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ICSI Posts

Tapping our experience in bottom-up development

Development organizations and practitioners have long acknowledged the benefits of inclusive and participatory processes in the planning and execution of development projects. including those funded by the government. The Philippines has a well-established and long-running program under the DSWD that embodies the principles of bottom-up development through an approach called…

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A white sand beach in Manila Bay?

Who asked for a white sand beach in Manila Bay? Definitely not the 15,000 or so families languishing in poverty, hunger, and joblessness in Baseco, the biggest coastal informal settlement in Manila. Of course, the truckloads of crushed dolomite boulders that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) allowed…

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Call and reminder to DAR and landowners

I recently came across a news article about the country’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) which read, “CARP did more harm than good to farm sector, says economist.” The program, the article said, caused the fragmentation of agricultural lands and the eventual disempowerment of farmers who could not sustain the…

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A Political Economic Analysis of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines

The enormity of the crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic invites reflection on the critical role of government in steering the behaviors and interests of people in a direction that would be conducive to meeting the challenges of the situation. The Philippine government has been roundly criticized for its…

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Kaliwa Dam: Greatest Good for the Greatest Number?

Despite opposition from indigenous communities, environmental groups, and cause-oriented organizations as well as “red flags” raised by the Commission on Audit referring to violations of bidding rules, President Duterte is determined to have the controversial Kaliwa Dam constructed soonest to prevent another water crisis in Metro Manila and surrounding areas.…

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