Field Study Trip to the Philippines
2011
A group of twelve students, four professors and an official staff member from the International
Graduate School of Social Sciences of the Yokohama National University of Japan went on a field-study
visit to the Philippines from January 21st to 29th, 2011.

PurposeThe purpose of the field-study trip, which was entitled "IB Law Field Study Trip 2011: In Quest
for a Sustainable, Prosperous and Peaceful World", was to achieve the following goals:
1. To gain knowledge and first-hand experience regarding issues involving development throughinterviews and seminars;
2. To collect materials and develop personal contacts that would contribute to the students’ theses;
3. To promote exchange between YNU students and students in the Philippines.

1

I.

Table of Contents

I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................... 2
List of Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................... 3
Commentaries by Faculty Members .................................................................................................. 4
Detailed Itinerary ............................................................................................................................. 10
List of Participants ........................................................................................................................... 12Group Reports by Participating Students ......................................................................................... 13
i. Seminar at University of Santo Tomas ...................................................................................... 13
ii. Salt Payatas Foundation Philippines .......................................................................................... 21
iii. UST and Intramuros .................................................................................................................. 28
iv. Overnight trip to Subic Bay ....................................................................................................... 30
v. Asian Development Bank (ADB).............................................................................................. 36
vi. National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) .............................................................. 42
vii. United Nations Development Program (UNDP) ...................................................................... 50
viii. JICA Philippines ....................................................................................................................... 57
ix. Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) .................................................................................... 66
x.
Department of Health (DOH) .................................................................................................. 72
xi. The Supreme Court of the Philippines .................................................................................... 78
xii. Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) ................................................................................ 82
xiii. Development Action for Women Network (DAWN) ............................................................. 88VII. Individual Reports by Participating Students .................................................................................. 94
VIII. Agencies and Organisations Visited .............................................................................................. 113

2

II. List of Abbreviations
ADB

Asian Development BankDAWN

Development Action for Women Network

DFA

Department of Foreign Affairs

DOH

Department of Health

DTI

Department of Trade and Industry

FSI

Foreign Service Institute, DFA

JICA

Japan International Cooperation Agency

MDGs

Millennium Development Goals

NEDA

National Economic and Development Authority

OFWs

Overseas Filipino Workers

PhilRice

Philippine Rice Research Institute

UNDP

United Nations Development Program

UST

University of Santo TomasSCThe Supreme Court of the Philippines

YNU

Yokohama National University

3III. Commentaries by Faculty Members
Professor Tatsuhiko Ikeda
This year’s field trip to the Philippines was indeed memorable, coinciding with the celebrations
for the UST’s 400th anniversary. All of our members really enjoyed themselves and shared a joyful timewith the UST students and faculty. We will never forget the valuable time of our visit and activities with
the UST colleagues, and should keep a record of this year for the 500th anniversary in 2111.
While I participated in the latter part of the study tour rather than the entire trip, I saw that thestudents’ sense of initiative held fast both prior to and throughout our visit in the Philippines. I am proudof all of the YNU study team members for their excellent performance and the enthusiastic way inwhich they went about their activities. The team consisted of twelve students with four nationalities,
four faculty members and one university administrator. The multinational composition of the team gave
it a very unique and friendly atmosphere, one that reflected the international qualities of Yokohama
National University. I understand that all of the participants contributed to the successful outcome of themission.
Thanks to the kind collaboration of the UST faculty and students, officials of the variousorganisations in the government and international institutions, NGO staff and our YNU alumni in thePhilippines, we had many valuable experiences that will help with our further studies at YNU and also
for the rest of our lives. I am sure that the participants will treasure experiences such as these.
I would like to express our special gratitude to the consistent support extended by Dr. Lilian
Sison, Dean of Graduate School of
UST. I also thank Dr. Carol
Castano, Dr. Tommy Tiu, thefaculties and students of UST, Mr.
Tsukasa Maekawa of ADB and all
the officials concerned who wevisited. We will come back to thePhilippines next year with newstudents.

4

Professor Ichiro Araki
After so many years of the YNU-UST joint project, this trip was
the first occasion I have been present from the beginning to the end. My
previous trips to the Philippines had to be terminated due to my otherengagements. Having participated in the full itinerary, and having witnessed
the shocks, surprises, fun and the “A Ha!” moments on the part of thestudents, I must say this was a refreshingly enjoyable trip.
Normally, projects conducted on a yearly basis with similar
academic content will inevitably suffer from falling into a rut after a few
years. Luckily for us, our YNU-UST project appears to have been sparedthis fate, thanks largely to the efforts of Associate Professor Kabashima, Ms. Suto and the academic
staff on the UST side.
In particular, the 400th anniversary celebration of UST was very impressive. The 400-year
history of UST provides us with rich food for thought. It was a pity that we did not have enough time tosee all their exhibits. I hope at least some of the students noticed a panel on the period 1942-1945, when
the Japanese military rulers were using the UST campus as an internment camp for civilian prisoners.
I really enjoyed the opera performance. It is a luxury that the 400-year history can only provide.
It would be unimaginable for YNU to stage a similar event (the best we can come up with to match it
will probably be a performance by Kara Juro, but that would be no comparison). Personally, I learnt a
lot about Cavalleria Rusticana. I think I now understand the reason why the director of the movie
Godfather chose the famous intermezzo as his theme music. One of the students was saying that theopera performance shows the extent of the “Westernisation” of the Philippines. It may well be the case,but I think good music always has a universal appeal. Think about the New York Philharmonic
performing in Pyongyang!
Finally, as Special Assistant to the President of YNU for International Affairs, I am in aposition to promote these types of short-term student visits. Recently, we have started similar programs
5with our partner universities in China and Korea, but our YNU-UST project stands out in its uniqueness.
Despite the financial difficulties of the university as a whole, I hope I can persuade the President and theuniversity management about the importance of this project so that the university can continue to fund it.
Associate Professor Hiromi Kabashima
I recognise that our field trip programme is one of thespecial features of the Department of International Business andLaw, and the programme in the Philippines especially has madean impact on the participants whose specialty is developing
studies. The participants of the 2011 programme were also able
to have wonderful experiences and be shocked at the current
affairs that the Philippines face. I myself was also shocked at thebus bombing in Makati on 25th January; the day was the birthdayof the late President Corazon Aquino, and the attack was reported as a rebellion against the son of thedeparted President Corazon, President Benigno Aquino III.
The trip offered special and rare opportunities for students to synthesise material learnt in oncampus courses and to apply ideas and knowledge in their own research. Almost all the participants
were eager to listen to government officials and experts in each field, and asked a lot of questions, forwhich I am very proud. I hope that the participants will put these experiences to good use in theirresearch and their future careers.
I would like to thank Dr. Carol Castano, Dr. Tommy Tiu and Dr. Raffael Valdez of University ofSanto Tomas, Mr. Tsukasa Maekawa of Asian Development Bank, Ms. Kasumi Suto of the IBLAW
International Liaison Office of YNU.

Lecturer Naoko Ueda
The whole process of this Study Tour was a good
opportunity for me to get to know the students, teachers and6faculty staff with whom I have rarely had a chance to talk. Meeting the alumni in Manila, andparticipating in the special 400th anniversary events of University of Santo Tomas were wonderful
opportunities to realise the eminence of the IBLAW-YNU as well.
It seemed that the system in which every student takes charge and plays a role in each visits
worked well. All the appointments were met, and nobody got lost or involved in any trouble. I am surethat the students learnt a lot from these experiences.
It was also good that almost all the students tried to express something significant in eachpresentation. However, I should say that not only questions but also comments and opinions weredesired in discussions. The presentations were not for a class in the University, and the presenters shouldhave expected the feedback and discussion, criticism or suggestion, as the audiences consisted of
students of the Graduate School who are studying social matters. Please be prepared to express yourown opinions when you participate in discussions.
Moreover, those who have benefitted from an education in Japan should try to make an effort tobe punctual. Getting into the habit of being at the designated place at least five minutes beforehand will
make you appear trustworthy, though this is something that I should confess I am still striving to achieve
myself.
Though I have worked in developing countries as a JICA staff member for a long time, visiting
the Philippines with students gave me a special experience of discovery. Observing how the students
were surprised to see everything new drew me back to my first days abroad, and my youthful passion to
devote my career to aid work. The contrast between the luxury restaurants and air-conditioned, tidy
offices of public organisations, and the dumpsite, slum-like environment just a few minutes’ drive away
left a great impression on us. The huge difference of quality of life in a small area of Manila wasastonishing. We also saw serious joblessness and poverty, and a number of measures to tackle this social
unfairness as well.
I fervently hope that some of the students will decide to devote their careers to contributing tobridging the huge social gaps that we’ve witnessed during this Tour, not necessarily just in thePhilippines, but anywhere in the world.

7

Ms.

Yuki

Yoshizawa(University

Administrator)
I would like to express my gratitude forthis special opportunity of joining in the study
tour to the Philippines. I was quite impressedwith the outstanding academic performance of
the YNU students, and also clearly witnessed thefruits of the “internationalisation” that is one of the basic policies of YNU.
We

visitedvariousinternationalorganisations,departments

andnon-governmentalorganisations (NGOs) in the Philippines, and attended the joint sessions with the officials concerned.
Donating their busy time for the joint sessions with the YNU delegation, all of the presenters shared
their experiences and told us unique, valuable stories. I also met a few of the YNU alumni who aretaking part in both the domestic development and international affairs of the Philippines. Following theircommitment to the ongoing development projects, as mentioned above, I realised that YNU’sinternationalisation and its strategies have been greatly contributing to this productive outcome.
Let me share one more impressive story here. The YNU students spent a lot of time on
preparing for this fieldtrip, and in the Philippines they endeavoured to present their opinions, comments
and questions to the officials concerned. Their ardent attitude just filled me with pride at the academic
excellence of our students.
I often hear that the number of university students who want to go abroad is decreasing thesedays. However, regardless of our short stay in the Philippines this study tour enhanced the participants’
will to obtain invaluable experiences. I hope that the YNU students will continue to seek a more global
perspective, that they gained useful information and experience for their career, and that this study trip
to the Philippines was a part of the process of internationalisation.
Last of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Professor Ikeda, Professor Araki,
Associate Professor Kabashima, Lecturer Ueda, the students of YNU, and the public relations staff who
kindly sent me on this study tour. “Thank you very much”.
8

9

IV. Detailed Itinerary
TIME
0800
0930
1330
1500
0900

0900-0910
0910-0920
0920-1020
1020-1030
1030-1100
1100-1120
1120-1130
1800
0600
0645
0700
1100
1100
2100
0530
0600
0900
1200
1300
1430
1630
1930

ACTIVITY
January 21 (Friday)
Assembled at K counter of Terminal 2 of the Narita
AirportDeparted from Narita
Arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA),
ManilaChecked in at Hotel in Manila (The Charter House)
January 22 (Saturday)
Seminar at University of Santo Tomas (UST)The Philippines’ National Anthem

Welcome Remarks by Dean Sison
Introduction of YNU participantsFirst Session:
Break
Second Session
Final Session
Closing Address by Prof. Araki
1130-1600 Payatas dump site
1130Sightseeing(by a van)Stayed at the Charter House
January 23 (Sunday)
Hotel Complimentary Breakfast
Hotel check-out
Departed for an overnight trip with UST students
Subic Bay
Hotel check-in
Stayed at a Hotel
January 24 (Monday)
Hotel check-out
Departed for Science City of Muñoz for Phil Rice
Briefing and facility tour at PhilRice
End of Session, Lunch Break
Travelled to Pampanga
Briefing and facility tour for ongoing yen loan assistance:
Pinatubo Hazard Urgent Mitigation Project
End of Session, Travel back to Manila
Re-checked in at the Charter House, Makati
10

REMARKSvia JAL 741
By taxi

At The Graduate School
Thomas Aquinas
Research Complex Rm.
404.
University of Santo
Tomas (UST), Espana
St., Manila

Split up into 2 groups

Activities:
1 Retirement Village
2 Zoobic Safari

2000
TIME
0800
0900
1200
1330
1400
1600
1620
1900
2130
0900
1000
1130
1400
1700
2100
0815
1000
1200

2100

Stayed at the Charter Hotel
ACTIVITY
January 25 (Tuesday)
Departed for ADB
Seminar at ADB
Lunch at ADB with ADB staff members
Left ADB for NEDA
Seminar at NEDA
End of session at NEDA
Left NEDA for the Hotel
Dinner together with all members
Stayed at the Charter House
January 26 (Wednesday)
Departed to UNDP
Seminar at UNDP country office
Departed for JICA office and Lunch on the way
Seminar at JICA
Opera at UST
Stay at the Charter House
January 27 (Thursday)
Departure to the DFA
Seminar at the DFA
End of session at DFA, depart for DOH and the SC
1330 Seminar at DOH
1400 Seminar at theSC
1700 End of Session,
1530 End of Session,back to Hotelback to Hotel
Stayed at the Charter House
January 28 (Friday)
0815
Departure to 0900
Departure to
the DTI
DAWN
0900Seminar at
1000Visit to
1030
DTI
1300
DAWN

1300
1900
2300
1100
1130
14:50
(Manila Time)
20:00(Tokyo Time)Free Activity
Dinner together with all members
Stayed at the Charter House
January 29 (Saturday)
Hotel check-out
Departed for Airport
Departed from NAIA, Manila
Arrived at Narita Airport

11

REMARKS
By Taxi
On Foot
By NEDA Van

By Taxi
On Foot

By Taxi
By Taxi
Split up into 2 Groups
By Train

By Taxi
Split up into 2 groups
and had lunch in eachgroup

via JAL 742

V.

