SDRC PROJECTS

Project Director: Dr. Jesusa M. Marco
Funding Agency: Population Council

Based on recent data, there are almost 40 million Filipinos ranging from 6 to 24 years old, 9% of which are out-of-school youth. One alarming issue faced by OSY is their engagement in risky behaviors involving sexual and reproductive health (WHO, 2010). As a sub-group within the larger Filipino population, OSY are found to be more vulnerable with respect to high risk sexual behaviors (DOH, 2018).

This study aims to 1) determine what makes out-of-school youth, males and females, 15-17 and 18-19 years old behave the way they do in relation to the four priority behaviors of delay of sexual debut, use of modern contraceptive methods to prevent teen pregnancy, care seeking in first trimester, and birth spacing of at least 2 years; 2) identify the significant and effective channels and influences/influencers in reaching OSY, particularly in terms of frequency and volume of exposure, reach and responsiveness to their current needs and preferences; and 3) generate evidence in coming up with the most appropriate and effective approaches and strategies to bring about change among OSY Filipinos in the four priority behaviors.

Key words: out-of-school youth, sexual and reproductive health and family planning, contraceptive methods, teenage pregnancy, birth spacing

Project Director: Dr. Roberto E. Javier, Jr.
Funding Agency: UNICEF

The project seeks to generate evidence as basis for more systematic professionalization of and provision of support to Child Development Workers (CDWs). Specifically, it assesses the existing level of competencies (knowledge, skills and attitude) of CDWs in Day Care Centers (DCCs)/Child Development Centers (CDCs) and Supervised Neighborhood Playgroups (SNPs) with different profiles and in different contexts. Based on the results of this assessment, it provides strategic and comprehensive recommendations, especially for CDWs in difficult situations, to a) strengthen the system for continuous personal and professional development of CDWs toward the progressive achievement of national competency standards and attainment of desired development and learning of young children; and b) adapt a more structured hiring system with defined selection criteria and standardized remuneration scheme and performance appraisal to recruit and retain performing, trained and experienced CDWs.

Key words: child development workers, national competency standards, professional development, hiring system, performance appraisal

Project Director: Dr. Maria Caridad H. Tarroja
Funding Agency: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

The National Study on Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children in the Philippines (OSAEC) aims to systematically collect data on the nature and scope of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the Philippines, and their causes, drivers, and contributing factors. The expected output of this study will serve as a guide for policy makers and other stakeholders to better respond to and prevent the problem. Findings of the study may be used by different government agencies, non-government agencies and other stakeholders for developing, improving, and implementing existing laws and regulations (DOJ), creating programs to respond to children’s needs and their families (DSWD, NGOs), and mapping out advocacy plans and programs.

Furthermore, the expected output will be a characterization of the operational process of online child sexual abuse and exploitation, and the patterns of behavior of the victims and offenders, that can serve as a guide for policy makers and other stakeholders to coordinate efforts and intervention programs leading to a better response to and prevention of the problem.

Key words:  online sexual abuse, exploitation of children, advocacy plans and programs, patterns of behavior of victims and offenders

Project Director: Dr. Roberto E. Javier, Jr.
Funding Agency: Unilab Foundation

This study aims to develop health literacy measures for UNILAB Foundation to be able to assess the level of health literacy among its HSOTG–TSC student participants. The development of the health literacy measures are anchored on the health science curricula of the Department of Education and the modules developed by Unilab Foundation for its HSOTG–TSC project. Accordingly, this study intends to ascertain the impact of school and the interactive HSOTG health exhibit on the level of health literacy among the students.

Prior to the production of the measures, the study team will conduct a desk review of existing Unilab Foundation documents related to the HSOTG-TSC project. Likewise, the team will also review similar documents in the Philippines such as the DepEd’s Science and Health curricula to examine the outcomes of such systematic intervention and impact of advocacy programs on the level of health literacy of the target audience and recipients. The desk review will help the study team explore indicators that can be used in developing appropriate measures. The study will also look into available materials references that provide data on the health conditions and needs in the specific municipalities, province and region of the schools where the student-participants will be recruited. The team will make use of the data to provide an objective description of the community profile of the selected municipalities, province and the whole of Region VI.

Key words: Health Science on the Go–Traveling Science Centrum (HSOTG–TSC), health literacy, health science curricula, systematic intervention, advocacy programs

Project Director: Dr. Melvin A. Jabar
Funding Agency: Metrobank Foundation / AXA

The study involves two components. In the first component, a needs assessment and financial literacy survey will be conducted to determine the needs and concerns of teachers for whom personal financial management is a concern, and to gauge the level of financial literacy of public school teachers in Metro Manila. The results of the study will be used to produce a module for financial literacy for teachers. In the second component, a module aimed at increasing the financial literacy of teachers will be produced. A pre- and post-test survey will be conducted with teachers to examine the short term impacts of the module. Apart from these two components, a focus group discussion will be conducted prior to crafting the module. The experimental design of the project will be done simultaneously with the survey.

Key words: financial literacy, public elementary and high school teachers, personal financial management

Project Director: Dr. Raymond Girard R. Tan
Funding Agency: National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP)

The study is being conducted in view of Batanes being one of the few remaining frontiers of the Philippines. Modernization and changing lifestyles in the province have become a threat to the history, culture and heritage of its inhabitants, the Ivatan. The project thus seeks to help preserve the Ivatans’ unique approach to vernacular house and boat building, primarily by producing a homeowner’s manual on maintaining and preserving such houses; by conducting research to develop and publish instructional materials on the construction of Batanes’ indigenous sea vessels, with accompanying video documentation; by conducting research toward the publication of a coffee table book on the origins, evolution and future of Ivatan vernacular houses; and by recreating one Ivatan house in Basco, Batanes, with accompanying video documentation.

Key words:  Basco, Batanes, Ivatan history and culture, vernacular houses, boat building

Project Director: Dr. Marlon DL. Era
Funding Agency: University of Huddersfield, UK / Erasmus+ Programme of European Union

The aim of the 36-month action project is to build capacity for international and regional cooperation between Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in Asia (region 6) and Europe, and among Asian HEIs themselves, to improve multi-hazard early warning (MHEW) and increase disaster resilience among coastal communities. In doing so, the project focuses on a subject area and a world region not sufficiently addressed by projects already being funded under previous schemes. CABARET will be empowering individuals and organisations with the skills, competencies and credentials needed to  continue to pursue research, and to lead research at institutions in partner countries, aimed at reducing the impact  of disasters. It will enhance the capacities of the partner HEIs in Asia to meet (match) the challenges and specific needs that characterize research and innovation within the context of disaster resilience.

Key words:  multi-hazard early warning, disaster resilience, coastal communities, higher education institutes in Asia

Project Director: Dr. Rhoderick V. Nuncio
Funding Agency: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

Primarily seeking to draw a demographic profile of Filipino children between the ages of 9 to 17 years with Internet access, and to define their behavior online, the NKOLS study  aims to determine the prevalence of online abuse, and identify safety practices; and to define the role of parents in their children’s online use. The survey is intended to contribute to developing informed and applicable policies and programs for a safer online environment for children.

The study employs a quantitative component, in which a household survey is conducted with a multi-stage cluster sampling design. A total of 25 sites are being sampled: 15 for Luzon, 4 for the Visayas, and 6 for Mindanao. Sampling criteria require households with six months residence in a barangay and having at least one child with access to ICT.

A qualitative component is also incorporated in the study, for which three techniques are being used: one focused group discussion (FGD) workshop each for children and for parents, and key informant interviews (KIIs) to elicit critical information at the LGU level and the efforts being undertaken to protect children. The FGDs include seven special groups covering indigenous peoples, street children, children left behind by OFWs, children in conflict areas, the physically challenged (PWDs), out-of-school youth (OSYs), and the LGBT community.

Key words: Filipino children with Internet access, online behavior, online abuse, safety practices, demographic profile

Project Director: Dr. Melvin A. Jabar
Funding Agency: Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD)

This study seeks to describe the socio-demographic and personal characteristics, health conditions, status and health-seeking behavior of Overseas Filipino Workers. It also determines their level of knowledge of and access to Philippine Health Insurance. In addition, it investigates OFWs attitude toward health seeking. The study is conducted in order to provide evidence-based policy recommendations aimed at improving the health conditions of OFWs and increasing their access to health insurance. It examines the factors that influence their membership in, access to and utilization of PhilHealth services and explores sound strategies or mechanisms to improve access to PhilHealth services among Filipino labor migrants.

Key words: Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), Filipino labor migrants, Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth), health-seeking behavior, socio-demographic characteristics

Project Director: Dr. Marites M. Tiongco
Funding Agency: Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD)

This study provides an overview of the financing flow of local government unit (LGU)-owned hospitals. It quantifies how hospitals in LGUs outside the jurisdiction of the Department of Health (DOH) are financed. Specifically, it determines the size, location, and utilization of hospital services in LGU-owned hospitals; collects data on the sources of funds of LGUs, including subsidies and donations, and its uses in delivering local health services; quantifies revenue sources and expenditures of LGU-owned hospitals, and assess its financial sustainability over the period 2010-2015; defines the current system of financing, budgeting, allocation of resources, and existing governance mechanisms, and operations and management systems of hospitals managed by LGUs; assesses the efficiency and effectiveness of health service delivery in LGU-owned hospitals, including planning, budgeting, procurement of goods and services, hiring and motivation of staff, and management of systems; and provides a baseline for a needs-focused intervention that aids in planning toward improving the performance of health service delivery in LGU hospitals.

Key words: LGU-owned hospitals, sources of funds, expenditures, financial sustainability, resource allocation, health service delivery

Project Director: Dr. Adrianne John R. Galang
Funding Agency: H.J. Eysenck Memorial Fund

It is a feature of many theories of creativity that creative persons are assumed to have a tendency to prefer the new (Galang, 2010). However it is unclear whether this preference is integral to the personality, or if it is a strategically adapted stance for generating innovation.  If it were the former we should expect it to be a general phenomenon that manifests outside explicitly creative tasks. Our project wishes to re-engage with the concept of need for novelty. Aside from trying to replicate the original results from Houston and Mednick (1963) related to creativity, the present study aims to test whether the positive reinforcement hypothesis or the punishment hypothesis would actually account for the preference for novel stimuli.

Project Director: Dr. Marites M. Tiongco
Funding Agency: Department of Health (DOH) and Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD)

This study provides an understanding of the impact of devolution in the local health expenditure, including the patterns and factors of local health allocation. It determines the trends in local health expenditure over the period 1990-2014 to capture the pre-devolution (1990-1991) and post-devolution (1992-2014); identifies factors that could explain the trend in local health expenditures over the period 1990-2014; determines the relationship between health expenditure and health service delivery outcomes during pre- and post-devolution period; determines the effect of devolution on local government spending on health and on health service delivery outcomes; examines the perception of the effectiveness of devolution by local chief executives on local health expenditure and health service delivery; and identifies policy recommendations for the local government to make local health systems effective and more responsive. The findings specify possible policy recommendations and implications to the current system.

Key words:  local health expenditure, health service delivery, devolution impact, local chief executives, policy recommendations

Project Director: Dr. Maria Caridad H. Tarroja
Funding Agency: The Asia Foundation

The study defines the meaning of “lack of interest” among male and female out-of-school youth. It looks into the different factors that contribute to students’ lack of interest. It likewise explores how the different senior high school specialized subjects or tracks of the newly implemented K to 12 program can impact the dropping out of students.  More specifically, the study determines what the percentage of OSY compared to the student population of two identified schools is; how the different stakeholders define and understand “lack of interest” as a reason for dropping out; what the other factors that contribute to students dropping out of school are, aside from lack of interest; and what the students and parents’ perceptions of the specialized tracks for senior high school students are.

Key words: Out-of-school youth, students’ “lack of interest,” K to 12 program, dropping out, high school subject tracks

Project Director: Dr. Melvin A. Jabar
Funding Agency: Population Media Center (Vermont, USA)

This study provides empirically-based information on customs, norms, and values of a target sector that will be used in the production of culturally appropriate mass media communication intervention in the Philippines (drama using mass media). It presents an assessment of the habits, lifestyles and norms of the target audience to determine their needs, desires, behaviors and media usage, in order to develop understandable, high-quality, and culturally appropriate characters and storylines; and above all, it reproduces the lifestyles of the target audience. The results served as a basis for reviewing pressing health and social issues and concerns of the sectors in Philippine society in relation to family planning, reproductive health, maternal and child health, and nutrition.  The study also includes an analysis of the different policy instruments available that are aimed at addressing those issues; a media and communication analysis; and a health infrastructure analysis.

Key words: culturally appropriate mass media communication intervention, target audience, lifestyle, family planning, reproductive health, maternal and child health, nutrition

Project Director: Dr. Maria Caridad H. Tarroja
Funding Agency: World Health Organization (WHO)

This study seeks to lead the development/adaptation and pilot testing of culturally appropriate content (SMS-based text messages) that will be utilized to implement the mCessation intervention in the Philippines, which is part of the “Be He@lthy, Be Mobile” initiative. The output covers the complete range of messages and algorithm within the tobacco portfolio (inclusive of smokeless tobacco and smoked tobacco) and is intended to be simple, clear and easily adaptable to tobacco-related cultural norms and practices in the Philippines.

Key words: tobacco portfolio, tobacco-related cultural norms and practices, culturally appropriate content, SMS-based text messages, pilot testing

Project Director:  Dr. Jesusa M. Marco
Funding Agency:  AusAID/UNFPA

This three-year study involving researchers in Australia and the Philippines addresses the needs of disabled women in gaining access to quality sexual and reproductive health information and services. It is being conducted in urban slums and peri-urban locations in Quezon City (Metro Manila), and Ligao City in Albay Province (Bicol Region). These locations have been selected to provide data on the experience of women in diverse settings. The research will include people with disability at all stages. The research design includes capacity development activities to ensure that representatives of Disabled Persons Organizations, local research institutes and service providers have the skills and confidence to be active research partners.

Project Director:  Dr. Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:  USAID through Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the North CarolinaAgricultural and Technical State University

The project, managed by the Office of International Research, Education and Development (OIRED) at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM CRSP), seeks to show that conservation agriculture principles (CAPS) and practice of minimal soil disturbance, continuous mulching and diverse species rotations constitute the appropriate “tool box” to create sustainable permanent cropping systems for annual crop production under wet tropical conditions in Cambodia and the Philippines; and that CAPS will reverse soil degradation, increase crop yield and profits and reduce the labor burden on women.

Project Director: Dr. Myla M. Arcinas
Funding Agency: World Health Organization (WHO)

This study recommends a complementary approach, as part of a comprehensive strategy for implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (known as the Code), that will manage conflicts of interest (COI) at the level of health workers through their professional societies. Specifically, it illuminates health professionals’ and health professional organizations’ understanding of  the phrase  “Conflict of Interest”; elucidates health professionals’  and health professional organizations’ knowledge of the International Code of Marketing; identifies mechanisms used by health professional organizations to provide information and strategies on best practices and materials among their members on the value of breastfeeding and  Infant and Young Child Nutrition; describes health professional practices that optimize   the   value   of breastfeeding and  Infant and Young Child Nutrition; ascertains ways infant formula companies enter into the  health  care  system  to promote their product/s; describes barriers that optimize the value of breastfeeding and Infant and Young Child Nutrition; identifies rules of the health professional organizations that  guide and regulate  actions of their members against “Conflict of Interest”; and recommends actions to safeguard public health interests from improper influence, in any form of real, perceived or potential conflict of interest.

Key words: Internal Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the Code), Infant and Young Child Nutrition, breastfeeding, conflicts of interest, health professionals, best practices

Project Director: Dr. Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency: Philippine Council for Health Research and Development-Department of Science and Technology (PCHRD-DOST)

This project involves three case research studies on best practices that demonstrate efforts geared toward disaster risk reduction initiatives aiming at resiliency in the health sector and local government unit; and identifies success factors running through these disaster risk reduction efforts. The case study in Tacloban focuses on efforts to strengthen the resiliency of local public and private secondary hospitals. Primarily, it seeks to characterize the impact of Typhoon Yolanda, particularly regarding the capacity of public and private hospitals to deliver health services in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, given the damage or effect wrought on its: a) physical or structural integrity; b) available medical supplies and technologies; c) health workforce; d) financial operations; e) leadership and governance structure; and f) information system.  In northern Cebu, the team looked into how professional organizations in health services delivery are mobilized in the face of humanitarian emergency situations. The extent of the efforts made by the Cebu Nursing Professional Organization to deliver emergency health services in a context in which local health personnel have been unable to deliver emergency health services were determined. Lastly, the municipality of Hilongos in Northern Leyte is the subject of an examination of LGU efforts in serving as a transit station for displaced persons. The number of persons displaced by Typhoon Yolanda, their places of origin, and their planned places of destination, particularly for those who have opted to make a transit stand by the municipality, are studied.

Key words: disaster risk reduction initiatives, resiliency in the health sector, local government unit, Typhoon Yolanda, best practices

Project Director: Dr. Maria Caridad H. Tarroja
Funding Agency: World Health Organization (WHO)

This study involves the development/adaptation and pilot testing of culturally appropriate content (SMS-based text messages) that will be utilized to implement the mCessation intervention in the Philippines. The finalization of the mobile-based text message will involve referring to the mCessation Planning and Implementation Guide as well as existing literature, and taking into consideration the different stages of behavior change, levels and types of tobacco consumption, to ensure that the content is suitable for implementation in the Philippine context.  The study team will also convene the country informal expert group/taskforce to provide technical and quality assurance support to this process as well as to validate the content for the message sets (in English, Filipino and Taglish); translate the messages into simple English, from English to Filipino, and from English to Taglish; organize and conduct a survey on the first set of messages in Filipino, and document the proceedings and results of the activity; conduct a pilot testing/FGD in a Red Orchid Awardee site (a city/cities within Metro Manila) to test for technical appropriateness and user-friendliness, after which the more comprehensive set/content of messages will be adapted as appropriate; and conduct an expert group meeting to present the final messaging content based on the FGD, if necessary.

Project Director: Dr. Maria Caridad H. Tarroja
Funding Agency: World Health Organization (WHO)

The project involves an exhaustive and systematic desk review on mental health promotion activities in the 37 Member States belonging to the Western Pacific Region. The review will cover an online library search of various search engines (such as EBSCO and PsycLIT), using search terms such as mental health definitions, mental health promotion, programmes for mental health, cultural/indigenous practices for mental health; a library search of different books, publications, magazines and articles that tackle the above mentioned topics; and a review of different mental health promotion projects/strategies of the 37 member states, through an online search as well as through a website search of the Department or Ministry of Health of the different countries.  The output of the review will be a report on a framework that can be used for mental health promotion.

Project Director: Dr. Roberto E. Javier, Jr.
Funding Agency: HelpAge International / Coalition of Services of the Elderly (COSE)

This study aims to contribute to the assessment based national dialogue (ABND) process by exploring in more depth the options for guaranteeing income security in old age to all Filipinos. It will look into the development of a social protection floor in the Philippines by focusing on what the rationale of establishing a universal pension system would be, both in terms of addressing the specific risks associated with old age, and contributing to sider social and economic development; what the most feasible options for building a universal pension system are, how affordable these are, and how these could be financed. While the starting point will be an assessment of the pension system as a whole, it is likely that policy recommendations will focus on the feasibility for an expanded social pension to close the coverage gap.

Project Director: Dr. Melvin A. Jabar
Funding Agency: Holcim Philippines, Inc

For this study, SDRC provides expert advice and substantive assistance to Holcim Philippines by conducting a formative assessment of its FACE project, which aims to give children and young adults access to basic education and opportunity to obtain a college diploma or vocational certificate, and to address drop-out incidence among public elementary and high school students, especially those who are economically disadvantaged. The Center will also carry out a baseline study of students and their families in the partner elementary and high schools currently hosting FACE’s student-partners/scholars.

Project Director: Dr. Maria Caridad H. Tarroja
Funding Agency: Family Planning Organization of the Philippines, Inc. (FPOP)

As an offshoot of the DOH-World Bank “HIV Prevention in Big Cities” project, which aimed to improve the scale, quality and impact of intervention in Taguig, Parañaque and Mandaluyong, the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP) has teamed up with SDRC for this study which is supported by UNAIDS. Cognizant of the fact that sexual transmission between males has been predominant mode of HIV transmission in the Philippines, and that new HIV infections have increased in recent years, the current undertaking will provide estimates of target populations, and will help determine possible services and policies that need to be implemented to address the rise in the spread of HIV. Apart from Men who have Sex with Men (MSMs), target populations for the study include transgenders (TGs) and persons who inject drugs (PWIDs).

Project Director: Dr. Romeo B. Lee
Funding Agency: Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines

The European Union—represented by the European Union Delegation to the Philippines—recently awarded a grant to SDRC to conduct this study under the second phase of its Health Sector Policy Support Programme, which seeks to strengthen the implementation of Universal Health Care by the Department of Health. The objectives of the study are: 1) to provide validated and useful information to monitor and evaluate progress in the implementation of the UHC strategy, focusing on equitable progress at the LGU level; 2) to provide a deeper understanding of the composition of local responsibility and public expenditures that support devolved health service delivery, including the mechanism of resource allocation decisions regarding health expenditures, other influencing factors, as well as an assessment of what works/does not work to ensure quality local health service delivery, and why; and 3) to provide a deeper understanding of the extent to which and how the national health insurance scheme, other existing insurance schemes, specific DOH-supported programmes and funds and any other mechanisms, close the gap of existing disparities.

Project Director: Dr. Marlon DL. Era
Funding Agency: Population Services Pilipinas, Inc. (PSPI)

SDRC has forged new partnerships with Population Services Pilipinas, Incorporated (PSPI) and the Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in a groundbreaking initiative toward actively involving Middle Level Health Workers in the Philippines’ Health Care quest. The research project is aimed at building evidence that midwives as middle-level health workers can be competent providers of contraceptive implants. In doing so, the project seeks to capitalize on the role of midwives in task-sharing, actively involving them in more endeavors in the fields of maternal health care, family planning and reproductive health. This will serve as a response to government’s allegedly poor delivery of health services, and the people’s lack of access to reproductive health and family planning services.

Project Director: Prof. Ma. Angeles G. Lapeña
Funding Agency: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

The study is being undertaken through the Joint Program on Maternal and Neonatal Health (JPMNH) funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), which aims to accelerate the attainment of health outcomes related to maternal and neonatal health. It is anchored on the combined expertise and resources of the Department of Health and three United Nations agencies – UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO. The study examines how communication affects mothers’ adoption of recommended health practices, namely 1) giving birth in a facility; 2) having delivery aided by a skilled birth attendant; and 3) having at least four (4) pre-natal visits with a health service provider. It aims to obtain views regarding maternal and neonatal health care, directly from mothers, traditional birth attendants, community health teams (CHTs), health service providers, barangay officials, and municipal officials.

Project Director: Dr. Hazel T. Biana
Funding Agency: United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA)

Recognizing the need to reawaken interest in the country’s local heritage, the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia has awarded a grant to SDRC to pursue this two-year study. The study seeks to integrate indigenous peoples (IP)’s knowledge and culture into the upcoming revised Higher Education Institution (HEI) curriculum of Liberal Arts and Education courses. Given the timing of the K to 12 curriculum implementation and HEI developments, training teachers to integrate IP knowledge and culture in their courses is imperative. Such training will ensure that these teachers not only promote the preservation of IP knowledge, but also cultivate an appreciation of their students’ own Filipino indigenous culture, as well as encourage them to embrace their diversity.

Project Director: Dr. Dennis S. Erasga
Funding Agency: The Oscar M. Lopez Center

The project aims to target the impact of extreme weather events on public health and well-being. Specifically, it seeks to (i) evaluate existing vulnerability and adaptation assessment tools currently in use at the national and local levels; (ii) identify community-based health-related vulnerabilities as consequences of extreme weather events; (iii) map health behavior and practices in relation to extreme weather events; and (iv) translate these behavior and practices into indicators in the construction of vulnerability, adaptation and mitigation assessment tools for capacity building and policy advocacy at the local level.

Project Director:  Dr. Antonio P. Contreras
Funding Agency:  International Development Research Centre

This study was conducted in collaboration with the Asian Institute of Technology in Pathumthani, Thailand, through funds from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. It aimed to advance research and professional development under the thematic area of social and gendered adaptations to climate-related water stresses in peri-urban areas in three Southeast Asian countries. Specifically, the three-year project sought to 1) research the gendered, social, political, economic and biophysical drivers of vulnerability of people to climate-related water stresses in selected peri-urban areas in Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines and their adaptive responses to these stresses in order to better inform and address the needs for planning for climate adaptation, vulnerability, and risk reduction; 2) develop and launch a work-based professional master’s program on urban management and development specializing in urban water, gender and climate change for development professionals in the public sector; and 3) build capacities within local government or district units, and among climate change and development professionals to identify and analyze drivers of vulnerability to climate-related water stresses with which to plan more holistic ways of addressing climate-related water stresses in peri-urban areas.

The study recommends that the policy regimes for water resources, water quality, and disaster risk reduction and management be harmonized. Water resources management is centralized with the National Water Resources Board; water quality management is multi-stakeholder, but not clear on how to scale tasks down to the LGU level; and DRRM is multi-stakeholder at all levels with a clear rule on how tasks can be devolved to the LGUs. The institutional inertia brought about by overlapping/complex/dissonant policy regimes and design has caused problems in responding—Sta. Rosa City has an Environmental Code that could not be implemented on its own, and there is delay in its full operationalization due to transboundary/multi-agency issues. The only area in which there is a clear impact is on disaster response at the local levels, but this is more focused on evacuation and post-disaster activities such as distribution of relief goods.

Project Director: Dr. Melvin A. Jabar
Funding Agency: The Sumitomo Foundation

This comparative analysis on parental involvement in Japanese and Philippine elementary education specifically seeks to determine how parental involvement or engagement impacts children’s educational outcomes. The study addresses current research gaps, in that parental involvement in elementary education in the Philippines is relatively sparse, and that literature on parental involvement in the Japanese context in English is likewise rare. Moreover, it has an added value as a timely research enterprise considering that the former is in the K-12 transition. The study will be conducted in Beppu City in Japan, and Cagayan de Oro City in the Philippines. Parents of grade six students in one elementary school in each city will be selected to participate in the study.

Project Director: Dr. Maria Caridad H. Tarroja
Funding Agency: Save the Children

The current research, which Save the Children Fund-Philippines has selected SDRC to conduct, aims to gather information prior to implementing the Fund’s projects. This can provide valuable insight as to whether Save the Children’s efforts will be effective at the end of its two-year campaign to promote inclusive education for children with disabilities in three target areas. Focus group discussions have been held with teachers and parents of children with and without disability. Key informant interviews have also been conducted with the sites’ social workers and head teachers, and pre-testing of the survey tool for day care center children and elementary students has been carried out. Next steps include scheduling the final interviews with a Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) representative and DepEd supervisors; and survey administration to selected toddlers, elementary students, and parents.

Project Director: Prof. Ma. Angeles G. Lapeña
Funding Agency:  Zuellig Family Foundation

The Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) has partnered with various rural municipalities in the Philippines in efforts to improve leadership and governance, which is part of the World Health Organization’s Six Building Blocks of health systems. To support the reforms being implemented by Health Leadership Teams, each municipality under the Community Health Partnership Program (CHPP) receives two infrastructure grants to construct birthing facilities in their respective districts, which are expected to increase access of the population to health services, and therefore reduce the maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate by 2015. The Foundation is institutionalizing an annual health facility audit, with SDRC as the partner research institution that will develop and implement the audit’s research protocol.

Project Director: Dr. Melvin A. Jabar
Funding Agency:  Philippine Business for Education (PBEd)

The study to develop a “Higher Education Accountability and Transparency Portal” aims to create a database of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines. It intends to address the skills gap and mismatch problem through the formation of industry-academe partnerships at the national and regional level. The said database will be used in a local online portal that students can access to obtain accurate and up-to-date information about private and public colleges and universities in the country, and hopefully guide them in making informed decisions regarding their future college education options. The portal to be known as “HEAT” is being launched through the support of the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) and is the first of its kind in the country.

Project Director: Dr. Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency: Philippine Council for Health Research and Development-Department of Science and Technology (PCHRD-DOST) / SDRC In-House Research Fund

This project, being undertaken with the support of the Philippine Council for Health Research & Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCHRD-DOST), seeks to determine the impact of disaster management efforts during the onslaught of Supertyphoon Yolanda in Leyte.  Specifically, the study’s aims include: 1) Finding the extent to which the poorest segment of the residents were affected by the typhoon, and whether disaster management/preparations made a difference in the extent of the damages experienced by the typhoon survivors; 2) discovering to what extent the delivery of basic services was affected, including its network of services delivery mechanisms, particularly health services and schooling of children; and 3) identifying the health needs and health seeking behavior of the families under an emergency situation and different life conditions.

Project Director: Dr. Maria Caridad H. Tarroja
Funding Agency: World Health Organization (WHO)

The WHODAS survey will establish the percentage of the population that is functioning poorly and is likely to be in need of services, including those with severe or extreme difficulties in functioning in different aspects of day-to-day life. The survey will also identify correlates of good and poor functioning, provide information on changes over the year of recovery, and highlight the subject areas in which people do better and worse. The baseline survey will be carried out with the agreement and participation of the Department of Health Regional Director of Region VIII. Being the most typhoon-affected area, Region VIII has a total population of 4.5 million people, of which close to half live in typhoon-affected municipalities.

Project Director:  Dr. Roberto E. Javier, Jr.
Funding Agency:  Unilab Foundation

The research provides a picture of the present workplace of differently-abled persons—the corporate practices, the policies pertaining to their condition, and their relationship with co-workers. The workers were identified as either exhibiting autism spectrum disorder or intellectual disability, based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorder 5 2013 (DSM-MD5). The study presents empirical evidence on how the neurocognitive functions of persons with autism and the socio-emotional sense-abilities of intellectually disabled individuals can be transformed into exceptional work performance and productivity. The research was conducted in selected companies in key cities in the Philippines (at least three cities each in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao).

As an offshoot of the study, a sourcebook entitled From Exceptionality to Exceptional: Inclusion of Differently Abled Persons in the Workplace was launched in September 2014 by the DLSU Publishing House in partnership with the Unilab Foundation, Inc. Authored by members of the project team headed by Dr. Roberto Javier, Jr., the book can be used as reference for business development or to design a human resource program in the promotion of productivity and health in the workplace.

At present, research team member Dr. Raymond Habaradas, Director of the Center for Business Research and Development of the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business, is involved in the development of a human resource management manual for local companies to hire/place persons with intellectual disability in their work organizations.

Project Director:  Dr. Antonio P. Contreras
Funding Agency:  Overseas Development Institute

This study examines whether the processes that govern policy and decision-making on
resilience to natural disasters in urban areas of the Philippines are good, i.e. fact-based and deliberative, and tested by real arguments.

