Overview of the Philippines'Conditional Cash Transfer Program : the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya)

The Philippine social protection notes series aims to summarize the good practices and key findings from the Philippines on the topics related to social protection, covering a variety of types of issues including Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) and targeting, broadening the social protection policy dialogue, analysis on social protection and service delivery. The Philippines is implementing a CCT program, which is called the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (PPPP). CCT program provides cash to poorest households as long as the beneficiary households comply with the conditions of the program. Health grants are provided for beneficiary households with children 0-14 years old and/or with pregnant women with the conditions that all children 0-5 years old and the pregnant women visit health centers and receive services according to Department of Health (DOH) protocol, all children 6-14 years old undergo de-worming protocol at schools, and the household grantees (mainly women) attend family development sessions at least once a month. Education grants are provided for beneficiary households with children 6-14 years old with the conditions that the children are enrolled in primary or secondary school and maintain a class attendance rate of 85 percent every month.Rural Poverty Reduction,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Regional Economic Development,Housing&Human Habitats

Building governance and anti-corruption in the Philippines'conditional cash transfer program

The Philippine social protection notes series aims to summarize the good practices and key findings from the Philippines on the topics related to social protection, covering a variety of types of issues including Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) and targeting, broadening the social protection policy dialogue, analysis on social protection and service delivery. The Philippines is implementing a CCT program, which is called the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (PPPP). CCT program provides cash to poorest households as long as the beneficiary households comply with the conditions of the program. Health grants are provided for beneficiary households with children 0-14 years old and/or with pregnant women with the conditions that all children 0-5 years old and the pregnant women visit health centers and receive services according to Department of Health (DOH) protocol, all children 6-14 years old undergo de-worming protocol at schools, and the household grantees (mainly women) attend family development sessions at least once a month. Education grants are provided for beneficiary households with children 6-14 years old with the conditions that the children are enrolled in primary or secondary school and maintain a class attendance rate of 85 percent every month.Public Sector Corruption&Anticorruption Measures,National Governance,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Governance Indicators

Rethinking Vocational Education in the Philippines: Does It Really Lead to Higher Wages?

Vocational education is often seen as a means of enhancing the earning potential of disadvantaged workers — those with lower levels of general formal education, or without adequate skills to integrate into the labour market. International evidence on the effects of vocational education on earnings is mixed. An earlier study on the Philippines indicated that this type of education can increase the wages of low-educated workers. However, by using a more recent household survey and employing alternative statistical techniques, this paper finds contrasting evidence. The new estimates indicate that workers who obtained vocational education do not earn significantly more than those who did not. The differences in estimates imply that the wage effects of vocational education among Filipino workers remain unclear. Therefore, caution must be exercised while making policies that aim to promote vocational education as an alternative to general formal education

Diploma as signal? Estimating sheepskin effects in the Philippines

The screening theory of education argues that education does not necessarily enhance worker’s productivity, but serves only as a signal of worker’s pre-existing ability. Empirical studies found that the mere possession of a diploma increases wages disproportionately than without it, or the so-called sheepskin effects. Using a sample of urban non-agricultural wage workers in the Philippines, this paper finds substantial sheepskin effects for holding a tertiary diploma, even after controlling for individual heterogeneity. While returns to tertiary education are lower in the competitive (private) sector, there is evidence of diverging age-earnings profiles between tertiary and secondary graduates, indicating a productive value higher education

Transport accessibility, residential satisfaction, and moving intention in a context of limited travel mode choice

This paper examines the effects of transport accessibility on residential satisfaction and moving intention when travel mode choice is limited. It uses the case of Yangon City in Myanmar, where bus is the dominant transport mode, automobile dependence is low, and the use of two-wheel vehicle is restricted in some areas of the city. These characteristics altogether indicate that the potential bias arising from the unobserved differences in people’s travel mode preferences can be minimized. Based on a sample of about 5,200 residents living close to bus stops, structural equation modeling is used to test the effects of objective and subjective measures of bus stop accessibility on residential satisfaction and moving intention. The results show that high perceived bus stop accessibility—not short distance between the residence and the nearest bus stop—is associated with high residential satisfaction, and neither measures of bus stop accessibility is associated with moving intention. These findings indicate that the perception of bus stop accessibility matters for residential satisfaction rather than the actual distance between the residence and the nearest bus stop, and the low satisfaction with bus stop accessibility is not expected to induce households to consider moving to a new residence or location. The actual distance between the residence and the nearest bus stop has the strongest influence on perceived bus stop accessibility, followed by the satisfaction with neighborhood’s safety and security, holding household characteristics constant. From a policy perspective, the findings underscore the relevance of including subjective measures of accessibility in designing or improving the accessibility of transport systems. To aid planning, there is a need to explore the objective factors that underlie people’s satisfaction with transport accessibility. Moreover, an integrated housing and transport policy could bring significant gains to residents, as desirable neighborhood features are associated with not only high perceived bus stop accessibility but also high residential satisfaction and low moving intention