List of ParticipantsStudents
Mr

BEKTEMIROV

Timur

Kyrgyz

LPP, M1

Ms

BOGDANOVA

Anna

UkrainianIR, M1Ms

HIRABAYASHI

Yuka

JapaneseIR, M2

Ms

HIRATSUKA

SayakaJapaneseIR, M1Ms

HOSONO

Yuri

Japanese

Ph. D. Candidate

Mr

ISHIMOTO

AkihiroJapaneseIR, M1Mr

KOBAYASHI

YusukeJapaneseIR, M1Mr

SATO

KazuhoJapaneseIR, M1

Ms

SEKI

MomoyoJapaneseIR, M1MrSHUKUROV

Alisher

Kyrgyz

LPP, M1Mr

Tun Tun Aung

Myanmar

LPP, M1

Ms

Ray Wa Thar

Myanmar

LPP, M1

Faculty Members
Assoc. Prof.

KABASHIMA

HiromiJapanese

Prof.

IKEDA

Tatsuhiko

Japanese

Prof.

ARAKI

IchiroJapanese

Lect.

UEDA

Naoko

Japanese

Ms

YOSHIZAWA

Yuki

Japanese12VI. Group Reports by Participating Studentsi.

Seminar at University of Santo Tomas
January 22, Saturday at 1000 - 1130

(1)

The Philippines: Post Global Financial Crisis
By Professor Tiu(2)

Is Globalization at Risk?
Professor Ichiro Araki(3)

Neo-Liberalism – the multi-dimensional blitz
By Professor Jaime M. Jimenez

13The Philippines: Post Global Financial Crisis
The first presentation on the Philippines: Post Global
Financial Crisis was made by Professor Tiu of UST. Professor
Tiu touched upon the economic situation of the Philippines
after the 2008 financial crisis. According to his explanation, thePhilippines did not suffer much during the crisis compared toother economies in the region. The economy of the Philippines
has grown robustly after the financial crisis, and the year 2011 is expected to be a bright year for the
economy.
The professor further discussed the economy byshowing some economic indicators. First, he pointed out thatthe quarterly GDP growth rate was maintained at 4.5 % at
the last quarter of 2008, the peak of the crisis. From the firstquarter of 2009 the economy started showing signs of theeffect of a decreasing growth rate of 0.4%. However, looking
at GDP and GNP figures, the economy of the country did not
really go down, but actually grew in 2010. These data provedthat there is a positive outlook for the Philippines’ economy in the year 2011.
Although there were some sectors that experienced difficulties during the crisis, indicators
revealed that the economy rebounded after the crisis. One of the worst hit sectors was the exports sector
due to the decrease in demand from US and European markets. As a result, many workers were forcedout of work. However, it was not as severe as the Chinese export industries where thousands of workers
lost their jobs. In terms of imports, negative signs were visible
in 2009. In addition, capital formation experienced a slowdown
starting from the fourth the quarter of 2008 until the end of
2009, but investment once again increased in 2010. A look at
the yield for all maturities in 2010 showed that the yield went
up at the start of the year, but decreased at the end. The
principle reason for this was that the Central Bank of thePhilippines eased financial regulations and interest rates to help
14

banks and the public sector. The balance of payments in the Philippines has improved in the last 10
years, and the year 2010 was the highest. Therefore, it can be concluded that the economy of the country
is recovering very quickly.
Besides the challenges, there are some sectors experiencing
improvement. One of the sectors undergoing positive growth isforeign investment inflow. The Philippines has made progresses inattracting FDI in recent years. But compared to other countries in theregions, such as China, there is still a long way to go. Breaking down
the FDI, Japan accounts for 58%, the U.S for 10% and China for
2.0%. Again breaking down the FDI, industries sectors composed
77.8% of the total investment. The Philippines is a home to many
Japanese automobile companies such as Toyota, Nissan, Honda and so forth. All these illustrate thebright sides of the economy.
In conclusion, Professor Tiu repeated that the economy of the Philippines indicated many
positive signs after the crisis. The stock market of the Philippines went up dramatically and became oneof the best performing stock markets in the region last year. The GDP growth rate is expected to bearound 5% to 6% this year. Though not double-digit, such growth is a positive indicator for the economy.
Moreover, the Central Bank succeeded in controlling the inflation rate. The rate was around 3.8% in
2010, and is forecasted to be between 3% and 5% in the year 2011. The Peso-US exchange rate is also
estimated to be between 41 and 43. This is because the amount of remittances from OFWs increased andreached 15 billion last year. Therefore, Professor
Tiu concluded that the Philippines is now
undergoing a positive improvement, and predictedthat the year 2011 will be a bright year for the
economy as well.

15

Is Globalization at Risk?
Professor Araki gave a presentation on Globalization at
Risk, a book written by Gar Clyde Hufbauger and Kati Suominen,
and published in 2010. Before the presentation, he briefly
discussed the Japanese economic situation during and in theaftermath of the crisis. He explained that unlike the Philippines,
the economy of Japan was severely hit by the crisis, but not as
badly as the US or EU economies. The 2008 crisis impacted Japanese export sectors as well as thegrowth of the economy. It is commonly known that Japanese economy has been facing long-term
stagnation for almost two decades starting from the bursting of the bubble economy in the early 1990s.
Moreover, Japan has been suffering from deflation for more than 20 years. In addition, the Japanese
government is facing a budget deficit. Of course, the problem is not as bad as it currently is in Greece or
Ireland, where the problems are very serious, though it ismuch more severe than in Italy. However, one positive
fact is that the majority of government bonds are owned
by Japanese nationals. Overall, although the Japanese
economy has survived the financial crisis, the nation’s
prospects cannot be regarded as being as bright as thoseof the Philippines.
Professor Araki then started his presentation on
the book. According to the professor, although the authors tried to take a neutral stand, they both held
pro-globalisation views.
First, Professor Araki summarised the ‘cautiously optimistic opinion’ of the authors. He quoted
two important points made by the authors as follow:-

Globalisation is at risk from economic and political pressures intensified by the crisis; aprolonged downturn would be particularly hazardous. But we believe that even in a bleak
scenario, the system has built-in forces willing and able to fight tooth and nail to safeguard
openness. Economic integration is a fabulous force – if not unstoppable, at least one of the best
agents the world has known for spreading growth and prosperity.

16-

Yes, capitalism will evolve, but we will remain closer to Francis Fukuyama’s End of History
than to a new economic model. Market capitalism has delivered so much over the past half
century that it would be both difficult and unwise to turn the page. If the Great Depression could
not destroy capitalism, neither can the financial collapse of 2008.”
The professor then discussed the challenges that the book pointed out. The most notablechallenge is the U.S. fiscal impasse. The US is undergoing very serious fiscal problems, and there arealso challenges in identifying new sources of demand. Although hitherto demand usually came fromwithin the US, domestic consumer demand nowadays is decreasing due to economic stagnation. The
possible sources of demand the world has hopes for are the Chinese and Indian markets. But thequestion is “are these economies ready?”
The professor further discussed the bright aspects
and opportunities the authors pointed out. Firstly, one
positive scenario pointed out was the fact that the Foreign
Exchange Reserves have not been totally destroyed. The
reserves played a very important role in maintaining the
trading activities of governments. In addition, acceptanceof pro-globalisation policies around the world is anotherbright aspect of world trade. Today’s pro-globalisation policies are accepted not only by developed
countries but also by G20 countries including emerging economies. Lastly, a positive scenario could beseen in corporate governance. Thanks to the financial crisis, corporate governance was, ironically,
improved. Though there are still some major outstanding issues, the improvement of corporate
governance is good news for the world economy, and it can be said that there are also positive signs intoday’s globalisation landscape.
Next, the professor touched upon another major point in the book, namely that the authors use
the term Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) as something positive. The term PTA was created by
Prof. Bhagwati who was in fact a critic of such agreements. Professor Bhagwati believed that PTAs areagainst the non-discrimination policy of the WTO. It could be considered that the authors seem to accept
the “building block” theory (of Baldwin) rather than the “stumbling block theory” (of Bhagwati), as
indicated by their blessing of “economic integration”. The authors did not raise any serious concerns
about the ongoing Doha Round. The authors argued that while an early conclusion to the Doha Round17

is desirable, even if the negotiations drag on it does notmean the end of the WTO. The authors further assert thateven if a big package deal based on a single undertaking isdifficult, there are other ways of achieving plurilateralconsensus, as in the case of the Information Technology
Agreement (ITA).
After his summary, Professor Araki presented his
assessment of the book. He wished to concur with
Hufbauer’s and Swominen’s cautious optimism because other scenarios were ‘too scary’.
However, the authors pointed out that all the positive views presented were mainly dependent on
the health of the WTO. Though it is very unlikely to collapse, if the WTO collapses everything else will
too, and the preferential policies of the 1930s will come back. Besides, he pointed out, one question that
did not arise was whether or not the US would continue to be a member or serious supporter of the WTO.
It is unlikely that the organisation will disappear in the foreseeable future, but if the United States
withdraws, it will become a largely irrelevant organ. This seems very unlikely, but the United States has
a track record of getting out of systems it has created such as the League of Nations, ICJ jurisdiction,
UNESCO and so on. The professor concluded by expressing his hope that the WTO continues and tradeliberalisation moves forward, without going back to the nightmare days of protectionism.
In the question and answer section, he responded to many questions raised by the UST
participants. Regarding the question of Japanese currency policy, he explained that Japan does not play aleading role in world currency policy area. Domestically, Japan is pursuing a non-interference policy
regarding currency exchange rates. Last year the Japanese government tried to intervene in the currency
market and was severely criticized. Japan is also expected to denounce the intervention policy of China
at the coming G 7 meeting, and it is therefore virtually impossible for Japan to intervene in domestic
currency policy. Regarding the question of the prospects for ASEAN+3, the professor emphasised theneed to deepen the current integration. However, the current administration of Japan is more interested
in the TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership, comprising Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, US,
Australia and so forth. East Asian integration is currently a low priority in political debate in Japan.
With regard to Japanese automobile industries, the professor explained that Japan’s auto industries are
suffering from brand image problems. Unlike other world biggest automobile companies, Japanese18