Seven illustrative Local Government Units (LGUs), (Tabaco City, Baguio City, Marikina
City in Luzon, Iloilo City and Cebu City in Central Visayas and Davao City and Cagayan
de Oro City in Mindanao) were selected as case studies to better understand the factors that favor or hinder the use of knowledge and research evidence in the design and
implementation of urban resilience policies and practice. The choice of the case study areas is linked to the occurrence of natural disasters, and the experience of decision-making and local planning on climate change/urban resilience.

The research was conducted by adopting a political economy analysis to create an analytical framework that focuses on the specific topic of use of knowledge in policy decision-making processes. Data collection was conducted through focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews.

The key finding of the study is that the Republic Act 10121, which was passed in 2010, has established among other things a legislative framework that enables greater use of
scientific evidence in designing disaster risk reduction policies and interventions, both at
the national and sub-national level. It is still early to assess the impact of the new
legislation, and there are delays in the implementation of the Republic Act, such as training
line agency staff at sub-national level on preparing against disasters and developing resilient communities, as well as responding to natural disasters.

Key words: natural disasters, urban resilience measures, fact-based research evidence, climate change, local planning

Project Director:  Dr. Roberto E. Javier, Jr.
Funding Agency:  Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID)

For this project, the research team has sought to evaluate the current system of financial assistance programs funded by the Philippine government. The evaluation focuses on the effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of the programs. These indices (the 3 Es) have been analyzed within the ambit of the delivery of the programs, maximization of government resources, and the access and availability of the programs. The end goal of the assessment is to formulate policy recommendations for the comprehensive and integrated (Post-basic Education Scholarship and Financial Assistance Program (PESFAP).

For the quantitative survey, a total of 83 were retrieved as of March 25, 2012 out of 431 e-surveys received. The questionnaire looked into the specific areas of types/nature of scholarships/grants/loans; coverage, financial appropriation, targeting of beneficiaries, selection process, tracking system, and governance and management systems of scholarships/grants/loans. Meanwhile, the qualitative survey was conducted among selected SUCs in NCR, CAR, Regions 3 (Central Luzon), 4A (CALABARZON), 4B (MIMAROPA), 7 (Cebu), and 8 (Samar-Leyte). Included in the sample of interviewees were past and present scholars, administrators/directors/officers of scholarship programs, and barangay officials.

Some suggestions from scholarship managers are for the Scholarship office to sign a form for the student to present to the accounting office so that the examination permit will be released without delay; scholarship coordinators should have an active role in policy formulation—they should be given an honorarium from CHED because they handle the monitoring of the scholars; the Offices of Scholarships in the various universities should be the ones to select and identify who is awarded scholarships; and CHED should only provide a number of slots for each university and do the screening—this will increase transparency in scholar selection.

Key words: scholarship and financial assistance programs, targeting of beneficiaries, policy formulation, awarding mechanics

Project Director:   Dr. Ferdinand D. Dagmang
Funding Agency:   Missio Munich

The project is an assessment of the process and impact of the implementation of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) in ten local churches, and is the first national assessment of church programs/activities in relation to PCP II implementation to be conducted in 20 years. The study attempts to provide a scientific evaluation and assessment of impact of the practices/procedures on church life by uncovering concrete development and/or non-development of the pastoral/BEC (Basic Ecclesial Communities) priorities in line with PCP II decrees.

The PCP II study is divided into three stages: The first stage involved two pilot studies of the processes and impact of programs/activities carried out in one rural-based parish (Gumaca, Quezon) and one urban-based parish (the Parish of Our Lady of the Abandoned (POLA) in Hulo, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila). The second stage involved the evaluation of the Diocese of Cavite’s programs/activities implemented in two of its selected parishes. The third stage is a nationalization of the study, with one parish in Boac, Marinduque, two parishes in the Visayas (Iloilo and a Franciscan parish in Cebu City), and three parishes in Mindanao (Pagadian, Marbel, and a parish of the Archdiocese of Davao).

The team consulted several social scientists and theologians after the completion of the analysis of field data.

Key words: Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II), Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC), church life, rural-based and urban-based parish

Project Director:    Dr. Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:    East Asian Development Network (EADN)

From a social science perspective, the research, using evidence gathered from different surveys and case studies, attempts to portray and provide an account of poverty from a multi-dimensional perspective. It also deals with poverty dynamics as experienced by individuals and families living in depressed areas of Philippine cities.  It depicts the features and magnitude of poverty, not only in terms of its commonplace measure, income, but also those non-income dimensions of deprivation.
Adopting a multi-dimensional perspective of the concept of poverty, a description of the varying facets of poverty is provided, specifically of:

• income and other monetary measures;
• health;
• education;
• security; and
• social inclusion

The volume also gives a small picture of how poor people view their life, how they look at poverty, how they characterize the features of poor individuals as well as community, and the perceived life essentials for enduring and exiting poverty. Moreover, the material generates a discussion on the conditions of selected vulnerable sectors in urban areas, namely the children of families living at the low end, and informal settlers.

Key words: poverty dynamics, Philippine cities, non-income measures, vulnerable sectors

Project Director:    Dr. Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:  US Agency for International Development through the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research and Support Program (USAID-SANREM-CRSP) of the Office of International Research, Education, and Development (OIRED) at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

In general, the project has sought to reduce poverty, food scarcity, and environmental degradation in the region by combining economically-viable and resource-conserving technologies and gender friendly socio-economic policies that will benefit and reward stakeholders in a watershed, especially small scale women and men farmers. It is hypothesized that “integrating vegetable production in the agroforestry system on small farms will help to alleviate poverty and enhance environmental protection, sustainability, and ecosystem biodiversity in SEA watersheds and vice versa.” The project has specific objectives on SANREM technology, marketing, policy, environmental and socioeconomic impacts, gender, and scaling-up (TMPEGS). Different studies to realize each of these objectives are simultaneously and sequentially being conducted primarily by collaborating institutions in the three countries with inputs from technical experts from western academic institutions and international research centers. In the Philippine case, the market and gender studies were assigned to SDRC.

The project has produced a book entitled Holding Their Own: Smallholder Production, Marketing and Women Issues in the Philippines. The book contains six pieces whose coverage includes vegetable-agroforestry intervention, the dualistic vegetable supply chain, farm women’s market participation, vermicomposting, and health consequences experienced by women in agriculture in the Philippines.According to the Foreword written by biological engineer Manuel R. Reyes, through the book Dr. Javier “shows the detrimental impacts of agricultural production practices in rural women, such as exposure to harmful chemicals especially when pregnant, use of machines designed for men, nutritional deficiencies due to poverty and overwork, and farm-related accidents and injuries. She offers an example of a women-friendly production technology deliberately researched and developed for women, which is vermiculture. Afterwards she shows how effective and gifted women are in marketing vegetables, advocating that women must be provided by government and society with avenues like post-harvest infrastructure and training, organized market information, better transport facilities to effectively market vegetables, and market policies redesigned with a bias to and for women. Small-scale marketing must be redesigned for women and be a means to empower women in rural communities.”

Key words: agroforestry; SEA watersheds; vermiculture; technology, marketing, policy, environmental and socioeconomic impacts, gender, and scaling-up (TMPEGS)

Project Director:   Dr. Jesusa M. Marco
Funding Agency:   World Health Organization/TDR

The second phase of the study seeks to determine process, progress and outcome indicators of community-based ecosystem management strategies at the household, cluster, barangay and city levels; and to determine and evaluate the differences in the processes of setting up the community-based strategies at the household and cluster levels of four selected clusters. The project resumed towards the latter part of May 2009 with a series of meetings with the community stakeholders. Since Phase 1 of the project ended around the 3rd quarter of 2008, the aforementioned meetings consisted of project updates and a presentation of Phase 2 plans and activities with members of the City Health Office, Health Center staff of the selected barangays (Brgy. Putatan, Alabang, and Cupang), as well as representatives from the City Mayor’s office and City departments. In the succeeding meetings, an orientation and planning workshop was conducted. In these workshops, specific instructions were given as to the implementation of the intervention in the four cluster sites, namely Manggahan, Mutual Homes, San Jose and Intercity with the former being a high-density cluster, and the latter three, low-density clusters. Before the implementation, the Project Team (referring to the staff from DLSU and RITM) together with the Health Center physician, sanitary inspectors, and barangay health workers, oriented the 100 households from each of the cluster sites as to the vector, disease, and the intervention package, which differed for each cluster.

Key words: community-based ecosystem management strategies, community stakeholders, intervention packages

Project Director:   Ma. Teresa G. de Guzman
Funding Agency: US Peace Corps/ Philippines

This study looks into the work of the Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) posted in the Philippines between 2000 and 2005.  After 50 years of posting PCVs all over the country, the US Peace Corps would like to find out if the education objectives that were framed have been addressed by the work of the PCVs. The primary objective of the study is to document the impact of Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) who worked in the Philippines between the periods 2000-2005. Specifically, the study will assess the impact of the PCVs’ activities associated with the Education project based on the two Peace Corps objectives: 1) Helping people on interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women; and 2) Helping promote a better understanding of the Americans among Filipinos. There are two goals in turn to answer the objectives.  The first goal is “to evaluate the work of the Peace Corps Volunteer in the school/community and the observed changes in school or community since the start of the Volunteer’s work, and, any changes as a result of working with the Peace Corps”; and, the second goal is “to evaluate what the Filipinos learned about the United States and the Americans based on their interaction with the Volunteers.”

Key words: Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs), education projects, the United States and Americans

Project Director:  Leah Veneessa Valbuena
Funding Agency:  Kraft Foods (Philippines), Inc.

This commissioned research is primarily aimed at understanding what “reputable company” means to select Filipino stakeholders and consumers. It is believed that working with a grassroots definition of “reputation” may significantly aid Kraft Foods Philippines in installing appropriate systems and programs to yield significant benefits. Other objectives of the research include: 1) measuring Kraft Foods Philippines’ performance using local and global indicators of corporate reputation; 2) comparing Kraft Foods Philippines’ corporate reputation performance with that of other multinational companies in the country; and 3) assessing whether Kraft Foods Philippines’s corporate reputation performance would translate to preference and purchase.

Key words: corporate reputation, multinational companies, Filipino consumer, corporate performance

Project Director:    Leah Veneessa Valbuena
Funding Agency:  UNICEF and Plan International, Inc.

The primary goal of this project is to develop a self-administered assessment tool that would allow communities to evaluate their capacity to continuously deliver Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs and services (specifically on education, health and nutrition, and social protection) before, during, and after disasters. It is hoped that data from this tool could empower stakeholders to design intervention programs that would further capacitate the community and its ECCD service providers. In the end, it is also hoped that a sustainable right-based, gender-sensitive program on ECCD in Disasters shall be put to place.

Key words: Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD), disasters, assessment tools, intervention programs, gender sensitivity

Project Director:  Ferdinand D. Dagmang
Funding Agency: Benefactor

The longest-running project undertaken by SDRC, involving the Pundasyon Hanunuo Mangyan School, is the subject of this review which seeks to assess the viability of continuing the project.  Operations have been suspended since 2009 due to internal conflict between the Mangyan tribes. While data validates the relevance of the project, a re-assessment will determine the impact of the school on its beneficiaries, the Mangyan culture, and specifically the Bulalacao community. The review thus seeks to gather pertinent documents to establish the viability of the project; ascertain the relevance and impact of the study through a designed assessment tool; propose fiscal management strategies and self-sustaining/income-generating programs to ensure the feasibility of continuing the project; review the basic education curriculum offered and assess its re-alignment with DEPED basic education requirements; and identify concrete steps in managing, controlling and supervising PHMS if it is decided that it will fall under LASSO supervision.

Key words: Hanunuo Mangyan, assessment tools, management strategies, income-generating programs, basic education curriculum

Project Director:          Jesusa M. Marco
Funding Agency:        World Health Organization/TDR

The second phase of the study seeks to determine process, progress and outcome indicators of community-based ecosystem management strategies at the household, cluster, barangay and city levels; and to determine and evaluate the differences in the processes of setting up the community-based strategies at the household and cluster levels of four selected clusters. The project resumed towards the latter part of May 2009 with a series of meetings with the community stakeholders. Since Phase 1 of the project ended around the 3rd quarter of 2008, the aforementioned meetings consisted of project updates and a presentation of Phase 2 plans and activities with members of the City Health Office, Health Center staff of the selected barangays (Brgy. Putatan, Alabang, and Cupang), as well as representatives from the City Mayor’s office and City departments. In the succeeding meetings, an orientation and planning workshop was conducted. In these workshops, specific instructions were given as to the implementation of the intervention in the four cluster sites, namely Manggahan, Mutual Homes, San Jose and Intercity with the former being a high-density cluster, and the latter three, low-density clusters. Before the implementation, the Project Team (referring to the staff from DLSU and RITM) together with the Health Center physician, sanitary inspectors, and barangay health workers, oriented the 100 households from each of the cluster sites as to the vector, disease, and the intervention package, which differed for each cluster.

Key words: community-based ecosystem management strategies, community stakeholders, intervention packages

Project Director:         Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:       Canada Fund for Local Initiative

The project aims to increase the Talaandig women’s awareness of vermicomposting, as a sustainable upland farming technology; to promote adoption of vermicomposting as a cost-saving and environment-friendly strategy; to encourage women to actively engage in vermicomposting; and to scale up the adoption of vermicomposting in the community. The increased adoption of the technology would lead to savings in farm inputs and an increase in environmental consciousness. The benefits of the technology and the increased involvement of women are expected to guarantee the sustainability of vermicomposting in the community. The project site is Bol-ogan, a predominantly Talaandig community in the barangay of Songco with a population of about 72 households. Songco is one of the villages in Lantapan, a 3rd class municipality found within the Kitanglad Mountain Range in Bukidnon Province of northern Mindanao. Lantapan is known as the “vegetable basket” in the island, with farming as the main occupation of residents. The Talaandigs of Bol-ogan are among the poorest residents of Songco.

Key words: vermicomposting, sustainable upland farming technology, environment-friendly strategies

Project Director:                      Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:                    Philippine Business for Social Progress and Upland NGO Assistance Committee

This study piloted a participatory research process for developing a culturally sensitive household census tool/questionnaire and the necessary training manuals for data gathering through interviewing and for coding the data obtained. It was undertaken in the upland barangays of San Fabian and Acacia in Kapaya Municipality of Nueva Vizcaya Province. To make the research and its results broadly relevant and utilizable, all stakeholders of the pilot study particularly the concerned indigenous communities were engaged in every possible extent from the beginning to the end of the research process. The main stakeholders are composed of the following institutions: local government units of the concerned barangays and municipality, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Katutubong Samahan ng Pilipinas, Inc. (KASAPI), Philippine Association for Intercultural Development (PAFID), Kalahan Educational Foundation (KEF), the Upland NGO Assistance Committee (UNAC), and SDRC.

Key words: ancestral domain claim, indigenous communities, culturally sensitive tool/questionnaire, participatory research processes

Project Director/Manager:     Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:   United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF )

This project on child and family welfare in the Philippines is unique in that is deals not with the current, specific situations of children who may be vulnerable because they live on the streets, in orphanages, under circumstances of conflict, or have contracted sexually transmitted diseases. Rather, it looks into whether there are means to protect children from becoming vulnerable—whether there is a system to shield children who are victims of negligence, exploitation, or poverty.

The research study was pursued with the aim of providing an in-depth assessment of the current Child and Family Welfare System (CFWS) within the social welfare system in the Philippines at the national, regional and local governance levels, and to make policy recommendations regarding the overall strategy and specific measures to be used in order to strengthen the system. The study assessed     four dimensions/assessment criteria of the CFWS, namely the institutional, organizational, human resource, and financial.

Data gathering in Manila started in October 2008, and in the field sites in Visayas and Mindanao in November 2008.   A total of 123 key informant interviews were conducted: 65 in the three city sites (Manila, Cebu, and Zamboanga), and 58 in the three municipality and provincial sites (Bohol, Mt. Province, and Sulu).  Focus group discussions (FGD) were also conducted in the field sites.  A total of 60 FGDs were conducted, 10 in each of the field sites.  A total of 425 children and family members participated in the FGDs (212 at-risk and 214 child protection beneficiaries).

The study concluded that decentralization of government implies and brings different levels of responsibility to the nation, city, municipality, and barangay, all of which have duties for the protection of children. There is a need to develop mandatory standards and minimum local services so that children in different communities who experience abuse can access and receive the same quality of care and response. The child protection system must aim for a minimum range, level and standards of services to respond to and prevent abuse, violence, and exploitation.

Key words: Child and family welfare, systems assessment, quality of care, government decentralization

Project Director:        Marshall Valencia
Funding Agency:      Roslino Villamil (Organizational Development Consultant/Entrepreneur)

This research project involves a group of five studies that, as a whole, aimed: a) to generate a psychographic profile of the Filipino noontime viewers; b) to understand the nature of the Filipino masses’ perceptions towards noontime shows and celebrities; and c) to determine the underlying elements in generating viewing habits and emotional attachment towards noontime shows and celebrities. The study involves the two noontime shows “Eat Bulaga” hosted by Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon, and “Wowowee” hosted by Willie Revillame.

In particular, the specific objectives per study are: Study 1 (Consciousness Mapping of Noontime TV Hosts) – to generate a consciousness map of Vic, Joey, and Willie’s images in the minds of the Filipino masses; Study 2 (Implicit Attitudes Analysis) – To assess conscious and unconscious level attitudes of viewers towards Vic, Joey, and Willie; Study 3 (Para-social Relationships Between Viewers and Celebrities) – To determine the impact of para-social relationships in engaging viewers of noontime shows; and Studies 4 and 5 (Qualitative Audience Analysis) – To generate psychographic profiles of noontime show viewers, and to explore factors underlying viewing habits and show liking.

Key words: Filipino noontime shows and celebrities, television viewers, psychographic profile, consciousness maps, para-social relationships

Project Director:          Jesusa M. Marco
Funding Agency:        World Health Organization/TDR

This study used a selective, inter-sectoral approach to dengue vector control. The approach focused on epidemiologically important key containers identified by pupa surveys and applied during critical periods of dengue transmission, and was expected to result in long-term source reduction and effective dengue control in the Philippines.

The questions the study sought responses to are:

• How and how much do eco-biological and social factors affect dengue vector density in overcrowded, dense areas with unplanned urbanization and rapid population growth?
• How do these factors contribute to the cyclical increase in dengue cases?
• How can this information be formulated into a rational strategy for dengue control?
• Under a devoted system of health services and limited resources, who are the stakeholders for this strategy? What collaboration and linkages must be developed among them?
• And lastly, what are the recommendations for more effective dengue control?

In Phase I, the ecosystem of dengue in an urban setting was described within the following domains: vector ecology, socio-behavioral, and control program and activities.  The association of these factors with varying levels of vector density, as measured by pupa/person, and reported dengue incidence were analyzed. These served as a basis for identifying, through participatory processes, appropriate interventions that consider the influence of these factors on vector density. The intervention’s effect on vector density was analyzed and documented, and recommendations to the National Dengue Control and Prevention Program were developed from observations and experiences.

In summary, the findings of Phase I show that the approach to dengue vector control in Muntinlupa city is complex.  There are focal hotspots in the clusters for pupa positive water-holding containers.  There are also seasonal differences in a number of water-holding containers with pupa, the location of these containers, and pupa per person index (PPI).  Furthermore, during the rainy season, the distribution of houses with water-holding containers is skewed (San Jose Village and drums, respectively). The contribution of water-holding containers in public spaces to pupa productivity during the rainy season is also important.

Key words: Dengue vector control, rapid population growth, National Dengue Control and Prevention Program, pupa productivity

Project Director:          Jesusa M. Marco
Funding Agency:        World Health Organization

This study was conducted from July to September, 2007 supported by a research grant of the World Health Organization. It examined the impacts of decentralization on drug access, availability and procurement at selected LGUs in the Philippines using both qualitative and quantitative research tools. With the observed research gap on the subject matter, this study investigated whether or not the localization of health governance has affected the access of drugs and medicines at local health units over the years.

This research is valuable as it provides empirical evidence (in both qualitative and quantitative terms) on the impact of the government’s decentralization of health services on drug procurement, supply and access at the local levels.

The general aim of the study was to provide documentation on the impact of health service devolution on the procurement systems and the accessibility, availability and affordability of drugs in various LGU units in the Philippines.

Specifically the study sought to: a) document the impact of decentralization on the access, availability and prices of medicines at the local level; b) review the strengths and weaknesses as well as the relevance and effectiveness of drug procurement systems—including RA 9184—and methods of bulk/pool procurements to secure lowest medicine prices; and c) provide data that can guide the development of policies that would ensure the adherence of local government units to good procurement practices including proper selection, quantification, procurement, delivery and distribution of essential drugs and medicines.

Key words: localization of health governance, essential drugs and medicines procurement systems, RA 9184

Principal Investigator:  Jesusa M. Marco
Funding Agency:        United States Agency for International Development through the UP School of Economics

The Family Health Book (FHB) Initiative aimed to achieve sustainable family health by reducing a) maternal, neonatal and child mortality and morbidity; and b) the unmet need for family planning. Specifically, the initiative intended to: 1) improve access, especially by the poor and disadvantaged, to quality essential MNCH services, including family planning; 2) secure adequate financing of the FHB and MNCH services; 3) strengthen national and local public and private stakeholder commitment to MNCH; 4) increase demand for essential services and client participation in the Initiative; and 5) monitor the progress toward the achievement of improved MNCH outcomes.

The project’s objectives were to: 1) gather data from mothers, husbands and mothers/mothers-in-law on maternal and child health-seeking behavior, and preferred form and content of the FHB; and 2) develop the dummy version of the FHB based on the data gathered.

Results from the FGDs revealed that most of the participants, especially those living far from the health facilities, preferred to seek the services of the traditional birth attendants (TBAs) or hilots. Most of them claimed that these TBAs had certificates of training from the health centers. They chose the TBAs for prenatal, delivery and postnatal services mainly due to convenience, comfort, and the relatively lower fees/costs that they had to pay. Giving birth at home meant that the husband could be present in the actual childbirth, providing emotional support to his wife. Many of the FGD participants also expressed their trust in the TBAs to perform safe child deliveries. In the event that a delivery ended badly, with the mother dying, or the child, or both, their faith in the TBA was not affected.

With regards to the development of the Family Health Book, the participants were asked what contents would they like the book or the material to contain. A sample mother and child book was shown to them. In general, they appreciated all the contents and preferred that the new book have the same input, with minor changes in lay-out. They also suggested a number of titles in the local language.

Key words: maternal and child health-seeking behavior; family planning; maternal, neonatal, and child mortality and morbidity

Project Director:          Ma. Angeles Lapeña
Funding Agency:        United Nations Development Programme (through National  Economic and Development Authority Social Development Staff)

The main objective of the project was to ensure sustainability in the monitoring of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through the regular or institutional use of DILG MDG tracking data and statistics for program evaluation.  This was done through a complementation of efforts by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and DLSU, with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to set the system in place and implement it among all LGUs.

Several capacity building workshops were conducted for the project, with DILG regional and provincial point persons attending the capacity building workshops as trainers who would in turn train those in their regions.  The series of workshops covered the same topics and the same skills and competencies, revolving around how to encode data on the soft copies of the forms, how to “clean” the data, and how to consolidate the data.

Clustering of the regions was done by SDRC to make the capacity building work more manageable.   There were two clusters for the Luzon island group, one cluster for the Visayas, and two clusters for Mindanao.  Representatives from BLGD-DILG Central Office also attended all of the capacity building workshops conducted by SDRC.

The Bureau of Local Government Development (BLGD-DILG) complemented the efforts of SDRC for the capacity building component of the project by identifying the participants for the workshops and issuing the necessary bureau orders to enable the participants to attend the workshops.

After the capacity building, data was submitted by the LGUs.  For complementation purposes, DILG managed the receiving of the hard copies and consolidating them while SDRC managed the receiving of soft copies and consolidating them.

The SDRC team participated in a series of project dissemination fora organized by DILG.  The project’s results were likewise presented to the NEDA.

Key words: Millennium Development Goals, program evaluation, data tracking

Project Director:     Alicia B. Manlagnit
Funding Agency:    International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU)-Center for Coordination of Research

This study is a multi-country research endeavor that involves five research institutions in four different countries: India, Lebanon, the Philippines, and Thailand. It aims to explore realities about internal displacement caused by different factors. The Philippine component primarily seeks to describe people’s perceptions about and experiences during displacement caused by natural disasters, most particularly mudslides in a rural municipality in Southern Philippines.  More specifically, this study has aimed to: obtain relevant information about displaced people’s perceptions on natural disaster and displacement phenomena, and describe how these perceptions shape their experiences during displacement; determine the pattern of displacement and describe its consequences, with a particular focus on the problems people experience during displacement; look into the different self-help strategies displaced people use to cope with the problems they encounter; identify structures that assist displaced people and describe the nature and process of assistance; and identify key issues and relevant concerns on the return process.

Data collected and analyzed suggest that displaced people have different perceptions about the occurrence of natural disasters and their consequences, the foremost of which is displacement.  The data gathered likewise show that perceptions have an effect on the different experiences of residents as a result of displacement.

Key words: displaced persons, natural disasters, displacement phenomena, self-help strategies

Project Director:    Antonio C. Contreras
Funding Agency:   Unit for Social and Environmental Research, Chiang Mai University, Thailand

M-POWER stands for Mekong Program on Water, Environment and Resilience. It is one of the many programs under the Challenge Program of CGIAR that focus on river basins in the world. The project’s major goal is to improve livelihood security, human and ecosystem health in the Mekong Region through democratizing water governance. The second phase of the project will focus on “Popular Media Representations of Knowledge about Water and Environment in the Mekong Sub-Region.” This has sprung from the need to tap not only scientific journals, books and technical papers to develop the knowledge base of knowledge networks, but also popular mass media (television, documentary films, magazines, newspapers). This will enable a stronger linkage between what can be considered as technical scientific knowledge on one hand, and the larger public whose greater awareness about the issues could translate into a stronger policy demand and support system on the other.

Key words: Mekong region, water governance, livelihood security, human and ecosystem health

Project Director:          Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:        Upland NGO Assistance Committee (UNAC)

This project aimed to assist PAFID-Mindanao and the local NGO and IPO involved in the 3D Mapping activities preparatory to the Indigenous People’s Organizations’ ancestral domain claim within an ARMM (Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao) area. The 3D Mapping activities surfaced the need to understand the unique situation of IPs such as the Teduray-Lambangian-Dulangan Manobo who are found in a Muslim-governed region. Hence, the project sought to review the literature and interview selected key informants to elicit issues and problems relating to establishing an ancestral domain claim in a Muslim territory, the constraints encountered in existing government policies and programs, and the nature of the difficulties met when implementing the laws/policies in an autonomous region.

Key words: Indigenous peoples, ancestral domains, Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao

Team Leader:              Exaltacion Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Health Policy Development and Planning Bureau, Department of Health

The main objective of the study was to institutionalize the BFAD Client Monitoring and Feedback System based on the Service Quality Model that was used in the SDRC 2003 BFAD Client Satisfaction Study.

The study’s major tasks were to: 1) conduct an assessment of the readiness, capacities and resources of BFAD to implement the Service Quality Model-based Client Feedback Monitoring System, which was formulated and used in the 2003 SDRC study; 2) assist BFAD in the implementation of the client feedback and monitoring system using the tools, systems, and mechanisms developed by SDRC in the 2003 study, to include a second client satisfaction survey in the BFAD Central Office in 2007, with BFAD taking on the major role in carrying out the survey, from data collection to documentation and analysis of the survey outcome; 3) assist BFAD in conducting a comparative analysis of the level of its Central Office clients’ satisfaction, based on the 2003 and 2007 survey studies; 4) support BFAD in the conduct of its client feedback research dissemination and utilization activities, action planning, and service delivery improvement strategic planning; 5) document the processes of implementation and standard operating procedures of the client feedback and monitoring system in an Implementation Manual and make the report available for dissemination; 6) conduct training for the BFAD teams that will implement the Client Feedback Monitoring System; and 7) participate or act as resource persons in research and policy deliberations dealing directly with the outputs and outcomes of the project.

Prospects and Recommendations. Based on the findings revealed in the study, the prospects of making CFMS fully institutionalized and fully operational remain bright, given the involvement and enthusiasm of the BFAD personnel who attended the project’s capacity building activities. Commitment toward the mission of CFMS has been made by the individual staff and officers; in addition, clear charting of responsibilities in relation to the tasks involved has been done. Steps were recommended to forward and advance the initiatives related to the institutionalization of the CFMS.

Key words: client monitoring and feedback, service quality, research dissemination and utilization, Bureau of Food and Drugs

Team Leader:              Exaltacion Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Council for the Welfare of Children

The research aimed to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework for the SBMS with focus on the micro level, that is, at the levels of the local government units, barangays, and households and/or families.  It had two-pronged general objectives: (a) to undertake a mapping of indicators and the existing monitoring and evaluation systems in selected local government units and organizations/agencies working closely with children; and (b) to formulate an appropriate and suitable framework for the local monitoring system for children, including the identification of indicators and measures of well-being.

The review of the monitoring and evaluation (M & E) systems in the LGUs and selected organizations involved in the task of realizing children’s rights and well-being indicated a promising situation in that the agencies and organizations covered in the study already have the tradition of monitoring their programs and activities, including resources. This, however, needs strengthening such that the monitoring system does not remain in the realm of the information unit maintaining the data base or in the organization itself, but rather something in which results are utilized, analyzed, and disseminated for project management strategic planning, identification of gaps for corrective action, and finally, public dissemination of valuable information.

Key words:  children’s rights and well-being, monitoring and evaluation systems, local government units, corrective action, information dissemination

Project Director:          Jesusa M. Marco
Funding Agency:        DLSU President’s Office and SDRC Poverty Studies Fund

Phase II primarily includes the following activities: (1) Continued monitoring and formative evaluation of the micro-finance project in Singalong implemented by COSCA; (2) Skills Inventory Survey in the community; and (3) Dissemination of the results and mapping out future directions.

Key words: Poverty alleviation, micro-finance projects

Project Director:      Jesusa M. Marco
Funding Agency:    Department for International Development-Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

After two regional workshops (in 2003 and 2004), the Asia HIV/AIDS Research for Action Network (AHARAN) convened the 3rd Asian Regional Workshop of the HIV/AIDS and STI Knowledge Programme from November 18 to 20, 2005 in Shanghai, China.

In pursuit of the network’s over-riding goal to eventually provide a venue for collaboration among the six member countries—Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Thailand, China and the Philippines—, the Workshop specifically aimed to: a) describe Best Practices on HIV/AIDS in each country; b) review government initiatives related to the Millennium Development Goals specific to HIV/AIDS and their integration in the Information Monitoring System; c) identify and prioritize common concerns or issues for which research is necessary; and d) develop a feasible regional research proposal.

