Policy Research Helping Provide Affordable Rice to Filipinos

Philippine Institute for Development Studies10pal and barangay data have been collected for uploadingto the GIS online database. Due to thechange in the system, the expansion of the databasein terms of the number of indicators that canbe accessed has not yet been managed.GovernanceFinally, the study on Local public finance in the Philippines:in search of autonomy with accountability assessesthe way by which the key features of the landmarklegislation—Local Government Code (LGC)of 1991—had contributed to (or detracted from)the achievement of balance between local autonomyand accountability. The literature on fiscal decentralizationsuggests that these two goals are not incompatible.In fact, real autonomy (in the sense ofsubnational governments being able to link theirspending decisions with their revenue/tax decisions)promotes fiscal responsibility. In the contextof the ongoing debate in the Philippines, however,local autonomy has been equated (by many localgovernment officials) with the independence of localgovernment units (LGUs) from central governmentinterference. As such, local government officialshave focused more on securing even higherlevels of block grants in order to address the widelyperceived vertical fiscal imbalance.However, a closer scrutiny of the problem indicatesthat greater tax decentralization, coupled with awell-designed intergovernmental transfer systemthat includes elements of fiscal equalization and categoricalgrants on the basis of the achievement ofminimum service standards, would enhance thegains that are forthcoming from the decentralizationprocess much better while at the same timeminimizing the risks of macro instability.Philippine APEC Study Center Network (PASCN)The PASCN has been equally busy during the yearand produced 26 research studies, 18 of which areunder the research project on the Prospects for Japan-Philippineseconomic partnership agreement(JPEPA). The research project was jointly fundedby PIDS, the Japan International CooperationAgency (JICA) and the Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry (METI) and conducted in coordinationwith the Department of Trade and Industry(DTI).Of the other five studies conducted under the auspicesof the PASCN, two are from the Islamic impactof globalization project and one each from theprojects on Food security, agricultural efficiency andregional integration and Globalization, governanceand APEC. A single study on China’s accession tothe WTO was also completed during the year.Under the PASCN’s Thesis and Dissertation AssistanceProgram (TDAP), meanwhile, three granteescompleted their dissertations and thesis onmicrolending, the effectiveness of the Philippineelectronic industry, and the level of Latin-esquenessof the Philippines (Annex A lists the Institute’s completedstudies in 2004).ONGOING STUDIESA total of 62 studies are still ongoing by the end of2004. Thirty-nine studies of these are under cosponsorshipgrants with international organizations includingthe World Bank, the World Health Organization,the United Nations Development Fund forWomen and the United Nations DevelopmentProgramme. The projects are under the four researchagenda on the social sector reform, competitivenessand competition policy, macroeconomicmanagement in a globalized setting, and Philippineagriculture. These ongoing studies focus on regionaleconomic integration and human development, thenew national health accounts matrices, impact ofliberalization on the services sector, asset managementcompanies, and the country’s competitionframework.The remaining 23 of the ongoing studies are underfour PASCN-funded projects, namely: RP-US freetrade agreement (FTA); Governance and globalization;Food security, agricultural efficiency andAPEC: integrative report; Islamic impact of globalization,and the PASCN Thesis and DissertationAssistance Project (TDAP) wherein five grantees arestill completing their respective programs.Annex B enumerates the complete list of the ongoingstudies.