companies are unable to conduct strong branding. Regarding economic stagnation, the professor
explained that the Japanese government has an 80 trillion yen deficit. The majority of government bonds
is held by Japanese nationals, especially by older people who do not spend much, and Japan is now
facing an inter-generational disparity.
Neo-Liberalism
In the last part of the seminar, Professor Jaime M.
Jimenez made a presentation on neo-liberalism. The professor
explained that neo-liberal ideas impinge upon politics,
economics, culture, environment and security matters. He told
the audience that the presentation would consist of political
economy and socio-cultural landscapes.
Professor Jimenez started his presentation by discussing some of the basic characteristics of neoliberalism. The idea of neo-liberalism goes against central planning, and promotes freedom in the market.
In addition, neo-liberal practices bring autonomy to different sectors in society. Moreover, a lean state
has been a project ever since neo-liberalism was started. The idea is that the state shall not intervene in
the private affairs of society, and the market will look after society by itself. However, today’s social
economic situation shows us that the market cannot be left alone without intervention from thegovernment. The ADB’s assessment confirmed that the financial crisis in 2008 pointed to the failure ofmarket transparency. Although governments were always pushed for transparency, the time has comefor the market to be pressured for transparency. In addition, the neo-liberal idea is based on
individualism. In a market perspective, individuals are the directors and managers of their own lives, towhich close attention should be paid. Therefore, it is important that civil societies in which many
individuals involved are self-organising.
After a discussion of the characteristics, theprofessor moved on to talk about the FTAs. The
establishment of FTAs is the primary manifestation of the
neo-liberalism idea. He pointed out many free trade areas
in Africa, Latin America, and Asia as a manifestation of
the spread of neo-liberalism. However, the question
frequently asked is whether what has been happening is
19

globalisation or regionalism.
In conclusion, the professor expressed his
opinion that moral values in society are rather
weakened with the spread of neo-liberalism. This ismainly due to the fact that everything is determined by
the market, and the market is constantly changing. He
suggested the further promotion of people-to-peopleinteraction. As IT is advancing at a very fast pacetoday, people spend less time in social interaction, and he therefore recommended that people who makedifferent choices should come together to achieve an ‘ethical neo-liberalism’.
After the informative presentation by the professor, students from the Philippines side andstudents from the YNU were given opportunity to raise questions. A student from the Philippines asked
a question on the Philippine financial situation during the 2008 crisis, and grassroots level economic
conditions. Responding to the question, the professor supported the government claim that the economyof the Philippines was not affected by the crisis as severely as many other Asian economies. In his
opinion, one main reason was that the banking activities in the Philippines as well as in other parts ofAsia are in the developing stage. In fact, he further asserted, the banks in the Philippines were very
healthy compared to other banks in Asia. On the topic of the grassroots level economy, the professor
emphasised the importance of remittances fromworkers abroad. Although there are social causes,
the money these workers bring in have a direct
impact on the livelihood of the Filipinos at
grassroots level. A YNU student then asked theprofessor for his view on the China- ASEAN Free
Trade Area, CAFTA. The professor responded thatCAFTA will benefit the region like any other FTA
in the world. However, it is important to establish asafety net for the vulnerable sectors in the ASEAN due to intensive competition.

Students in charge
20Group Leader - Akihiro Ishimoto
Note takers- Yuri Hosono & Tun Tun Aung

Photographer -ii.

All participants

SALT Payatas Foundation Philippines
January 22, Saturday at 1330-1600

Presentations(1)

Brief orientation on Payatas Dumpsite and SALT
By Mr. Hiroyuki Inoue, a SALT volunteer staff21

In the afternoon of January 22, a group of seven students and two professors visited Payatas
dumpsite. The tour was organised in cooperation with Salt Payatas Foundation Philippines Inc. (SALT),the Japanese NGO.
SALT is a private, non-governmental, not-for-profit, non-stock organisation established in 1995.
The name “SALT” was taken from a white crystal substance that gives a good taste and keeps our food
fresh. In the same way, SALT Foundation aims to function like salt by giving quality service to the poor.
SALT envisions itself empowering young children and their parents to live with a concern for
their fellow men and a willingness to work for the progress of our society. It also envisions alleviating
poverty to raise the living conditions of the poor and make them realize their goals in life.
22Orientation
Mr. Hiroyuki Inoue, a SALT volunteer,
guided our tour. On the way to Payatas, Mr. Inoue
explained briefly about Payatas and SALT. The
place-name “Payatas” means “the promised place”
in Tagalog.
Payatas dumpsite is a huge open pit dumping
site located in the northeast part of Manila, where a large number of trucks dump the garbage of Quezon
City every day. It has also been called “Smoky Valley” because of the cloud of smoke coming from thespontaneous combustion of garbage. The actual name of the area is Lupang Pangako, Payatas B, Quezon
City in Metro Manila. People called “scavengers” live just beside the dumpsite. They collect plastics,
metals, bottles etc. from the garbage, in terribly hot and malodorous conditions, in order to sell them tothe nearby junk shops.
Approximately 110,000 people live in the district, of whom about 40,000 live in Payatas B,
where SALT conducts supporting programs. Many of the residents came to the area to search for jobs.
The number of labourers who make their livelihood byscavenging has declined, and jobs in Payatas are limited todrivers of Jeepneys (the small shared-bus in the Philippines)
and bikes, and construction workers, so there are only a few
regular employment opportunities.
The SALT project began in 1995 and started with thepromotion of education for children. The purpose of theorganisation is to help less privileged individuals and families
tobecomeself-reliant

throughaparticipatory

andhumanitarian approach. Furthermore, the organisation assists
privileged people to understand the reality of poverty, itsbackground and roots by enabling them to participate insupport programs and mutual exchange activities.
23

SALT’s activities are three-pronged: (1) Support for education, (2) a Livelihood program for
women, and (3) Study tours. Under its education support program, SALT now offers scholarships for
88 students. These scholars are chosen by the interviews in which they are asked about their living
conditions, how they grew up in a poor family and their motivations to study. SALT is also conducting
supplementary classes, which are held at SALT’s WAKABA CHILDREN’S EMPOWERMENTCENTER every Saturday.

A visit to a memorial for the victims of an accident
The accident in which garbage collapsed in themorning of 10th of July 2000 is remembered as one of
the most devastating incidents at the Payatas dumpsite.
500 households were buried under the trash, and morethan 300 people were killed or went missing in thedisaster. Three students who were recipients ofscholarships from SALT at that time also died.
Persistent rain is thought to have caused the accident.
Families of the identified victims were paid 3,000 pesos by the municipal government, but there was nocompensation for the other unidentified victims. The names of the identified victims are listed on thememorial. We offered flowers and prayed silently, and heard the experiences of the disaster from awoman, who now works for SALT as a staff member.

A view of the dumpsite from a distance
Payatas Operation Group (POG), which was commissioned by the municipal government,
controls the dumpsite. Taking photos of the trash pile is prohibited because the government does notwant to attract attention to the site. After the accident, the way the garbage is disposed of was changed toa method that covers the garbage with soil to prevent a collapse. However, Payatas was made famous by
the coverage of the accident and it triggered discrimination against people from Payatas. SALT is
working on operations to eliminate this discrimination.

24

A recycle store (Junk Shop)
We visited a small junk shop that sells garbage from scavengers. Their income comes fromselling garbage to these kinds of shops, which have about five to ten customers each day. They trade, forexample, iron scraps for about ten pesos per kilogram. The priceof garbage changes and varies widely, and the price before 2000
was higher than in present times. The average income of thosescavengers is about 100 to 150 pesos a day, which is only aquarter of the average income in Manila.
The visit to home of SALT scholars
We visited the homes of SALT’s scholars and heard thebackground of their migration to Payatas, and the current state of their lives.
(a)Ms. Gloria and her families

This lady lives with four children, one of whom attends school with ascholarship from SALT. She has been living in Payatas for 22 years. They
are supported by the municipal government, but the aid is for a limited time
only and the amount of money (about 800 pesos a year) may not be
considered as enough to sustain five lives.
(b)

Ms. Abarientos and her families

Ms. Abarientos is 57 years old and used to be a25

scavenger. Now she does housework and cares for her
grandchildren. She said that Payatas is an easy place toearn money because of its closeness to the dumpsite. Her
husband is a furniture worker and he earns 500 pesos a day,but they still live in poverty. She wants her youngest
daughter Elza, who goes to high school with a SALT
scholarship, to go to university. Elza’s dream is to be a
newscaster.

Livelihood Program for WomenThis program is aimed at mothers who used to be scavengers. SALT provides livelihood support
for them so that they can find other income sources to replace scavenging and ensure stability andimprove

theirlives.

It

aims

at

capacity

development through productive activities andgroup management to attain stable incomes fromstable jobs.
There are three main types of work
performed by the women: cross-stitch products,
merchandise

management,

andmiscellaneousduties such as cleaning. They rotate jobs every
three months. They manage inventories and do thepacking by themselves, and foster their independence through a weekly staff meeting.
Cross-stitching is a time-consuming job (it takes three months to make a cross-stitch design), but
it is adopted in the project because of its safety and high added value.

Observations
There are some problems such as poor support from the government and a lack of job
opportunities in the area. The people of Payatas and SALT are trying to solve these problems by
empowering the communities. For example, the activities of the SALT livelihood program carried out
26

by local staff members are making strong efforts to use women-owned businesses. These efforts incommunity work show the importance of a consolidated support system to promote horizontallycohesive work with the cooperation of the NGO and local members.

Students in ChargeGroup leader - Sayaka Hiratsuka
Note takers- Anna Bogdanova and Momoyo Seki

Photographer - Yusuke Kobayashi

27

iii.

UST and Intramuros

After the seminar at UST, the members of
Payatas group left UST but the rest of the groupstayed to explore the campus. Since UST wascelebrating its 400th anniversary, we were able toobserve many of the attractions inside the campus.
We spent a couple of hours at UST, then went backto the hotel.
When we went back to the hotel, we met
two local friends, Jay Alcantara and Christine Violago. Jay works for DFA, while Christine is a graduate
student at the University of the Philippines studying Development Economics. We were invited to take alift in their cars, and departed to one of the historicalsites of Manila, Intramuros.
Intramuros was the walled city built during the
Spanish colonisation era in the 16th century. It wasconstructed almost completely of stone blocks. Since
its construction in 1606, Intramuros served as thecentre of political, military, and religious power for
the Spaniards. Inside Intramuros, there was a section
called Fort Santiago, where we found the house of Dr.
Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. Inside
the house the whole of history of Rizal is shown,including vast amounts of his belongings anddocuments that have been kept in memory of hisachievements. The rest of Fort Santiago was covered
with green grass, which made a marked contrast to
the original construction materials of the area.
After we spent a while at Fort Santiago, wewent across the road to observe one of the oldest
buildings in Manila, Palacio Del Gobernador.

28

Palacio Del Governador was first constructed in 1599.
After its destruction by an earthquake in 1645, the governor moved
to a house on this site, and the building became the GovernorGeneral’s residence and office as well as the Real Audiencia(Supreme Court). The building was destroyed a number of times,
after the 1771 and 1863 earthquakes respectively. It wasabandoned when the Governor-General moved to Malacanang. The
current 8-storey building was built on the site in 1978.
Unfortunately, the weather was not perfect, and it started to drizzle in the late afternoon. After
we explored the environs of Palacio Del
Governador, we went back to the car for dinner.
The restaurant was located in the Intramuros
area. The entrance to the restaurant was in the
middle of a residential area, and to get there wepassed through a tunnel underneath the houses.
We would like to express our sincere
appreciation

to

Jay

and

Christineforentertaining us with a gorgeous dinner ofFilipino-Spanish cuisine. All of us exchanged
and shared experiences and stories as we sat around the dinner table.
The final place we visited was a local shop that sells only Philippine-manufactured products. A
number of students bought “Barong Tagalog”, which is the formal dress of the Philippines, for half priceat the shop. Without Jay’s hospitality and negotiations with the shop, we would not have been favoredwith such a great discount. We must also thank the shop owners for their hospitality and for extending
their opening hours for us.
This is how we all spent such a long afternoon after the seminar at UST. It would not have beenpossible to have had such a wonderful experience exploring Manila and its historical sites if we had not
met Jay and Christine. We would like to once again thank Jay and Christine for their hospitality, andespecially Jay for joining our seminar at DFA, and coming to spend a few nights with us.

