Equity

The economic growth figures released by the government last week validated the resilience of the Philippine economy in the face of global uncertainties. The country’s GDP grew 5.9 percent in the second quarter of 2012, faster than most Asian economies. This was above the average 4.7 percent in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)…

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank believes the Philippines is in a better position to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in three years due to the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program. In a preliminary assessment of the program, the World Bank said families covered by the CCTs spent 36% more on education and…

INDOLENT Indios, inhabitants of the Philippines were once called. But Corazon Juliano-Soliman resents that tag given especially to poor Filipinos. “Let’s not forget that while we’re in deep slumber, at 4 o’clock in the morning, farmers and fisherfolk are already tilling the soil or at sea, the urban poor who put the city to bed…

The Senate finance committee approved and will submit for plenary deliberations the proposed 2013 budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) amounting P55.98 billion—excluding budget of attached agencies—a major portion of which is the P44.26 billion for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), or the government’s Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) Program, according to…

THE Aquino administration is on track in alleviating poverty in the Philippines, according to Secretary Corazon Soliman of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)—thanks, she said, to the Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) Program.

Did you know that our economy is even more Manila-centric now than it was 10 years ago? Our friends from Mindanao and the Visayas won’t be jumping for joy on this news, having long lamented that our economic activities are much too concentrated in Metro Manila and its surrounding provinces. Unfortunately, this geographically skewed nature…

The Departments of Budget and Management (DBM) and Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) claimed that the very controversial Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) or conditional cash transfer (CCT) is not alms but a worthy assistance for the destitute who prefers not to work.

What the country could build now is a floating grandstand. Then it will be very convenient for BS Aquino III, the other politicians, the DSWD and DILG secretary, the disaster officials, do-goody media networks, ad nausea to perform their center-staging for the national audience. This should be very welcome next year as it is election…

THE GOVERNMENT is considering a transition period for beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program once it ends in 2015. “We are currently looking at ways to ease beneficiaries out of the CCT program because some of them will not be out of poverty by 2015,” Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said on Monday…

The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday affirmed the legality of the P21 billion the Aquino administration appropriated under the 2011 budget to the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program thereby also validating the controversial dole out program of President Aquino in yet another likely show of pandering to Malacañang.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño and retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz yesterday branded as “degrading to human dignity” the administration’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program. Casiño told the weekly Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) forum that the CCT had been utterly useless in addressing poverty and hunger and it was not what the…

After 21 years as Secretary General of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), Romulo “Romy” A. Virola has hung up his spurs, so to speak, having reached age 65 and therefore forced to retire, per government fiat. His retirement is not only a loss to the NSCB and the Philippine Statistical System (PSS) but also…

In what could be described as part of Malacañang’s grand preparation for next year’s polls, the Palace is allocating the biggest slice of the 2013 budget to social services.

FILIPINO households are saving less despite higher incomes, a worrisome trend considering that those who are not setting money aside are also cutting back on important items such as education.

MANILA – President Benigno Aquino III’s new socioeconomic planning chief on Monday said Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s term as president coincided with the Philippines’ “lost decade,” a period marked by moderate economic growth coupled with high income inequality.

(Last of two parts) The story of the war brides’ experiences is replete with accounts of abandonment, neglect and discrimination. Historian Caridad Concepcion Vallangca, in her book “The Second Wave: Pinay & Pinoy (1945-1960),” narrated the plight of some brides who did not make it to the United States as their GI (government issue) husbands…

“You can’t handle the truth.” This was the famous Jack Nicholson line in the movie A Few Good Men after the prosecutor, played by Tom Cruise, demanded: “I want the truth.” In like manner, we Filipinos want growth, but can we handle growth? That’s something we should all ask ourselves and seriously ponder.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said combined net income grew by 24 percent to P134.66 billion in the first three months of 2012 from P108.60 billion in the same period last year due to better performances showed by financials, industrial, property and holding firms sectors.

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – With the 6.4 percent economic growth in the first quarter of this year, the government plans to infuse an additional P9.02 billion for “priority poverty reduction projects.”

MANILA, Philippines – The number of Filipino families who consider themselves poor grew by two million in the last three months, a survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed.

MANILA, Philippines – The number of lowly-paid Filipino workers, mostly women, continues to rise despite economic improvements, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported yesterday. According to the ILO, lowly-paid workers increased by 14.5 percent as more women took on low-paying jobs.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has urged the Philippines and other countries in Asia to address rising income disparities and social exclusion as the region faces growing uncertainty due to decreasing export demands and devastating impacts of disasters.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has urged the Philippines and other countries in Asia to address rising income disparities and social exclusion as the region faces growing uncertainty due to decreasing export demands and devastating impacts of disasters.

MANILA, Philippines – A study released by the International Labor Organization (ILO) revealed that 15 per cent of employees in the Philippines are lowly paid, lower than what Cambodians and Indonesians are receiving.  

WASHINGTON – The World Bank (WB) has tagged the Philippines as a model in providing a social safety net that cushions the impact of global financial and economic problems.

IT has been 44 years since the late Nobel Lauriate Gunnar Myrdal finished his monumental 10-year study Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations. That tome helped re-arrange the thinking of world leaders about poverty and in particular poverty in Asia. It boosted government policymakers in rich and poor countries alike, and in…

MANILA, Philippines – Unless the government supports policies that promote a more robust manufacturing sector, the Philippines has a long way to go to achieve inclusive growth, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a recent report.  

MANILA, Philippines – Developing Asia’s rapid growth in recent years has given rise to a widening rich-poor divide that threatens to undermine the region’s growth and stability, but governments can address the problem via shifts in spending priorities, the Asian Development Bank said.

The Philippines has been quite successful in taking advantage of opportunities offered by the global labor markets probably more than have many other developing countries. Thanks to its wide bench of human capital formed by prior decades of investment in education which, in turn, had been motivated by the value Filipino families ascribe to schooling.

Cash transfers seem to be the way to go for the administration of Noynoy in winning the hearts of Filipinos. In principle, it works to allow the government to keep close tab of those who are availing of subsidies from the government. The conditional cash transfer (CCT) for the poorest Filipinos, for instance, is bankrolled…