Politics and Conditional Cash Transfer Programs: Lessons from the Philippines

Poverty reduction programs are known as an effective instrument to produce electoral rewards. As such, they are generally politically appealing. But not all programs are the same from the perspective of a politician — some are more supportable than others. This article identifies the features of a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program that may be less politically appealing. First, the design and implementation features of the CCT program have control and accountability mechanisms that lower the opportunities for manipulation. Second, the cash transfer by itself does not create substantial reduction in poverty incidence in the short-term. Third, the beneficiaries’ compliance with program’s conditions may reveal the gaps in the local delivery of education and health services. Fourth, the cash assistance has the potential to weaken patron-client relationship. This article argues that even a technically sound poverty reduction program may face political resistance if it has features that are not aligned with political incentives. Rather than ignoring the political factors that are at play in the implementation of the program, they should be understood in order to improve the design of programs to make them resilient or insulated from powerful vested interests

Governance and institutions

Poor governance and weak public institutions can undermine even the most well-crafted policies to promote inclusive development. Corruption, poor public service delivery, misallocation of resources, political instability, uncoordinated government agencies and deeply embedded patron–client relationships are among the challenges of governance and institutions that slow down or defeat any socio-economic reform agenda. In particular, corruption is a sizable problem in the Philippines, affecting all sectors and levels of government. In this chapter we refer to governance as the manner in which public officials and institutions acquire and exercise the authority to facilitate collective action, craft public policy and provide public goods and services. On the other hand, institutions refers to the formal and informal rules that shape human interaction and their related enforcement mechanisms. Institutions therefore determine the possibilities for effective governance and collective action (see Figure 9.1). Both the government and market need institutions to function well. Otherwise, government and market failures are likely to litter the landscape instead of properly provided public goods and services. When government and markets work, then collective action outcomes—public goods and services—are more likely to succeed

Governance and Institutions in the Philippines

To achieve a better future by 2040, most Filipinos express the need for simple and efficient government transactions, affordable government services, and the elimination of corruption. This paper expounds on that vision by explaining how effective public goods and services are hinged on a government and markets that are functioning well altogether. In assessing the current state of governance structure and institutions in the Philippines, this paper highlights issues and challenges that should be addressed in the next 25 years. It then presents several policy options and emphasizes the need for the progressive sequencing of implementation — from fixing current programs in order to create more jobs and further enhance human capital, to more ambitious and deeper structural reforms related to politics and elections, human development, economic competitiveness, and public finance and good governance innovations

How Do FTAs Affect Exporting Firms in Thailand?

Thailandan outward-oriented regional production hubis one of East Asia's most active users of free trade agreements (FTAs) as an instrument of commercial policy. By December 2009, Thailand had 11 concluded FTAs, and more were either under negotiation or proposed. Thai trade negotiators have striven to secure market access via FTAs, but little is known on how FTAs actually affect exporting firms. A survey of 221 exporters in leading sectors forms the basis for the first systematic study of the business impact of FTAs in Thailand. Key findings are as follows : (i) 24.9% of respondents used Thai FTAs as of 20072008, and this figure seems set to rise; (ii) 45.9% of respondents said that FTAs had influenced their business plans; (iii) 26.2% of firms felt that dealing with multiple rules of origin adds to business costs, and this is estimated to be less than 1% of export sales; (iv) more than half the sample firms have consulted with government and business associations on FTAs; and (v) a significant demand existed for business development services to adjust to FTAs, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The findings suggest that Thailand should refine its FTA strategy to take better advantage of regional trade agreements. The study concludes with specific recommendations to improve business awareness of FTAs, encourage greater utilization of FTA preferences, increase competitiveness of local firms, and mitigate the potential effect of multiple rules of origin.Thailand, Free Trade Agreement, trade