29

iv.

Overnight trip to Subic Bay

In the morning of 23rd of January, we departed for our overnight trip to Subic Bay. Subic Bay islocated approximately 100km north-west of Manila. Subic Bay was occupied by the US Navy until 1991,
but has now become one of the best-known beach resort areas in the Philippines. Subic Bay is also
known as a free port, where a tax- and duty-free zone was developed after the place was returned to thePhilippines. The area is covered with beautiful land and seascapes, which were a great contrast to theviews of Manila.
We left Manila around 7am, and it was nearly
11am when we arrived at the hotel at Subic Bay. We had
expected to take around one and half hours, but since theinfrastructure system of the Philippines is so different
from that of Japan, it took far longer than what we thought.
On the way to Subic Bay, we drove through a number ofvillages, each of which was surrounded with flat paddy
fields. The view was in great contrast to Japanese ricecultivation districts, and indeed wherever we turned we saw things that were fresh to a Japaneseobserver.
We were all astonished by the lifestyle of rural settlers in the Philippines. After we arrived in
Manila, we took a taxi to one of the most developed areas of Makati. We all received a warm welcome
from our friends at the University of Santo Tomas, everyone looking forward to the excitement of theupcoming events. But what we saw during the bus trip to Subic Bay was quite different from what we
anticipated. We saw a man, who was riding a bicyclewith bananas on a stand attached to it. When we lookedon the other side of the road, women were busy hanging
out laundry while small children played on the edge ofthe street. We assumed that the road we had passed was
the main road of the village, however, there were nopedestrian paths designated. Instead, the distance
between the places where people were living and thebus we were on was only few metres apart. The bus and30

vehicles needed to slow down due to both heavy traffic
within the village area and the vigorous activities of thevillage people.
When we arrived at the hotel at Subic Bay, we did
not rest for long because our first activity was waiting at
the hotel. The first activity was coordinated with thePhilippines Retirement Authority (PRA). One of the staff
from the authority kindly donated his time to give us alecture on the concept of retirement housing plans in the Philippines.
Carlo Ponti T. Zialcita from the PRA welcomed us and gave us a brief orientation on the PRA.
The PRA is a government owned and controlled authority created by virtue of Executive Order No.1037,
which was signed by the President Ferdinand E. Marcos, on 4th of July 1985. In May 2009 the Republic
Act 9593 (R.A. 9593), also known as the National Tourism Policy Act of 2009, was signed by President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the authority was incorporated under a division of the Department ofTourism. The PRA Satellite Offices are currently in Baguio, Clark/Subic, Cebu and Davao.
The vision of the PRA is to make the Philippines a
globally competitive and preferred retirement destination in Asia.
Its mission is to provide excellent world-class services centred ona customer-valued quality of life that is easy, pleasant andbeneficial to foreign retirees and global Filipinos. It is seen as achannel for accelerating the socio-economic development of thecountry.
The core product of the PRA is the Special Resident Retiree’s Visa (SRRV) Program. Those
who obtain a SRRV will benefit from the following three factors: 1) option to reside permanently; 2)multiple entry privileges and 3) exemptions from several factors including exit and re-entry permits
from the Bureau of Immigration, and customs duties and taxes with regard to the importation ofhousehold goods and personal effects up to US$7,000.
A principal retiree applicant must be a foreign national or a former Filipino citizen who is overthirty-five years old, has no criminal record, and meets the medical standards and the investment
requirement. The required deposits is US$20,000 for those aged fifty years old and above, US$50,000
for those between 35 and 49 years of age, US$1,500 for former Filipino Citizens, and ambassadors of31

foreign countries who served and retiredin the Philippines, and US$1,500 for
current and former staff members ofinternational organisations such as ADB.
Under the SRRV, the following
investment

areas

are

available:

1)purchase, acquisition and ownership of acondominium unit; 2) long-term lease of
house

and

lot,

condominiumor

townhouse and 3) purchase, acquisitionand ownership of golf or country clubshares.
The enrolees for the SRRV increased from 1985 to 2010. From 1985-1990, there were 1,106
enrolees and from 2006-2010, the enrolees soared to 11,066. In total, there are 23,062 enrolees as ofNovember 12, 2010.

The ratio of nationalities of the

SRRV from 1985 to 2010 are as follows: 28% are from thePeople’s Republic of China (P.R.O.C), 22% from Korea,
15% from Taiwan and 9% from Japan.
After the briefing at the hotel, we were taken tovisit two of the retirement villages in the area. One of them,names “Tropical Paradise Village” was owned and settled
by Japanese people. It was fortunate for us that we wereable to visit the village. The owner and workers of thevillage warmly welcomed us, and gave us time to talk andexplore the village. The second village was located about
five minutes away from the first village. Once again, we
received a warm welcome. According to the guide, thisvillage and the villages in the area used to be a residentialsite for the US navy. Currently, the site is occupied by
Korean residents, but this village offers different
conditions from the previous one. In fact, each village offers different groups of people and conditions,32

and the potential future residents have an opportunity tochoose from among the different variations of the retirement
village in the area. We dreamt of staying there for a vacation.
After the visit to the retirement villages, we headed
to our next destination, Zoobic Safari. Zoobic Safari is the
only zoo in the Philippines where you can find the White
Tiger. We spent a full afternoon till sunset at the Zoobic,
where we walked miles to find different species of theanimals of the Philippines. One of the surprise attractions at the zoo was (because the time of our visit
was late afternoon, and sunset was approaching) to beable to see the traditional dances of the indigenous
Filipino people. There were three actors, two of themwere dancers and one was a drummer who kept therhythm. They performed three dances and then gave us
a surprise during the final act. They tricked us intolooking up, and then suddenly frightened us with ahuge voice. All of us were so frightened, particularly
Kabashima-sensei who screamed aloud because of thissudden trick. It did not take us long to realise that we had all been fooled by the dancers.
The time at the zoo passed so quickly that when we departed we were able to enjoy a nightview of the Philippines on the way back to the hotel.
Once we arrived at the hotel, we had a quick dinnerthen went out to breathe in some fresh air after the longhours spent inside the bus. However, we did not have alate night as we had such a long day on the first part ofthe overnight trip. By bedtime we were all ready for theupcoming events of the PhilRice and JICA project site
visit on the next day.

33

We had an early morning start to the second day of our overnight trip. Our first destination of
the day was PhilRice, which was located about two and half hours from our hotel. When we arrived at
PhilRice, we were briefed about the roles and visions of PhilRice.
PhilRice was established in 1985 with the aim of research and development of rice as adominant crop, and to provide support
for the diffusion of technologies. The
PhilRice Centre was also establishedwith the support from the Japanese
Government, and most of the facilities
were provided in the form of grant aid.
Since its establishment, the Japanese
Government has been providing grantassistance and technical collaboration,
particularlyforresearchdevelopment.

PhilRice

has

and
been

attaining notable results in fields suchas crop breeding, direct seeding, and the mechanisation of agricultural equipment.
Following the presentation, we were guided around the facility. Despite the limited time we had,
we saw the new products developed at PhilRice, tried rice
wine, observed female workers differentiating rice grains, andwere given another explanation about their research into
“Vitamin A” rice.

34

Our next destination was to visit one of the yenloan projects of JICA, the “Pinatubo Hazard Urgent
Mitigation Project Phase III”. This project was first begun
in 1995 after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991. The
eruption of Pinatubo did not only cause problems in thevicinity the mountain, but also brought devastating
damage to an extensive area. One of the tasks for JICA’s
cooperative activities was to improve the river structure
and reconstruct the damaged rivers. It has been nearly 20
years since the eruption, however, the remaining tephra isstill accumulated in the area, and an urgent solution wasneeded to improve the situation.
After we observed one of the rivers that had beenreconstructed as a part of previous JICA projects, we
moved on to one of the historical buildings graphicallyshowing the impact of the eruption. The church appeared
to be quite normal at a first glance. But when we were told thatwhat we were looking at was the second floor of the church
because the first flow had been totally submerged in ash, it reallybrought home the impact of volcanic eruptions.
Unfortunately, the time passed so quickly that it was
nearly sunset. However, we had obtained valuable experiencesfrom this overnight trip. We explored not only rural areas of thePhilippines, but also saw the endeavour of the residents who
strive to make the country better. The researchers at the PhilRice,the retirement village, and JICA project sites, were all
enthusiastic about

directing and consolidating society into asingle stream.
We would like to thank all the people who kindly helped to make our trip to Subic Bay such a
wonderful one, in particular, the students from UST who joined our trip and shared the experience with
us.
35

v.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)
January 25, Tuesday at 0900-1200

Presentations(1)

Asia’s Challenges and ADB
By Mr. Tsukasa Maekawa, Principal Media Relations Specialist(2)Paris and Accra Implementation
By Ms. Manju Senapaty, Lead Planning & Policy Specialist(3)

Improving ADB’s Effectiveness
By Ms. Josefina Balane, Results Management Specialist(4)

ADB’s Assistance for Gender and Development
By Ms. Patricia Imrana Jalal, Senior Social Development Specialist36

(1) Asia’s Challenges and ADB
The seminar started with an ADB corporate
video, which presented the main points of ADB’s
activities in Asia. Following the video, Mr. Maekawa
explained the three main ongoing trends in Asia and thedevelopment challenges caused by these trends.
1) High economic growth has caused a dramatic
decrease in poverty over the past few decades. There arestill many Middle Income Countries (MIC) in Asia, where over 60 to 70 % of the very poor in the world
are living (there are 900 million very poor people in Asia: in China, India, and Bangladesh). To develop
MIC is one of the challenges.
2) Economic integration in Asia (free-trade zones of ASEAN group by 2015). This is different
from the planned integration in Europe (EU). By now there are about fifty bilateral Free Trade
Agreements (FTAs) in Asia and additional ones are planned. ADB is advocating the efforts toinstitutionalize and integrate all those agreements.
3) Slower exports to the West. The recent world economic crisis changed the entire export
environment. Previously Asian countries totally depended on export but now they are trying to boost
domestic demand. The main development challenges for Asia are: 1) Maintaining growth momentum; 2)
Reducing poverty; and 3) Protecting the environment.
After that, Mr. Maekawa presented themission of ADB, which is to help developing
countries in the Asia-Pacific region to reducepoverty and improve quality of life throughconcessional financing. He also introduced ADB’s
three focal points (their vision under Strategy2020), which are: 1) inclusive economic growth;2) environmentally sustainable growth, and 3)
regional integration.
Lastly, Mr. Maekawa kindly explained to37

us what kinds of skills are required for those whowant to work in international organisations like ADB.
These are: 1) specialties (specialising in somespecific area); 2) English skills; 3) high education; 4)international experience; 5) ability to produce results
and 6) inter-cultural communication skills.

Paris and Accra Implementation
Under this title, Ms. Manju Senapaty presented a history of Aid Effectiveness Principles and
ADB’s Commitments. She explained that there are two ways to deliver development: convergence andcohesion & value for money. ADB tries to ensure that it does not help the countries to achieve
development through convergence, which relies on resources as well as incurring high transactionalcosts for the countries.
ADB endorsed the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in 2005 and its follow-up agreement,
the Accra Agenda for Action, in 2008, alongside other members of the international development
community. These commit ADB to ensure that it provides assistance in a clearly defined, transparent,
harmonised, and mutually accountable way.
Ms. Manju focused her lecture on five major principles of aid effectiveness: 1) ownership(partners); 2) alignment (between partners and donors); 3) harmonisation (between donors); 4)
managing for results (managing resources and improving decision-making for result) and 5) mutual
accountability (donors and partners are accountablefor development results).
Lastly, we came to realise that with regard to
the implication of ADB policies and operations, there
are seven indicators: 1) encourage developing
member countries’ leadership and strengthening theircapacity; 2) plan technical assistance as a part ofcountry programming; 3) use country systems orwork with the country; 4) use programme based38

approaches; 5) reduce reliance on parallel project implementation units; 6) develop transparent
conditionality aligned with national development plans and 7) increase predictability - timing of
disbursement.