The 2005 workshop was jointly organized by the Social Development Research Center – De La Salle University (Manila) and the Shanghai Institute for Planned Parenthood Research (SIPPR), with funding support from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine through the DfID Knowledge Programme.

Key words: HIV/AIDS, best practices, Millennium Development Goals, information monitoring systems

Principal Collaborating Scientist:        Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:     US Agency for International Development through the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research and Support Program (USAID-SANREM-CRSP) of the Office of International Research, Education, and Development (OIRED) at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

In general, the project seeks to reduce poverty, food scarcity, and environmental degradation in the region by combining economically-viable and resource-conserving technologies and gender friendly socio-economic policies that will benefit and reward stakeholders in a watershed, especially small scale women and men farmers. The project has specific objectives on SANREM technology, marketing, policy, environmental and socioeconomic impacts, gender, and scaling-up (TMPEGS). Different studies to realize each of these objectives are simultaneously and sequentially being conducted primarily by collaborating institutions in the three countries with inputs from technical experts from western academic institutions and international research centers. In the Philippine case, the market and gender studies were assigned to SDRC.

The market study aims to conduct market value chain research at the local, regional, and national levels that builds upon existing market strategies and develop interventions to overcome constraints and take advantage of opportunities. On the other hand, the gender component aims to provide mechanisms to improve the socio-economic well-being of women engaged in vegetable production and agroforestry enterprises, especially in terms of income and labor share, and to involve women in decisions that concern their welfare.

Key words: Southeast Asian watersheds, small-scale women and men farmers, market value chain research, vegetable production and agroforestry enterprises

Project Director:          Madelene Sta. Maria
Funding Agency:        SDRC Fund

Conducted by faculty members together with students in the graduate program of the Department of Psychology, the project has the following objectives: 1) to develop a data-base on youth capacities and resources as agents in social development by determining the opportunities and constraints experienced by the Filipino youth and other youth in Asia, in contexts of development such as family relationships, the school, the community, and at work; and 2) to develop a values inventory based on youth experiences in changing contexts of development.

The research project covers a total of seven research initiatives, and is being conducted for a period of one year. Within the given year, five out of the seven initiatives were undertaken, namely: 1) Youth life in the school setting; 2) Youth political socialization and civic engagement; 3) Youth and mental health; 4) Youth and peer relationships; and 5) Youth in the changing Filipino family.

For each project initiative, detailed tasks were conducted. These are composed of: 1) A review of the relevant literature, undertaken on the experiences of Filipino adolescents in specific contexts of development; 2) a focus groups guide, constructed based on the relevant literature for each of the developmental contexts; 3) focus groups conducted among youth groups—at least two focus groups will be conducted with rural youth, and at least two focus groups will be conducted with urban youth; 4) a qualitative analysis of the discussions in each of these groups; and 5) the construction of items for the survey instruments, based on important themes that emerge from the analysis of focus group discussions.

Key words: youth capacities and resources, values inventory, family relationships, Filipino family, mental health

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        World Health Organization

SDRC, together with the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/World Health Organization Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), particularly its Steering Committee of the Strategic Social, Economic and Behavioral (SEB) Research in Geneva, Switzerland, conducted an international symposium/workshop entitled “Infectious Diseases Among Children in Conflict Situations: Risk, Resilience and Response” from  January 9 to 13, 2006 at the CSB Hotel of the Angelo King International Conference Center. This activity was organized in collaboration with the School of Public Health and Community Medicine of the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, and the Refugee Studies Center (RSC) of the Department of International Development, University of Oxford.

The symposium/workshop aimed to present the state of the art in relation to child engagement and child participation in conflict, document key challenges to the field, and identify strategies to address these challenges.  To accomplish the foregoing objectives, the workshop/symposium: (1) brought together researchers, service-providers, and international experts  to share their valuable insights and experiences in research and service-delivery in the field; (2) presented and explored current thinking with respect to innovative research work with children and the challenges of tackling infectious diseases in conflict settings; (3) drew on experiences of participants of selected countries to describe the factors affecting health and infectious diseases risk, resilience and response in conflict; (4) promoted new thinking around child-centered approaches to research and infectious disease; and (5) supported the application of the insights derived to designing innovative child-centered research projects  in the selected countries in conflict.

Participants attending the symposium/workshop were from Uganda, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, and the Philippines.  Co-convenors of the international symposium/workshop were Dr. Pilar Ramos-Jimenez, SDRC Research Fellow and Associate Professor of the Behavioral Sciences Department, and currently co-chair of the TDR-SEB Steering Committee; Dr. Anthony Zwi, Professor and Head of the UNSW School of Public Health and Community Medicine, and member, TDR-SEB Steering Committee; and Dr. Johannes Ulrich Sommerfeld, TDR-SEB Steering Committee Manager.

Key words: research work with children, infectious diseases in conflict settings

Project Director:          Carmelita Quebengco
Funding Agency:        SDRC Special Fund for Studies on Poverty and Vulnerable Groups

In mid-1983 a project proposal was developed by the Integrated Research Center (IRC)—presently the Social Development Research Center—and the Graduate School of Arts, Education and Science (GSAES), in coordination with the Participatory Uplands Management Program (PUMP) of the IRC, with the aim of developing a relevant yet culturally appropriate elementary education program, the training of para-teachers, and the setting up of a system to ensure sustainability for a school for the Mangyans of Oriental Mindoro.

The study aimed to document and examine the outcome of the Pundasyon Hanunuo Mangyan School in terms of its three-pronged goal of developing a relevant yet culturally appropriate basic education program, training of para-teachers from the communities involved and establishing school farms to ensure sustainability for the school.  It adopted adopts a multi-method strategy, which included: 1) A review of existing statistical data about the Pundasyon Hanunuo Mangyan School, as well as those of the Department of Education’s district, division and national offices; 2) Key informant interviews (KIIs) of the officials of the Pundasyon Hanunuo Mangyan, Inc.; 3) Key informant interviews (KIIs) of the administrative officials of the Pundasyon Hanunuo Mangyan School; 4) Key informant interviews (KIIs) of the para-teachers of the Pundasyon Hanunuo Mangyan School; 5) Focus group discussions (FGDs) of the pupils of the various grade levels using FGD guide questions; and 6) A face-to-face interview of a sample of graduates of the school using a structured interview questionnaire.

The study covered the three (3) sitios of Umabang, Bailan and Amindang of Barangay Binli in the municipality of Bulalacao in the province of Oriental Mindoro.

Key words: Pundasyon Hanunuo Mangayan School, Participatory Uplands Management Program, culturally appropriate basic education, Oriental Mindoro

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        DLSU President’s Office and SDRC Poverty Studies Fund

The study aimed to find responsive and appropriate ways of undertaking poverty reduction initiatives in the communities of Barangay Paliparan, Dasmariñas, Cavite; Barangay Concepcion, Lumban, Laguna; and Barangays 745, 753, and 754, Singalong, Manila (for DLSU-Dasmariñas, DLS-College of St. Benilde, and DLSU-Manila, respectively), so as to assess the status of beneficiaries of the Caucus on Poverty Reduction (CPR) during the period 2003-2005.

The study sought to: 1) provide a socio-demographic and economic situationer of the micro-finance partners of the different programs before and after program implementation; 2) look at the perceptions of the micro-finance partners of the different programs regarding their present status compared to that prior to the program implementation; 3) assess the training needs of the micro-finance partners to enable them to become more economically productive based on the ideals of community participation, self-help, and participatory development; 4) look into the implementation of the different programs relative to equity and gender concerns; and 5) look into the operation of the different programs, especially on the aspects of transparency and accountability.

The survey entailed interviewing fifty (50) partners each in the Business Skills Development Resource Centers (BSDRC) programs in Dasmariñas, Cavite, Lumban, Laguna, and Singalong, Manila, using a structured interview questionnaire.  In addition, a similar number of non-partners from the same areas were also interviewed using the same questionnaire to allow for comparison.  The sample partner-respondents were drawn randomly from the respective lists of the three programs, while the sample non-partner-respondents were drawn randomly from available barangay voters’ lists after removing the names of program partners.

Highlights of the baseline survey research are findings in the areas of Socio-Demographic and Housing Characteristics; Socio-Economic Characteristics; Savings and Credit System; Awareness of the Caucus on Poverty Reduction-Business Skills Development Resource Center (CPR-BSDRC) and its Operation; and Perceptions and Beliefs.

Key words: poverty reduction initiatives, micro-finance partners, community participation, equity and gender concerns

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        World Bank through Global Forum for Health Research

The Mapping of Mental Health Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries study, funded by the Global Forum for Health Research and the World Bank, generally aimed to develop a regional map of actors and their respective roles in the domains of mental, neurological and behavioral health research, and to describe the current research agenda and the process of priority setting in a Domain Profile. Specifically, the project intended to: 1) map the actors involved in mental health research, particularly in the Western Pacific Region, 2) map the research agenda as well as the domain of the studies done on mental health, 3) describe the process of priority setting, and 4) analyze the factors that impact on mental, neurological and behavioral health policy.

This project sought to produce a network of institutions and individuals working on research on mental and neurological disorders in low- and middle-income countries and their priority setting strategies.

To attain the first objective, the following methodologies were employed in the mapping of actors in the region: (a) searching for mental health-related articles in various publication databases, taking note of the primary authors and their contact details, (b) identifying actors through organizations/associations, and (c) snowball sampling of stakeholders. The second and fourth research objectives were achieved through the sending of questionnaires to the local researchers and other stakeholders identified through the mapping of actors. Self-administered questionnaires were sent to different stakeholders, namely: (a) researchers, (b) ministry officials, (c) university administrators, and (d) members of associations/organizations.

Key words: mental health research, neurological disorders, low- and middle-income countries, Western Pacific Region

Project Director:     Exaltacion E. Lamberte (Team Leader and Director)
Funding Agency:    World Health Organization/Department of Health–Bureau of Health Planning and Policy Development

The project had the overall aim of developing a coherent and consistent system of Local Government Unit performance assessment for local health systems. The research initiative had two phases: Phase 1, which centered on the development of the composite domains and indicators of each component identified in the WHO framework, and Phase 2, which entailed the conduct of the pilot testing activity and fine-tuning of operational definitions of the composite domains and the reduction of indicators to make it easier to manage in local areas. The objectives of Phase 1 were as follows: a) to develop a framework that would be suitable for assessment of local health systems comparable across time and across LGUs; b) to identify possible indicators that may be suitable within the different components of the developed framework; c) to analyze the possibility of and issues involved in developing one or more composite indexes of relevant indicators; d) to develop tools and instruments to collect and report relevant data  for selection and pilot-testing at the community level; e) to develop a consultation plan on the framework for the Department of Health; and f) to identify key issues and strategies that need to be considered in order to effectively operationalize the system.

Phase 2 aimed, in particular, to: a) review and conduct the assessment in three provinces and cities; b) reduce and finalize parsimonious listing of parameters, indicators and measures appropriate for the assessment of LGUs; c) determine the acceptability of the parameters and indicators among stakeholders, LGU officials and health managers; d) design and refine data collection forms, tools, and the various  strategies for data collection; e) design and refine the reporting forms, publication formats and other tools for effective performance assessment; f) establish a feasible method of recording, analyzing and reporting the data; g) identify the roles of responsible units or involved stakeholders; and h) identify strategies to operationalize and maintain the system.

The pilot sites included some municipalities/component cities of the provinces of La Union, Cavite, Negros Oriental and Bukidnon. The chartered cities of Cebu, Pasay and Cagayan de Oro were also covered.

Key words: LGU performance assessment, local health systems, Department of Health, pilot-testing activity

Project Director:          Marlon DL. Era
Funding Agency:        Japan Foundation (through Local Government Academy)

With the rapid development of modern knowledge, preserving indigenous knowledge systems faces various challenges. First, indigenous knowledge has not been captured, documented, and stored in a systematic way. Second, there is an information gap on how to include indigenous knowledge in modern development planning processes. Third, most development interventions have failed to convince indigenous people to participate because of the absence of instruments and mechanisms that can enable them to use their own knowledge. To address these challenges, greater efforts must be undertaken to mainstream indigenous knowledge systems in development program.

This study basically focused on local governance practices of cultural communities, specifically in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR). It also examines the state of indigenous knowledge systems in the Philippines. The main objective of the project has been to document and analyze indigenous knowledge systems in local governance. Specifically, it aimed to 1) draw out, understand, and appreciate indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) in promoting good local governance in countries of the Asia Pacific Region; and 2) develop a framework for mainstreaming indigenous knowledge systems (IKA) in a modern form of local governance (e.g. Decentralization).

The findings of the study were presented in a regional conference in Manila organized by the Local Government Academy.

Key words: Indigenous knowledge, information gaps, development planning, local governance

Project Director:      Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:    Social Development Research Center (SDRC)

The integration of domestic violence issues into the nursing curriculum of Silliman University was a pilot project that was initiated from 1997 to 2000 by the DLSU-SDRC Task Force on Social Science & Reproductive Health (TFSSRH), a small group composed of health professionals and social scientists, a lawyer, and representatives of women’s organizations.

The main objective of this study was to determine the effects of the use of the student learning modules and teachers’ guides on the faculty and students of five nursing schools (two in Luzon, two in the Visayas, and one in Mindanao) that participated in the June 2002 training at Silliman University.  Specifically, the study examined the (a) status, strategies and processes adopted  by the nursing schools in utilizing the learning tools, (b) the faculty and students’ perceived beneficial effects and difficulties using the foregoing tools, (c) the strategies used by the faculty to overcome their difficulties,  (d) indicators used by the nursing schools to assess the competencies of their graduates, and (e) sustainability and prospects of the continued use of the integrated tools in the selected nursing institutions.  Key informant interviews with school administrators and focus group discussion with faculty and students were the main methods used in the study.  The coordinator of the Mindanao Working Group on Reproductive Health, gender and sexuality, a consortium of tertiary academic institutions on the island, was interviewed because of the current effort of the working group in training new nursing colleges in the use of the learning tools in partnership with Silliman University’s faculty-writers.

The findings of the study showed that only Silliman University’s College of Nursing— the pilot institution—completely utilized the student learning modules and teachers’ guides.  Two nursing schools partially used some learning tools in selected subjects. The other two schools used them mainly as references.  One of these schools developed its own psychology module incorporating domestic violence issues, while the other shifted to a problem-based learning approach.

Key words: Silliman University College of Nursing, domestic violence, student learning modules, reproductive health, gender and sexuality

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        Academy for Educational Development (AED)

Since the first quarter of 2003, active partnership activities in the promotion and practice of family planning have been undertaken with major organizations in the country by  TSAP-FP (The Social Acceptance Project on Family Planning, Partnership, Engagement and Advocacy), with the  AED as primary contractor, particularly its  Advocacy and Social Mobilization (ASM) unit. To determine the status of the foregoing partnership from January 2003 to July 2004, a qualitative study  was undertaken particularly about the (a)  processes and strategies used by  TSAP-FP to engage its partners in family planning advocacy, (b) the perceived  factors  that  have facilitated and  hindered the partnership as well as the  strategies the  partners utilized to manage their difficulties, (c) the advocacy efforts undertaken by the partners within their respective constituencies and target communities, (d) the lessons learned by the partners from the collaboration with TSAP-FP, and (e) the challenges confronting the partners, including the sustainability of the FP advocacy.

The major lessons obtained from the partnership focused on the effects of the training workshops on the leaders and their organizations. These training activities have enlightened the leaders about the need to practice FP, especially among the members of their organizations.

Recommendations of the study suggest that TSAP should support the new indigenous networks, examine the partners’ organizational structures and management system, and conduct a review of current USAID/AED administrative policies in supporting local training workshops/seminars and documentation of the strategies and processes that will be utilized by the partners and their new networks/groups.

Key words: Family planning, advocacy and social mobilization, training workshops, management systems

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        East Asian Development Network (EADN)

The study sought to answer these questions: (a) What are the characteristic features of urban poverty in the Philippines? (b) What are the factors contributory to the persistence of poverty in urban areas? (c) What implications for social safety net interventions could be drawn from the findings?

Poverty is defined as “pronounced deprivation in well-being” or “a deprivation of essential assets and opportunities to which every human being is entitled.” In this research, poverty in urban areas is what is referred to simply as urban poverty. Using a multi-dimensional lens, urban poverty was examined along several dimensions and these were: (a) income; (b) health; (c) security; and (d) social inclusion.

The study made use of three types of data collection strategies, namely: (a) re-analysis of the data sets of the nationwide surveys conducted by the Philippine National Statistics Office, specifically the 1997 and 2000 Family Income and Expenditure Surveys (FIES), the 1999 Annual Poverty Indicator Survey (APIS) and the 2000 National Census and Population Survey; (b) Conduct of a Micro Community Survey in two cities in Metro Manila; and (c) use of documents and statistical reports.

Urban poverty is generally a periphery and center-periphery phenomenon. Small children are a common sight in urban areas and most of the families in urban poor communities have very young children aged less than 15 years. Family structure is generally extended; households are generally large composing not only the core and nuclear family members but relatives as well. Crowding is a common phenomenon.

The study concluded that, based on the selected data collection strategies, poverty in urban areas has persisted. Despite aspirations and hope for improving their lives, the poor have experienced little or no improvement at all. The very poor were unable to generate much income, gain access to the basic services necessary for the development of human as well as social capital.

Key words: Urban poverty, social safety nets, Philippine National Statistics Office, data collection strategies

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Department for International Development-Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

The aim of the workshop was to provide an Asian perspective of HIV/AIDS and STI that considers migration patterns, country border activities and political events shaping the region.

The medium-term output is a collaborative proposal among Asian countries for STI/HIV/AIDS research that will add to the knowledge-base and have direct implications on regional policy formulation and implementation of effective interventions. The workshop closed with participants identifying an Action Plan as the basis for the establishment of a new Asia HIV/AIDS Research for Action Network (AHARAN).

Key words: HIV/AIDS, STI, policy formulation, research for action

Project Director:          Marlon DL. Era
Funding Agency:        Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

The In-Depth Case Study (IDCS) is a documentation of the Community-Based Forest Management Project (CBMFP) in Visares, Capoocan in the province of Leyte.  This undertaking is a component of the ongoing collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Philippine Government through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).  The study attempts to provide a more comprehensive understanding of what set of conditions, factors and strategies enable the CBFM projects to succeed, and what factors constrain success or may even lead to failure.  Its focus is in the areas of organizational stability, forest area development and management, business and financial management, and policy and institutional support. A complementation of Focus Group Discussion (FGD), document review and Key Informant Interview (KII) has been utilized to gather and analyze the data.  Data interpretation, on the other hand, uses additional analytical constructs designed to address the issue of benefits, which concomitantly addresses the success/failure debate.

From the study, it was found that the DENR organizational structure at various implementing levels that will look into the CBFM Program implementation is not in place.  The jurisdiction over Visares is not even clear, whether it should be PENRO-Leyte or CENRO-Albuera that oversees the program implementation.  Moreover, the function of the local government of Capoocan in the CBFMP, although clearly stated in the CBFMA, seemed not to have been absorbed by the LGU.  They limit their involvement to the annual induction of UMACAP officers.

Despite the realities that the economic benefits of the program brought among the beneficiaries, the forest and its concomitant benefits—i.e., ecological and physical—remain to be the most significant rallying point of the sustained aspiration of the Visares community to continue the Project.  Future CBFM implementations could draw inspiration and lessons from the Visares experiences.

Key words:  Forest area development and management, organizational stability, program implementation, business and financial management, policy and institutional support 

Project Director:          Loyd Brendan Norella
Funding Agency:        Department for International Development-Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

The Asia HIV/AIDS Research for Action Network (AHARAN) was established in July 2003 when delegates from China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, India and the Philippines met in Manila for the 1st Asian Regional Writeshop/Meeting in Relation to HIV/AIDS and STI. The aim of establishing the Network was to provide an Asian perspective of HIV/AIDS and STI that considers migration patterns, country border activities, and political events shaping the region.

The Manila meeting/writeshop was conducted with the following objectives: 1) to form an active core of Asian researchers for the Knowledge Program; 2) to assess knowledge on HIV/AIDS/STI among prospective Asian KP country partners; 3) to identify the existing knowledge base and needs for research activities, projects and programs related to HIV/AIDS/STI in Asia; 4) to promote regional cooperation and commitment among Asian countries related to HIV/AIDS/STI research; and 5) to identify common concerns and shared objectives of the group towards an HIV/AIDS Social Science Network database in Asia. The final output was a concrete collaborative research proposal that addresses the region’s concerns.

The research proposal marked the beginning of a unified project to be carried out in the participating Asian countries.

Key words: HIV/AIDS, STI, Asian region, knowledge programs, collaborative research

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        UNFPA-Department of Health

The Center conducted a five-day intensive workshop entitled “Behavior Change Communication (BCC) for Reproductive Health for Program Managers engaged in RH and Advocacy” from May 24 to 28, 2004 at the Charles Huang Conference Center in Calaca, Batangas. The workshop aimed to improve the communication management of 18 facilitators from the Department of Health. After a series of lectures on practice principles of person-centered BCC, the workshop culminated with a sharing of communication and action plans.  These plans will eventually be implemented in the facilitators’ respective departments.

The training included sessions on the framework and problem-solving; effective interpersonal communication and helping skills; communication channels and message development; process and strategies; and issues and desired behavior in RH.

The training was the last in a series that began in December 2003. The program resulted from a joint campaign by DLSU and UNPF to stabilize population growth and reduce poverty.

Key words: Reproductive health, behavior change communication, effective interpersonal communication, message development, population growth

Project Director:           Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        World Health Organization-Tropical Diseases Research

SDRC, in collaboration with the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office (WHO-WPRO), ACT Malaria, and the Philippine Department of Health, conducted an intensive twenty-day training on Operations Research (OR) for the Malaria Control Program on November 3-22, 2003. Fifteen participants from the Greater Mekong Region (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and China) and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand) attended the course.

The training was designed for malaria field personnel who are currently and directly involved in implementing malaria control programs. The goal of the course was to equip the participants with social science research skills to enable them to undertake small-scale OR studies in communities for improving existing malaria control interventions. At the end of the course, the participants were able to develop small-scale research proposals that focused on the behavioral aspects of malaria control. These products were intended as diagnostic or baseline studies preparatory to the development of full-blown OR studies carried out after the baseline studies were completed. The community baseline studies were implemented for eight months in 2004, with financial support from ACT Malaria.

Various training methodologies were utilized during the training. Aside from lectures, participatory teaching methods—particularly workshops, discussion groups, individual oral presentation, role playing, and field practicum—were used. The participants from each country were also assigned to conduct icebreakers/energizers and to recapitulate the highlights of the previous day’s topic/s and activities at the beginning of each day’s morning and afternoon sessions.

Key words: Malaria control, operations research studies, training methodologies

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Department of Health

The study was conceived after the DOH was identified as the lead agency for the health sector during the drafting of the National Socio-Economic Pact of 2001. One of three pledges it seeks to implement as the lead agency is the restructuring of the BFAD and adopting measures to improve its registration process.

The study was thus envisioned to provide a framework for the development of an effective client feedback mechanism for BFAD, the identification of strategies and indicators to measure satisfaction of BFAD clientele (those groups and individuals who register food, drugs, and other health commodities with BFAD), efficient and timely collection, analysis, and reporting of client satisfaction data over a 10-month man-house activity within a period of 20 months, or one year and eight months.

Key words: client feedback mechanisms, client satisfaction data, registration processes, health commodities

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        World Health Organization

The main objective of the OR training was to introduce the participants to OR principles, methods, and their application in the malaria control program through lectures, workshops, and field immersion/exposure; and to facilitate the preparation of an OR proposal for possible implementation in their respective communities.

Activities undertaken during the project were: a) conducting a review of existing literature on malaria, particularly on social research and training; b) conducting site visits as part of the situation analysis, selection of sites for field training, and identification of local experts who can assist in conducting the training; c) consulting local and international experts in developing the course design; d) consulting with ACTMalaria and WHO about the training needs for building country programmes’ capacity for operational research in the region; e) submitting a draft design and course modules for review by WHO and the ACTMalaria Executive Board; f) finalizing the course design according to the recommendations of WHO and ACTMalaria; and g) preparing a report on the preparatory phase of the operational research training, and submitting it to WHO.

Key words: malaria control program, operational research, social research and training, course design

Project Director:          Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:        International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) SEA Regional Research Programme

The study was a response to the existing research gap on local secondary organizations or federations in the region. It sought to understand why and how secondary organizations in Philippine upland watersheds are formed, what services these organizations provide to support their member primary organizations’ resource management practices, how they influence the formulation and implementation of natural resource management policies, and what they require to be effective secondary organizations tasked with resource management. The study utilized a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including literature review, surveys, informal and semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and case studies. The study sites were the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya in Luzon and Bukidnon in Mindanao, which were reported to have active or functional federations and provincial governments supportive of the federations. Twelve federations (out of 23 in both provinces) and 27 (out of 75) of their member primary organizations were studied. Data gathering was completed after two years.

A report on the findings of this study was submitted and became integrated in a working paper published by the ICRAF Southeast Asian Office in Bogor, Indonesia in 2007.

Key words: local secondary organizations/federations, Philippine upland watersheds, resource management practices, Nueva Vizcaya, Bukidnon

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        World Health Organization

The study involved the following endeavors:  a) identifying a framework suitable for assessment of performance of local health systems that must be comparable across time and across LGUs; b) identifying possible indicators that may be suitable within the different components of this framework, and determining the availability and suitability of existing sources of data; c) analyzing the possibility of, and issues involved in, developing one or more composite “indexes” of relevant indicators; d) developing tools and instruments to collect and report the relevant data for a selection of these indicators (to be agreed upon with the Department of Health) and pilot test these in three provinces; e) developing a consultation plan on the framework for the Department of Health; and f) identifying key issues/strategies that need to be considered in order to effectively operationalize and maintain this system.

Key words: performance assessment, local health systems, system operationalization and maintenance

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        World Health Organization

The Center conducted this activity from November 25 to 27, 2002.  The capability building aimed to: a) explain the basic importance, concepts, principles, and the underlying framework of the regulation of health facilities and services; b) discuss the recent international developments in standards, licensing, accreditation, monitoring and quality improvement; c) encourage free discussions/debates on the current developments in regulation of health facilities and services in the Philippines; d) describe and explain the status of compliance to regulatory requirements at the national and regional levels; and e) come up with an action plan and identify the steps/strategies to advocate and educate others at the regional and health facility levels on the use and benefits of the regulation of health facilities and services.

Toward the end of the training, the participants were expected to develop an action plan composed of two components:  Advocacy and Education, and Communication Flow and Promotion Campaign.

Key words: health facilities and services regulation, advocacy and education, communication flow and promotion, capacity building

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Institute of International Education (IIE)

The Center implemented the Institute of International Education (IIE) Training on Leadership and Project Management at the Angelo King International Center from June 1 to August 31, 2002.

Four fellows participated in the training: Sinag Aurora Amado, Assistant Director for Projects of the Women’s Media Circle Foundation, UP Village; Lorna A. Bercilla, Program Officer of the Kaugwaran Foundation, Davao City; Ramie D. Corillo, Project Executive Manager of Iloilo Doctors College of Medicine Foundation Partnership for Health Program; and Mercedita de Joya, Coordinator of the Community Managed Health Program (CMHP) Medical Action Group, Inc., Quezon City.

The training was intended to provide capacity building activities and opportunities to leaders and promoters of reproductive health programs and initiatives in the country.  It focused on two aspects: leadership, and program development and management.  The overall educational approach used was experiential learning.  Interwoven in the lecture discussions were exercises and activities to reinforce the learning and to enhance the acquisition of the various leadership skills and management tools.  The fellows were encouraged to participate in the discussions and to share their experiences, and were required to prepare technical reports, projects proposals, and action plans.

Key words: reproductive health programs and initiatives, program development and management, leadership training, experiential learning

Project Director:      Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:    United States Agency for International Development

The project sought to a) review the process of Sentrong Sigla Program implementation; b) determine the perceptions of key stakeholders (Department of Health and regional program personnel, provincial/city and municipal level health service providers, community leaders, clients/households); c) ascertain the results and effects, gaps and problems in program implementation, taking into consideration the stakeholders’ perspectives; and d) map out recommendations to enhance SSM implementation at the national and local levels.

Data collection strategies for the study were a) client exit interviews; b) structured interviews with respondents; c) structured observation guided by a checklist instrument; and d) use of secondary data available in the facility and the community.  Five groups of respondents are sought for the study: clients and households (women of reproductive age, 15 to 49 years old, married, single, or living in consensual union); local government officials (mayor, councilor on health, planning and development officer, barangay officials); health service providers (health officers, nurses, midwives, sanitary inspectors, and barangay health workers); Department of Health personnel (regional and provincial levels); and NGOs and community-based private organizations.

The study covered the provinces of Cagayan and Camarines Sur in Luzon, Negros Oriental and Leyte in Visayas, and South Cotabato and Maguindanao in Mindanao, as well as Pasay City, Caloocan City, and Las Piñas City in the National Capital Region.

Key words: Sentrong Sigla program, Department of Health, women of reproductive age, health service providers, local government officials

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        World Health Organization

As early as the 1990s, the Department of Health introduced quality service improvement initiatives in some areas of the country. The implementation of some of the program’s efforts has been completed, while others are ongoing. This project aimed to address the information gap with regard to the adequacy of the documentation of these efforts.  A scientifically directed research and documentation of the efforts and local experiences of public health service agencies in bringing about an improved quality of health care service provision was undertaken.  An in-depth analysis on the experiences and struggles of the local health organizations that have experiences in implementing quality improvement initiatives was conducted. The analysis centered on: (1) whether or not QA initiatives have been sustained, and what factors have been found to contribute to the continued implementation of the QA initiatives; (2) whether other agencies or the local health organization have built upon their previous experiences with the end goal of pursuing further quality improvement efforts; (3) the workable/useful indicators and methods being used to monitor progress and improvement quality efforts; and (4) the action and strategies undertaken to overcome obstacles and difficulties encountered while in the process of implementing the program.

The project concluded that while there are many types of quality initiatives implemented in the country, no clear QA management approach is discernible.  The prospects for acceptance and success of quality improvement activities are favorable in the light of the enthusiasm and willingness shown by the local health managers and frontline service providers to introduce quality improvement initiatives in their respective local health facilities.  Ability of the health service providers to withstand difficulties and come up with a creative solution to address existing bottlenecks is a plus factor to the promotion of the program. However, motivating service providers and sustaining the activities remain a challenge to quality management efforts.

Key words: quality service improvement initiatives, public health service agencies, local health managers, frontline service providers

Project Director:          Raul Pertierra
Funding Agency:        Embassy of Finland and Nokia, Philippines.

