issues of urbanization and spatial development have remained on the forefront. They have also become more varied, largely as a consequence of varying economic performance across countries. For instance, while rapid growth in some economies such as the Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Taipei, China; and Thailand resulted in substantial reductions in poverty, income-distributional concerns (across households and regions) in these economies appear to have persisted while urban congestion and environmental problems have become more pronounced. The Asian economies with lower economic growth rates, on the other hand, continue to experience poverty, unemployment and rural backwardness apart from resource depletion, urban congestion and environmental degradation