Improving ADB’s EffectivenessThis lecture began with an explanation of“Managing for development results” (MfDR),
which has been used as an indicator for measuring
ADB’s performance in a more systematic manner.
MfDR is an approach focusing on development
outcomes throughout the management cycle, and it
enables informed decision-making by integrating
results

acrossthefollowing

four

mutually-

reinforcing core management functions: 1) defining outcomes and outputs with measurable indicatorsand time-bound targets; 2) allocating resources to agreed activities; 3) implementing agreed activities
and monitoring progress against targets and 4) evaluating performance against targets.
In order to fulfil its mission, ADB has adopted a three-year action plan for MfDR. Firstly, ADB
is mainstreaming MfDR within the institution itself. Secondly, ADB is also helping to improve public
sector management in developing member countries by helping their capacity for management results.
And thirdly, ADB is sustaining its partnership for knowledge sharing on MfDR.
ADB’s management monitors the implementation and effectiveness of Strategy 2020 using its
result framework. There are four levels in the ADB result framework. Level one can measuredevelopment progress in Asia and Pacific in terms of reducing poverty, promoting human development
and growth. Level two can measure its own contribution to development programmes in the region bymeasuring the output of its own operation in its core areas. In the third level, it is necessary to measure
the quality, finance, knowledge etc. of its organisation to manage those operations effectively. Underlevel four, people, budget and processes are measured to ensure the organisation is managed effectively.

39

ADB’s Assistance for Gender and Development
Under this title Ms. Patricia Imrana presented theimportance of gender equality and how ADB has been
helping to decrease gender inequality. In ADB’s
Strategy 2020 “Gender Equity” is one of the five driversof change. In the Asia and Pacific region there is
persistent gender inequality and ADB’s overarching goalof poverty reduction through inclusive growth cannot be
achieved without addressing gender disparities and investing in women.
There are five key points to how ADB works towards reducing gender inequality: 1. Policy on
Gender and Development (GAD): ADB adopted policies on GAD in 1998 that replaced WID (Womenin Development). GAD plan of Action aims to: 1) increase the level of gender mainstreaming; 2)achieve a better geographical and sectoral balance; 3) increase staff gender skills and 4) continue to
produce relevant knowledge products. At least 40% of all sovereign investment projects will havenotable gender mainstreaming elements by 2012. 2. Operations: ADB prepares Country Gender
Assessments and gender mainstreaming in its Country Partnership Strategies. It also designs genderelements in projects, both loans and grants, and provides capacity building support to borrowing
countries through policy advice. 3. Partnerships: One particular project: Vietnam’s HCMC MRT –Urban Metro Rail – By improving urban rail the project provides a quality service with personal spaceand safety features for women and it increases access to social services and employment. It also
mitigates potential negative impacts such as human trafficking, HIV, and destroyed livelihoods. 4.
Knowledge: ADB’s GAD website has a lot of
information including country gender assessments, sector
gender checklists, and thematic publications. Countryspecific reports are also published. 5. Institutional
mechanisms: There are three gender specialists in RSGS
and one GAD National Officer, and four genderspecialists in the Regional Departments. There are five
GAD national officers in resident missions, but the region
that covers China and Mongolia has no gender specialist.

40

Following the presentations, questions by YNU students and professors were answered by thepresenters. The following are a selection from the questions and answer sessions.
Q:

Why doesn’t the department of China and Mongolia have gender specialists?

A:

Seventeen years ago there was only one gender specialist in the whole bank. Compared with this,the number of specialists has increased and the situation has improved. Plus there are not somany projects in that region.

Q:

Have ADB’s indicators been applied to Japan? (Japan also has gender problems.)

A:

ADB is helping only developing countries so it has not.

Q:

What about MDGs and the gender situation in the Philippines?

A:

There is inequality between men and women in employment.

Q:

How is the gender equality situation inside ADB?

A:

The target is a 31% female staff, but now only about 12% are women. One of the reasons may bethat ADB is located in a developing country.

Students in ChargeGroup leader - Anna Bogdanova
Note takers- Kazuho Sato and Ray Wa Thar

Photographer - Alisher Shukurov

41

vi.

National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)
January 25, Tuesday at 1400-1600

Presentation(1)

NEDA Story (Video)(2)

Vision towards Achievement of Philippine Strategy for Sustainable Development
and Socioeconomic Poverty Reduction
By Ms. Mariten Oliva, OIC-AD42

In the afternoon of the 25th of January, we visited NEDA to discover the Philippines’ vision
towards sustainable development. Headed by Deputy Director-General Roland G. Tungpalan and
Director Ms. Victoria V. Quimbo, a total of eleven staff members from of NEDA kindly donated theirtime for our visit. Below is the summary of the seminar at NEDA, based on the discussion we had after
the presentation.
The seminar started with opening remarks
made

by

DeputyDirector-General

RolandG.

Tungpalan. DDG Tungpalan started his presentation byrecalling the previous year’s YNU visit that heremembered as having taken place on 27th of January
2010, when the topic of the briefing was about the
response of the Philippines government to the global
financial crisis. After his brief talk on the previous
year’s presentation, DDG Tungpalan started to describe
the Philippines’s economic situation in detail bymentioning changes in GDP over recent years.
According to his presentation, the Philippines is
expecting to achieve 7% GDP growth in the year 2010. He then explained the Philippines’ new strategicplan that has currently been undergoing finalisation.
What he emphasised during his opening remark was the importance of sharing ideas withpeople from different backgrounds. Our group consisted of twelve students, with four nationalities,
which DDG Tungpalan believed excellent in terms of providing an international framework. The
Government of the Philippines is conducting a program called Japan Development Scholars, JDS, inwhich they send roughly 25 students to study in Japan. Unfortunately NEDA has been unable todispatch their staff due to a number of problems, but on the other hand DDG Tungpalan praised the
YNU program as being advantageous by enabling students to visit different countries. He then kindly
gave us some tips, wished us well during our stay in Manila, and encouraged us to enrich developmentby investigating the challenges faced by the Philippines and how the nation is responding to tackling thedevelopment challenges.

43

Following the opening remarks, all the participants introduced themselves. We had alreadyencountered a similar situation at PhilRice during the overnight trip, and ADB in the morning, so wewere now comfortable with the atmosphere of the seminar. There were two staff from NEDA who had
visited Japan in the past to pursue higher education. They briefly told us about their wonderfulexperiences in Japan. After the introduction of all the participants, they showed a short film called the“NEDA Story”. The video went for about fifteen minutes, and that condensed fifteen minutes video
presentation about NEDA helped us understand its mission as the country’s agency responsible fordevelopment.

NEDA considers progress comes in different forms to different people. It is the national
government that is responsible for the overall planning of the development, with careful and effectiveplanning in order to bring sustainable progress. The task of NEDA is to synchronise all the plans into
cohesive action by consolidating different parts of society, through consistency, and to guarantee
achievements. Headed by the President as the chair, NEDA formulates a “Medium-Term Philippine
Development Plan (MTPDP), which covers the period corresponding to the given administration. Due to
its mandate, NEDA consults with other government agencies, lawmakers, NGOs and NPOs, educators,
businessmen, local executives, and civil society, to come up with a national plan. The MTPDP, alongwith its various complementary documents, was crafted to provide clear directions for the different
sectors in the fight against poverty. The existence of NEDA as a development institution is founded onunity, solidarity, integrity, professionalism and the excellence of its staff. The NEDA continues to play a
key role in the overall management of the economy, through its planning, policy formulation, andmonitoring functions, and contributes to attaining the goals of each administration.
44

Following the video presentation, Ms. Marites Olivia, OIC Assistance Director of National
Planning and Policy Staff, gave us a presentation on “Vision Towards Achievement of Philippines
Strategy for Sustainable Development, and on Socio-economic Poverty Reduction” based on the
MTPDP 2011-2016.
The presentation by Ms. Marites Olivia started with another video clip, which depicted theimportance of MTPDP for the Philippines’ economic development progress. MTPDP serves as the coreelement to achieve specific goals. The drafting of MTPDP 2011-2016 started in October 2010. As thecentral agency for economic development, NEDA has conducted many meetings, and organised
numbers of working committees to formulate the plans, which take into account the major concerns of
the population.
The Philippines, as a member of “ASEAN 5”, faces a number of outstanding issues within theregion. Ms. Olivia admitted that the higher incidence of poverty is certainly an issue for the Philippines
as its level of poverty is highest amongst the ASEAN
5 nations. The Philippines also suffers from a highunemployment rate. These factors lead NEDA and thePhilippines to formulate better plans, which, as aconsequence, will bring better-sustained growth.
NEDA also tries to bring benefits to almost all the
population of the Philippines by inviting more foreign
investment. Compared to neighbouring countries, thePhilippines, unfortunately, is not attracting muchforeign investment. There are a few factors that makethe Philippines less attractive. The first factor is corruption. The current President of the Philippines,
Noynoy Aquino III, is determined to implement a new strategy to combat corruption. The second factor
is insufficiency in the bureaucracy. NEDA has been told by foreign investors that the problem of thePhilippines’ bureaucracy is the time it takes to pass legislation and approve business registration.
Thirdly, the insufficiency of the infrastructure system is thought by NEDA to be the biggest constraint
on attracting foreign investment.

45

Ms. Olivia then passed over to DDG
Tungpalan to supplement the ideas about Philippines’
development strategy by answering the questions
from YNU. Here is a selection of questions asked by
YNU.

Q: How would you solve the Philippines’ higher
population in poverty with its higher Gini Coefficientamongst its neighbouring countries?
A: One of the problems for the Philippines is its high inequality rate. DDG Tungpalan mentioned theexample of the Southern island of Mindanao, where the most of the growth in the island comes fromlow-valued agricultural production. In order to promote sustainable growth, it requires investment ineducation to increase productivity as well as move towards a higher supply-chain. However, it takes along time to raise the standard of education and increase the pay of workers. DDG Tungpala told us his
experience of a session in Mindanao, and advocated a strategy to increase the value of products.

Q. What are the exact steps to take in order to reduce the problems of corruption?
A. Mr. Byron Joseph A. Magday responded to this question. The Government of the Philippines has a setof programs such as streamlining of bureaucracy, and measures such as integrated development
measure to reduce the incidence of corruption. He
admitted Philippines’ high incident of corruption
however, and also referred to other countries
including Japan regarding corruption. In order toreduce the amount of corruption in the Philippines,
Mr.

Dagadaymentioned

thegovernment’s

encouragement of more transparency. The use of
the media is one way to disclose corruption, andlet the population knows about it. Furthermore,
Ms. Olivia added that the current administration’s
46Department of Budget is working to manage transactions. All the government agencies publicise
information on the web about transactions.

Q. You mentioned the unattractiveness of the Philippines, but how about attractive areas that thePhilippines is proud of?
A. One of the comparative advantages thePhilippines has is the existence of Subic Port,
which functions as a tax-free zone. Many of theforeign firms build plants in the area to gain theadvantage of tax exemption. Relating to this,another advantage of the Philippines is its
trainable labour force and relatively cheaper costs.
Furthermore, the size of the population can beseen as attractive as well.

Q. Is there any particular educational project or process to minimise the equality gap?
A. Unfortunately there is not any particular education project to minimise the equality gap, however, thepolicy to democratise education is a policy implemented throughout the country. According to the
explanation, one notable example of this policy is
the free education until secondary level. By
mentioning the second goal of MDGs, universal
education, the Philippines is trying not only to raise
the school enrolment rate, but also enhance thequality of educational systems by, for example,
increasing classrooms and improving the educationof the teachers.
Q. How does central government support local
government in terms particularly of financing social
services?
47

A. Since the decentralisation scheme
enactedin

1990/1991,

thecentralgovernment has been trying to empower
the Local Government Units (LGU). The
LGUs are closer to their population,
however, there was a problem overautonomy and responsibility between LGU
andcentralgovernment

regardingrecourse usage. The central government
tried to create more cities in order totransfer autonomy to even smaller units.
The inequality between the cities is explicit, with some cities getting more profit and attaining stable
income while other cities suffer from internal issues. The inequality occurs due to the different situationsof each city. For the very poor cities, the central government provides a subsidy to supplement theirbudget deficit.