The project a) aimed to examine the social consequences of cellphone use, and b) investigated the political and cultural implications of cellphone use. To attain the first objective, it attempted to provide answers to the following questions:  a) With cellphone use, did oral modes persist in the Philippines and did they extend beyond spatial boundaries? and b) Did cellphone use, as in texting, alter social relationships? To address the second objective, the following questions were asked: a) Has mobile information technology become a significant weapon in the political struggles of diverse groups?  b) Do cellphone users share new transclass and age-generational identities? and c) How are sexual identities constituted, transformed and reproduced?

The authors observed that the Philippines is presently undergoing its third major conversion.  The first was the rapid Christianization of the islands by Spanish friars during the 16th century; the second was its assimilation of Yankee values as taught by enthusiastic American teachers. The third has been the cellphone revolution.  However, as the French say, plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose: things remain much the same in the face of radical change.

The study further observed that the deep affect of cellphones on the lives of Filipinos should by now be evident.  The precise nature of this effect, its likely consequences and future developments are, however, more difficult to analyze.  Like the earlier conversions, cellphones are significant but also apparently inconsequential.  They have been so easily assimilated into the routines of everyday life that their effects on social relationships remain unperceived and are part of the taken-for-granted. Their intrusion and penetration into aspects of peoples’ innermost lives have to be critically assessed and delicately dissected.

Finally, the authors posit that the country is still mired in poverty and no communications revolution will solve its economic backwardness.  The global condition destroys locality before replacing it.  Moreover, this replacement is ontologically insecure, since it can only result in virtual locality, a simulacrum of the original.

Key words: cellular phone use, texting, mobile information technology, social relationships

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        EngenderHealth

The goal of the research was to understand the influence of gender roles on sexual behavior and reproductive health among this group. The components of the study assigned to SDRC-DLSU were: a) a brief review of Philippine legislation, policies and available social as well as health services for young people to determine the government and private sector’s responses to the social, mental and reproductive health needs of this sector, particularly Filipino male adolescents; b) eight three-day workshops with selected young men and women between the ages of 13-25 in Tagbilaran City; and c) the administration of a self-administered questionnaire concerning sexual and reproductive health behavior to the 96 young men and women participants in the three-day workshops.

The study showed that Filipino youth and adolescents are recognized by the national and local governments as sectors with specific concerns and needs.  The legislation and policies made for the benefit of young people focused on the prevention of and penalty against sexual abuse and exploitation, and drug abuse; and on the provision of free education.  Some policies were also made to provide protection and care for young people in especially difficult circumstances, particularly armed conflict.

In designing a male adolescent and youth RH program, it was suggested that young people should be involved to be able to respond to their needs adequately.  The prospective intervention program must foster partnerships among various stakeholders in the public and private sectors to ensure institutionalization and sustainability of such a venture.  An operations research may be conducted so that the process of program implementation can be documented and disseminated to the various stakeholders at the national and local levels.

Meanwhile, the workshops with in- and out-of-school males and females aged 15-24 covered the following topics about young people’s:  a) roles and responsibilities in their communities, families and romantic relationships; b) definition of masculinity, femininity, and sexuality; c) sexual and reproductive behavior; d) gender norms/rules in romantic relationships; e) communication on sexual and reproductive health; f) involvement in sexual and reproductive health decision-making; and g) recommendations for adolescent health services.

Key words: Filipino youth and adolescents, sexual behavior and reproductive health, Philippine legislation, Tagbilaran City

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        United Nations Development Program, World Bank, The Social, Economic and Behavioural Research Committee of the Tropical Disease Research Program of the World Health Organization, and SDRC

The workshop was held from April 3 to 7, 2002, at the Angelo King International Center. It sought to review existing explanations and concepts regarding the relationship between communicable diseases and instability/insecurity; focus attention on how communities and systems cope with adverse conditions and instability in order to address communicable diseases; and identify researchable questions and methods of coping with and overcoming adversity.

Twenty-seven participants—consisting of social scientists, researchers, practitioners, and NGO representatives from Afghanistan/Pakistan, Angola, Colombia, DR Congo, East Timor, Mozambique, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Uganda—attended the workshop.

Key words: communicable diseases, coping with adversity

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

Silliman University, through its College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, in cooperation with SDRC’s Task Force on Social Science and Reproductive Health, prepared a series of learning modules in Domestic Family Violence to be included in the BS Nursing curriculum.  The overall goal of the project was to develop cultural, gender sensitive and compassionate students with effective communication and counseling skills.  Specific competencies to be developed are 1) understanding the roots of violence in the context of culture, gender, and other social aspects; and 2) identification of high-risk family/domestic violence cases/situations for a) primary interventions, particularly collaborating/networking with other professionals; and b) secondary interventions, especially crisis management such as the identification of victims of violence, understanding basic legal procedures, and preservation of evidence and referrals.

Ten learning modules were prepared as guides for self-directed learning.  Each student is encouraged to study the different lessons and learning activities before they are taken up in the classroom.  Each learning module has an accompanying teacher’s guide, designed to help the teacher in creatively facilitating the learning of key concepts and also the enrichment of the learning activities.

The ten modules were designed to be integrated in the different subjects common to the nursing curriculum in the Philippines.  Learning modules for three subjects in general education—Culture and Society, the Philosophy of the Human Person, and Philippine Government and Constitution—were prepared. The rest of the learning modules were to be used in the subjects taken only by nursing students.

It has been recommended that some tasks be undertaken to ensure that the learning modules provide the skills necessary to improve health services for survivors of family/domestic violence. In the immediate and long run, it is important to follow up the  graduates of  Silliman University’s College of Nursing and other nursing colleges as well as the graduates of Cebu Doctors’ College to determine whether they will practice what they have learned from their formal training.

Key words: domestic family violence, BS Nursing curriculum, self-directed learning, crisis management, communication and counseling skills

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        National Statistics Office

The study envisioned a measure that would proximate income as a gauge of poverty.  It was methodological in nature. It had two components:  a) combining the 1997 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) and the 1998 and 1999 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) to track improvement in poverty and welfare status in the Philippines using a priori measures; and b) developing improved non-income poverty measures and welfare indicators.

The general objectives of the study were to a) map the poverty and welfare situation in the Philippines using a priori non-income poverty and welfare measures within and across time, with a focus on geographic location and type of households (based on size); b) ascertain the changes in poverty and welfare status among the panel survey household respondents across time and across regions/provinces; c) construct sensitive, parsimonious, and reliable non-income poverty and welfare measures as well as indices; d) ascertain the content domain distinction between non-income poverty measures and welfare indicators; e) map poverty and welfare status within and across time using empirically developed and constructed non-income poverty and welfare indices; f) recommend empirically established sound measures that may be used in mapping and monitoring poverty and welfare status of Filipinos across time; and g) recommend policy and program of action strategies for poverty reduction efforts.

The research made use of the data generated from the following nationwide surveys and census: a) the 1998 and 1999 APIS, which is a survey initiated by the National Statistics Office with support from the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP); and b) the 1997 FIES, which is a survey that the NSO conducts every three years to gather data for the Philippines’ official poverty estimates.

The research combined and integrated these data sets meaningfully, and consequently analyzes them in accordance with the above-mentioned objectives.

Key words: non-income poverty measures, welfare status, poverty reduction efforts, Philippine census

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Department of Health

An orientation and training for leadership and advocacy in research and development was held for the research staff and coordinators of the Department of Health’s central office and centers for health and development from March 18 to 20 and March 20 to 22, 2002.  Two batches of participants attended the sessions held at the Charles Huang Conference Center in Batulao, Batangas.

The orientation and training had two-pronged goals:  First, to update the research and development coordinators on the present research-related institutional processes and management mechanisms of the DOH; and second, to upgrade the research perspective and skills of the participants.

Key words: research and development, institutional processes, management mechanisms

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Johns Hopkins University Population/Communication Services

The project aimed to: a) conduct an inventory of studies done on the quality of FP counseling service provision in the Philippines; b) assess the actual performance of the FP counseling service provision in the service delivery points, taking into consideration the viewpoints of the clients, health service providers, and their supervisors and community leaders; c) identify the strengths, weaknesses and gaps in FP counseling service provision performance; and d) make recommendations to strengthen the performance of the FP counseling provision.

The study used both qualitative and quantitative research designs to assess in-depth the quality of client participation and provider performance in reproductive health interpersonal communication and family planning counseling. This assessment process entailed seeking views from different stakeholders—namely, the clients, service providers, health managers, local government units and other stakeholders of family planning in both government and private service delivery points.

The sampling considered the level of performance of the areas and the clinics as well. It consisted of two private/NGO FP clinics and two public health centers in each of two selected cities from the four major geographical regions, namely Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and National Capital Region. The research areas are as follows: For Luzon: Rizal and Pampanga; for Visayas: Tacloban and Bacolod; for Mindanao: Butuan and Davao; and for NCR: Pasay and Quezon City.

The data gathering process commenced in July 2002, utilizing various strategies to capture all information relevant to the study, namely: a) conduct of stakeholder meetings; b) face-to-face interviews with FP providers and supervisors/program coordinators; c) observation and audio-taping of actual FP counseling, utilizing the Quick Investigation of Quality (QIQ); d) exit client interviews; and e) face-to-face interviews with the non-clients/households represented by women of reproductive age.

Key words: family planning counseling, reproductive health, service delivery, qualitative and quantitative research design, client participation and provider performance

Project Director:          Antonio Pedro, Jr.
Funding Agency:        Benefactor

The project primarily aimed to provide government officials with policy analysis, evaluation, and recommendations in aid of policy formulation.

The project team produced daily analysis and evaluation of relevant issues for the day, as well as weekly analysis and evaluation of pertinent policy issues.   Issues tackled were poverty alleviation, the power reform bill, solid waste management, the peace process, law enforcement and criminality, corruption, labor and overseas Filipino workers, and the coco levy bill.    The issues were culled from the major dailies and broad sheets.

Key words: policy formulation, poverty alleviation, power reform, solid waste management, law enforcement, overseas Filipino workers

Project Directors:        Robert Salazar and  Ma. Victoria Pilar S. Iglesia
Funding Agency:        Upland NGO Assistance Committee (UNAC)

The research looked into the nature and extent of PO-NGO participation in natural resource management and the factors that may account for similarities and differences in outcomes.  These factors included:  a) policy environment at the national and local levels (policies as well as the structures and processes that shape them); b) contextual environment of communities, POs, NGOs, and agents of the bureaucracy in the course of their involvement in natural resources management; and c) interaction processes that characterize PO-NGO structures, strategies, systems, staff, shared values, skills, and management style.

Key words: natural resources management, policy environment, PO-NGO structures, agents of bureaucracy

Project Director:          Myla A. Arcinas
Funding Agency:        International Federation of Catholic Universities

Adhering to the principle that the surest way to economic growth and overall development is by empowering women and investing in their capabilities (UNDP, 1996), the WWD Project was envisioned to create a more dynamic and empowered women’s sector towards development.  Three barangays (745, 753 and 754) from Zone 81 of the 5th District of Manila were chosen as partner-communities of the project.  Located within the vicinity of De La Salle University, these barangays were classified as the three least developed communities, and were host to the most economically marginalized families of the area.

The project aimed at identifying responsive and appropriate ways of empowering women in an urban poor community.  It sought to: a) provide a demographic, socio-economic, and anthropological situationer of the women in the host community; b) look at the perceptions of women regarding their status and role in the community; c) train and empower women from the host communities to enable them to become more economically productive, based on the ideals of community participation, self-help, and participatory development; and d) ascertain in a contextual manner the linkages among women’s status, human resource development, and work and development.

The project was guided by a process-oriented approach referred to as “Research-Action-Participation” (RAP). The anthropological principle of recognizing the members of the community as more knowledgeable in terms of “local realities” than outsiders enabled the systemization of the process.  The application of RAP to this project permitted strategies, paradigms, and methodological processes that are less rigid and more spontaneous to tailor-fit the situation.

The project consisted of four phases:  Phase I – Resource Mobilization and Social Preparation; Phase II – Continuing Capability Building and Livelihood Development; Phase III – Organizational Strengthening and Networking; and Phase IV – Enhancing and Sustaining.

Key words: women’s empowerment, urban poor communities, Research-Action-Participation (RAP), human resource development, capability and livelihood

Project Director:          Ma. Victoria Pilar Sabban
Funding Agency:        Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme

Notwithstanding favorable State policies, indigenous groups continue to face conflicts over the use and protection of resources within their ancestral domain. This study sought to help disseminate the experiences of Palawan tribes to other indigenous groups, by documenting these experiences in an Ancestral Domain Management Planning booklet. The material is to serve as a medium for sharing lessons from Philippine indigenous groups in using non-timber forest products.

More specifically, the booklet shares with other indigenous groups the Philippines/Palawan experiences in a) securing a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim, b) delineating ancestral domain boundaries, c) planning for ancestral domain management, and d) using non-timber forest products within the domain; and provides tools for field workers of support groups to a) visually present the Palawan tribes’ experiences in ancestral domain management, b) assist other indigenous groups interested in the delineation of ancestral domain boundaries and planning for resource management, and c) understand basic policies that cover resource management within ancestral domain.

The ADMP material’s intended users include Philippine and Asian partners in the NTFP Task Force.

Key words: Indigenous peoples, ancestral domain, non-timber forest produces, Palawan tribes, resource management

Project Director:          Francisco A. Magno
Funding Agency:        John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

This was the Philippine component of the research project entitled “The Political Economy of Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility (CSER) in Developing Countries.”  The project was coordinated by Dr. Peter Utting of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. The study sought to identify the voluntary initiatives of corporations in developing countries and their impacts on the environment, social development, and labor conditions.  It also analyzed the main forces, actors, pressures, policies, and incentives that encourage firms to improve their social and environmental performance. The thrusts of the project were a) to conduct a macro-level analysis of the political economy of corporate social responsibility, b) to conduct a sectoral analysis, and c) to examine the extent to which voluntary initiatives have been adopted by companies and their effectiveness.

A workshop among the case study researchers was conducted in order to discuss research design and methodology, research instruments, and project management concerns.  Participants were noted in their respective fields and were based in the regions in which they would conduct their research.  The following companies were chosen for in-depth case studies:  Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Nestlé Philippines, Bayer, Rio Tinto and Marcopper mining companies, and Dole.

SDRC hosted the second meeting of the corporate social and environmental responsibility project.  The meeting was participated in by researchers and specialists based in Johannesburg, New Delhi, Geneva, Mexico City, and Manila. During the meeting, the project directors presented their paper on the political economy of corporate social responsibility of their respective countries.  Afterwards, the participants conducted plant visits at Ford Motors and Coca-Cola Bottling Company, both located in the province of Laguna, in order to examine the social and environmental performance and initiatives of these companies.

Key words: corporate social and environmental responsibility, developing countries, political economy, voluntary initiatives

Project Director:          Francisco A. Magno
Funding Agency:        The Philippine-Australia Short-Term Training (PASTT) Program

The Social Development Research Center and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia collaborated in conducting a training seminar entitled “Managing Social Development Projects.”

The seminar had two parts.   Part I included lectures and discussions on the different aspects of project development and management, evaluation, as well as quality standard systems and efficient training implementation.   Part II included a training component in Melbourne, Australia, exposure to various Australian social development projects, and the finalization of a training manual.

Attending the seminar were 17 selected participants from various government units and non-government organizations involved in the nationwide “Food for Work” project of the Department of Interior and Local Government.

Key words: social development projects, training seminars, quality standard systems, “Food for Work” project

Project Director:          Francisco A. Magno
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

The project aimed to document and assess the impact of the Barangay Training and Management (Batman) Project, conducted by the Barangay-Bayan Governance Consortium (BBGC), an alliance of non-government organizations, on the quality of participatory governance and community development in selected project sites.  The main concern was to determine whether there is a marked improvement in local democracy and development resulting from interventions made through the Batman Project.

The project utilized a paired-comparison approach in assessing the impact of the Batman intervention.  First, barangays in which there exist intensive Batman interventions (Batman barangays) are compared with barangays with similar socio-economic characteristics but with no interventions from the BBGC (non-Batman barangays).  Second, the case study sites were spread across the country to be able to assess the impacts of Batman in various local conditions and characteristics.

Consultative meetings. A series of consultative meetings with key implementors of the project was organized from January to July 2001. Meetings were also held with various NGOs to identify partners who will undertake the research.

Case studies. Fourteen case study sites were identified across the country:  Four in Luzon, six in Visayas, and four in Mindanao.  The research made use of three main criteria to evaluate the impacts on local democracy and local development:   Good governance at the barangay level; empowerment of barangay leaders and members; and improvements in the quality of life.

Regional workshops. Regional workshops for Mindanao and Visayas were conducted to generate discussions on the initial findings of the research.  The workshops served as a venue for the different stakeholders to validate the various issues and challenges that surfaced during the preliminary assessment of the project.

Research dissemination. Dr. Magno presented the preliminary findings of the research in September 2002 at the University of Reading and at the Institute of Development Studies. A national conference was also organized to discuss the lessons and insights gained on local participatory governance.

Key words: participatory governance and community development, local democracy, barangay leaders’ empowerment

Project Director:          Francisco A. Magno
Funding Agency:        The Philippine-Australia Short-Term Training (PASTT) Program

This project was a customized training course on Conflict Management and Resolution covering the core values, knowledge, and skills in the areas of conflict management and action research methodology.

The training consisted of two components.   Component 1 introduced participants to conflict resolution concepts, processes, models, and skills.   The skills included negotiation skills, analysis of conflict resolution styles, conflict mapping, and principles of facilitation.

Component 2 explored how conflict resolution concepts and skills can be applied in local and international contexts.   The component included an action research visit to Australia and New Zealand.   Action research as a method for studying conflict was introduced together with conflict transformation, and gender analysis and conflict.   Another activity of Component 2 was the conduct of an international seminar which was participated in by guests from government, non-government, and academic organizations.

Component 2 also included discussions about innovative policy formulation and implementation of post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation, and crisis management and long-term peace building.   Recommendations based on the lessons learned from case reports and from the participants’ experiences were also formulated for the National Program for Unification and Development Council.

Key words: conflict management and resolution, action research, negotiation skills, principals of facilitation, peace building

Project Director:          Celeste Maria V. Condor
Funding Agency:        UNDP/World Bank/World Health Organization Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases and the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development

The Healthy Women Counselling Guide (HWCG) is a low-cost, practical and effective health communication tool on malaria.   It addresses the health needs of rural women and of their families through a participatory approach and through culturally-appropriate communication strategies.   Ipilan in Brooke’s Point and Inogbong in Batangas (both in Palawan), which have high incidences of malaria, were chosen as study sites.   Key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and a household survey were utilized to gain the necessary baseline information.   The residents were very familiar with malaria; however, incorrect health beliefs and practices about it persist.

To correct these beliefs and practices and to reinforce appropriate health behaviors, an illustrated calendar, six comic books, and video and radio materials were disseminated from February 2000 to January 2001.   Dissemination consisted of showing the video materials, airing the radio programs, and sharing the story lines and messages from the calendar and comic books.  After these activities, a teaching session was conducted.   Formative evaluation and monitoring of the effects of the participatory intervention were done quarterly, and a summative evaluation was done in February 2001.   Collation and analyses of data were performed afterwards.

Key words: malaria, health communication, rural women, culturally-appropriate strategies, participatory intervention, Palawan

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Macro International, Inc.

The research aimed to provide information on contraceptive use in the Philippines through a re-analysis of the data from the 1993 and 1998 National Demographic and Health Survey.  It specifically intended to: (1) compare the prevalence of contraceptive use between 1993 and 1998; (2) identify differentials in the pattern of use of contraceptives among critical groups of women of reproductive age; (3) ascertain the determinants of contraceptive use; (4) identify the factors explaining choice of service delivery points; (5) ascertain the willingness and the potential ability of the women to share in the cost of family planning services; and (6) draw out policy and programmatic recommendations in order to attain defined family planning program goals and objectives.

Key words: National Demographic and Health Survey, family planning program, contraceptive use, women of reproductive age, service delivery

Project Director:         Rene D. Somera
Funding Agency:        Countrywide Development Fund of Sen. Edgardo Angara through the Department of Social Welfare and Development

The Newsletter project was a collaborative undertaking of the Federation of Senior Citizens’ Associations of the Philippines (FSCAP) and SDRC’s Aging Studies Program.  With a limited circulation of 15,000 copies, the three issues were published in August 1999, December 1999, and April 2000. The FSCAP Newsletter contained news about the activities undertaken by provincial, city, municipal, and barangay federations such as consultation meetings, launching of senior citizens’ centers, and herbal garden contests.   Events such as “Linggo ng Katandaang Pilipino” were featured in the second issue.   It also featured the creative outputs of some members of the federations.   The editorial of Senator Edgardo Angara, “Tumatanda, Tumatatag,” appeared in the first issue, while that of former Vice President and DSWD Secretary Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, “Kalinga para kay Lolo at Lola,” appeared in the second issue.

The culminating activity of the project was a National Forum on Advocacy for Older Persons which was held in cooperation with the Department of Social Welfare and Development from March 23 to 26, 2000 at the Las Palmas Hotel.   The forum brought together advocates for the older person sector.   The participants included 16 regional FSCAP Presidents, officers of the NCR, municipal and city federations, as well as representatives from other government and non-government agencies, and academe.

Key words: Federation of Senior Citizens’ Associations of the Philippines, aging studies, advocacy for older persons, municipal and city federations

Project Director/Coordinator: Celeste Maria V. Condor
Funding Agency:        World Health Organization

The main objective of the HWCG is the improvement of Filipino women’s lives and that of their families through participatory approaches in the preparation of gender-sensitive and culturally-appropriate materials and messages for dissemination. The outputs of the project include the production of local radio presentations, video clips, street plays and various popular illustrated materials such as comic books and calendars.

Key words: lives of Filipino women, participatory approaches to health counseling, gender-sensitivity

Project Director:          Cristela Goce-Dakila
Funding Agency:        Hassall and Associates PTY, Ltd. Phils.

The main objective of the study was to develop and adapt financing strategies and options for the over-all health delivery system of the provision.  A situation analysis was done to draw out the problem areas in which a health financing design is needed.   This situation analysis involved focus group discussions for gathering clients’ perspectives and key informant interviews for gathering providers’ perspectives.   The focus group discussions were conducted in 12 municipalities of Surigao del Norte.

The study recommended: (1) Establishing an integrated and comprehensive network of health facilities of varying capabilities, and prioritization of health services; (2) Re-prioritizing health services; (3) Implementing inter-LGU cost-sharing mechanisms; (4) Improving and implementing a health insurance scheme, specifically the social insurance scheme under the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and community-based health insurance schemes like the “tampuhay” and the SURIMAA.  Exploring ways of reducing banking sector interest charges; and (5) Instituting reforms at the provincial level by: asserting the province’s share of the devolution equalization fund to get a bigger share of the cooperative pharmacy and IRA fees; tapping sources of provincial government funds other than the IRA allotment, such as mining fees and the national wealth tax; cost-recovery mechanisms such as procuring drugs in bulk quantities, charging fees for usage of medical supplies in the core referral hospital, and charging consultation fees for off-office hours consultation and for non-emergency cases.

Key words: health delivery systems, financing strategies and options, cost-sharing mechanisms, health insurance scheme, Surigao del Norte

Project Director:         Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        United States Agency for International Development

The Institutionalization of Quality Assurance Program Project (IQAPP) was a sequel to the successful Quality of Care Assessment Capacity Building Project (Research Practicum on Population and Health, Phase 1).   The IQAPP was a response to the recommendations of Phase 1 participants to: (a) orient health-care providers on the Principles of Quality Assurance (QA), and (b) carry out capacity-building activities related to the institutionalization of quality-improvement initiatives at the local health facilities.

As a program, the IQAPP had macro-level and micro-level components.   The macro-level component, especially the training and capacity-building activities, yielded positive results.   Through the IQAPP, the Sentrong Sigla Movement was introduced in key areas of the country.   A compilation of training modules, an accompanying facilitator’s guide, and Sentrong Sigla assessment tools (with the DOH team) have been completed.   Moreover, the basic training and capacity-building activities were reported to have resulted in the participants’ increased knowledge and skills for implementing QA intervention, as well as an increased appreciation of the standard assessment for health facilities of the family planning program service provision. Operations/action research at the Baguio Health Department (BHD) and at the pilot health facilities were undertaken for the micro-level components.

Recommendations were:  (a) Continuation of capacity-building activities and QA programs in both public and private health sectors, local health organizations, and non-government organizations, especially in economically and socially disadvantaged areas.   These capacity-building activities and QA programs would contribute to a culture of quality among health service providers.  (b) Expanding the research projects to other cities to test the validity of the study’s conclusions, and to determine sustainable mechanisms for integrating quality assurance in the routine activities of health facilities and of the local health department.

Key words: Sentrong Sigla movement, family planning, quality assurance programs, health facilities, operations/action research

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        John Snow Research and Training Institute, Inc.

This study looked at the profile of the clients of the Well-Family Midwife Clinics (WFMC) supervised by midwives who underwent training conducted by the John Snow Institute (JSI) and partner NGOs from 1997 to April 1998.   The profiling data describe the characteristics of family planning clients served by the cooperating midwives and are useful in planning and mapping out strategies for expanding the WFMC.   The study gathered information from the clinics of 51 randomly chosen midwives, covering a total of 7,687 clients.

Recommendations were: (a) Increasing the capacity of the clinics to reach women who belong to much better socioeconomic groups in the community;  (b) Increasing efforts to encourage very young women to make use of the clinic’s services;  (c) Increasing the coordination and collaboration between the private clinics (including WFMCs) and the city or rural health centers to encourage those who can afford and those who want prompt and regular FP service to go to private clinics/WFMC and, thus, reduce the number of users of public health facilities;  (d) Pro-actively recruiting more women of reproductive age to use family planning;  and (e) Buying supplies and commodities in big bulk in order to maintain the provision of services or commodities at lower and affordable prices.

Key words: family planning, midwife clinics, city and rural health centers, public health facilities

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        United Nations Children’s Fund

This study specifically focused on the “highly visible children on the streets,” otherwise known as the “target priority group” of street children needing utmost attention.   Out of 246,011 street children, 20 per cent are indicated to be “highly visible on the streets,” a group needing priority action. This segment of street children also comprises 1.61% of the urban young population aged 0-17 years. Based on estimates made from the 22 cities covered, the national estimates for highly visible children on the streets in the country ranges from 45,000 (downside) to 50,000 (high side).

Majority of the children covered in the study were located in barangays/areas outside of their place of residence. About 25 percent are residing in cities outside or different from the city in which they were located, implying the importance of a metropolitan approach in addressing the problem on street children.  Children stake out in different locations, and the predominant ones were streets (36.5%), market (8%) and worship/recreation areas (12.4%).  In terms of visibility on the streets, children stay on the streets for an average of nine (9) hours within a day, and the greatest number of them is in Metro Manila. Based on previous studies, one could surmise that the number of children who actually stay and live on the streets has increased (from the reported 5% of the previous studies to 8% of the present research). Extent of visibility on the streets is significantly explained by age, gender, participation in schooling, living arrangement, frequency of going home, assistance extended by street educators/workers, and child’s knowledge of existence of organizations/agencies providing assistance.

The study recommended a review, examination, and rethinking of the strategies adopted by “street-based” interventions and programs, given the findings that individuals extending assistance increases visibility and the amount of time spent by children on the streets.

Key words: street children, young urban population, street educators/workers, “street-based” interventions, organizations/agencies extending assistance

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Department of Health (through the Community Health Service)

The project aimed to set up a databank and a system that would allow for an institutionalized and sustained monitoring and evaluation of the performance of local government units in primary health care. The Department of Health was to be the main user of the system.  It sought to generate and process information on PHC from various sources such as academe, non-government organizations, and research institutions.

Key words: primary health care, information generation, databank, performance monitoring and evaluation, Department of Health

Project Director:          Francisco A. Magno
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

The passage of the Local Government Code in 1991 provided the impetus for greater openness toward collaborative work between local government units (LGUs) and civil society.  Since the implementation of the Code, a host of innovative measures and capacity-building efforts were undertaken in enhancing public-private partnerships at the local level.

The main objective of the research was to identify ways in which interactions between civil society and government agencies lead to more responsive, effective, transparent, and accountable governance in a variety of contexts.  The project seeks to arrive at an understanding of how these interactions may reduce poverty, inequality, and social exclusion.

Key areas that served as the foci of the study included poverty alleviation, agrarian reform communities and barangay governance, housing for the poor, political decentralization, local environmental governance, local peace zones, enhancing women’s access to credit, education for life and governance, monitoring national compliance with Agenda 21, and promoting indigenous peoples’ rights.  Case studies were prepared for each of these areas.  The case studies highlighted civil society’s role in the implementation of programs and projects in each key area, the manner of cooperation between the LGUs and civil society, and the extent and quality of civil society participation.  They also determined whether or not the participation of civil society enhances the attainment of the project goals.

Key words: civil society, Local Government Code, poverty alleviation, housing for the poor, social exclusion

Project Director: Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency: Commission on Higher Education

The integration of domestic/family violence issues in the nursing and medicine curricula is seen as a means to help develop future practitioners to deal adequately with survivors of violence in the family/domestic set-up. The project addresses the acute need of equipping health sector personnel with the values, skills, and competencies required for comprehensively responding to cases related to such forms of violence.

Key words: domestic/family violence, nursing and medicine curricula, health sector personnel

Project Director/Coordinator: Celeste Maria V. Condor
Funding Agency:        World Health Organization

The main objective of the HWCG is the improvement of Filipino women’s lives and that of their families through participatory approaches in the preparation of gender-sensitive and culturally-appropriate materials and messages for dissemination. The outputs of the project include the production of local radio presentations, video clips, street plays and various popular illustrated materials such as comic books and calendars.

Key words: Filipino men, domestic violence programs, behavior change, social interventions, “ecological theory to men’s violence”

Project Director:          Cristina A. Rodriguez
Funding Agency:        Malacañang-Tulungan Project

This research was conducted in an effort to evolve a community-based reproductive health program founded on a comprehensive understanding of attitudes towards, and practices related to, sexuality, family planning, and reproductive health.  The study site was the community of Baseco in Intramuros, Manila.

Key words: community-based programs, sexuality, family planning, reproductive health, Baseco (Intramuros, Manila)

Project Director:          Cristina A. Rodriguez
Funding Agency:        Malacañang-Tulungan Project

This research was conducted in an effort to evolve a community-based reproductive health program founded on a comprehensive understanding of attitudes towards, and practices related to, sexuality, family planning, and reproductive health.  The study site was the community of Baseco in Intramuros, Manila.

