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Philippine Government Policies on the 8MDGs
Introduction
A pledge the Philippines made along with 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have come a long way in achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. The MDGs have been adopted not just as top priority goals but as commitments to ensure a brighter prospect for all Filipinos, especially the poor. We have witnessed since the establishment of the MDG in 2000 the national and local governments, academe, private sector and the international development community is committed in working together towards the attainment of MDGs. The Philippine Government affirms its commitment to policy and institutional changes aimed at pro-poor sustained economic growth.
MDGs have been integrated into the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP), thus allowing government strategies, policies, and action plans to simultaneously address MDG targets. Second, the government has closely monitored its own rate of progress with MDG indicators, and has used this information to fine-tune planning and implementation processes, particularly at the local level.
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
The biodiversity of the Philippines is highly eminent as it consists of 7,107 islands. Yet there are wide disparities in income and quality of life across regions and sectors. Poverty in the Philippines is a rural phenomenon. 75% of all poor families in the Philippines live in rural areas mainly dependent on ENR for their subsistence. Extreme poverty refers to the proportion of population or families living below the subsistence or food threshold. Environmental degradation in the Philippines has been contributing to a vast damaging result unmindful to its poor dependants. “the degraded state of the country’s environment and natural resources is felt most intensely by the poor, especially the rural communities given that they depend on these resources for their primary source of living. On the other hand, poverty frequently aggravates environmental stress as the marginalized population presses upon limited resources, such as unregulated activities and upland cultivation. ” - PDP 2010-2016 assessment of the State of the Environment and Natural Resources
Philippine Poverty Environment Initiative (PPEI)
The Philippines PEI (PPEI) Project is UNDP – supported projects which support the Philippine Government, civil society and the business sector to utilize revenues and benefits from sustainable environment and natural resources (ENR) management for poverty reduction. The project focuses on three areas: 1. identifying opportunities and mechanisms for improved environment and natural resource revenues and benefits for poverty reduction and environmental sustainability; 2. enhancing LGU capacities to improve benefit sharing from sustainable natural resource and environment management for poverty reduction; and 3. establish enabling conditions at national level to promote the identified opportunities for sustainable natural resource and environment management for poverty reduction The Poverty-Environment Initiative is a global UN-led Programme working in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Europe that supports country efforts to achieve a greener and more inclusive development path. In Asia and the Pacific programs are under way in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Lao PDR and the Philippines. The implementing partners of the project here in the Philippines who has signed a Memorandum of Agreement last October 2011 during Biyaheng Pinoy, the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Local Government Code are the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC). The agreement made DILG as the lead agency for implementation and shall have the power to review the allocation of revenues from natural resources and link poverty-environment opportunities. It should have key planning and budgeting guidelines of local government units consist of LGU’s application for best practices. The Department of Finance shall have the power to review the flow of the revenues, from its collection to distribution from natural resources. They can also recommend ways to increase the share of LGU revenues from the environment and natural resources. The Department of Budget and Management shall have the power to review the public environmental expenditure at the national and local levels. It will determine the link between PEE to the environmental and poverty outcomes. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shall have the power to develop a national road map and introduce the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) for mining and energy industries in the country. NAPC shall have the power for the identification of congressional champions to sponsor budget allocations for environmental programs and projects for poverty alleviation. The Department of Agriculture, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, National Economic and Development Authority together with other NGAs, CSOs, Private Sectors/Businesses, Academe and community stakeholders also take part for the implementation and a recipient of the PPEI Project. The PPEI project seek to address this continuing key challenge which is to reverse the persistent poverty situation by turning the country’s environment and natural resources into capital for poverty reduction and sustainable management of environment and natural resources by formulating positive linkages between environment and poverty. The project which will support poverty reduction efforts through the use of revenues and benefits derived from sustainable management of ENR, will also integrate pro poor and environmental concerns into the development planning. It also aims to identify the level of expenditure on environment at the national and local levels, and lobby for national budget allocations for programs and projects on sustainable environment, including opportunities for a green economy. The Project time-frame
The PPEI Phase 1 (2011-2012): Establishing the Baseline and Initializing Reforms The PPEI Phase 2 (2013-2015): Scaling-up and institutionalizing the Gains
MTPDP 2004-2010: Empowering the Poor and the Vulnerable
Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI)
During 2001-2004, the government implemented major policy and institutional reforms and key programs aimed at protecting and empowering the poor and the vulnerable groups. Its banner program for poverty reduction consisted of a comprehensive and integrated convergence approach, called the KapitBisig Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI). This pro poor strategy sought to: (a) improve access to and quality of human development and social services; (b) ensure fuller and meaningful participation of the basic sectors in governance and decision making in all levels of government; (c) accelerate urban asset, agrarian land and ancestral domain reforms, (d) provide greater social security and protection of the poor and identified vulnerable groups from violence; and (e) enhance employment, livelihood and entrepreneurial opportunities for the poor. Significant achievements were made particularly in the area of ‘convergent’ and integrated delivery of social services. This can be attributed to the sustained commitment of LGUs, cooperation and assistance of national government agencies, infusion of external assistance and more meaningful partnership with local civil society organizations, the private sector, and the beneficiaries. Problems that hindered full and effective implementation of this strategy were budgetary constraints and delays in fund releases, and the low appreciation and commitment of some LGUs in investing on social protection interventions (e.g. health insurance for the indigents). In this regard, the government faces the following challenges: (a) full localization of the Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (CIDSS) approach; (b) fund sufficiency for KALAHI programs; (c) strengthening of livelihood and entrepreneurship interventions; (d) affordability and accessibility of social security/health insurance; (e) adequacy and responsiveness of social safety net measures; (f) full advocacy and enforcement of laws and policies; and (g) data adequacy and timeliness, including sex-disaggregated data, where appropriate. On governance and decision making, efforts have been exerted to institutionalize the meaningful participation of civil society in governance. Examples of this are the participation of the 14 identified Basic Sector Groups in the national and regional structures of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC). These groups have also been active partners in programs of national agencies such as the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW), Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), National Youth Commission (NYC), Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC), and the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP). Civil society groups have also participated in local development and other decision-making processes at the barangay and municipal levels. However, some of the mandated mechanisms for civil society participation at the local level are still to be fully implemented. Hence, the challenge to both government and civil society is to ensure that the full and quality participation of the latter is achieved, sustained and guided by transparency, accountability and openness. Capaci...