Q. What can be the most effective support central
government may implement in terms of keeping
economic peace?
A. Considering low productivity as the central
issue especially in the rural area and riceproducers, the central government is trying toenhance productivity through development ofscience, and research and development. The
agricultural sector is the second largest sector interms of amount of people who work. The amount of agricultural workers is large due to insufficientlevels of productivity that mean more people are needed to work to increase productivity. However,through research and development, the Philippines is trying to increase productivity, reduce the amountof workers in the agricultural sector, distribute the population into different sectors, and also stabilise
food security for its population.
48

During our stay at NEDA, DDG Tungpalan and Ms. Olivia told us about many of the programsand the enthusiasm of NEDA. The stories ranged from education to agriculture, from peace-keeping totax, and from central government to local government units. All of the stories enhanced ourunderstanding of the topics of development. Finally, apart from DDG Tungpalan and Ms. Olivia, there
were altogether eleven staff who kindly joined this session. We would not have been able to spend sucha valuable time without their support. The knowledge and experience we gained at NEDA will surely
have enhanced our understanding of development studies.

Students in ChargeGroup Leader - Akihiro Ishimoto
Note takers- Timur Bektemirov and Yusuke Kobayashi

Photographer - Momoyo Seki

49

vii. United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
January 26, Wednesday at 1000-1130
Presentations(1)

Overview activities of UNDP
By Mrs. Nerea Sanchez, Management Support Officer(2)

Energy and Environment
By Ms. Imee F. Manal, Program Manager

50

Our first destination on the fifth day was theUNDP, located about a mile from our hotel in Makati.
The UNDP was located in a busy business district
where we could see crowds of working people on thestreet, and entering buildings.
Mr. Danton R. Remoto, Communications
Officer, was the person who kindly assisted inorganizing our visit to the UNDP country office in
the Philippines. Mr. Remoto briefly introduced
himself, and asked us to introduce ourselves, and then the seminar commenced.
Mrs. Nerea Canchez, Management Support Officer, started
her presentation on the activities of UNDP in the Philippines. She
began the presentation by explaining the development challenges
faced by the Philippines. According to her explanation, UNDP has
undergone an internal reconstruction process since the newadministration came into office in June 2010. The 2009 Human
Development Report indicated the Philippines as a medium HDI
country along with other Asian nations such as Thailand, China,
and Indonesia. However, the Philippines is facing many challenges
to meet the MDGs, such as high population growth, wide
disparities of inequality, food security, climate change and natural
disaster,

armed

conflicts,

andpublicsectorgovernance.

Furthermore, one of the pessimistic facts about the Philippines is the limited nature of its efforts toachieve MDGs.
She further explained the current UNDP programs in the Philippines. According to her, there are
currently five programs underway in the Philippines. The first program is a poverty reduction program.
The Philippines is one of the nations with the highest inequality, where more than 30% of the population
are living below the poverty line. UNDP is engaging in the program to cope with this serious issue by
regularly monitoring and reporting on the MDGs progress, advocating for additional finance, andencouraging the private sector to participate and invest in the development programs.
51

The second program that UNDP is engaging
in is its HIV and AIDS program. The Philippines
was once regarded as “low and slow” in HIV and
AIDS, however, recently the status has moved to“hidden and growing”. To address the growing
awareness of the issue, UNDP supports the national
and local partners in strengthening their leadershipand institutional capacities. It supports the Regional
AIDS Assistance Teams, as well as local AIDS
Councils for effective responses. In addition, UNDP promotes leadership programs for women and girls
living with HIV, and assists the “risk population” such as homosexuals and transgender populations.
UNDP cooperates with community-based civil society to address the stigma and discrimination faced bythese groups. UNDP is also working with the Department of Social Welfare and Development andestablished a Referral System to assist people living with HIV and their families.
The third program of UNDP in the Philippines is the promotion of democratic governance. In
order to support the new government’s strategy to create transparent and accountable governance,
UNDP assists it through strengthening the human rights infrastructure. UNDP supports the formulationof policy including the National Human Rights Action Plan, and the National Anti-Corruption Plan of
Action. UNDP also works closely with government to improve the laws and make them in-line with the
UN Conventions, and to set up a Report Card system for effective monitoring to ensure human rights.
Moreover, UNDP recently implemented a new program on environmental justice, which links humanrights and the environment. UNDP also conducts
programs for the development of the indigenous
population.
The fourth program is environment andsustainable development, which will be describedin detail later on in this report. The fifth program is
the crisis prevention and recovery program. Twoof the world’s longest running ideology-based
armed conflicts take place in the country. While thefirst conflict is the GRP-Moro conflict, which is causing devastating damage to the nation’s economy,52the second one is the communist insurgent group
who are struggling for ownership and access toancestral domains and resources.
UNDP has been conducting early recovery
programs for those communities where the conflicts
occur. UNDP is also promoting sustainable peace
through peace education and advocacy. The
Philippines’ National Action Plan on Women,
Peace and Security is a program which UNDP
actively supports, and which protects women from sexual abuse and violations in the conflict zones.
Following her presentation on UNDP’s activities in the Philippines, Mrs. Sanchez answered
several questions raised by the students. The firstquestion was regarding the Human Development
Report and its effectiveness. By acknowledging theUN’s system of supporting local government efforts
for development, UNDP assistance in anti-corruption
and human rights is consistent with the national
government’s commitment on these issues. The issueof the high population is one of the hottest debates in
the Philippines, and UNDP will work closely with thePhilippines government to address the issue. With regard to the question of the progress of the peace
program in Mindanao, Mrs. Sanchez confirmed UNDP’s involvement in the process and the new
government’s intention to restart peace negotiations with the Muslim leaders, with assistance from
Malaysia as a third party. Mrs. Sanchez admitted the vulnerability of indigenous populations, and said
the laws to protect them are not effectively enforced. The same can be said for the issue of human rights;
there are good laws but the implementation of those laws is problematic.

53

Energy and Environment
The second presentation was made by Ms. Imee
F. Manal, Program Manager, on the Energy andEnvironment. According to Ms. Manal, the energy andenvironmental sector is the biggest sector in terms offinancial assistance, and UNDP is primarily involvedin capacity building for such stakeholders as
government, civil societies, and local communities.
UNDP believes that the improvement of the capacityof these stakeholders will enhance the effectiveness ofenergy resource utilisation as well as management
ability in environmental matters.
UNDP is involved in four main areas in the Philippines. The first area is Sustainable
Management of Natural Resources. UNDP has been supporting the government not only to build
capacity, but also to create the road map for formulating sustainable development policies and tools.
UNDP has been contributing to the Philippines in terms of legal procedures such as passing legislation.
Furthermore, the activities of UNDP go beyond national borders, and involve the Mekong River
improvement program in the Indochina region and cooperation with the neighbouring countries. UNDP
is now promoting awareness on environment and biodiversity related projects around the area, and also
cooperates with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Protected Area
and Wildlife Bureau to protect forest resources and therich biodiversity of the Philippines.
The second area of UNDP is Sustainable
Energy and Climate Change Mitigation. While closely
working with the government, UNDP is implementing
two projects on renewable energy development, andefficient

lighting.

UNDP

supports

advocacy

campaigns together with the public to encourage thegovernment to enact laws. The identification ofrenewable energy sources by UNDP tries to bring54

investors into the energy arena. In the efficient
lighting program, UNDP tries to ensure schools,
especially engineering universities, adopt guidelines
to develop efficient lighting systems. UNDP works
with the public to promote renewable energy
technology, however, budget limitations place a
constraint on the dissemination of the ideas.
Thirdly, the Climate Change Adaptation andDisaster Risk Reduction is another program UNDP
conducts. UNDP helps DENR and the newly created Climate Change Commission in formulating a
National Framework Strategy on climate change and adaptation measures. The Australian Governmentis assisting in funding the program, which fosters efforts by UNDP and the Philippines to develop
guidelines to reduce disaster risks. Moreover, UNDP forged an agreement with the National Planning
Agency and Housing, and Land Use Regulatory Board to formulate land use laws. UNDP also helps thecentral government in setting up management sector impact models for climate change and adaptation. It
supports them by creating climate change scenarios in 17 provinces, with the aim of encouraging local
and central government to take preventative measures. UNDP provides training for teachers and LGUs
to raise awareness about climate change, while mapping the disaster prone areas in the country for
preparation in case of an incident.
The fourth and last major program of UNDP is Chemical and Residuals Management. There are two
on-going projects mainly focusing on the management of medical waste. In partnership with the DOH,
UNDP demonstrates and promotes best techniques and practices to reduce health care waste, particularly
the reduction of mercury in hospitals around the country.
At the end of the presentation, Ms. Imee answeredquestion from the students. The first question was about therelationship between UNDP and the Philippine Council for
Sustainable Development (PCSD). PCDS was establishedwith assistance from UNDP in response to the Rio
declaration, and UNDP assisted PCSD in formulating
Philippines Agenda 21. Regarding a question on training
55

lawyers and judges in environmental justice, Ms. Imee reaffirmed that the selection of champions andleaders in the area is necessary in order to implement any particular law. UNDP therefore works with thedepartmental and Cabinet heads to foster enforcement. The challenge is the changes of officers when theadministration changes. On the question of the new administration’s approach to the matter, Ms. Imee
pointed out that the new government has been showing its interest in addressing environmental issues,
especially disaster mitigation measures, due to the frequent occurrence of natural disasters in the country.
Ms. Imee admitted UNDP was a small player in the field of waste management, however, it willcontinue to support any partner who is thoroughly involved in this area.
UNDP has a positive outlook and is hoping the new administration will solve the development
challenges of the Philippines. It was mentioned
several times in the presentation that the UNDP
considers that the new administration is putting morecommitment into addressing issues such as poverty,
corruption, the environment and so forth. UNDP also
expressed hopes that the new government will put an
end to the conflicts in the country through peace talks.
In addition, it believes that the new government isserious in promoting environmental sustainability.
The UN system is always constructive in supporting the development of host countries. As the new
government’s development plans are in-line with UN objectives, endeavours to achieve MDG targets
will be more productive.

Students in ChargeGroup Leader - Tun Tun Aung
Note takers- Yuka Hirayabashi and Ray Wa Thar

Photographer - Timur Bekteriov56

viii. JICA Philippines
January 26, Wednesday at 1400-1600

Presentations(1)

JICA’s activities in the Philippines
By Judie Ann Militar, Administration and Coordination Section(2)

NGO - JICA Japan Desk
By Konomi Jikihara, Coordinator of NGO Japan Desk

(3)

JICA/BOC PCIS Projects
By Mr. Toru Yoshida, Chief of Economic Growth Section(4)

JICA’s Assistance to the Education Sector
By Ms. Flerida Chan, Chief of Poverty Reduction Section57

(1) JICA’s activities in the Philippines
In this lecture, Ms. Judie Ann Militar of the Administration and Coordination Section explained
how JICA addresses each goal. JICA’s vision is ‘Inclusive and Dynamic Development’, and now JICA
handles all Japanese ODA packages – technical cooperation, yen loans, and grant aid. Aside from threeschemes, JICA also conducts other activities such as volunteer programs and partnerships with NGOs.
The Overseas Technical Cooperation Agency (OTCA, former JICA) was established in thePhilippines in 1968, and since then JICA has been assisting the Philippine government. Currently Japanis the biggest ODA donor to the Philippines, and in terms of technical cooperation projects (TCP), thePhilippines is the third biggest recipient of Japanese aid (after Indonesia and Thailand). JICA’s toppriorities in the Philippines are ‘Sustainable Economic Growth Aimed at Creating Employment
Opportunities’, ‘Poverty Reduction’ and ‘Peace and Stability in Mindanao’.