Key words: community-based programs, sexuality, family planning, reproductive health, Baseco (Intramuros, Manila)

Project Director:          Rizal G. Buendia
Funding Agency:        Institute on Church and Social Issues (Ateneo de Manila University)

The passage of the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 (UDHA) and the Local Government Code of 1991 (LGC) led to the devolution of the primary responsibility for land use and planning and the provision of low-cost housing to local government units.  The LGC is expected to strengthen the socialized housing development provision of UDHA. The study provided an assessment of the technical and administrative capacities of local officials to implement the socialized housing provision of the UDHA.  Specifically, it evaluated the performance of local government units given the socialized housing development provision of the UDHA.  It recommended policy interventions that may be considered by appropriate government agencies to enhance the capability and capacity of local governments in realizing the goal of socialized housing.

Key words: Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992, UDHA socialized housing provision, Local Government Code of 1991, land use and planning, policy interventions

Project Director:          Rene D. Somera
Funding Agency:        Department of Social Welfare and Development

This project entailed the creation of a national profile and database on Filipino senior citizens.  Data were drawn from various available sources.  Comparisons were made at the municipal, city, provincial, and regional levels.

Key words: Filipino senior citizens, national profile and database

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

The Asia-Pacific Network (APNET) of the International Forum for Social Sciences in Health (IFSSH), through its Secretariat, which was based at SDRC from 1997 to 1999, received support from The Ford Foundation to develop health social science in the region during this period.  The grant was intended for the following activities: 1) the maintenance of the Secretariat’s administrative tasks; 2) a strategic planning meeting with APNET Steering Committee members; 3) continued liaison and promotion of APNET goals and strategies with existing and new health and social science associations, as well as with international and bilateral agencies in the region for fund raising; 4) coordination with the Indonesian Organizing Committee in the preparation of the 1998 Asia and Pacific Social Science and Medicine Conference; and 5) information sharing and networking.

Publications. The last among the project’s activities is the publication of nine selected papers among the eleven country papers of Gender, Sexuality and Reproductive Health which were presented in the 1996 Conference on Gender, Sexuality and Reproductive Health and Fora on the Teaching of Health Social Science held in Cebu City, Philippines.  These papers were published in three volumes.

The three-volume publication was sent to APNET members. It was also distributed during the 6th Asia Pacific Social Science and Medicine Conference which was held in Kunming, China from October 14 to 18, 2002.

Key words: health social science, Asia and Pacific Social Science and Medicine Conference, information sharing and networking

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

The project encouraged the members of the Asia Pacific Network to undertake mutual efforts to develop, promote, and apply health social sciences through the application of interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches.  Among the most crucial responsibilities of the Secretariat were to: a) develop interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches and methods applicable to the solution of regional health problems; b) contribute to the formulation of policies that are responsive to the health needs of the Asia-Pacific people; c) build and sustain capabilities among persons, groups, and institutions in health social sciences work; d) link health social scientists within and across Asia and the Pacific, and with colleagues from the rest of the world; and e) advocate for people whose health has been neglected and abused.

Key words: health social sciences, regional health problems, Asia-Pacific people

Project Director:          Francisco A. Magno
Funding Agency:        Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation

The project aimed to produce a country report on the state of civil society participation in Philippine governance.  Specifically, the project was guided by the objectives of: a) delineating the social costs and benefits of civil society cooperation with government; b) developing a model for analyzing the sources of local government unit-civil society synergy; c) evaluating the reasons for the success or failure of collaborative linkages between local government units and civil society groups; d) determining the validity of the claim that a mobilized civil society automatically contributes to good governance; and e) ascertaining changes in participation and services delivery of civil society groups as a result of cyclical changes in the composition of elective officials.

The study aimed to help practitioners in non-government organizations to develop effective strategies in pushing for a progressive social agenda, and to secure the democratic gains from participation in governance.  Results of the study may also aid government officials in forging better partnerships with civil society groups. Finally, the study was intended to support policy efforts to institutionalize innovative civil society-government partnerships.

Key words: civil society, Philippine governance, services delivery, elective officials, social agenda

Project Directors:        Robert C. Salazar and Ma. Victoria Pilar S. Iglesia
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

The program’s goals were to: a) undertake research, and provide technical support to partner groups that would promote the participation of communities, particularly the disadvantaged sectors, in the sustainable management of the environment; b) identify, analyze, and evaluate alternative modes and strategies of community participation, empowering communities and building partnerships and coalitions for policy formulation, program planning and management, and project implementation and review; and c) empower communities in the research process, particularly in terms of project impact assessment, monitoring, and evaluation.

Key words: sustainable development, community participation, environmental management, policy formulation

Project Director:          Romeo B. Lee
Funding Agency:        Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD)

The project, referred to in brief as the “Men-Women Partnership Study,” documented and examined the status, challenges, and prospects of male involvement in women’s health studies and action projects, specifically in the areas of reproductive health, STD/AIDS, and domestic violence.  The study emphasized the importance of male participation in these projects, as it might influence them to assume their roles in family planning, the control of STD/AIDS, and domestic violence prevention.

Key words: male participation in women’s health studies, reproductive health, STD/AIDS, domestic violence

Project Directors:        Ronald D. Holmes/Edwin P. Santiago
Funding Agency:        Universite de Sherbrooke

This research explored how business leaders perceived human rights issues.   The findings of the study could be used to design programs aimed at raising the consciousness of business leaders on human rights issues, and at eliciting their cooperation in the implementation of human rights programs.

Key words: human rights issues, business leaders, program design, consciousness raising

Project Director: Ronald D. Holmes
Funding Agency: Benefactor

This survey was conducted from April 25 to 29, 1998 in order to determine the preferences of the voters of the City of Manila with respect to the mayoralty and vice mayoralty race in 1998.

Key words: voting in the city of Manila, mayoralty and vice mayoralty race

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        Benefactor

This project was a market survey on natural gas in the Philippines as a feasibility study for replacing bunker fuel. The survey looked into the general characteristics of the respondent firms, their current business situation, current energy utilization, the fuel-using equipment employed by the firms, their business plans, and their response to the possibility of converting to natural gas use.

Key words: natural gas in the Philippines

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        USAID, Washington (through East-West Center)

The main objective of the study was to document the range and quality of postpartum family planning services in the Philippines.  Specifically, it assessed the nature and completeness of information supplied by service providers to clients concerning the initiation and use of individual contraceptive methods, and scrutinized the postpartum family planning practices as reported by mothers in order to determine their compliance to the rules concerning contraception use.

The study provided a national level of information on the provision and utilization of postpartum family planning services in 28 provinces, as well as follow-up mechanisms, and socio-cultural barriers affecting the utilization and provision of postpartum family planning care.

Key words: postpartum family planning services, contraceptive methods, rules of contraceptive use, service providers

Project Director:          Ronald D. Holmes
Funding Agency:        Benefactor

This survey was conducted from 25-29 April 1998 to determine voters’ preferences in the City of Manila with respect to the mayoralty and vice mayoralty race in 1998.

Key words: City of Manila, voters’ preferences, 1998 mayoralty and vice mayoralty election

Project Director:          Cristina A. Rodriguez
Funding Agency:        City of Pasig

The study sought to: a) generate, through a cluster survey, more accurate and up-to-date information to be used by local government units in monitoring and evaluating programs in family planning, immunization (including tetanus toxoid), and Vitamin A supplement distribution; b) plan interventions and action points to address gaps and problems that will be identified; and c) develop managerial skills in overseeing research activities in collaboration with academic/research institutions in the planning, implementing, and monitoring of health programs.

Key words: local government units, family planning, immunization, Vitamin A supplement, health research

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        National Project on Street Children

The project facilitated and provided technical support for activities of the National Program on Street Children through the development and maintenance of a database and resource center on street children.  The project also conducted training on research among street educators, social workers, and other service providers in 10 major Philippine cities.

Key words: National Program on Street Children, database and resource centers, street educators, social workers, service providers

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        International Development Research Centre

This workshop was intended to develop a common research proposal to address issues on decentralization.  The key proponents from Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam agreed to develop a partnership approach consisting of individuals from the academe and local governments. The workshop covered needs assessment; development of information media, training modules, and implementation manuals; field-testing of guidelines and operational manuals to determine feasibility, viability, and effectiveness; and dissemination of results to the stakeholders.  Members of the Social Policy Network participated in the workshop.

Key words: decentralization, Southeast Asia, social policy, academe, local governments, stakeholders

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning, Inc.

The ultimate goal of the project was to evolve sustainable community-based reproductive health/family planning strategies that focus on quality of care in selected communities in Batangas. Specifically, the project seeks to elicit perceptions and expectations regarding reproductive health services from the key actors—local government leaders, rural health staff and NGOs; identify community-based resources, including networks and organizations existing in the community, and examine the prospect of their involvement in the provision of quality reproductive health services; and identify quality reproductive health services required at the different stages of the life cycle of the individual (adolescence, reproductive period, and pre-menopausal phases).

The catchment areas for the study were the selected barangays of the municipalities of Balayan and Malvar served by the Rural Health Units and Barangay Health Stations in each municipality.  A sample of households to cover the population in the reproductive ages was drawn for the survey.  Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were undertaken with reproductive health service providers (traditional, public, and private), community, non-government organizations, and local leaders. For comparison, the men and women in two older municipalities will be interviewed.

The results of the project were tabulated and integrated to arrive at a specific blueprint or recommendation for a sustainable, participatory, and quality reproductive health program for both men and women at the different stages of the life cycle. Specific program inputs were delineated, including methodologies for implementation with the involvement of relevant agencies—local governments, non-government organizations, and the health sector.

The project was part of a multi-country study involving Nepal, Bangladesh, and Laos.

Key words: reproductive health, family planning, community-based strategies, quality of care, Batangas

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        Department of Health

SDRC conducted a series of training programs on basic research for the Department of Health research coordinators.  Course content included objective formulation, literature review, framework development, survey methods, qualitative research, data analysis, and report writing.  The participants were asked to develop a research proposal related to their specific tasks and to present it in a forum.  The training sessions were held at DLSU for four separate batches of participants.

Key words: training programs, basic research methods, health research

Project Directors:        Romeo B. Lee and Julius O. Dasmariñas
Funding Agency:        United States Agency for International Development through PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) Foundation Philippines, Inc.

This program was mandated to assist the Department of Health (DOH), the Program for Appropriate Technology for Health (PATH), and the Philippines’ AIDS Surveillances and Education Project (ASEP) to disseminate, implement, and evaluate priority information, education, and communication activities for the prevention of STD/AIDS in the country. The Program managed and disseminated information on STDs and HIV/AIDS, and provided technical assistance to government and non-government organizations engaged in prevention work with and for at-risk groups, such as adolescents, sex workers, and men who have sex with men (MSM). Initially, the Center served those organizations supported by PATH in eight cities across the country.

Key words: STDs and HIV/AIDS, information management and dissemination, at-risk groups, government and non-government organizations

Project Director:          Rene D. Somera
Funding Agency:        The Department of Health

A component of the Aging Studies Program of SDRC, the project was an integrative and holistic inquiry into the vulnerable Filipino elderly who have experienced stroke (including their ways of coping); the needs, problems, and concerns of family caregivers; and the issues and prospects attendant to family caregiving and community-based rehabilitation for elderly stroke survivors.  The results could be used to improve the quality of support and the range of resources that could be provided to elderly stroke survivors and their families.

Key words: Filipino elderly, stroke survivors, family caregiving, community-based rehabilitation, ways of coping

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

Health Social Science is an interdisciplinary field that integrates the theories and methods of the social sciences in understanding human health and in responding to peoples’ health needs and well being.  In 1993, DLSU received a grant from the Ford Foundation, enabling it to implement the only health social science curriculum in the country.  The program admitted those with a bachelor’s degree (or with a higher degree) in the social sciences, natural sciences, or health-related fields who needed specialized skills in the social sciences aspects of research, program design and management, and evaluation, as applied to community and culture-based health issues. It was first designed as an integrated two-level degree composed of a one-year Diploma program and a two-year Masters program. After a review of the courses by the faculty, the Masters program was reduced to one year during school year 1998-1999.

Key words: health social science, community and culture-based health issues, research, program design and management, program evaluation

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

The Task Force, with a comprehensive conceptualization of reproductive health work in the country, aimed to improve the health of men and women in the Philippines by forging better linkages among its members and their respective institutions as well as with other groups engaged in reproductive health concerns.  Complementing the Task Force’s advocacy work has been the Graduate Training Program on Health Social Science, which has aimed to train professionals to have a holistic understanding of health and social research and program design.

Key words: health social science, graduate training program, reproductive health

Project Directors:        Jesusa M. Marco and Ronald D. Holmes
Funding Agency:        Institute of Church and Social Issues, Ateneo de Manila

The project assessed the planning and implementation of housing programs for the urban poor in Muntinlupa City and Dasmariñas, Cavite. The focus was on the role of local government units (LGUs) in the implementation of housing programs, and the extent of operationalization of the Urban Development Housing Act, the National Shelter Program, the Social Reform Agenda, and other housing programs.

Muntinlupa and Dasmariñas were selected after ascertaining the number of urban poor communities in need of housing interventions, and after a series of consultations with non-government organizations (which form part of the Urban Research Consortium) regarding LGU-initiated housing solutions for the urban poor.

Key words: housing programs for the urban poor, local government units, non-government organizations, Muntinlupa City, Dasmariñas, Cavite

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        Royal Tropical Institute

This project had three goals: 1) to determine the state’s perspective through its agencies and representatives of how it can sustain the high rate of immunization services to mothers and young children in the country; 2) to assess the clients’—i.e. mothers of preschoolers—perspectives of the need for and importance of immunization in the survival of their children; and 3) to undertake a policy analysis of the introduction of Hepatitis B vaccine in the Philippines from the chronological or historical perspective.

Specifically, the study sought to: a) determine the experiences of government entities, NGOs engaged in maternal and child health, peoples’ organizations, as well as international funding agencies, with the immunization program; b) assess current strategies to institute high immunization coverage by the different service provision agencies; c) determine strategies of National Immunization Days (NIDs) and link political will with the possible sustainability of NIDs; d) elicit the perceptions and attitudes of health providers regarding the institutionalization of NIDs; e) solicit suggestions/recommendations from the aforementioned sectors on how the immunization program can be sustained in the country; f) determine the perceptions and knowledge of the clients about immunization; g) determine immunization compliance from the clients’ perspective and the social and cultural factors affecting compliance to complete immunization; h) know what experiences the mothers and their young children have had with immunization, and how the mothers currently manage immunization side-effects at home; i) assess the communication network within the community; j) conduct a policy analysis of the entry of the Hepatitis B vaccine program from the historical perspective; and k) raise policy and programmatic issues as well as recommendations for an acceptable and appropriate immunization program within the primary health care program of the Philippines.

To obtain the foregoing objectives, the study utilized quantitative and qualitative methods, particularly document and literature review, key informant interview, household survey, focus group discussion, and case study.

Key words: immunization practices in the Philippines, state agencies, mothers and young children, National Immunization Days, Hepatitis B vaccine

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        United Nations Fund for Population Assistance (UNFPA)

This study attempted to assess the quality of care in family planning service delivery in selected service points in the country by considering the various dimensions of the issue from both the providers’ and clients’ perspectives.

The objectives of the evaluation were to: a) describe the availability, function, and quality of family planning activities in a representative sample of service delivery points in the country; b) analyze the relationship between subsystem functioning and the quality of services provided and received; and c) evaluate the programmatic impact of the provision of quality services on clients’ satisfaction and contraceptive use dynamics.

Recommended action for improving quality of care included basic training on the use of quality of care indicators for assessment of family planning service delivery; provision of adequate and appropriate IEC materials at the SDP with the language that is acceptable to the community; closer interaction between NGOs and LGUs for mutually supportive activities; and refresher training to providers for screening and closer interaction.

Recommendations for policy development included strengthening the link between community and clinic-based strategies incorporation of quality of care in training of family planning cadres; strengthening the community-based provider in terms of training, supply provision, linkage with clinics, and supervision; and integration of family planning information into reproductive health and safe motherhood education modalities.

Possible improvements in operations research were suggested in a review of time allocation of staff, including CBDs in service delivery; use of records for improvement of programs; analysis of current information and education materials in terms of their acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness; consideration of effects of provider bias on choice and continuation of contraceptive use; and consideration of effect of clients’ choice on use and continuation of methods.

Key words: quality of care, family planning service delivery, service providers, client satisfaction, reproductive health and safe motherhood education 

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        Reproductive Health Care Center, Philippine General Hospital

This study is an assessment of the reproductive health concerns of women in a selected community in Rizal province, in an effort to evolve a community-based reproductive health program.  Specifically, its objectives were to: a) assess the levels of knowledge, attitude, and practice of family planning as well as contraceptive prevalence in the selected community; b) determine the reproductive history, childhood mortality and health seeking behavior related to reproduction; c) take stock of reproductive health infrastructure available in the community as perceived by the women; d) determine appropriate intervention strategies that can be sustained on a long-term basis; and e) examine the prospect of involvement of women in reproductive health programs.

The findings of the study provided insights into the possibilities of a community-based reproductive health program.  The trends determined by the data showed a high level of knowledge of family planning among women who participated in the study. The study also found a high level of contraceptive prevalence in both ever users and current users of contraception.  However, a significant proportion of users of traditional methods—i.e. national family planning and withdrawal—was found among them.  The study found that non-users intended to use a family planning method—specifically, a modern contraceptive—in the future; that a sizeable proportion of women who had ever given birth had at least one miscarriage; and that there was a high rate of childhood mortality.  A large majority of the ever pregnant women in the study were also found to have sought prenatal care services from professional health providers.

The assessment also revealed that there is a need to address inadequacies such as lack of supplies and health personnel. Moreover, most respondents apparently only relied on the services of the Barangay Health Station, which encountered problems with family planning services due to irregular and limited supplies of contraceptives.  Finally, the study found that the majority of women in the community were not aware of a family planning and reproductive health program that would address the inadequacies and problems of the existing facilities cited above.

Key words: reproductive health, family planning, community-based programs, health providers, contraceptive use

Project Director:          Ronald D. Holmes
Funding Agency:        Renato Velasco

The project, conducted during the first two weeks of April 1995, sought to generate the Metro Manila public’s perception and opinion of current critical issues, particularly the Flor Contemplacion issue, and the correlation between their opinion on the selected issues and their prospective voting behavior, particularly with respect to the senatorial contest.

Covering all 17 cities and municipalities of the National Capital Region, the project employed a probability cluster sampling design. It used the personal interview technique in conducting the survey, which was divided into two parts. The first part was designed to generate a nominal profile of the respondents, particularly with regard to their sex, income, and age attributes. The second part of the survey contained five questions that measured the respondents’ awareness of a specific issue (i.e. the Contemplacion case), their outlook on the case, and the possible effect of the case on their prospective voting behavior.

As determined by the survey, almost all of the respondents were aware of the Contemplacion issue, with more than a majority holding the opinion that the case reflects government’s lack of protection of overseas contract workers (OCWs). Furthermore, more than 80 percent of the respondents believed that the government’s response to the case was delayed. Finally, more than half (54%) of the total respondents affirmed that the case would affect their voting decision.

The last question of the survey pertained to the preferences of the respondents among the party senatorial candidates if the elections were held at that point.  The results revealed a 7-3-2 outcome, with seven slots going to the dominant LAKAS-LABAN Coalition, three to the Nationalist People’s Coalition, and two to the People’s Reform Party. It is significant to note that more than half (56%) of the respondents articulated from zero up to only six names. This percentage could be referred to as the completely or significantly undecided electorate at this point.

Key words: Metro Manila, voting behavior, public perception, overseas contract workers (OCWs), Flor Contemplacion

Project Directors:        Robert C. Salazar and Ma. Victoria M. Sabban
Funding Agency:        World Wildlife Fund, Inc. (WWF)

In support of the initiatives of a consortium of non-government and people’s organizations formed to address the issues of indigenous land and resource rights, ecological conservation, and local enterprise development in Palawan, technical assistance was provided in the monitoring and evaluation component of the “Community-based Conservation and Enterprise Program for Indigenous Cultural Communities in Palawan.”

The project began with the goal of developing and strengthening the capabilities of the consortium to manage community-based enterprises, promote the sustainable use of natural resources, and contribute to biodiversity conservation in Palawan. From this goal, project implementation intended to focus on the 4 K’s: Karapatan, Kapaligiran at Kabuyahan para sa mga Katutubo ng Palawan (Social Equity for the Indigenous Peoples of Palawan) through economic security and recognition of their ancestral domain.

The project monitoring and evaluation focused on the description and analysis of the effects of community livelihood enterprise activities on indigenous social, economic, and cultural systems. Specifically, SDRC a) designed a participatory monitoring and evaluation system to be used by the consortium’s local researchers; b) conducted baseline and end-of-project studies on the socioeconomic component of the project; c) conducted periodic assessments of the project’s socioeconomic component; and d) trained two local researchers on participatory research, monitoring and evaluation methods.

From the initial data gathered from the two pilot sites, it was recommended that project management consider some mechanisms that will eventually lead to: a) increased information flow on project objectives and activities from the implementers to local associations, as well as the rest of the community members; b) a review of existing NTFP trading policies that appear to inhibit the participation of more community members; c) more support to build the local associations’ capability to manage their own NTFP gathering, marketing, and regeneration activities; and d) institutionalization of community-level mechanisms to encourage transparency and closer community monitoring of the NTFP harvesting and marketing activities.

Key words: indigenous communities in Palawan, land and resource rights, ecological conservation, local enterprise development, monitoring and evaluation systems

Project Director:          Robert C. Salazar
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

The funding support was for two major projects managed by SDRC, namely, the Participatory Uplands Management Program (PUMP) and the Philippine Uplands Resource Center (PURC).

PUMP provided technical support and research to government agencies, non-government organizations, and community-based groups in the formulation of policies, management of programs, and implementation and review of projects relevant to upland development.  In 1993 and 1994, PUMP undertook research along three major interrelated areas: a) Local Governments and the Upland Environment; b) Community-Based Resource Management Policies and Programs; and c) Research and Extension Methodologies.

On the other hand, PURC worked in the areas of library resources and services, material development, and information and networking services.  Among PURC’s major objectives were to: a) provide more efficient and effective library services that could serve a wider clientele; b) produce more popular, user-friendly, and action-oriented materials such as folios, primers, and sourcebooks, especially for non-government organizations and people’s organizations; and c) strengthen networks and linkages between and among the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Upland Non-government Organizations, People’s Organizations, and other sectors involved in upland development.

Key words: participatory uplands management, local governments, research and extension methodologies, library resources

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

This project sought to develop an awareness and understanding of the nature of RTIs in two Philippine urban poor communities, and to enable women and men in these areas to participate in the prevention, diagnosis, and management of these infections.  The project’s objectives were to: a) examine and analyze indigenous beliefs and practices that predispose the urban poor to reproductive tract infections (RTIs); b) assess the factors—cultural, economic, and social—that account for the occurrence and transmission of RTIs; c) mobilize urban poor women groups and men in the diagnosis and in the management of RTIs; d) establish an interdisciplinary advisory committee that would provide directions from the inception, implementation, and completion of the project; e) conduct a clinical assessment among consenting women in two urban poor communities to determine the prevalence of gynaecological diseases, and to provide appropriate treatment and referrals for the management of RTIs; f) sensitize allopathic and traditional health care providers within the vicinity of the urban poor communities about RTIs, and to develop their capacity to respond to them appropriately among urban poor women and men; and g) involve the urban poor and health providers in the development of RTI materials that could be used in the training of health providers, health and social science students, and urban poor communities.

The research undertook an examination of the behavioral patterns, beliefs, and practices that may provide inputs to the development of training materials for the prevention and control of RTIs. The focus was on risk behavior, especially when related to sexual activity, unsafe abortion, vaginal medications, contraception, and pregnancy, as well as delivery practices. Furthermore, clinical examinations for gynaecological diseases among urban poor women were undertaken to determine the incidence of such diseases, and to find appropriate strategies to treat and control such infections.

The project sites were the city of Muntinlupa in Metro Manila and the city of Cebu in the Visayan islands.  One urban poor community with 500 or more households in each area willing to participate in the project was chosen per site.

Key words: reproductive tract infections (RTIs), urban poor, indigenous practices, gynaecological diseases, traditional health care providers

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

The Asia and Pacific Regional Network on Gender, Sexuality, and Reproductive Health (APNET) and Fora on the Teaching of Health Social Science was held in Montebello Hotel in Cebu City from January 8 to 13, 1996. The conference was attended by health social scientists, health scientists and practitioners as well as representatives of women’s organizations from 11 countries in the Asia and Pacific region, particularly Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

The goal of APNET was to provide a forum for the exchange of related information pertinent to the topic and to bring out important issues within policy and programmatic relevance.

The fora on the teaching of health social science sought to examine and to develop systematic and more concerted strategies that could enrich and promote this area of endeavor. The conference, meanwhile, sought to: 1) review the situation of gender, sexuality, and reproductive health as well as the teaching of health social science in 11 Asia and Pacific countries; 2) identify regional patterns or trends and issues in the foregoing areas; and 3) recommend mechanisms for collaboration and partnership in the Asia and Pacific region for the enhancement of gender, sexuality and reproductive health as well as the teaching of health social science within and across countries in the region.

Key words: gender, sexuality, and reproductive health; Asia and Pacific region, health social science

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        United States Agency for International Development

The practicum on population and health research had the objectives of: a) promoting the use of research as a management tool within population and health programs; 2) providing the mechanisms to enable health and population practitioners to develop effective programs based on their research findings; and c) enabling program managers to select specific programs utilizing research strategies to improve the operations of population and health programs.

During the agency/community immersion of fellows, a thematic approach was taken to permit a thorough analysis of a specific aspect of the health and population program using a multi-focal perspective.  Focusing on the Quality of Services approach (population and health-related), three vantage points were considered: a) program planning and administration (policy, logistics, communications, and education); b) service provision; and c) evaluation.

Agencies tapped for the immersion were the Department of Health (Central, Regional, Provincial, Municipal, and Barangay Units); the Population Commission and its local satellites; non-government organizations involved in health and population work; local government units; hospitals; population research centers; academic institutions; and legislature (senate and congress).

Key words: Department of Health, population and health, management tools, Quality of Services approach, community immersion

Project Directors:        Jesusa M. Marco and Ma. Victoria M. Sabban
Funding Agency:        Development Alternatives, Inc.

The Community Forestry Program (CFP) was conceived and launched in 1989 to address the basic problem of access, equity, and disposition of forest resources in a more ecologically-sustainable and participatory approach. In its first critical years, a process documentation research (PDR) was conducted in 1994 in the CFP sites of Labo-Capalonga, Camarines Norte; Mat-i, Claveria, Misamis Oriental; and Dinadiawan, Dipaculao, Aurora.  Specifically, the study sought to: a) document the activities of key actors, i.e. DENR CFP officers and staff, the assisting organization (AO), the people’s organization (PO), and other individuals or institutions (e.g. LGUs) involved in project implementation; b) ascertain community perceptions and expectations of the program; c) identify and substantiate the issues and problems that emerged from the implementation; and d) generate lessons from project experiences that can be used to improve the implementation and expansion of the CFP.

In spite of the array of problems, issues, and concerns, CFP in the three communities is faced with opportunities that are deemed valuable in the efforts to strengthen its implementation and expansion, such as the presence of committed and capable PO leaders, a harmonious relationship among the Program Management Office (PMO)-AO-PO, linkage with LGUs and other support groups, and integration with the ISF.

The study does not provide sufficient data to assess the success of CFP in these communities.  Nevertheless, there were some important lessons gathered from the study, most significantly that the PO cannot do community forest management alone.  It was recommended that the PO engage in a partnership relationship with the assistance of other local groups, government units/agencies and non-government/community or socio-civic groups. Their willingness and collective investments, both material and non-material, to strengthen or build up the PO’s capabilities for sustained forest management would ultimately make community forest management a reality.

Key words: community forest management, participatory approaches, process documentation research, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        Philippine Business for Social Progress

This study is an evaluation of 11 projects supported under the Local Development Assistance Program (LDAP) of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It covers an assessment of the LDAP supported initiatives, as well as their contributions to democratization and sustainable local development, as envisioned in the 1991 Local Government Code (LGC).

The study utilized the categorization of the five levels of partnership listed in the volume on capability building (Breaking Ground V: 1994): a) consultative, b) coordinative, c) complementary, d) collaborative, and e) critical. Factors that affect NGO-PO intervention in local governance include: orientation or attitude towards local governance, strength of individual NGOs/POs, criteria/procedures for selection/representation, and cohesiveness of the NGO/PO sector.

Categorized under the general classification, the projects were found to have reached only the third level of partnership—complementary, where the two sectors shared a common program framework but had distinct and separate initiatives.  They needed to go to the higher levels of collaboration (agreement to work together under a common vision, with common objectives and plans of action and appropriate and institutionalized mechanisms to facilitate delivery of services), or critical partnership (both groups view each other as indispensable, working together on a more strategic long-term arrangement and sharing equally in the decision-making and policy-formulation process).

The study found that a more bottom-up approach in consulting people’s needs for projects has to be developed in order to implement projects that are people-oriented as well as development-oriented. Resources from the USAID and other funding institutions, however, are necessary to initiate as well as sustain such development projects.  Projects that effectively build up the capability not only of local government officials and staff members, but also government agency personnel and staff, are needed to operationalize the provisions of the LGC towards decentralization and democratization.

Key words: Local Government Code, decentralization, capability building, NGO-PO intervention, democratization

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        The Japan Foundation

This research aimed at analyzing the social and cultural dualism in selected Philippine-Japanese communities in Davao. The intermarriage between Japanese settlers in Davao City and the local women, mainly the Bagobos, resulted in a family system that is bicultural while maintaining Filipino traditions. Ties are sustained within certain communities in Japan that seep through the subsequent generations.  Intergenerational adaptation mechanisms to the changing economic environment provide insights into how families and communities survive and maintain their kinship and friendship networks in the country and in Japan.

Specifically, the study aimed to: a) examine the convergence as well as conflicts in the process of cultural assimilation of the descendants of pre-war Japanese immigrants in Davao, including the intergenerational changes that occur with respect to the Filipino and Japanese elements of their character; b) analyze their coping strategies and compare the general and variant patterns of behavior among the Filipino-Japanese descendants; c) study the dynamics and morphology of social organizations and the role of kinship and friendship networks within Davao and with Japan; and d) identify the potential role that the Filipino-Japanese in Davao can play as a crucial link in Philippine-Japan relations.

Key words: social and cultural dualism, Philippine-Japanese communities in Davao, Bagobos, intermarriage, kinship and friendship networks

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        International Development Research Centre

Republic Act No. 7160 of the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991 was signed into law by President Corazon C. Aquino on October 10, 1991, and took effect on January 1 of the following year. Otherwise known as the Local Autonomy Code, the LGC is regarded as one of the more radical laws passed by the Aquino government.  The LGC provides for the meaningful devolution of power to local government units (LGUs). More than this, however, it recognizes the role of the private sector, in particular the people’s organizations (POs) and non-government organizations (NGOs), in local governance.