(2) NGO - JICA Japan Desk
Ms. Konomi Jikihara, Coordinator of the NGO Japan Desk started the second session with an
overview of the “NGO-JICA Japan Desk”, which was established in the Philippines in 2003. There aretwenty-three NGO Desks all over the world. The main purpose of NGO Desks is to promoteparticipation of ‘Japanese’ groups or individuals in implementing international activities. It supports
NGOs through gathering and disseminating information. JICA also helps to promote capacity building
among NGOs and cooperation between JICA and NGOs. Furthermore, JICA tries to establish NGO
networks amongst Japanese and Philippine NGOs.

58

Technical Cooperation for Grassroots Projects (TCGP) can be categorised into three types.
(1) Support Type: JICA supports the activities of NGOs that possess ample experience in domestic
affairs, but do not possess as much experience in the international arena. (2) Partnership Type: JICA
supports the activities of NGOs that already have some experience in international cooperation.
(3) Regional Proposal Type: JICA supports the activities of local governments in Japan that put into
practice their knowledge and experience in developing countries.

Ms. Jikihara then introduced some specific examples of those activities, such as the “Project for
supporting deaf education by making use of hearing sense in the Philippines” (2007-2010).
Background: The incidence of deafness in the Philippines is ten times more than in Japan because of thecurrent low level of vaccination, lack of social and educational systems, and financial issues amongst
parents. According to the statistics, more than 60% of deaf people are poor, and there are barriers tospecial education.
Purpose of the project:Improve educational skills amongst SPED (special education) teachersImprove educational safety net

Advocate early intervention with use of hearing aids

59

Early detection and intervention are importantfrom the perspective of children’s stimulation and themothers’ love for their children. Improvement ofeducational skills is also important because local
teachers of schools for the deaf have less experienceof early education through they are supposed to be
responsible for the children.
Ms. Jikihara introduced the case of Baby Q (atthree months she was found to be deaf, somethingwhich was officially confirmed 6 months later). She listens to music and dances with a teacher. Whenthe teacher stops the music, then the baby stops dancing as though she actually “hears” the music.

Q: What roles did deaf schools in Hokkaido play in this project?
A: They gave local teachers specialised training about early intervention, such as how to adjust or use
hearing aids.
Q: Do all NGOs belong to NGO networks?
A: Some of them try to put distance between themselves and donors or other networks because theywant to work independently and not be influenced by anyone.
Q: Do deaf children receive any allowances from the government?
A: No. They depend only on private services.
Q: How do mothers of deaf children receive mental care?
A: Sometimes mothers cannot accept the fact that their children aredeaf so social workers or counsellors help them to accept the fact.
Q: Is there any categorical system to define the level of disabilities
for deafness?
A: Yes, there is. There is an international standard for that. It
depends on the loss of the hearing sense. It is the same for Japanand other countries.
60Q: Do deaf children bring an identification booklet for the physically disabled?
A: There is certification. They will be provided a certificate after the confirmatory screening is
conducted.

(3) JICA/BOC PCIS Projects
Mr. Toru Yoshida, Chief of the Economic
Growth Section started the presentation byintroducing the overall picture of the economic
growth section of JICA Philippines. As Ms. Militar
mentioned before, JICA Philippines has threepillars: ‘Sustainable Economic Growth in Creating
Employment Opportunities’, ‘Poverty Reduction’and ‘Peace and Stability in Mindanao’. For the firstpillar, JICA has a number of projects such as ‘The
Support for Fiscal Reform and Good Governance’,‘Improvement of Transportation Network’, ‘Enhancing Power and Energy Sector’, and ‘Tourism’. The
PCIS (Philippine Customs Intelligence System) project, which will be described below, is a subprogram for the support of fiscal reform.
Before mentioning the program, Mr. Yoshida explained about the Philippines’ fiscal volume. It
was 1294 billion pesos (about three trillion yen) in 2010, 60 % of which was collected by the Bureau ofInternal Revenue (BIR) and 21 % by the customs. Though a large part of the revenue is accounted for by
BIR, the Philippines customs still play important roles in collecting taxes.
JICA has been expanding TCP to the Philippine customs. PCIS is a data warehouse, not a
database. All the relevant custom data will be stored in PCIS. It is expected to contribute to aconcentration on efficient and effective custom operations. PCIS is also expected to assist the Post Entry
Audit (an efficient way to do business in customs). In customs practice importers and exporters areclassified by their risk into five types. In classifying those risk ratings, the data is gathered by PCIS andanalysis will be utilised. PCIS will do the statistical analysis and it will also help with the submission of
information from external stakeholders.
61

PCIS has not been implemented yet in the Philippines so the Philippine government requested
Japan to extend its cooperation in introducing PCIS. Its introduction is estimated to cost about $10
million. In order to successfully implement the PCIS project, there is one project out of the three that is
now underway. The name of this project is “Project on PCIS for Enhancement of its System
Environments and Training of Customs Officers” (2007-2011). This project will continue until June
2011, and by this June it is expected that customs internal information intelligence will be free-sharedand utilised amongst the relevant divisions of the BOC (Bureau of Customs). Data-analysis techniques
are also expected to improve, and consensus amongst the divisions in BOC will be reached with respect
to what PCIS envisions. Eventually, PCIS will be introduced by JICA’s grant aid schemes in the future.

(4) JICA’s Assistance to the Education Sector
Ms. Flerida Chan, Chief of the Poverty
Reduction Section made the final presentation on
education sector assistance. Education sector
projects in the Philippines consist of two
schemes: yen loan projects and TCP. However,
JICA Philippines does not now have any ongoingeducation sector projects.
For

Yen

Loan

projects,

JICA

Philippines used to conduct the ‘’Engineeringand Science Education Project” (ESEP, 1993-2000), “Third Elementary Education Project” (TEEP,
1997-2006), and “Secondary Education Development and Improvement Project” (SEDIP, 1999-2009).
The outline of each project:
ESEP: To support technology development for industrialisation in the Philippines by increasing the
supply of well-trained scientific and technical manpower, through the strengthening of engineering andscience education.
TEEP: To contribute to the overall improvement of access and quality of primary education by
improving the effectiveness of schools in the poorest communities in the provinces related to the Social

62

Reform Agenda (SRA) and by improving the institutional capacity of the education administrative
machinery, and assist in decentralisation to manage change.
SEDIP: To improve equitable access and quality of secondary education in poverty-affected areas
through improving the quality and relevance of secondary education in project provinces, increasing theparticipation rates and the completion rates of secondary education in underserved areas within the
project provinces, and supporting the decentralisation process towards the transfer of greater
management responsibilities and decision-making authority to the schools and offices at the provincial
level.
For TCP, JICA Philippines conducted its “Strengthening of Continuing School-Based Training
Program for Elementary and Secondary Science and Mathematics Teachers”. The project’s vision was toimprove the performance of students in science andmathematics by upgrading the teaching skills ofteachers through the promotion of school-based
training (SBTP) of science and mathematics teachers,
to develop innovative visual aids, to produce
teacher-facilitators, and to initiate links with otherteacher education institutions.
Finally Ms. Chan described the contributionof education-related projects to attain MDGs in thePhilippines. Actually, JICA Philippines is lagging behind in achieving MDGs. Participation andenrolment rates indicate a downward trend, and the dropout rate also remains high. On the other hand,the completion rate shows an improving trend. Even though
the Philippine education sector still faces several challenges,
JICA’s assistance to the education-related projects has had
some diverse impacts.
Q: TEEP and SEDIP were implemented in the same poor
areas, will JICA continue to focus on those areas in terms of
the education sector?
A: The Philippines experiences changes of administration

63

and political direction frequently. As a consequence, priorities may change, but the Department of
Education has criteria for proposing areas that JICA can provide.
Q: Are there any problems when working with the new government?
A: Although the bureaucracy in the Philippines is professional, there are some problems. JICA tries to
identify the appropriate contact person in the huge bureaucracy so that we will not be passed around
too much especially during the project formulation stage. JICA is encountering some problems in termsof red tape and lack of capability in operations.
Q: We heard that in the education system in the Philippines, there is a discussion about revising thecurrent compulsory education system. If you have further information about this, we would like to hear.
A: There is an ongoing discussion about increasing the number of school years now from ten to twelve.
We actually asked the same questions when we met with Secretary “Brother” Armin Luistro at the
Department of Education, and he said that they are carefully reviewing whether or not there is a need toincrease the number of school years now for the Philippines. We also asked their target to make thiseffective or to implement it. He told us that the latest target is by the end of the term of President Aquino.
So, right now, I can only tell you that. Personally, I do not think it will be an easy transition from ten to
twelve. We need a careful review by the department before changing anything, though I do not knowwhat the final decision will be. The direction right now is really to take a look at it and make a decisionby the end of the current path, which is six years from now, when the term of the President ends.

Observations
We were surprised that, like PCIS projects,
some of the projects were advanced and not what one
would easily imagine taking place in a poor country.
At the same time, assistance that reaches directly topoverty groups is also needed. As mentioned in theorientation, JICA Philippines has three priorities and I
felt these priorities enable JICA to take balanced
approaches. The Philippines is still a developing
country, but it grows steadily. In the future we hope64the Philippines will graduate from being a recipient country, play a proactive role in the development
context, and cooperate with Japan to help other countries.

Students in ChargeGroup Leader Note takers

Kazuho Sato- Anna Bogdanova and Sayaka Hiratsuka

Photographer - Yusuke Kobayashi

65

ix.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)January 27, Thursday at 1000-1200

Presentations(1)

National Security Challenges for the Philippines
Mr. Julio S. Amador III, Foreign Affairs Research Specialist
Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies(2)

Basic Legal systems for Overseas Filipinos Workers
By Mr. Enrico Fos, Special Assistant,
Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA)