Specifically, the objectives of this study were to: a) assess differentials in perceptions of decentralization and its implementation in the central and local levels and its effect on the performance of local government units; b) review the roles and responsibilities of the central government, relevant ministries, local government units (provincial, municipal, and village) as well as non-government organizations in the planning and implementation of programs; c) determine the extent and nature of structural linkages in program implementation; d) assess the variability in mechanisms for goal setting and implementation in the three social sectors (education, health, and welfare) in urban and rural areas; e) examine the various forms of support to programs and ways by which the local government units mobilize and extend them; f) assess the extent to which the bureaucratic culture affects the decentralization process; g) evolve indicators for evaluation of processes and outcomes from the providers’ and beneficiaries perspective; and h) examine the prospect of improving effectiveness of decentralized schemes through a multisectoral approach that utilizes an optimum mix of bottom-up and top-bottom planning.

The major findings were summarized to draw inferences as to how decentralized schemes can be adequately formulated in the social sector by highlighting issues of comprehensive coverage, emphasizing sectoral and structural links, and providing a better understanding of the complexities of the decentralization programs in the social sector, nationally and regionally.

Key words: Local Autonomy Code, Aquino government, local government units, decentralization, non-government organizations

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        Department of Health

The Center conducted the first to fifth in a series of training programs on basic research for the Department of Health research coordinators. Course content included objective formulation, literature review, framework development, survey methods, qualitative research, data analysis, and report writing.  The participants were asked to develop a research proposal related to their specific tasks and present it in the forum.  The training sessions were held from October 10 to 15, 1994 (I), November 7 to 12, 1994 (II), November 14 to 18, 1994 (III), December 5 to 19, 1994 (IV), and February 20 to 24, 1995 (V), at De La Salle University.  Resource persons were SDRC research associates and staff. Training coordinator was Dr. Osteria with Ma. Elena Bautista as assistant coordinator.

Key words: training programs, Department of Health, survey methods, qualitative research, data analysis

Project Director:          Trinidad Osteria
Funding Agency:        Department of Social Welfare and Development

This study undertakes a review and appraisal of the programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development using a multi-method approach, e.g. document review questionnaire administration and focus group discussions (FGD). These approaches aim to assess the DSWD’s performance in meeting the expressed goals of the Social Reform Agenda (SRA) and Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP).  The study offers an operational framework to manage participation in social welfare and development programs, as well as a general model for the procedural dimension of the process. In essence, the participatory approach in social welfare and development is proffered as a strategy that the Department can adopt to adequately address its goals.

Key words:  program review and appraisal, Social Reform Agenda (SRA), Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP), social welfare and development programs

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        East-West Center

In this secondary data analysis of the 1993 National Demographic Survey (NDS), the regional variations in health-seeking behavior that affect infant and childhood mortality and fertility demonstrated by the women (health care seekers) and the health care systems (providers) interacting within a specific geographical context were examined.  Some of the public features of this behavior were extricated, probed, subsequently analyzed, and evaluated in terms of their place and importance.  This provided a way of descriptively summarizing how the women deal with their fertility, the health activity spheres that they link with one another, and the channels that they optimally activate to meet their reproductive health needs.  The questions addressed were the following: (1) Are there regional variations in reproductive health-seeking behavior?; (2) What are the determinants of the observed patterns?; (3) To what extent would the behavioral pattern affect fertility, and childhood mortality?; (4) What key issues can be extricated from the knowledge of the dynamics of interaction between the health system and the women that could provide meaningful policy and program inputs to the regional reproductive health programs?

In assessing regional variations in reproductive indicators, it became clear that poverty levels were linked to the inadequacy of services and their poor utilization. Bicol, Northern, Western, and Southern Mindanao, as well as Eastern Visayas—economically depressed areas—had comparatively high fertility, and childhood mortality.  These regions had high rates of utilization of traditional birth attendants for prenatal care and delivery.  Most of the women delivered at home.  There was a high level of usage of family planning of less effective methods.

The regional inequities indicated that each death or birth had its roots in a complex interplay of economic, social, and cultural factors.  Poverty and culture could put reproductive health care beyond the scope of the people who felt frustrated at the helplessness such barriers imposed.

The study concluded that there was a need to look at rationality schemes of decision-making pertaining to pregnancy, delivery, and family planning practices in specific regions.  Programmatic recommendations could be formulated to incorporate the women’s behavioral dimension into a reproductive health program that would be planned and implemented by the women with the relevant MCH agencies.

Key words: health-seeking behavior, infant and childhood mortality, traditional birth attendants, family planning

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

During this phase of the project, the Task Force sponsored five major activities—two seminars on reproductive tract infections, a national seminar on improving the capability of health care systems to deal with family violence, a dissemination seminar on abortion, and a workshop on how family violence issues can be integrated in the medical and nursing curricula.

Key words:  reproductive tract infections (RTIs), health care systems, family violence, abortion, medical and nursing curricula

Project Director:          Trinidad Osteria
Funding Agency:        Population Council, Manila

Interviews with 48 trained DMPA providers in some of the sampled health facilities located in Laguna and Pangasinan provinces, Quezon City and Baguio City selected by the Population Council for the follow-up survey were conducted by the staff of DLSU-SDRC and Xavier University’s Research Institute for Mindanao Culture (RIMCU) during the acceptors’ survey period. DLSU-SDRC prepared a report on the results of the interviews for Luzon, while RIMCU prepared the interviews in the Visayas and Mindanao. The interview questions covered information on the health facility, background information on the interviewee/respondent, their perceived roles of DMPA providers, their assessment of DMPA training, problems they encountered in DMPA service delivery, clients’ major complaints about DMPA, and providers’ attitudes with regard to DMPA use.

Key words: DMPA use, health facilities, service delivery

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        U. N. Economic and Social Communication for Asia and the Pacific

The Expert Group Meeting on Analysis of Linkages Between Population Factors and Sustainable Development was convened by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) from August 15 to 18, 1994 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  The main purpose of this meeting was to undertake a situational analysis of the interlinkages between the population factors, environment, and sustainable development based on in-country available information.  The preparation of the country profiles was accomplished through the macrolevel country study, and the microlevel community case study highlighting the impact of population growth and distribution on resources, environment, and development.  As such, the profile improves the understanding of mutual relationship between population and environmental variables, and their implications for sustainable development.  Likewise, it enhances the awareness and appreciation among policy-makers, planners, and community leaders of these interlinkages to enable them to formulate relevant policies and programs.

For the long term, the project sought to: 1) develop the data/information and knowledge base of interaction among population environment variables that will provide a scientific basis for decision-making and formulation of population policies and programmes as integral parts of over-all economic and social development planning and policy; 2) improve the understanding of mutual inter-relationships between population and environment variables and their implications for sustainable development; and 3) improve the process of integrated planning, policy formulation, and program development and implementation, giving due consideration to the population-environment-development nexus.

The study recommended that, for sustainable human development to succeed in the Philippines, i.e., the challenge of reconciling capacity for growth, the opportunities and constraints that arise in interactions with the natural environment must be faced squarely. What must be looked into closely is the transformation of the management problem by unprecedented increases in the rate, scale, and complexities in the interactions. People in the Philippines must learn to relate local development to the national level, and eventually to a global environmental perspective. In the end, programs and strategies must translate into action, if they are to have any impact at all.

Key words: population, environment, and sustainable development; economic and social development planning, policy formulation

Project Directors:        Trinidad S. Osteria and Cristina Rodriguez
Funding Agency:        Family Health International

This study, through a secondary analysis of the 1993 NDS data, examined the possible behavioral patterns (contraceptive use, preventive, curative, and promotive health practices) that are related to the women’s (or their family’s) socio-economic situation (educational attainment, occupation or employment, and presence of sanitation facilities). Women were categorized into three age groups: 15-24, 25-35, and 35-44. Likewise, urban-rural differentials were delineated. The findings of this study provided some insights about the impact of contraceptive use on women’s or their family’s welfare.

The trends determined by the data showed a higher fertility among ever users than never users of contraceptives, an observation attributed to higher sexual activity and fecundability of contraceptive users.  This difference was narrowed down and reversed in specific age groups after fecundability was controlled.  Ever married women used contraceptives, particularly artificial and natural methods, to space births rather than to limit the number of children.  Surgical methods are more likely to be used when these women have already had the desired number of children.

The findings of the study confirmed that contraceptive users are more educated than never users, as shown by the higher proportion of women with a higher level of education who were ever users.  It also implied that contraceptive use allowed the ever married women from the urban and rural areas to work outside their homes.  Since child care demands the full attention of mothers at home, women engaged in agriculture comprise a lower percentage of contraceptive users. The nature of economic activity in agriculture allows women to stay home longer and attend to the demands of child care. Therefore, contraceptive use is linked to a myriad of positive health-seeking behaviors that eventually lead to reduced morbidity and mortality.

Key words: contraceptive use, women’s health practices, birth spacing, agriculture economic activity

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        Department of Health

A nationwide Contraceptive Prevalence Survey (CPS) was undertaken in 1993 by the Department of Health to assess the national level of contraceptive use and its variability by geographical area and method. There were 10,231 women interviewed for the study.  Levels of contraceptive usage were assessed for the constituted 45 provinces of the various regions in the country.

Concerns were raised regarding the validity of the results of the CPS, considering the marked discrepancy in the obtained and projected CPRs in certain provinces. A validation of the 1993 CPS was thus undertaken in the last quarter of 1994—about a year from the conduct of the previous survey. This study aimed to assess the mechanism for data collection and validate the results of the CPS in provinces where the results seemed unrealistic or questionable.  This was undertaken through an interview of those who planned and undertook the survey, and a subsample of married women in the reproductive age group (15 to 44), drawn from among the respondents of the previous survey.

The tasks involved: a) documentation of the various stages of the cluster survey to assess the adequacy of implementation; b) a critical analysis of the procedures as implemented to identify areas of weakness; c) estimation of the accuracy of contraceptive prevalence rates derived from the survey; d) estimation of method specific underreporting/overreporting rates; e) estimation of correction factors for misreporting; f) identification of factors affecting the estimates of CPS that will explain the results; and g) recommendations for the improvement of data collection and methodology.

Results revealed marked differentials in perceptions regarding use-rates of high risk and non-risk women.  Likewise, inter-regional and provincial differentials were noted in terms of the duration and content of training. At the field level, the decision was left largely to the field workers.  There were uneven responses regarding the method of cluster site selection, determination of sampling interval, use of table random numbers, and substitution of cluster sites.  Likewise, the data revealed discrepancies in the percentages for each variable source.

Key words: contraceptive use, contraceptive prevalence survey, data collection mechanism, women of reproductive age

Project Director:          Alicia Manlagnit
Funding Agency:        Enfants Et Development (EED) Institut National d’Etudes Demographiques (INED)

This research project is an evaluation of the six-year experience of the Information Nutrition Action (INA) Foundation in the implementation of its intervention programmes. It determines the impact of two INA programme components—health and nutrition, and preschool education—as well as develops strategies and recommends actions to improve or sustain the INA programme impact on child health, nutrition and health education.

Key words: Information Nutrition Action (INA) Foundation, health and nutrition, preschool education

Project Director:          Alicia B. Manlagnit
Funding Agency:        Save the Children Fund, UK; Save the Children Federation, US; Enfants et Developpement

The sustainability of community development programs remains an overriding concern of development practitioners, not only in the Philippines but also in other countries.  SDRC was commissioned to undertake a literature review, looking at the sustainability of community development programs implemented in the Philippines, focusing specifically on the areas of health, nutrition, and early childhood education.  The review seeks to clarify the theoretical issues and practical problems of developing sustainable community-based programs along the areas mentioned, in both urban and rural settings.

Insights gained from the literature review are intended to assist the funding agencies in the formulation of their development programs, as well as in the design of a sustainability study to be conducted.

The initial phase of the review was the identification of academic institutions, non-government organizations, and funding agencies involved in community development programs focusing on the areas of health nutrition, pre-school and livelihood.  The experiences of these groups served as the major content of the study.

From these varied experiences, the following specific areas were examined:  The experience of community financing schemes, the role of community organizing and community involvement in the sustainability of programs, as well as in institutional development, networking/linkages with government bodies and non-government agencies, and integration, which facilitate sustainability.  It also looked at socio-cultural factors that promote sustainability, and whether sustainability issues are different in the urban and rural setting.

Data collection methods included secondary data analysis and interviews with key informants.  The materials reviewed included published and unpublished articles and reports from academic institutions/agencies involved in community development programs.  Representatives from these various organizations and agencies served as key informants.

Key words: Philippine community development, health, nutrition, early childhood education, sustainable programs

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        Department of Health

This study undertaken for HAMIS focused on the awardees’ organizational set-up and management of health care delivery systems, community involvement, factors that contribute to the sustainability of the project, project’s experiences with the HAMIS contest, and its utilization and management of the HAMIS award money.  It employed the case study method, which used two data-gathering techniques:  Review of existing project documents, and key informant interview.

The 10 HAMIS awardees who were the subjects of this study were selected on the basis of three main categories: a) community-based health projects managed by non-government organizations to serve the urban poor; b) projects advocating herbal cure as an alternative strategy; and c) innovative special health concern.

Among the findings of the study are: a) Two factors perceived to be contributory to the projects’ sustainability were the people’s support for the project and the dedication and commitment of the project staff, community leaders and supporters;  b) The major problem encountered by the projects was insufficient funding for activities, which resulted in shortage of medical supplies and manpower; c) Major forms of health intervention conducted by the projects can be classified into five types: 1) provision of medical services and medicine; 2) nutrition rehabilitation; 3) health information and education; 4) promotion and production of herbal medication; and 5) tuberculosis control; and d) In terms of management, the organizational set-up of the projects followed the traditional mode, with decision-making made largely by top management and executed by the staff and volunteers; planning was done whenever necessary and a system of monitoring and evaluating of project activities was evident.

The HAMIS awardees suggested that the contest be continued.  They also proposed that only competent evaluators be allowed to screen the contestants, and that content criteria and mechanics be clearly stated.

Findings from the case studies suggest the following implications concerning health care management:  a) the development of economic programs as an integral component of health programs among the poor; b) the need for involvement, training and motivation of a greater number of community health workers in delivering primary health care services to broaden area coverage; c) the necessity of undertaking and strengthening community organizing efforts geared toward the formation not only of various economic but also health cooperatives; and d) the allocation of resources for subsidizing more preventive services including family planning.

Key words: HAMIS contest of the Department of Health, health interventions, non-government organizations, urban poor, project sustainability, motivating community workers

Project Director:          Trinidad S. Osteria
Funding Agency:        International Development Research Centre

Decentralization has been achieved in different ways by different countries.  In Thailand, strategies were delineated in their Fourth National Development Plan, which decentralized basic economic services to increase rural production and social services to reach the maximum number of people.  Provincial development planning made the province the key unit in sub-national development.  Linkages were developed between the national and provincial plans.  In Indonesia, strategies for rural development assumed two forms: One was embodied in the sectoral development strategy through projects that cut across provinces, and the other was through budget allocation where subsidies were allotted to the local governments to implement specific projects they selected.  In Vietnam, the economic renovation period known as Doi Moi gave impetus to countryside initiatives in land utilization, production organization, and social welfare.  Local and regional needs are identified by the local governments.

The workshop examined the key issues in the decentralization experiences of selected countries in Asia and, subsequently, developed a regional research proposal to look into decentralization and its impact on human welfare.

The critical issues in decentralization examined were: a)   philosophy and implementation of decentralized schemes in the social sector in the countries concerned; b)   problems in linking policy goals and program implementation; c) basic elements crucial in the success or failure of the selected programs; d) revisions needed to facilitate decentralized development management; and e) research issues that can be addressed through communal deliberation and action.

The workshop was held from December 1-3, 1993 and was participated in by researchers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Each participant prepared a country situation analysis.

Key words:  decentralization, basic economic services, development planning, policy goals, budget allocation, land utilization, social welfare

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

The main concern of this project was to establish a Task Force on Social Science and Reproductive Health, with the initial goal of contributing to a broader re-conceptualization of reproductive health in the Philippines, considering the various determinants of reproductive health and well-being. To accomplish this, the Task Force brought together selected representatives from the social and biomedical sciences, government and non-government organizations, particularly women’s organizations.

Specifically, the objectives of the Task Force were to: a) identify mechanisms that could strengthen the capabilities of social scientists to work in partnership with biomedical scientists; b) find out how specific social science disciplines could enrich the social contents of reproductive health, namely, the theories of gender, ethnicity, political and health economy, community and family systems; c) encourage research and documentation on topics identified as relevant to reproductive health; and d) disseminate research findings, ideas, and discussion outputs in seminars, workshops and other fora.

Key words:  reproductive health, social and biomedical sciences, research and documentation

Project Director:          Ma. Victoria Pilar Sabban
Funding Agency:        Kapwa Upliftment Foundation, Inc.

In 1994, five years after the Kapwa Upliftment Foundation, Inc. initiated an agroforestry component for its Malabog Comprehensive Livelihood and Health Promotion Project in Davao City, it contracted the services of the UPLB Agroforestry Program (UAP) and SDRC to assess the technical and socio-economic aspects of this project. The specific objectives of the assessment were to:  a) assess selected existing agroforestry farms in Malabog and determine whether the technologies being practiced are technically appropriate; b) measure the degree of adoption or non-adoption of the agroforestry promoted by Kapwa; c) determine the principal factors that may have influenced the adoption/non-adoption of agroforestry technologies; and d) formulate recommendations for future actions that may lead to further improvement and sustainability of agroforestry in the project area.

Agroforestry Technologies. Kapwa conducted six phases of Agroforestry training, with each phase focusing on certain agroforestry technologies.  Over 80 percent of the farmers in the project area were agroforestry adoptors.  A substantial number of the farmers adopted at least seven to nine agro-forestry techniques; the majority adopted contour farming because they saw it as beneficial.  Contour hedgerows were adopted because they are a primary requirement for the cooperative’s production loan.  Among the technologies introduced, farm planning and adoption of soil and water conservation technologies had low adoption rates.

Agroforestry Technology Adoption. The study identified several factors that enhanced technology adoption: socio-economic factors, access to inputs and services, and psycho-social factors.  Constraints to technology adoption were also identified. One of the strong points of Kapwa was its provision of technical support services such as the assistance of technicians, availability of dryers and water catchment, as well as incentives to farmer-participants and adoptors.  The study also showed that the most significant factor in the adoption and sustained practice of agroforestry, as highlighted in the farmer case studies, was the farmer’s attitude and perception of value and meaning of the technology to him.

Based on the results, the study forwarded recommendations along the following areas:  Appropriateness and viability of agroforestry technologies; training; strengthening of technical support services of the Malabog Parish Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Inc. (MPMPCI) and Saloy Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Inc. (SFMPCI); data requirements for the analysis of economic gains for agroforestry technology adopted, and other support services to sustain agroforestry initiatives.

Key words: agroforestry, livelihood and health promotion, farm planning, soil and water conservation, technology adoption

Project Director:          Jesusa M. Marco
Funding Agency:        Philippine Business for Social Progress

This research sought to provide a situationer on the Low Income Upland Communities Project (LIUCP)’s first three years of implementation as well as a validation of implementation issues raised by the United NGOs of Mindoro (UNOM), a six-member NGO coalition of organizations contracted by LIUCP to administer its Watershed Management Units. The study primarily expounds on eight issues based on the experiences of the four NGOs working in the Kaguray, Kabilyan-Kawakat, Malaylay-Bucayao and Pola watersheds. The issues examined were: 1) land tenure, 2) inadequate time for social preparation, 3) lack of response to basic needs, 4) difficult participation of POs and NGOs, 5) lack of process learning, 6) deviation from terms of reference on fund flows/releases, 7) few benefits from consultants, and 8) actions without consultations.

Key words: low income upland communities, NGOs, Mindoro, watershed management

Project Director:          Jesusa  Marco
Funding Agency:        Council for the Welfare of Children, Department of Social Welfare and Development

This study reviewed and summarized the status of action programs, empirical studies, including information of data from both published and unpublished sources and other activities on health and nutrition situation of children and women in seven indigenous communities.  Materials and data on the following were obtained:  a) indigenous peoples of the Cordillera, which include groups like the Ibaloi, Kankana-ey, Bontok, Ifugao, Kalinga, Isneg, and Tinggian; b) Agta of Northeastern Luzon; c) Aetas of Mt. Pinatubo; d) Mangyans of Mindoro; e) Batak of Palawan; f) Negritos of Negros Oriental; and g) the Lumads of Southern Mindanao.

The study primarily presents a health situationer, specifically discussing infant (under five years old), child, and maternal mortality incidents and causes, and a nutrition situationer.  Available information on health and nutrition practices, such as dietary patterns and use of services and facilities, are likewise presented.  Desk and field data-gathering were conducted for a month and a half.

On the health and nutrition situation, it was observed that a) the available figures on the vital indicators of health and nutrition are generally low; b) there is continued absence or lack of basic health personnel, facilities, resources, and information in these extremely poor upland groups; and c) there is a serious lack of information on the nutrition status across the groups.  For many of them, poor nutrition, especially among the children and mothers, is often a direct or indirect cause of their common illnesses and deaths; and d) information on these groups is uneven, i.e., more information is available for certain communities than from others.

Data on their nutrition and health behavior patterns show that: a) the indigenous groups’ health and nutrition practices are still very much influenced by their traditions and cultural values; b) the adoption of utilization of outside initiatives appears to be slow; c) they have deficient food intake/diet due primarily to the overall increasing poverty conditions in these areas which are aggravated by the rapid depletion of their natural resources; and d) similar to the data on their health and nutrition status, information on the nutrition and health behavioral patterns is still poorly documented across the groups.

The review concluded that the health and nutrition problems of these and many other indigenous peoples confirm the indigenous peoples’ continued marginalized status in Philippine society.  Their health and nutrition problems should be understood and acted on as a consequence of their economic impoverishment, posing a pressing challenge to both researchers and policy makers who are truly committed to assist in the complex task of upland development.

Key words: indigenous communities, women and children, health and nutrition behavioral patterns, traditions and cultural values

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        United Nations Fund for Population Activities through the National Statistics Office

This study looks at inequalities along the areas of health, education, security, shelter, and water and sanitation, in terms of three major structural variables: economic performance, gender and household headship, both at the regional and household levels. It attempts to provide an update on the disparities in the living standards of the Filipinos at the household and individual levels and to determine the existence of disparities according to some structural variables such as gender and socio-economic standing of the areas. It specifically aims to a) determine the extent of disparities in the living standards of the houses according to the level of economic performance of the province; b) ascertain whether the structural variables on type of area and gender are related to the living standard of the population residing in areas with varying level of economic performance; and c) identify the aspects and the indicators where disparities linked with the structural variables are evident.

The study makes use of the data from the Philippines 1990 Census of Population and Housing of the National Statistical Office collected in May 1990. Two types of data were gathered: Data at the regional level, and data at the household level. A research dissemination forum was undertaken in order to present the findings of the study.

Key words:  basic social services, household heads, population census

Project Director:          Carmelita Quebengco
Funding Agency:        Benefactor

While the clamor among indigenous Filipinos for a more relevant, culture-specific basic education program continued to grow in the 1990s, the response was clearly lukewarm. This was perhaps brought about by the difficulties of introducing change within a very traditional, resource-strapped formal school system. There was therefore a need to make the introduction of school innovation easier and less threatening by studying the current situation more objectively, exploring possible innovation options, developing a more workable, reality-based model for curricular innovation, and organizing a center/office/group that can encourage and assist schools desirous of curricular reforms.

The study thus aimed to develop a work process model on curricular innovation for Philippine elementary schools servicing cultural communities and lay down the groundwork necessary for the establishment of a Philippine Center for Education of Indigenous Filipinos at DLSU. Specifically, the following tasks were accomplished: 1) identification of Philippine elementary schools, professionals, and para-professionals involved in the education of indigenous Filipinos, to serve as initial client-beneficiaries of a Philippine Center for Education of Indigenous Filipinos to be established at DLSU; 2) conduct of analysis and assessment of the conceptualization, planning and implementation of curricular innovations, particularly those involving the integration of client culture into the academic program in selected elementary schools servicing cultural communities; 3) determining of other relevant information including the strengths and needs of elementary schools servicing cultural communities, to form part of the body of data inputs for more appropriate curricular innovations; establishment of initial linkages with the Department of Education and Culture as well as identification of schools nationwide for future services to be rendered by the Philippine Center for Education of Indigenous Filipinos; and 5) proposal of a work-process model on the introduction of curricular innovation for Philippine elementary schools servicing cultural communities, and formulation of the rationale, goals and services to be rendered, and organizational structure of the proposed Philippine Center for Education of Indigenous Filipinos.

Key words:  Indigenous peoples, culturally appropriate education, curricular innovation

Project Director:          Alicia Manlagnit
Funding Agency:        Overseas Development Administrations (ODA) British Government

The project study sought to determine the factors that are associated with an increased risk of abortion both in the community and in the hospital environments.  It compared not only the demographic but also the socio-cultural characteristics of women who underwent abortion with those who did not. It was expected that the results provided would enable policy-makers to have a better understanding of a high-risk population to which more intensive sexual/family planning education and follow-up may be applied.

Key words: risks of abortion, high-risk populations, sexual/family planning education

Project Director:          Rosemary Fernholz
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

This survey sought to determine what sustains farmer participation in reforestation and forest conservation activities.  It focuses on the long-term participation of upland farmers who harvest forest products or farm the mountain slopes.  The study also determines whether social forestry projects have the ingredients that can ensure sustainability.  The study sites were selected barangays in Badian, Alegria and Alcoy of Cebu Province.

Key words: reforestation and forest conservation, upland farmers, social forestry, Cebu province

Project Director:          Robert Salazar
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

The Program sought to: 1) undertake research on community-based, participatory approaches toward the sustainable management of upland resources and the efficient and effective delivery and use of basic services; 2) provide research support to government agencies, non-government organizations, and community-based groups in the formulation of policies, management of programs, and implementation and review of projects relevant to upland development; and 3) maintain and operate a center that would gather, develop, utilize, and disseminate information and resource materials on upland issues.  In effect, the Program wanted to sustain the efforts it had initiated since the first project grant was given in 1981, and to create viable alternative responses to current realities.

Accomplishments of PUMP in its major research activities included technical support to the Upland Development Program of the DENR and conduct of research studies on upland concerns; in its development of research materials at the Philippine Uplands Resource Center (PURC) were an increase in its library collection, completed library data computerization, continuing to serve as an information channel for upland development practitioners, and forging closer relationships with government and non-government organizations through involvement in UNAC and participation in seminars and workshops; in the Mangyan School project was continuing to develop additional instructional materials; in institutional development was continuing to upgrade the skills and capabilities of the staff by providing supplementary grants for graduate studies and for participation in training workshops; in publications was the release of new materials in the form of a fieldwork study and a monitoring and evaluation handbook; and in other activities,  giving the DLSU Communication Arts Department fund support to produce a TV documentary and sponsoring a seminar on the 1991 Local Government Code.

Project Director:          Robert Salazar
Funding Agency:        Association of Christian Universities and Colleges in Asia

The project is part of a three-country (Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand) study on the nature and extent of community development and extension activities of Christian universities.  The values that universities hope to foster through these activities and the conditions through which this could be done successfully are among the study’s major concerns. Initial findings indicate that the schools’ development activities differ in their strategies and emphasis, although all are focused mainly on poverty groups and other disadvantaged sectors.

Key words: Christian universities in Asia, community development, poverty groups

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

The conference was held under the joint auspices of the Asia and Pacific Regional Task Force of the International Forum for the Social Sciences in Health and the Social Sciences and Medicine International Journal.  The meeting was known as the Asia and Pacific Second Social Science and Medicine (APSSAM) Conference.  The Philippine Organizing Committee was composed of health and social scientists from the academe, government, and non-government organizations.

The organizers agreed that the thrust of the conference should address partnership experiences in Asia and the Pacific among social scientists, health professionals, and community organizations working together to improve the health of human populations.  The theme of the conference was thus “Meeting the Health of the 21st Century:  Partnership in Social Science and Health Science.” The objectives of the five-day conference were to: a) share partnership experiences and findings from research, training and action in different health areas, particularly gender, sexuality and reproductive health; traditional medicine and pharmaceuticals; disaster management; child and adolescent health; gerontology; environmental, occupational and urban health; infectious and tropical diseases; health policy development; health ethics; the teaching of social sciences in health; and other pertinent areas of human health; b) identify issues and concerns relevant to the partnership in health care that can be addressed through the collaboration of social scientists, health professionals, and community organizations; c) launch an Asia and the Pacific network of social scientists in health; and d) develop a program of action to strengthen working relationships among social scientists, health professionals, program planners, and community workers.

The conference culminated with the establishment of the Asia and Pacific Regional Network of the International Forum for Social Sciences in Health (APNET) and the adoption of two major resolutions.

These resolutions were:  a) fora to examine the teaching of health social sciences in the region, and b) the establishment of an Asia and Pacific Working Group for Gender, Sexuality and Reproductive Health.  Both efforts are to be part of the APNET with the aim of facilitating information sharing and collaborative activities in teaching research and training.

Key words: Asia and the Pacific, health social science, gender, sexuality, reproductive health, partnership experiences

Project Director:                      Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:                    International Development Research Centre

The overall objective of this paper was to review the state of social policy formulation in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, China, and Vietnam in order to delineate issues, priorities, needs, and relevant methodologies that can be addressed in future inter-country researches.

Data were obtained from: a) a review of published social policy documents; b) interviews of policy makers and researchers from the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia regarding policy formulation, research and training needs, prospects in the future, problems, and priorities; and c) proceedings of the workshop on “Regional Consultation on Needs and Priorities for Research on Social Policy Development in Asia” held from June 8 to 10, 1992 at De La Salle University. The final output was a research framework for a regional social policy development strategy for Asia.

Data revealed that while the formulation of social policies is guided by a number of factors—political, cultural, resources availability, and international aid—the crux in social policy analysis is the translation of policies into viable and meaningful programs that would encompass appropriate mechanisms, vertical and horizontal linkages, coordination, grassroots participation, and support. In linking social policy to the improvement of quality of life, the intervening process is the access to and utilization of services.

Key words:  Asian region, social policy development, research and training, grassroots participation, quality of life

Project Director:          Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:        Health and Management Information System (Department of Health

The overall aim of this study is to provide the Department of Health and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (DOH-GTZ) with data inputs to be used in the forthcoming second HAMIS awarding. Data will consist of case descriptions and analyses of ten selected HAMIS project awardees. The major areas of analyses include organizational set-up and management, health care delivery systems, community involvement, the awardees’ perceived project sustainability (factors perceived to contribute to project sustainability and the strengths and weaknesses of their project); plans and/or prospects (including the role of HAMIS in the realization of these plans); and experiences with the first HAMIS contest (how the project came to know about the contest, benefits derived from the contest, and allocation of cash prizes). Two data gathering techniques were used: review of existing project documents and key informant interviews.

Key words:  Health and Management Information System (HAMIS) awarding, health care delivery systems, case descriptions

Project Director:          Jesusa M. Marco
Funding Agency:        Philippine Business for Social Progress

Due to the unique social realities obtaining in the uplands, this program was expected to consider several crucial factors such as the prevailing environmental conditions in the pilot sites, the traditional lifestyle of those directly affected by the entry of such a program, and the available resources of the assisting NGO and implementing People’s Organization (PO). Specifically, PURC was expected to: 1) conduct a community profiling in two Paitan Mangyan Mission project sites in Oriental Mindoro; 2) document the field experiences of various NGOs and/or POs engaged in marketing upland projects; and 3) document all activities related to the conduct of the marketing research.  At the end of the research project, PBSP was provided general guidelines for the development of the marketing program.

Key words: Mangyan Mission project, community profiling, marketing research, non-government organizations (NGOs), people’s organizations (POs)

Project Director:          Fr. Luke Moortgat, CICM
Funding Agency:        United Nations Voluntary Fund for Disabled Persons

This project was undertaken by the Deaf Assistance, Training, Employment Center (DATE) which was established in 1988 by the project director to provide training and employment services for the hearing impaired.  The main objective of the project is to develop a computerized directory of all organizations and centers in the Philippines that provide services for the handicapped.  This directory was then distributed for free or mailed to all concerned national and local organizations, churches of various denominations, and local government groups.

Key words: hearing impaired, training and employment services, handicapped services, local government groups

Project Director:          Carmelita Quebengco
Funding Agency:        Benefactor

The Center’s Mangyan Appropriate School project sought to establish an elementary education program that would be appropriate to the needs, experiences, and aspirations of the Hanunuo Mangyan community and to help build the community’s capability to ultimately manage the school. The objectives of the “Education for Cultural Minorities” study were therefore to continue the implementation of a complete elementary education program within the three Hanunuo Mangyan communities served by the project; further refine the elementary education program so that it becomes more effective and appropriate to the needs of Mangyan communities; continue assisting the communities concerned in making the school self-sufficient and financially viable in the long term; and develop closer coordination and sharing of resources among communities and institutions concerned with the education of cultural communities.

Key words: Hanunuo Mangyan, elementary education, cultural minorities, financial viability

Project Director:          Robert Salazar
Funding Agency:        Department of Environment and Natural Resources

In support of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Upland Development Program (UDP), two projects were undertaken: 1) preparation of the final manuscript of the monitoring and evaluation manual or social forestry project, and 2) a study on the devolution of the Integrated Social Forestry Program (ISFP) to local government units (LGUs). The first project resulted in a manual that was used by the social forestry units of the DENR; results of the second study were used in formulating recommendations for possible integration of participatory approaches developed by the UDP in implementing social forestry projects.

Key words: social forestry, participatory approaches, social science research, upland development programs

Researcher:               Jill Baldwin
Funding Agency:        Ford Foundation

Using a qualitative research approach, this fieldwork study explored the processes, problems, and outcomes of four purposively sampled non-government organizations (NGOs) participating in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Contract Reforestation Program (CRP).  Selection of NGOs was based on the organization’s mission; rationale for establishing the organization; previous history of working with community groups; development approaches, strategies, and methodologies; and performance in the CRP.

With regard to NGO contractors, the study found that two of the four organizations in this study had experience in environmental and socio-economic grassroots development.  These two were community-based and encouraged the active participation of community members in the decision-making processes related to the program’s design, implementation, and maintenance. In all of the community sites in this study, the community residents stated they had no input in the choice of their contractor.

In terms of capacity building, two of the four NGOs in this study provided on-going and comprehensive development trainings, and worked directly with local community development organizations established by the NGOs prior to the DENR contract.The maintenance of CRP in communities was primarily dependent on either the participants’ commitment to the program or the availability of monies to pay laborers.

To accomplish the goals set forth in the Master Forestry Plan, it was recommended that the DENR examine and modify six primary areas within the department:  a) the use of predominantly numerical measurements and quantifiable targets and goals; b) temporal needs to produce sustainable results; ability to respond to the needs of “the people” and meet their commitments and obligations to the people; c) sharing control and ownership of participatory programs; d) redefining and adapting to their new role as program enablers, not just program initiators; and e) developing and utilizing the expertise and skills of the DENR Desk Officers for more proactive development activities.

Key words:  Reforestation, non-government organizations, grassroots development, community participation, decision-making processes

Project Directors:        Irma Coronel and Mary Lou Onglatco
Funding Agency:        United States Agency for International Development

The purpose of this study was to conduct a process and product evaluation of the USAID/Philippines Development Training Project, a $2.5 M program for employees, entrepreneurs and owners of small-to-medium sized non-farm business enterprises.  Stufflebeams’ Content, Input, Process and Product (CIPP) evaluation model was employed as the framework of the study.  Sampling was two-tiered, with managerial and technical courses randomly sampled, and with at least 25 percent of the participants per course interviewed.

From the study, a profile of the participants was provided, with particular attention given to gender percentage of trainees, educational attainment, sectors of industry participating, size of work force, and assets. An evaluation of the training programs was obtained in terms of the methods used in training, quality of facilitators, training objectives, needs of the trainees, and support received by the trainees in terms of training applications. The perception of supervisors of the trainees regarding the cost-sharing scheme was likewise obtained.

Project implementers and participants were asked about the strengths and weaknesses of the project, paying particular attention to the scope and coverage, design, management, implementation, training courses/strategies, training institution/facilitator, cost sharing scheme, difficulties encountered in project implementation, and impact of the project.

The study recommended that the project should be monitored closely in terms of developing guidelines for operations, screening field implementers, conducting formative evaluation, and establishing feedback mechanisms from field to contracting agency to funding agency. A thorough training needs analysis was likewise recommended to be conducted; an appropriate comprehensive program to be designed; the means to ensure project sustainability after donor pull-out to be identified; and finally a data base on training needs of the country, resources available to meet needs, and long-term courses of action to ensure continuation of human resource development in the countryside be established.

Key words: training program, managerial and technical courses, cost sharing scheme, operations guidelines, feedback mechanisms

Project Director:          Exaltacion Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Department of Health

The general objective of this study was to examine the experiences in health centers in the National Capital Region (NCR) concerning data collection and recording processes inherent in the Field Health Services Information System (FHSIS) of the Department of Health (DOH).  A sample of 116 health centers was obtained from Manila, Quezon City, Kalookan City, Pasay City, District 1 (Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela), District 2 (Marikina, Pasig, Pateros, and Taguig), District 3 (Makati, Mandaluyong, and San Juan), and District 4 (Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, and Parañaque).  A total of 441 health center personnel participated in the study.  Three data collection methods were used:  Face-to-face structured interviews, direct observation, and the use of secondary data.

Several factors affected the smooth and continuous implementation of the FHSIS program.  These were the: a) operating principle governing the end-users of FHSIS information; b) deviations in the procedure; c) distance between the personnel’s residence and place of work; d) mismatch of expectations as to who should collect and record data; and e) devolution of public health care services to the local government.

Data suggests that in general, they have manifested favorable responses and dispositions to the systems and its processes.  Several factors are related to the dispositions:  hazy procedures in the system; logistics; educational attainment of personnel, position, travel time, residence, location of health facility, and level of involvement in the tasks.

For smooth implementation of the FHSIS program, it was recommended that there should be adequate supplies and material; the multiple tasks of midwives and staff be re-examined for possible streamlining; a control mechanism in the data collection and recording system be established as part of the FHSIS system processes to ensure reliability of the data; more training be conducted to facilitate the acquisition of skills in data collection, handling, and recording; assistance provided by the student interns and youth volunteers be institutionalized and harnessed; and that there be a concerted effort on the part of health personnel to convince local officials about the importance of an information system in the program operations.

Key words: information systems, data collection and recording processes, public health care services, skills acquisition, program operations

Project Director:          Exaltacion Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Department of Health

This research is a beneficiary assessment study aimed primarily at providing benchmark information necessary for planning and mapping out strategies for the Urban Health and Nutrition Program envisioned by the Department of Health. Using the family survey, direct observations, and life histories, this two-part study of 720 families from 15 depressed barangays in Taguig, Pasig and Kalookan determined the health and nutritional status of the urban poor, and their health-seeking and health service utilization behavior.  The mothers in each family were the main respondents in the study.

Based on the findings, most families were migrants from other areas, now residing in resettlement areas, near factories, in garbage dumpsites, and in rural areas. Majority of the families were moderately deprived.  Illness in the family is very common, with fever and flu topping the list.  The most vulnerable groups for illness were found to be children under six years of age, and mothers.

In terms of health-seeking behavior, visits to the doctor were positively and significantly related to individual attributes of the mother, institutional variables, and need. Six out of ten families visited the barangay health center, not only for curative but also for preventive care.  Families in general were aware of the different health-related programs and activities organized by the center and by various groups in the community. Majority of the mothers interviewed in this study were greatly interested in participating in the activities of the planned program.

Among the recommendations made by the study were that target groups of the program should be children below six years of age and mothers; the program should include projects and activities necessary in solving the health-related problems of the communities;  for effective health service delivery, it appeared practical and appropriate for the program to focus on the poorest and the most needy communities or even families; community participation and mobilization of residents as well as local officials must be maintained as an underlying principle in the implementation of the program; and the program must provide mechanisms for sustainability and continuity of the projects and activities even when funding stops.

Key words: urban health and nutrition, health-seeking and health service utilization, vulnerable groups, children, barangay health center

Project Director:          Exaltacion Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Health Education and Welfare Specialists, Inc.  (HEWSPECS)

As part of the beneficiary-assessment baseline study for the planned Urban Health and Nutrition Program of the Department of Health, the project assessed the high risk communities in the depressed urban poor areas in the municipalities of Pasig and Taguig, and the city of Kalookan—specifically, those areas assumed to be highly susceptible to health problems due to risk factors such as a) residents’ low socio-economic status, b) prevailing poor environmental and sanitation conditions, and c) limited access to basic facilities and public utilities.

Using a multi-method approach to data collection, the study assessed the communities using the following variables and indicators:  a) access to public and private health facilities; b) access to public and private educational facilities; c) access to drinking water; d) environmental and sanitation conditions; e) access to basic physical infrastructure such as roads; f) access to service institutions; g) housing density and materials; h) presence of government and non-government organizations (NGOs); i) presence of unkempt small children in the streets; and j) perceived employment of the residents.

There were 407 areas consistently listed as depressed areas in Metro Manila, involving a population of about 46 percent of the total population of the metropolis. The depressed areas studied, particularly those considered to be generally or totally blighted depressed barangays, did not have adequate access to basic services and service institutions.  Areas along the periphery of the city were found to benefit in some way from the accessibility of services extended to the relatively better-off portion of the barangay, which is usually the barangay proper or center of the community.

Recommendations submitted based on the study’s findings are for the strategy for the provision of a sustainable and effective health and nutrition program and services to include at least three important action and policy components:  a) a social policy that is concerned with the provision of essential preventive and curative health services, nutrition and family planning, especially intended for the deprived and vulnerable urban poor sector; b) an urban health policy that must deal with critical problems of the depressed areas such as water, toilet facilities, environmental sanitation, drainage system and decent shelter; and c) a policy related to the importance of beneficiary participation in carrying out the urban health and nutrition program.

Key words: high-risk communities, urban poor, sanitation, public utilities, health and nutrition programs, social policy

Project Director:          Exaltacion E. Lamberte
Funding Agency:        Educational Development Projects Implementing Task Force (EDPITAF) of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) through the Secondary Education Development Project (SEDP)

The seminar workshop on Social Science Teaching was part of the staff development program of the Secondary Education Development Program, addressing the need for providing non-degree educational training to supervisors, specialists and teachers in the Social Studies subject areas. The seminar generally attempted to: (1) upgrade the professional competencies of the supervisors, social studies specialists and teachers to effectively implement the new secondary curriculum, and (2) develop their leadership potentials.

The training specifically aimed at assisting the participants to: (1) acquire increased knowledge in subject matter content, as well as in current trends and developments in social science teaching; (2) develop the ability to adopt and/or adapt curriculum materials to local needs and conditions; (3) strengthen skills in curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation; (4) improve supervisory, administrative and leadership capabilities; (5) develop and acquire skills in constructing evaluation strategies and instruments for assessing faculty and students’ performance; and 6) plan and organize similar training and seminars for their fellow teachers.

Overall results indicated improvement in the level of knowledge of participants on the subject areas after each talk and discussion conducted by resource speakers.  They were able to gain ideas and insights not only in the area of social science but also on concepts and principles dealing with classroom management and teaching effectiveness, leadership and supervision and in self-discovery and growth.  The latter areas could be inferred from the participants’ answers to the evaluation forms administered once every two weeks.

Project Director:          Irma Coronel
Funding Agency:        United States Agency for International Development

This study aimed to conduct a gender analysis of the agribusiness sector.  Specifically, it sought to: (1) provide a quantitative sex-disaggregated description of the workforce, ownership and management characteristics of the agribusiness sector; (2) provide a qualitative assessment of policies, laws, regulations, as well as relevant socio-cultural conditions that promote/constrain female participation in agribusiness activities; and (3) identify measures that may be undertaken to effectively address the constraints faced by women involved in agribusiness.

The study focused its inquiry on the participation of men and women in two agribusiness sectors: agriculture and agroindustries.  For agriculture, the investigation centered on crops, livestock, and poultry.  Fishery and forestry were covered but on a limited basis. For agroindustries, the areas are contract farming and the processing of farm produce.

Salient findings of the study focused on the workforce, ownership of farms/business, involvement in management, and constraints.  It was recommended that in order to facilitate women’s integration, the following areas should be looked into:  sensitization/consciousness raising of the role of women in agricultural productivity, development of training programs for women, extension of credit facilities, extension of assistance in development and management of cooperatives and conducting of research on women’s concerns in the sector.

Project Director:          Stella Go
Funding Agency:        Japanese Immigration Association

Using the sample survey and case study methods, this study provides a profile of 202 Filipino contract workers who worked in Japan; their labor migration experience from the pre-employment, employment and post-employment stages; and the economic and psycho-social consequences of working in Japan for the worker and his/her family.

Findings of the study included the following: (1) Unlike labor migration streams from other Asian countries (except Thailand), the labor migration streams from the Philippines to Japan are highly selective of young single females with fairly high levels of education; (2) Although the major reason for working in Japan was for financial rewards, the underlying motivation was focused on the welfare of the family; (3) Assessed in terms of house ownership, savings and remittances, working in Japan has been a profitable endeavor; (4) Psycho-social changes in both the worker and her family were generally positive in nature, the experience having enhanced the worker in terms of personal maturity, stronger marital bonds, greater involvement in family decision-making, and increased level of satisfaction in various aspects of life; and (5) There are important individual and social factors that together reinforce working in Japan (e.g. the Filipino’s strong sense of duty to family, the desire to earn a higher income, the encouragement of friends, the demands of the Japanese labor market, and the current state of the Philippine economy).

To better address the welfare needs of the worker and his/her family, the study recommended that the Philippine government make a commitment to “education for adaptation” via policy formulations that will institutionalize it within the overseas employment program.  Consequently, a comprehensive, well-planned, and well-implemented education program needs to be developed hand-in-hand with other programs, projects, and institutional structures designed to protect the interests and well-being of the worker and his/her family.

Key words: Overseas Contract Workers, labor migration experience in Japan, psycho-social consequences, financial rewards

Project Directors:        Judy Freya Sibayan and Marian Roces
Funding Agency:        Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

The study sought to establish broad cultural themes that are variously articulated by the incredible diversity of ethno-linguistic groups in insular Southeast Asia.  The effort was pursued in recognition of the necessity of a macro view as a mental geography within which to appreciate micro differences.

The output is essentially a compendium of information and insights defining an insular Southeast Asian textile tradition.  Chapter 1 (Geographies of Cloth) integrates formal textual and field information on Philippine, Indonesian and Kalimantian textile.  Materials on production technologies are included as a background for understanding the physical and aesthetic structure of these textiles.  Chapter 2 (Geographies of Cloth Distribution) plots the spread of different textile technologies, formal composition, motifs, and materials across the breadth and length of insular Southeast Asia.  Chapter 3 (Geographies of Cultures) describes various ethnographic profiles of insular Southeast Asian cultures and similarities of certain types of socio-cultural structures pertaining to textile production.  Cross-references with current archaeological work and historical records are also done.  Chapter 4 (Geographies of Knowledges) charts the nature of accumulated textual, field, historical, anthropological, and humanities-oriented information that shape the understanding of textiles in the region.  With certain insights drawn from the proponents’ survey trips, the scholarly materials are contrasted and compared to plot possible directions of future researches.  A short epilogue chapter (Geographies of Imagination) summarizes knowledge that is not necessarily quantifiable or scientific.

Key words: Southeast Asia, textile, production technologies, ethnographic profiles

Project Director:          Robert Salazar
Funding Agency:        United States Agency for International Development

The project sought to improve the quality and relevance of education and outreach activities at higher agricultural education institutions in selected regions.  Project support was provided for faculty and administrator development; educational, outreach and research materials and equipment; school farm development; development of barangay outreach activities; technical assistance; and student financial support.

By the end of the project, ACUs were expected to have developed the capacity to plan and adapt their programs to address priority national and regional needs; and provided training for degree students and adults, including more practical, on-farm experience, management, marketing and technical skills applicable to farming, agribusiness and related rural commercial activities. Regional ACUs were expected to regularly conduct outreach activities in rural communities through barangay demonstrations, introduction of new technologies and dissemination of research results to area farmers and entrepreneurs; to provide quality training programs for regional/provincial Department of Agriculture personnel, extension workers and farmers on new technologies; and to conduct adaptive research that addresses farmers’ problems in their respective geographical areas.

Key words: agricultural education, on-farm experience, rural commerce

Project Director:          Robert Salazar
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

Objectives for the fourth phase of the project are to: 1) undertake research on community-based, participatory approaches in the management of resources and in the delivery and use of basic services; 2) assist governmental and non-governmental organizations concerned with upland development in the formulation of policies, management of programs, and implementation of projects; and 3) provide an effective and efficient system of exchange, utilization, and dissemination of information on upland development. Accordingly, the fourth phase consists of three major aspects of work, namely 1) research; 2) information exchange, utilization, and dissemination; and 3) institutional development.

Key words: upland development, resource management, basic services, information exchange

Project Director:          Robert Salazar
Funding Agency:        United States Agency for International Development

Among the major concerns addressed by the analysis are: 1) the mutual adaptability between the project and the sociocultural and political environment in which it is to be introduced; 2) the distribution of the project’s benefits and burdens among different groups; and 3) the factors that are likely to affect the sustainability of project results.

After conducting the analysis it was concluded that the Local Government Improvement Project is feasible. Appropriate mechanisms and controls could be properly instituted to avoid these possible pitfalls. The project must first coordinate with national and regional agencies and not create the impression that it is a threat to the existing systems, but that it complements existing efforts at decentralization. Second, it must mobilize important sources of support, particularly the respective leagues of provincial governors, city and municipal mayors. Third, the project must ensure adequate and substantive participation of the private sector and NGOs, to provide the necessary checks and controls on different aspects of the project. Lastly, the project must clarify the conditions of the grant, the mechanisms for which grants will be used, and the systems for managing the funds.

Key words: local governments, decentralization, provincial governors, city and municipal mayors, private sector, NGOs

Project Director:          Romeo Lee
Funding Agency:        World Health Organization

The study identifies and examines the psychological and social factors associated with risk-taking and preventive behaviors of 200 male homosexuals in Metro Manila.  An understanding of these behaviors and their factors is of paramount importance, considering the health threats posed by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).  Personal interviews and focused group discussions were employed as research methods.  Findings were used as a basis for designing an educational program for homosexuals.

Key words: HIV and AIDS, risk-taking and preventive behaviors, male homosexuals, educational programs

Project Director:          Carmelita Quebengco
Funding Agency:        Laubach Literacy International

A non-formal adult education was made part of the Pundasyon Hanunuo Mangyan School (PHMS) to train community leaders and parents in areas that are deemed crucial to the development of the individual and the community.  It was also designed to allow Hanunuo adults to cope with their children’s education in terms of literacy skills, knowledge of agriculture and basic marketing of produce, health and sanitation, community organization, and knowledge of Philippine laws relative to tribal communities.  Accordingly, the non-formal education consists of six modules, namely Agriculture and Ecology, Basic Marketing and Farm Produce, Health and Sanitation, Functional Literacy and Numeracy, Community Organization, and Philippine Laws Governing Tribal Communities. As part of the non-formal education, two community leaders participated in an apprenticeship program on school management and administration.

Key words: Hanunuo Mangyan, adult education, literacy skills, school management and administration, Philippine laws relative to tribal communities

Project Directors:        Pilar Ramos-Jimenez and Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:        Hanns Seidel Foundation

The objectives of the study were to review and analyze the empirical literature on the social effects and issues of the U.S. military bases in the Philippines from 1978 to 1987; to determine the perceptions of selected key informants about certain issues pertaining to the bases; and to elicit some major implications for consideration in determining the future of the bases in the country.  The study was conducted in Olongapo and Angeles Cities, which played host to two large U.S. facilities in the country—Clark and Subic.

Interviews with selected key informants in Olongapo and Angeles Cities yielded the following perceptions:

(1) The bases were advantageous to the two cities largely because they brought about more jobs, created livelihood opportunities, and provided improved basic services, particularly on health.  On the other hand, the bases were also disadvantageous because they did not provide Filipino base employees with security of tenure, and their servicemen were perceived to be carriers of sexually transmitted diseases; (2) Over the ten-year period, situations observed in both cities resulting from the bases’ presence were changes in their demographic profile (i.e. high growth rate owing to the large number of migrants attracted by existing economic opportunities) and having to deal with problems of crime, housing shortage, and sexually transmitted diseases. (3) Both government and non-government organizations or agencies had individually or jointly addressed the various social/health problems, particularly by providing medical assistance or services to the poorer and more disadvantaged urban sectors, including hospitality girls, street children, and drug addicts; and (4) In the event that the bases were withdrawn, the government would have had to provide alternative livelihood opportunities to displaced residents.  It would also have had to have short and long term comprehensive development plans for immediate implementation.  However, if the government decided to retain the bases, the U.S. would have had to be asked to remit higher rental payments in exchange.

Key words: U.S. military bases, livelihood opportunities, sexually transmitted diseases, demographic profile, disadvantaged sectors

Project Directors:        Robert C. Salazar and Irma C. Coronel
Funding Agency:        United States Agency for International Development

The study analyzed the socio-cultural feasibility, spread effects, and social costs and benefits of the proposed Rural Electrification Project.  The project sought to upgrade and strengthen the institutional and physical infrastructure of the existing rural electric cooperative system.

Analysis was based on secondary sources and on interviews conducted among key informants from the US Agency for International Development, National Electrification Administration (NEA), and Rural Electrification Cooperatives (RECs).

The study noted that the Project would be generally acceptable to most sectors affected by it, and has adequate provision for ensuring the spread and sustainability of benefits.  However, the viability of these efforts is seen to be contingent upon the RECs’ internal organization and functioning, their relations with local interest groups and the community as a whole, and the support and commitment that the government accords to the program.  Finally, the study suggests that the electrification program may have some impact only if it is implemented with adequate human and financial resources, linked to complementary projects in the area, and carried out in a developed area that will be able to support it.

Key words: Rural Electrification Project, institutional infrastructure, physical infrastructure, cooperative system, local interest groups

Project Director:          Alma Bella L. Zerrudo (Coordinator)
Funding Agency:        PUMP/The Ford Foundation

Operational in July 1986, the Philippine Uplands Resource Center (PURC) aimed to: a) undertake a systematic collection and classification of materials on the uplands as well as identification of their location; b) utilize the collection for university level instructional materials, issue identification, policy and program formulation for research, seminars and workshops; and c) organize and participate in networking with institutions and groups devoted to the welfare of disadvantaged groups in the uplands.

Forming the consortium for the realization of its objectives were four founding member institutions:  DLSU-RC, the Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC) of Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines System through the Department of Social Forestry (DSF) of the College of Forestry and Program on Environmental Science and Management (PESAM), and the Bureau of Forest Development (BFD) of the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Among PURC’s accomplishments were setting up the physical structure and facilities of the DLSU-based PURC library, systematizing the PURC collection, dissemination of a PURC brochure, publication of a quarterly newsletter, publication and distribution of a sourcebook of organizations and people in Upland Development in the Philippines, processing of the project proposal in a monthly PURC library bulletin, and processing of the project proposal through an information network for the expansion of institutional membership and the PURC library collection.

Key words: Philippine uplands, materials collection and classification, university level instructional materials, institutional networking, disadvantaged groups

Project Director:          Virgilio Enriquez
Funding Agency:        Department of Local Governance

This project reviewed and analyzed the Filipino concept of social justice and the value systems related to it.  It utilized Sikolohiyang Pilipino, an approach that recognizes the role and significance of the use of indigenous language in social science research.

The study noted that hiya, utang na loob, and pakikisama were better viewed as surface values—readily apparent attributes appreciated and exhibited by many Filipinos.  It emphasized that the triad resulted from kapwa, the actual core value of the Filipino personality.

Other elements of justice from the people’s kapwa-centered value system were also noted: kalayaan, karangalan, kagandahang-loob, karapatan, katotohanan, and katarungan. These factors were found to pertain more to justice in terms of dispute resolution than the concept of social justice in general.

Key words: social justice, value systems, indigenous language, social science research, Filipino personality

Project Director:          Divina Edralin and Anselmo Lupdag
Funding Agency:        World Neighbors, Inc./ PUMP 3 (The Ford Foundation)

The World Neighbors-assisted Cebu Soil and Water Conservation project was initiated in response to the continuing environmental degradation in Cebu. Its main goals were to reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and increase crop yield and family income.  To test the effectiveness of its strategies, three pilot sites were chosen with the assistance of the Bureau of Forest Development: Argao and Guba, which were selected in mid-1981, and Pinamungajan which was added in 1983.

The main thrusts of the study were determining how the communities and the farmers in the sites have been affected by the program of the World Neighbors and what factors have significantly contributed to farmers’ present status, given the different inputs from WNI.  It also served as a follow-up to an initial evaluation assessment made on the three project sites in March 1985 after several years of project implementation, particularly for Guba and Argao.

The six-month study utilized the combination of a case study on the historical development of the project sites and a survey of the effects of the program on the upland farmers.

Key words:  World Neighbors, Cebu Soil and Water Conservation project, environmental degradation, soil fertility, crop yield increase, family income

Project Director:          Carmelita Quebengco (Education Component) and Zenaida Sierra
Funding Agency:        Participatory Uplands Management Program/The Ford Foundation

During this phase of the project, the school increased its offerings from one grade level to give grade levels with a total enrollment of 166 pupils. Through an innovative curriculum and culturally-appropriate instructional materials, the students developed literacy and numeracy skills, better health habits, farming skills, and an appreciation for their indigenous culture. The community initiated maintenance of a school farm that was also used by the students for their agriculture subject. Supervision of the agriculture component was conducted through the Institute of Environmental Science and Management of the University of the Philippines at Los Baños.

Mangyan leaders assumed greater responsibilities in setting admission policies, resolving school-related community problems, and generating funds for the school’s buildings and facilities.

Key words: Hanunuo Mangyan, culturally appropriate education, indigenous culture

Project Director:          Corazon C. Panganiban
Funding Agency:        Philippine Business for Social Progress/PUMP 3 (The Ford Foundation)

Capability building and access of the poor to resources are two key tenets the Local Resource Management (LRM) project has been trying to experiment on in selected depressed provinces as a means of poverty alleviation.

Believing in these tenets, the Philippine Business for Social Progress, as one of the consultant resource institutions for the LRM Project, became involved in LRM’s Track III on Beneficiary Participation.

This study is a documentation of the dynamic process the PBSP has attempted in organizing the bangus fry catchers and the upland landless farmers in the municipalities of Pandan and Tibiao, respectively, in Antique.

To document the PBSP-LRM experience, a review and examination of PBSP-LRM documents, discussions and consultative sessions with the PBSP-LRM staff, and a field visit to the PBSP-LRM office in Antique as well as the municipalities of Pandan and Tibiao were undertaken for this study. It may be noted that in pursuing this methodology, the study’s primary interest is to provide a critically broad though rough sketch of PBSP’s creative work in empowering the poor, as seen and examined from the perspective and mind sets of the PBSP’s persevering field operations and management staff.

Key words: capability building, resources access, poverty alleviation, Philippine Business for Social Progress, beneficiary participation

Project Director:          Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:        Bureau of Forest Development-Upland Development Working Group

The Bureau of Forest Development (BFD) Upland Development Program piloted a participatory development project among the Hanunuo Mangyan in the Malang-og region of Mansalay, Mindoro. To facilitate the process of learning from the pilot experiences, details of the Mindoro projects field implementation were regularly documented and fed back to the BFD by the DLSU Research Center, resulting in two published reports:

Building People into Forestry:  Field Experiences in Bureaucratic Orientationc by Ma. Elena Chiong Javier (1987). This report covers the initial two years of project operation. It focuses on identifying the process and strategies that enabled the upland farmers and/or their community to plan and carry out specific activities, whether with the assistance of the agency personnel or by themselves. Results of the study show that land tenure and agroforestry activities generate spontaneous farmer interest and participation because they are intricately linked with survival in the uplands.  The farmers also engaged in tasks related to infrastructure development, food production, and the provision of basic services.  The tenurial issue was chosen as entry point for organizing, with the sitio as the basic unit that may be effectively mobilized for collective participation in project tasks.

Developing People-Oriented Agroforestry:  Learning from Pilot Project Experiences by Ma. Elena Chiong Javier and Josefina Sembrano with the assistance of Janet Bobadilla (1988). A sequel to the first report, this volume describes the third year of the Mindoro Pilot Project implementation. It was designed to center efforts on continuing the search and trial for appropriate agroforestry field intervention strategies that could help meet its goals of bringing greater agricultural productivity to farmers with minimal or no ecological destabilization. As the tenurial issue was almost settled, the project’s emphasis shifted to expanding the number and types of agroforestry intervention strategies undertaken with farmer-participants. The development thrusts were based on evolving an operational framework for agroforestry intervention, key lessons in implementing agroforestry and other activities, and moving from agency to people-oriented agroforestry.

Key words: Hanunuo Mangyan, participatory upland development, agroforestry, field intervention strategies, bureaucratic orientation

Project Director:          Rosemary Aquino (Mar-Dec 1986) and Robert Salazar (Aug-Mar 1988)
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

Phase III of PUMP expands the action research and knowledge-sharing activities of the program. The objectives under this phase are to: 1) synthesize from the studies conducted in Phase I and II and from other related studies, programs and policy recommendations that will provide substantive inputs for sectors/local development programs; 2) develop an analytical framework for a multi-sectoral approach to participatory upland development; 3) continue undertaking action-oriented research and research on participatory development approaches in order to evolve and test strategies for substantive community participation in resource management and in the provision of basic services; 4) develop a model for sustainable upland development in and through education; 5) help reorient government and non-government agencies to a participatory approach to upland development through working groups such as the BFD-Upland Development Working Group; 6) develop models for sustainable development work coupling research with action, and involving different agencies at the national and local levels; 7) develop indigenous teaching materials in the social sciences/management; and 8) develop a strategy for sustained university involvement in action research on participatory management to benefit rural communities.

Key words: participatory upland development, resource management, basic services, indigenous teaching materials, rural communities

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        United Nations-Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

The main concern of the study was to describe the socio-economic effects on low-income Filipino clients and households of two loan assistance schemes, i.e. Bigay Buhay and Paluwagan, of the Self Employment Assistance (SEA) Program of the Ministry of Social Services and Development.

The study put together various data on the foregoing loan schemes derived from a review of records, documents, and related literature and personal interviews with agency personnel and beneficiaries of SEA-assisted associations. It described aspects pertinent to these loan schemes, particularly how loans may be availed of and repaid, where projects and clients are located, how much the program has allocated to these projects, and what findings have emerged from existing studies evaluating the two schemes.

The research surfaced issues that had implications affecting the policies and implementation of the SEA Program.

Key words: low-income households, loan assistance schemes, Ministry of Social Services and Development, Self Employment Assistance Program

Project Director:          Stella P. Go
Funding Agency:        United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

Recognizing the importance of the popular participation in development programs, the United Nations-Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) undertook a cross-country study on the extent to which community participation has been generated in the family planning programs of Bangladesh, the People’s Republic of China, Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand.

The Philippine study adopted a multi-method approach.  It utilized the following in gathering data: document research, semi-structured interviews with officials and personnel at three levels of the Commission on Population of the Philippines (POPCOM), community surveys, and community case studies.

Results of the study seem to augur well for the adoption of community participation as a program strategy.  However, they indicate the need to eliminate constraints to the adoption of community participation and rear its potentials instead.

Among the recommendations forwarded were the decentralization of functions within the POPCOM and the hiring of management and personnel—particularly that of the executive directorship—based on ability, competence, and long-term commitment.  The active participation of local government officials in the inter-agency task forces and the creation of a People’s Population forum at the barangay level were also suggested.  Moreover, it was recommended that the development of strategies that will either build up or enhance the people’s confidence in their own ability to participate in and to make an impact on the family planning program likewise be encouraged.

Key words: family planning programs, community participation, local government officials, People’s Population forum

Research Director:      Angelito P. dela Vega
Funding Agency:        PUMP/The Ford Foundation

The general objective of this study was to identify, document, and analyze the various Mangyan Assistance Programs vis-à-vis projects and/or activities by government agencies, religious-oriented organizations, and private volunteer groups, with the end-in-view of undertaking summative impact evaluation in relation to development strategies utilized in concept-making, program planning, and field implementation.

The study undertook a documentary review of the Mangyan Development Advisory Council in Oriental Mindoro.  Specifically, it aimed to: a) conduct an inventory of all existing Mangyan-oriented development programs and/or projects being run by member-agencies of the Mangyan Development Advisory Council; b) determine and analyze the processes and strategies utilized by the Mangyan Development Advisory’s member agencies in implementing its objectives related to provision of land tenure security, enhancement of livelihood, and provision of health services and education; and c) determine the strengths and weaknesses of the implementation strategies and to suggest alternative approaches.

Key words: Mangyan assistance programs, impact evaluation, development strategies, Mangyan Development Advisory Council, land tenure security

Project Directors:        Florante Henson and Erlinda Henson
Funding Agency:        Ministry of Agriculture

The main objective of the project was to maximize the Ministry of Agriculture (MA) working group’s productivity through a strategy called process diagnosis.

Specifically, the project intended to a) monitor the group process during discussion meetings of the working group; b) provide regular feedback to increase the group’s effectiveness in the discussion of pertinent issues related to the community management of the farming systems; c) stimulate group members to engage in periodic self-assessment/evaluation; and d) encourage the group to maximize tasks and the pursuit of its long-range goals.

The study utilized five major approaches in data-gathering: structured observation, participant observation, unstructured interviews, questionnaires, and examination of written documents.

The written output (report) for this project was organized into three major sections.  The first section traces the development of the DCMS-WG from its inception to its current state and situates it within the context of the bigger project, the Rainfed Resources Development Project, of which it is a part. The next section presents the most salient issues/concerns that were raised by members of the working group, either singly or collectively, and examines the eventual fate of these issues (whether these were resolved or not). The last section zeroes in on the learning experiences that the working group had undergone across time, particularly in terms of its reactions to the process diagnosis feedback that it had been receiving through the interim reports.

Key words: process diagnosis, community management systems, farming systems, self-assessment/evaluation

Project Director/s:          Trinidad S. Osteria (1st-2nd Term SY 1985-1986); Jonathan Okamura (3rd Term SY 1985-86 to April 1987); Pilar Ramos-Jimenez (3rd Term SY 1985-86 to December 1988)
Funding Agency:        International Development Research Centre

The main objective of this IDRC-funded operations research was to demonstrate the feasibility of a culturally appropriate health program that involved the tribal community of the Hanunuo Mangyan in the provision of basic health care services. Only two of the several sitios of this barangay were included in the study: Sitios Umabang and Bailan.

The project had four major phases.  For each phase, qualitative and quantitative research methods were utilized in data collection.

The first phase dealt with the procurement of baseline data to determine the existing health situation, the health sources available, health-seeking behavior, and beliefs concerning illness. The second phase was the formulation and implementation of the health program.  It included validation of data and planning of a community health program, training of health workers, construction of village health clinics, delivery of health services in the catchment areas and in the clinics, and linkage with the Rural Health Unit and the Department of Social Welfare.

The assessment or evaluation of the program was conducted on the third phase, noting the slight improvements in the environmental sanitation facilities and the villagers’ knowledge of the etiology of diseases.  While the management of illnesses remained largely traditional, a substantial number of villagers availed of the health services. There was a decline in the incidence of such diseases as respiratory ailments, skin disorders, anemia, malaria, and PTB, but a high rate of parasitism remained.

During the last phase, community and health workers were trained to take over the management of the health program with the supervision of the Bulalacao Rural Health Unit.

The study raised issues on community participation and project sustainability, and forwarded recommendations on the sustenance and replication of the health program in similar health communities.

Key words: Hanunuo Mangyan, culturally appropriate health program, tribal community, basic health care services

Project Director:          Stella P. Go
Funding Agencies:      United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP)
This pilot project examined the psycho-social and economic dimension of return migration in one community in Metro Manila. Specifically, the study sought to: a) determine the possible adjustment and difficulties at the household and community levels; b) look into the job and income expectations of return migrants; c) determine skill acquisition and/or development overseas and their utilization upon return; and d) examine the use of remittances in relation to investment and consumption expenditures, and possible spill-over effects in the community.

Barangay Vergara is a crowded urban community located in the municipality of Mandaluyong. It has an area of 43 hectares. At the time of the study, it had a total of about 765 households and a population of about 4,991.

From the study it was found that economic reintegration was probably the major difficulty confronting the returning overseas contract worker. The economic problems facing the country at that time, as reflected in a high unemployment rate and scarcity of jobs, made the absorption of these workers difficult. While workers did acquire new skills abroad, their utility in the local context could not be determined by the study. Moreover, the pilot study indicated that the economic gains from overseas employment might be such that they could adequately meet only the basic needs of the worker and his family, particularly in the case of those who had a short overseas employment experience. Thus, virtually no one used the remittance for productive investment.

On the other hand, overseas employment did not seem to create problems of readjustment into the family and the community for the overseas contract worker.

Key words: overseas contract workers, return migration, skill acquisition, income expectation, use of remittances

Project Directors:        Judy Freya Sibayan and Marian Roces
Funding Agency:        United Board of Christian Higher Education in Asia

As a new approach to textile scholarship, Women as Weavers is treated as part of a vast integrity and not as an entity separate from large systems of knowledge.  Instead of dividing the subject matter according to the involvement of textiles in various domains (e.g., textiles and rituals, textiles and economic systems), a holistic presentation has been used to de-emphasize the separation of lived experience into disjoint categories.  Chapter 1 (Object) discusses the textiles in terms of technical and aesthetic integrities.  Chapter 2 (Word) discusses the spread of textile-related vocabularies all over the archipelago to substantiate the integrities discussed in Chapter 1.  Chapter 3 (Myth) integrates words and objects in myth.  Chapter 4 (Ritual) finally proposes large integrated systems of knowledge as expressed in ritual.

The study ultimately validates a holistic approach to textile scholarship and shows that a taxonomy of motifs and a separation of domains are scholarly dead ends.  The language use aspect in relation to textiles is also employed as a key concept that is enlightening and indispensable as an area of knowledge.  The possible relationship of reptilian figures in textiles with concepts of life, fertility, regeneration, and institutions such as head-hunting is deemed most crucial.

Key words: female artistic production, textile scholarship, lived experience, language use, myth, ritual

Research Director:      Judy Carol Sevilla
Funding Agency:        National Economic and Development Authority

This project aimed to determine the level of awareness, perception, and utilization of the Bilingual Education Program by government agencies and the community at large, as well as the factors accounting for the differentials obtained.

The methodology included carrying out of interviews among selected representatives of government agencies (Ministries, Surian ng Wikang Pambansa, Professional Regulations Commission, Civil Service Commission) and the community (parents, media, social organizations and various other domains). Both the respondents from these agencies/organizations and the community were drawn through purposive sampling.

Based on the study, it was found that the majority of the respondents were aware that English and Pilipino are used as media of instruction in our schools, but they are not knowledgeable about the BEP objectives and specific implementation measures.  English, rather than Pilipino, was found to still be the favored medium of instruction, especially at the college level, because of perceived occupation demands.

While English was the official language of business, science, technology and the professions, Pilipino or Taglish was utilized among the middle and lower echelons, for friendly or intimate discussions, and for communication at the grassroots level.

A national language is essential for the development of Filipinos’ national identity; yet, the majority of respondents believed that Filipinos can be nationalistic even without speaking Pilipino.

Various factors accounted for the differences in level of awareness, perception and utilization of the BEP/bilingualism.  These fell under school-related factors, geographical factors, occupation-related factors, and others. These elements also acted as either facilitators or obstacles in the implementation of the BEP and the practice of English-Pilipino bilingualism.

Key words: Bilingual Education Program, policy monitoring, Linguistic Society of the Philippines, national language, bilingualism

Project Director:          Jesusa M. Marco
Funding Agency:        The Asia Foundation

This collaborative research undertaking of three schools (i.e., Asian Institute of Management, Ateneo de Manila University, and De La Salle University), commissioned by the Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference, primarily aimed to study the nature and quality of community participation in selected Basic Christian Communities (BCCs).

Designed as an exploratory-formulative research, the study utilized a multi-method approach to arrive at complete, thorough, and accurate case studies of each BCC.

The BCCs covered were chosen from a list of predetermined existing BCCs in the Philippines (representing Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao). They were identified geographically and tentatively categorized into three BCC typologies, namely: Liturgical, Developmental, and Transformative, which were further classified either as rural or urban. Each school selected, by consensus, six BCCs that they were to cover. The six BCCs for the DLSU study were a) Mendez, Cavite; b) Cabcaben, Bataan; c) Alcantara, Cebu; d) Kidapawan, North Cotabato; e) Palo, Leyte; and f) Santiago, Isabela.

On the whole, the findings indicated that the BCCs studied were made up of ordinary people—i.e., workers, farmers, the unemployed, students, housewives—who are bound by some common physical space. Hence, to facilitate their participation, basic units of structure were established, e.g., the Kapitbahayan (10 to 15 households) for Mendez, “Family Grouping” (8 to 10 families) for Kidapawan, Pastoral Council (for a barangay/sitio) for Cabcaben, the core group for Leyte.

In general, there was a “positive” dissatisfaction among the “active” respondents in the case communities. There was a generally positive attitude toward the BCC programs. At the same time, this attitude was accompanied by an expressed desire for the BCC programs to improve further their task of building communities in which everyone can live fully as Christians.

Key words: Basic Christian Communities, community participation, exploratory-formulative approach, kapitbahayan, Family Grouping, Pastoral Council

Project Directors:        Carmelita Quebengco (Education Component)
and Zenaida Sierra UPLB-PESAM (Agriculture Component), Percy Sajise (Co-Project Director)
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

The project was a response to the request of the community leaders of the Pundasyon Hanunuo Mangyan, Inc. (PHM) for an elementary education program that is culturally appropriate and available in their area.

The community leaders coursed their request through the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development, which in turn sought the help of DLSU through the Participatory Uplands Management Program (PUMP) of the Research Center.

Among others, the project had the goals of: a) providing the target population with a culturally appropriate education program in line with an overall objective of helping build up community self-management capabilities; b) assessing the feasibility of participatory development in the planning, implementation, and evaluation phases of the school project; and c) achieving school self-sufficiency through applied upland agricultural education and production.

Key words: Hanunuo Mangyan, elementary education, culturally appropriate education, community self-management, participatory development

Project Directors:        Rosemary M. Aquino (Jan-Jun ’84); Trinidad S. Osteria (Jul ’84-Dec ’85)
Funding Agency:        The Ford Foundation

In January 1984, the second phase of the Participatory Uplands Management Program (PUMP Phase II) was initiated, with particular focus on researches aimed at improving knowledge on upland communities, action-oriented strategies, and evaluation of development efforts. Problem areas were identified such as education, community resource management, bureaucratic reorientation, health and nutrition, poverty/equity, women and children, population, law and economics. Furthermore, activity areas included research methodologies, research dissemination and utilization, process documentation, monitoring, and evaluation/impact research.

Key words: participatory uplands management, upland communities, action-oriented strategies, development efforts, research dissemination

Project Directors:        Pilar Ramos-Jimenez and Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:        International Development Research Centre

The study focused on the commodity and labor exchanges between the Iraya Mangyan and the Tagalog (non-Mangyan uplanders and lowlanders) in San Teodoro, Mindoro Oriental. Specifically, it aimed to understand 1) how the Iraya households mobilize their resources for the exchange; b) who are the Iraya’s exchange partners, including role functions and perceptions and network of interpersonal relationships; c) what is the flow of commodity and labor exchange, including credit and marketing channels; d) what are the economic and non-economic advantages derived by the Iraya from the exchange, including problems encountered and their resolutions; and e) what are the effects of the exchange on the Iraya households’ organization, decisions, practices, motivations, perceptions, and aspirations related to consumption and production.

The major findings of the study on the household level indicated that the Iraya and the Tagalog have remained poor despite efforts to harness the land and mineral resources found in their environment. Findings on the community level showed that the two main economic activities of the Iraya and Tagalog households affected their upland community in at least four areas, namely: population redistribution, land and forest use and conservation, economic and social interaction, and linkage between upland and lowland markets.

The sale of farm products, particularly banana, and of gold increased the contact between the Iraya and the Tagalog. The economic transactions in the uplands enabled the uplanders to acquire cash needed in the household. It also provided them access to credit through the Tagalog storeowners. Credit extension encouraged the development of a kind of patron-client relationship between the Iraya and the Tagalog storeowners. This encouraged the formation of incipient ritual alliances between the two groups but at the same time developed an unaccustomed indebtedness on the Irayas part.

Key words: commodity and labor exchange, resource mobilization, credit and marketing channels, economic transactions

Project Directors:        Pilar Ramos-Jimenez and Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:        United Nations Children’s Fund and National Economic Development Authority

The project aimed to assess the health and nutritional problems of preschoolers in four depressed communities in Metro Manila, their antecedents, and the available health resources and their utilization. The ultimate goal of the project was to link up with relevant agencies in the formulation of appropriate community-based health intervention strategies.

Specifically, the study aimed to: a) determine the health and nutritional problems of preschoolers (0-6 years old); b) relate the socio-economic and demographic factors to the preschoolers’ health and nutritional problems; c) identify the health services, both static and itinerant, available in the depressed communities, particularly those that affect the preschoolers’ welfare; d) determine the delivery system for both the preventive and curative health services, the difficulties encountered in their utilization, and the extent to which they are linked to the current health and nutritional status of the preschoolers; and e) propose alternative strategies to improve the health service delivery system.

The research findings showed that the pre-schoolers from the depressed Metro Manila communities came from large households, with young migrant parents whose incomes are barely sufficient to provide their families with the basic necessities of life.  The poor health and nutritional status of pre-schoolers can be attributed to insufficient and inappropriate weaning food, minimal protection from communicable illnesses, congested and unsanitary environment, and inadequate water and toilet facilities. The findings indicated potentials for participation in health care and delivery projects by community residents, particularly mothers.

Key words: health and nutritional problems of preschoolers, depressed communities, health resources and utilization, intervention strategies

Project Director:          Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier
Funding Agency:        Bureau of Forest Development-Upland Development Working Group

This study undertakes a detailed documentation of the Mindoro Pilot Project to provide dynamic feedback on the processes of project implementation.  It has for its objectives the following: 1) to document the activities of the BFD field personnel and the upland farmers, as well as the activities of the field workers of participating agencies of institutions; 2) to document the issues and problems that emerge from the implementation of the pilot project; and 3) to derive lessons from the pilot experiences that can help build or improve the BFD’s capacity to implement participatory approaches in upland development.

Key words: Bureau of Forest Development, upland farmers, participatory approaches in upland development

Project Director:          Exaltacion C. Ramos
Funding Agency:        Family Planning Organization of the Philippines

In these studies, six projects in five provincial areas in the Philippines were looked into to achieve the following specific goals of: a) obtaining insights into the process of development that each project has undergone from the time of initial implementation up to the present; b) determining the community’s perception and level of participation in the project; c) identifying factors that may have led to the success or failure of the project (a possible indicator is whether the project has attained its stated objective); and d) providing a census of problems that may need the urgent attention of the national office.

The six projects were funded by different grants from the international office. The primary objective of the PPWD program, especially the Women in Development Training Program (WINTRAP), was to train a pool of women leaders who can organize and mobilize the resources in the community to promote population/family planning activities that are integrated with a development program—specifically, an income-generating project.

The introduction of an income generating project (IGP) as an incentive to women volunteers was a positive factor in arousing the interest of community members in family planning education and a motivation campaign. However, it failed to be an agent in sustaining the involvement of the women in the project through its duration.  In some cases, the ICP eventually produced a negative impact on community work—women who failed to repay seed money tended to disengage themselves from the organization.  In other cases, however, the communities mentioned a positive and supportive attitude toward FPOP as a result of such projects.

Key words: Planned parenthood and women’s development, women leaders, resource mobilization, income generation

Project Director:          Carmelita Quebengco
Funding Agency:        Benefactor

The project was a response to the request of the community leaders of the Pundasyon Hanunuo Mangyan, Inc. (PHM) for an elementary education program that is culturally appropriate and available in their area.

The community leaders coursed their request through the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development, which in turn sought the help of DLSU through the Participatory Uplands Management Program (PUMP) of the Research Center.

Among others, the project had the goals of: a) providing the target population with a culturally appropriate education program in line with an overall objective of helping build up community self-management capabilities; b) assessing the feasibility of participatory development in the planning, implementation, and evaluation phases of the school project; and c) achieving school self-sufficiency through applied upland agricultural education and production.

Key words: Hanunuo Mangyan, elementary education, culturally appropriate education, community self-management, participatory development

Project Directors:        Tereso S. Tullao, Jr. and Wilfrido V. Villacorta
Funding Agency:        Philippine Institute for Development Studies

This research project aimed to contribute to the current efforts in improving the ASEAN-Australian dialogue on the New International Economic Order (NIEO) issues. The main task of this study was to analyze the positions of the Philippines and Australia with respect to the proposed schemes aimed at resolving the commodity and food security issues.

The main objectives of the study were to: a) review and analyze the country positions of the Philippines and Australia as well as the common position of ASEAN with respect to the New International Economic Order, in general, and the commodities and food security issues, in particular; b) evaluate the extent of divergences and convergences among these different positions; and c) explore the possible ways by which the divergences could be reconciled and the convergences could be developed.

The findings of the study indicated that divergences are present in the positions of Australia and the Philippines as far as the concept of New International Economic Order and commodity are concerned. Australia’s emphasis is on providing for the improvement of basic human needs rather than on massive structural change. The Philippines, on the other hand, has echoed the Third World’s demand for structural changes in order to correct the imbalance in international economic relations.  However, the country’s support for an integrated approach to global economic ills is balanced by its realistic inclination to seek compromises. ASEAN countries, like the Philippines, generally believe that the current economic crisis renders several of the demands of developing countries impracticable. However, these demands could be tackled on a bilateral or regional basis.

Key words: ASEAN, New International Economic Order, commodity and food security issues, basic human needs

Project Director:          Pilar Ramos-Jimenez
Funding Agency:        United States Agency for International Development

The main concern of the study on the Social and Institutional Profile of Leyte was to analyze the development efforts being pursued on that island. The study attempted to identify the most significant economic, social, institutional, and environmental factors affecting three categories of the rural poor: lowland rainfed farmers, upland rainfed farmers, and artisanal fishermen.

Three major research approaches were used in undertaking this project: a review of documents from primary and secondary sources in Manila and Leyte; interviews of key informants from the three categories of the rural poor and from government and non-government agencies; and validation workshops involving selected key informants from the field interviews.

From the study it was found that the three categories of rural poor exhibit similar features that form the classic description of the disadvantaged: landlessness, utilization of traditional technology, low production, low income, multiple sources of income as a major survival strategy, active involvement of women and children in farming and fishing, lack of capital and lack of access to disposition of goods, and poor access to transportation.

The rural poor lack social services in health, nutrition, and education. Extension services do not reach most of them because of poor physical infrastructure and limited manpower in the extension agencies. Development efforts on the part of government show an emphasis on capital-intensive, urban-based industries and less attention to agricultural programs.  This has brought out the disparity between the progressive north side of the island and the neglected south.

The environments of the three groups studied were characterized by poor soil, damaging typhoons and drought, denuded forests, and depleted resources.

Key words: social and institutional profile, rural poor, lowland and upland rainfed farmers, artisanal fishermen

Project Director:      Rosemary M. Aquino
Funding Agency:    The Ford Foundation

The ultimate objective of this program was to benefit upland communities and to help disadvantaged uplanders develop and sustain their capability to manage community resources. It was divided into two phases:

Phase I (October 1981 to September 1983) – This phase was intended to build up the capability of DLSU faculty in the social and management sciences to analyze and conceptualize participatory management approaches initially focusing on upland communities, and provide a venue for the exchange of experiences of groups involved in development projects. It involved the conducting of a seminar series to provide orientation and consciousness-raising symposia and workshops for DLSU faculty and research staff and for other interested parties; research projects on upland communities to obtain a substantive view on the socio-demographic and economic characteristics of upland people through a review of related literature; and other activities such as developing social science field methodologies and research techniques for action research with disadvantaged groups, publications and dissemination, research awards for thesis/dissertation writing, exchange and visiting professorships, field work in selected cities, and linkages with government agencies and research projects to complement the projects commissioned by the Bureau of Forest Development Upland Working Group.

Phase II (October 1983 to September 1986) – This phase was intended to build on the activities of Phase I and provide for more faculty released time to embark on projects and interact on a long-term basis with BFD or private agencies. It involved expanded research projects/activities in selected social forestry sites; conferences for policy makers and field personnel; and an expanded publications program.

Key words: upland communities, participatory management, development projects, social forestry

Project Director:          Socorro Reyes
Funding Agency:        Bureau of Forest Development/Upland Development Program (Manila)

The forum served as an opportunity for the uplanders to share with concerned lowlanders the realities and problems in upland areas. Its objectives were to initiate a dialogue between the lowlanders and uplanders; to serve as a learning experience for the lowlanders, leading to a deeper understanding of the realities of the uplands social organization; to establish the possibility of starting pilot projects in one or more selected upland communities; and to serve as an experimental activity that would be documented and evaluated to establish its effectiveness and viability as a regular BFD support activity.

As a method for gathering data on upland communities, the effectiveness of the forum depended on factors such as cooperation of formal political leaders, trust of the community, skills and commitment of the initiating team, and adequate resources.  The crucial problems identified during the forum were bad roads, diminution of territory, limited sources of livelihood, and land tenure.

Key words: uplanders, problems in upland areas, uplands social organization, pilot projects

Project Director:          Stella P. Go
Funding Agency:        International Development Research Center

The study focuses on the effects of temporary international migration on individual migrants, their families, the communities they come from, and Philippine economy and society as a whole. Conducted by the Institute of Labor and Manpower Studies (Ministry of Labor and Employment) with the DLSU Research Center, it probed the loss of skills and knowledge due to out-migration, productivity losses in specific skills, and accelerated out-migration on the part of the youth. On the positive side, the study looks into the contribution of migrants to community services and facilities, increased taxes from income and investments for local governments, the growth of economic enterprises, changes in land values, and the participation in community affairs of migrants and their families.

Key words: temporary international migration, skills and knowledge, productivity losses, accelerated out-migration

Project Director:          Aprodicio Laquian
Funding Agency:        Asia Foundation

This project consisted of two components: a) an action-research project in the Leveriza Community to provide basic urban services to the residents through a cooperative system; and b) the preparation of a management model for the whole Metro Manila area that features a cooperative system rather than a service-delivery system for providing basic urban services.

Key words: action-research project, basic urban services, cooperative system, management model

Project Director:          Yeung Yeung Yu
Funding Agency:        Integrated Research Center; DLSU Audio-Visual Center

This project has developed sound slides with manuals on the topics motivation to work; leadership styles; interpersonal communication; and organizational climate.  In addition to these, audio-cassette tapes have been made on interviews conducted with behavioral scientists on topics related to management expertise.

Key words: Industrial Psychology, behavioral scientists, management expertise, audio-visual materials

Project Director:          Stella P. Go
Funding Agency:        Integrated Research Center

This study focuses on urban development programs initiated by the government and the private sector involving the upgrading of slum areas, provision of housing facilities, and development of squatter resettlement areas, in order to address the problems caused by the heavy influx of migrants to the cities. It has sought to define the nature, thrust, and perspectives of these various urban development programs. The end result is a “state of the art” paper that reviews and analyzes current urban development programs undertaken by the government and the private sector, and makes recommendations for the improvement of such programs.

Key words:  urban development programs, city migrants, squatter resettlement areas, housing facilities

Project Directors:        Rosemary M. Aquino and Leticia T. Postrado
Funding Agency:        United Nations Asian Pacific Development Center

The interim project preparatory to the full-scale projects entailed writing two case studies on policies/projects that relate to migration and development: (1) a resettlement project, which is a scheme that results in people moving from urban or semi-rural areas to rural areas, and (2) a “Green Revolution” project, which is a project that keeps people in rural areas.

Data used was taken mainly from an extensive review and examination of written articles in the policies of these projects.

Key words: migration and development, resettlement, “Green Revolution”, urban and rural areas

Project Directors:        Robert C. Salazar (Apr-Aug ’81); Benjamin C. Bernales (Sep ’81-Oct ’82)
Funding Agency:        Bureau of Forest Development/Upland Development Program

The project sought to determine where and what are the various uplands-oriented projects and programs being implemented by public and private institutions and how similar or different their objectives as well as their strategies are. The project further investigated what the experience of the more successful upland development projects was, particularly in terms of their structure and management, and what efforts and processes led to their relative success.

The project consisted of two sub-projects:
An Inventory and Description of Uplands-Oriented Programs and Projects in the Philippines. In order to arrive at an extensive and comprehensive inventory and description, interviews with officials of both government and private institutions involved in forestry projects were conducted. Likewise, an exhaustive review of literature was to be undertaken to produce a complete listing and description of all programs and projects dealing with upland development in the Philippines.

Four Case Studies of Selected Community Forestry Projects. The triangulation approach using key-informant interviews, review of records, and sample surveys was adopted to meet the project objectives.  To supplement information gathered from earlier methodologies, field observation was done to focus on cases of cooperation and conflict.

Key words: upland development, community forestry, public and private institutions, projects and programs

Project Director:         Josefina Santamaria
Funding Agency:        Integrated Research Center

This study sought to address the need to assess the readiness of students to make career decisions, in view of trends toward career education and career guidance and counseling. It also addresses the need for baseline data of students’ career attitudes and competencies in decision-making to equip guidance counselors with a basis for developing and implementing career guidance and counseling programs. Such baseline data would identify the areas that such programs should focus on, so that limited resources in a school can be utilized more effectively. To achieve this, an instrument to assess this readiness has been developed and standardized.

Key words: career education, career guidance and counseling, career attitudes and competencies, Metro Manila students

Project Director:                      Exaltacion C. Ramos
Funding Agency:                    International Development Research Centre

The main objective of the project was to do an inventory of the basic urban services available to the low income areas of three Philippine cities; to identify and define the nature, scope, and magnitude of the basic urban services available to the low income areas that are amenable to a cooperative system of management, with emphasis on people sustaining services/projects; to describe the administrative structures and function as well as the personnel of the cooperative urban management system; and to develop a model that will engage community residents of selected blighted areas and strengthen their participation in the management of basic urban services.

The project was part of a five-nation study sponsored by the IDRC. The other countries involved were Indonesia, Korea, and Malaysia, and included Hong Kong.

Key words: Basic urban services, cooperative management system, low income areas, administrative structures and function

Project Director:   Ma. Lourdes Bautista
Funding Agency:  University Research Council

The project aimed to gather data on interpersonal interaction among and between Filipinos, Muslim Filipinos, and Chinese in two maximally contrasting situations:  Commercial encounters, which are relatively purposeful, structured, and also potentially conflict-producing, and fortuitous encounters, which, being accidental meetings between friends or strangers, are relatively purposeless, unstructured, and also potentially more solidarity-producing. The specific end result of the study is an article discussing substantive and methodological findings on situational ethnicity, with the project directors (Dr. David Wu and Dr. Geoffrey White of the East-West Center) editing the resulting monograph.

Key words: Muslim Filipinos, Chinese, situational ethnicity, commercial encounters, fortuitous encounters

Principal Investigator:             Jennifer Lauby and Rolando Galano
Funding Agency:                    University Research Council

The project sought to determine the focus or perspectives of different universities in Metro Manila in their teaching of and research in the social sciences.  The project output is “state of the art” papers for each discipline covered.  The papers describe current trends in the disciplines and attempt to suggest areas in which more work is needed. The disciplines studied are Economics, Psychology, and Sociology-Anthropology. The project specifically aims to investigate Metro Manila undergraduate and graduate programs in the social sciences in terms of their orientations to the theoretical and policy application aspects of their disciplines.

Key words: social science teaching and research, Metro Manila undergraduate and graduate programs, theoretical and policy application