66

On January 27, the DFA welcomed our visit, and titled the session “Yokohama National
University 2011 Philippine Field Study Trip to DFA”. Ambassador Laura Q. Del Rosario, Acting
Director of Foreign Service Institute (FSI), made her opening remarks around 10 a.m. In the meeting
room, besides the ambassador there were two presenters from DFA, all of the YNU students, five
faculty members, and Ms. Negishi, who is a Ph. D. candidate at YNU who was coincidentally visiting
Manila for her research.
The schedule of the meeting was coordinated by
Ms. Joaquin, who is Head of the Center forInternational Relations and Strategic Studies, and was
also the contact person for YNU. Ms. Rosario
mentioned the functions of DFA. One is that DFA
trains officers through their training programs, which
encompass various types of policy management. The
second is to research foreign countries and national
security. She also touched upon the state of OFWs whoare spread all around the world.
After the opening remarks, Mr. Julio S. Amador III, Foreign Affairs Research Specialist of theCenter for International Relations and Strategic Studies in the FSI, started a presentation entitled“National Security Challenges for the Philippines.” The contents of the presentation included the
security environment, and an overview of national security policy and national policies for humansecurity in the Philippines. The security environment has three levels: global, regional and domestic.
Regarding the global environment, the influence ofthe 2008 economic crisis still remains, and thegovernment of the Philippines encourages nations toreinforce the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The recent economic and military upsurge of China
and India one the international stage forced thePhilippines to put an extra focus on more concrete
comprehensive security, and the support of the NPT
is an example of Philippines’ realisation of recent
global circumstances.
67Regarding regional security, the situation in the Korean Peninsula and China-Taiwan relations
are significant for Filipino nationals. There are approximately 81,000 Filipinos living in South Korea
and more than 50 Filipinos in North Korea. The reason why the government of the Philippines puts anemphasis on this region is not only the size of Filipino population in these areas, but also that there is astrong economic connection with South Korea. Similarly, Taiwan has approximately 94,000 Filipinos,
and there are 25,000 in China, both countries being important economic partners for the Philippines. The
government of the Philippines is balancing relations with Taiwan and China – for the former to protect
its large Filipino population, and for the latter to secure economic and military assistance.
National boundary problems are also includedin crucial regional security issues. To ease thesetensions, the Philippines promotes opportunities to holdmeetings concerning national boundaries with ASEAN
and other countries. Within the framework of ASEAN,
the member nations strengthen their capacity andcoordination in responding to various international andregional issues such as climate change, pandemic
disease, terrorism, and transnational crimes including
the illegal drugs trade and human trafficking.
On the domestic security front, the government of the Philippines has been working to stabilise
the disputed areas, and improve and ensure human rights. For instance, in the southern island of
Mindanao, the government has been keeping up negotiations with activist groups of Muslim communists
to prevent them from insurgencies. In terms of human rights protection, the Philippines, as a signatory
country to treaties and declarations regarding human rights, is promoting and strengthening the rights ofwomen and others. To properly implement the policies of the DFA and other organisations, thegovernment of the Philippines is finalising a national security framework. National security strategy
requires a sense of accountability, transparency and equability, because the government should be
accountable for its own business affairs.
Mr. Amador then mentioned the importance of sustainable development in bringing forward thehuman security, education, health and economic sectors. As a way to develop its economic sectors, the68Philippines has been seeking to establish more Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP), to invite foreign
investors and to develop natural resources. Finally, he touched upon the Security Sector Reform (SSR),
which requires that the military of the Philippines must work to protect the democratic institutions of thePhilippines and the human security of Filipinos.
The second presenter, Mr. Enrico Fos, Special
Assistant at the Office of the Undersecretary for
Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA), started his
explanation with the basic legal systems regarding
OFWs. The DFA obeys legal stipulations to protect
Filipino citizens regardless of their presence in the
country or abroad, even on small islands, and thus the
DFA is responsible for securing the rights of OFWs.
OFWs live in North America, the Middle East and Asia,
especially in the newly independent states of Central Asia. The number of OFWs is approximately 8.4 to
8.5 million, and the DFA always considers strategies to assist them. Regardless of their citizenship status,
the DFA is responsible for securing the rights of all Filipino citizens, and protecting them from various
dangers. Since there are only 64 embassies of the Philippines abroad, the DFA deals with programs forgiving OFWs adequate liberty to exercise their rights as Filipinos. One of the programs gives lectures
about the destination nations before departure. Another example is the integration program on sites, andthere are also reintegration programs for returnee citizens. In this way, the DFA encompasses OFWs
programs through the entire migration cycle. The DFA has established a team with other organisations
such as DTI to promote OFWs’ accessibility to support systems. In terms of financial support, thecentral government of the Philippines has a budget
allocation for OFW assistance programs. Both from insideand outside of the Philippines, the DFA and other groups
including international NGOs collaborate with each other tosupport OFWs.
Following the presentations, the meeting featured a
Q&A session. The first question was regarding the JapanPhilippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), andthe possibility of enhancing the situation of Filipino nurses and caregivers in Japan who have come to69

the country under the JPEPA framework. Mr. Fos answered that the JPEPA is still under discussion, so anational consensus has not yet been created. According to his explanation, the discussions about the
JPEPA cover issues such as human security and accessibility and so on. However, since the amendmentof the JPEPA articles is unlikely the welfare of the candidates depends greatly on cooperation withJapanese labour sectors.
The next question was about the impact of China on
the Philippines’ regional security. The response was, asmentioned earlier, that the Philippines supports Taiwan
because of the large number of Filipinos living there, but at thesame time the government is trying to make a more cordial
relationship with China in order to avoid losing Chinese
assistance as a result of any disharmony.
There was also a question about how exactly the DFA implements integration and reintegration
programs for the OFWs. In response, Mr. Fos told us that in the pre-departure orientation seminar,
Filipinos learn cultures, laws and other social rules of each destination country. He added an example ofthe pre-departure orientation concerning the culture and morality of Islamic countries, which is quite
different from those of the Philippines. The DFA continues to contact them on sites and supports theissuance of certification. When OFWs come back to the Philippines, the DFA helps them to re-acquire
citizenship by submitting documents, and promotes reintegration. Mr. Fos admitted that the legal frame
work for OFWs is not perfect. Therefore, he emphasised theneed for collaboration amongst international NGOs andPhilippine society for assistance. The answer to the question
regarding acquisition and the loss of citizenship was that thePhilippines adopts dual nationality, so if OFWs have lost theirnationality once, they can attain citizenship of the Philippines
while keeping other nation’s nationality.
In answer to another question about reintegrationfrom Islamic societies, we were told that there were two aspects. Filipinos are allowed to change theirreligion, and while institutionally, despite the majority of Filipinos being Christian, the country provides
religious space for Muslims in order to avoid tensions.
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Finally, Mr. Fos and Mr. Amador gave someanswers regarding Philippines’ policy for maritime safety,
in particularly countermeasures against piracy. The
Philippines does act against piracy within the internationalframework, and offers bilateral support including politicalsupport to piracy-prone countries like Somalia. In addition,
to protect the large sea area around the Philippines, they
have a navy.
Mr. Amador and Mr. Fos gave us an in-depth explanation about national security and OFWs
issues in their presentation. Thanks to their presentations, we gained a wide range of views about thePhilippines’ policies regarding both internal and external boundaries. YNU students asked manyquestions from different viewpoints in order to understand the situations of the OFWs. The direction of
the discussion tended to concentrate on the topic of OFWs, however, we could have asked more about
national security and human security spheres because there was a terrorist bomb two days before themeeting. The DFA officers mentioned that the fundamental concept of the Filipino military is based onhuman security to realise “Freedom from Fear”. Moreover, they acknowledged the difficulty ofobtaining peace across the whole of the Philippines, and they therefore work hard to realise “Freedom
from Want” with comprehensive approaches.
In order to enrich this YNU and the DFA meeting, Ms. Joaquin and the other DFA staff
contributed their time to interact with the YNU members and give us a valuable experience and lesson.
We offer special thanks to Mr. Von Ryan T. Ferrera, one of the DFA Research Specialists, who kindly
gave a great deal of support to the visit as a graduate of YNU. This DFA visit was the first in the YNU
Philippine field trip program, and enabled YNU members tosee some new facets of the Philippines.

Students in ChargeGroup leader - Yusuke Kobayashi
Note takers

71- Alisher Shukurov and Yuka HirabayashiPhotographer - Kazuho Satox.

Department of Health (DOH)
January 27, Thursday at 1330-1700

Participants: Anna Bogdanova, Sayaka Hiratsuka, Yuri Hosono, Akihiro Ishimoto, Yusuke Kobayashi,
Kazuho Sato, Alisher Shukurov, Professor Ikeda, Associate Professor Kabashima,
Lecturer Ueda.

Presentation(1)

Orientation on the Philippines’ Health Sector Reform Program
Dr. Mar Wynn C. Bello, MD, MPA

72

In the afternoon, our group, led by Ms. Yuri Hosono,
was scheduled to attend the orientation at the DOH. Ms.
Nobuko Yamagishi, JICA Public Health Coordinator, arranged
this meeting and acted as moderator. At the DOH, we were
greeted and welcomed by staff members and Dr. Mar Wynn C.
Bello. Professor Tatsuhiko Ikeda introduced us to them, andthen he and Ms. Hosono gave a brief outline of the study
program and purposes of our visit.
Following the brief introduction, Dr. Bello gave us a lecture on the following topic: “The
Structure of Health Systems and the recent health care reform policies of the Philippines.” The following
is a summary of the presentation given by Dr. Bello.
1. The Philippine political system
The presentation started with an overview of the Filipino political system (national and local
government). On the national level, the government of the Philippines is composed of three independent
branches: legislative, administrative and judicial. On the local level, it is composed of provinces, cities,municipalities and barangays.
2. The Philippine health system(a) Mission, vision, and goals
The vision of the Filipino health system is ‘health for all Filipinos’. The mission is to ensure
accessibility and quality of health care to improve the quality of life of all Filipinos, especially the poor.
There are three primary goals: better health outcomes, a more responsive health system, and more
equitable health care financing.
(b) The structure of the health care delivery system
There are both private and public sector systems in terms of the organisation of the health caresystem. There are more private hospitals than public ones (62%). In contrast, the government has more
bed capacity than the private sector (53%).

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With regards to social health insurance, there is a unified social health insurance system, theNational Health Insurance Program (NHIP), mandated by the National Health Insurance Act of 1995.
The Philippine Health Insurance Cooperation (PHIC or PhilHealth) is the administering agency. NHIP
includes programs for “formal” sectors (for employees at government and large private corporations),“informal” sectors (self-employed and indigenous people), non-paying (retired persons) and OFWs.
Compared to most of other Asian countries, the Philippines is producing more and better humanresources for health as well as professionals. However, despite the enormous size of the humanresources for health, their distribution throughout the country is uneven. The Philippines is the leading
exporter of nurses and the second-major exporter of physicians. The pharmaceutical market is worth
about 80-100 billion pesos, or around 45 percent of healthspending. Multinationals control around 70 percent of market
sales and it is dominated by expensive branded medicines. As aconsequence, drug prices in the Philippines are the highest
amongst Asian countries. Generic products account for just four
percent of total market sales.
(c) Health Status
Demographic characteristics: in 2007 the projected population of the Philippines was 94 million.
Population growth rate remains high at 2.04% (2000-2007). Half of the population is below 21 years old
but the proportion of older people grew from 3.83% in year 2000 to 4.19% in 2007. Overall the healthstatus of the people has improved. Filipino females had a longer life expectancy (73.1 years) than males(67.8 years) as of 2007. Both the infant mortality rate (IMR) and under 5 mortality rate (U5MR) havedeclined steadily over the past 15 years. IMR was 25/1,000 live births and U5MR was 34/1,000 live
births in 2008. The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) has improved from 209/100,000 live births between
1987 and 1993 to 162/100,000 live births in 2006. The Philippines still needs to improve in terms of
MDGs especially MMR. The targets for neonatal, infant, and U5MR may be achievable by 2015, but the
total fertility rate (TFR) is still high (2.8 per woman) compared to the target (1.4) for 201574

(d) Responsiveness of the Health System
People tend to attend public rather than private facilities
because of the cost (government 50%, private 42%). Some people
still go to traditional healers (7%). Medical attendance at births anddeaths is quite low. Only 34.5% of deaths are attended by healthprofessionals because many people prefer to die at home.
Government hospitals are the preferred medical facilities due toaffordability. If mothers are uneducated, these rates increase. Poor
economic conditions are also a cause of child mortality, and amongpeople in rural areas these rates are higher. The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and
Visayas have especially high mortality rates. The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) was a projectsite of JICA so the rate is lower. Now JICA has a project in Eastern Visayas as well. ARMM is lessprovided for than other areas and the non-insurance rate is also the highest in this area.
(e) Health Financing System
The share of GNP expenditure accounted for by health has not changed so much from 1993 to
2007, though it is increasing in terms of per capita expenditure, as prices of commodities and services
that people can purchase is also increasing. Overall health services that people purchase have notchanged that much. Expenditure of sources of funds for private medicine has been high compared withgovernment and social health insurance. Financing healthcare mainly from the pockets of peopleindicates a sickly health system. The government tries to enrol poor people into NHIP in order toincrease the share of national government and social health insurance.
3. Evolution of Health Reform Initiatives in the Philippines
Before explaining recent health reforms, we were given abrief history of health reform in the Philippines. The healthreforms in the Philippines started with Primary Health Care in
1970. The PHIC or PhilHealth was established in 1995. In 2002,
the DOH was reengineered to respond to various needs. There
have been national commitments regarding health reform
implementations such as ‘Health Sector Reform Agenda (HSRA,
2000-2005)’, ‘Formula One for Health (F1, 2005-2010)’, and ‘Universal Health Care (UHC, 2010)’.
75

4. Universal Health Care
The recent policy pronouncement of UHC has threemajor goals: universal healthcare coverage for all Filipinos;
access to health through improved health infrastructure; aholistic and comprehensive healthcare system, and good governance. It has six pillars: health regulation,
health governance, health care financing, health service delivery, information management system, andhealth human resource. To achieve these three major goals, UHC has three strategic thrusts: financial
risk protection; achieving health related MDG-Max (MD-Gmax), and health facilities enhancement.
In this seminar, we learnt about the overall activities of the DOH. After the lecture, every
participant including the professors asked several questions regarding the Health System of thePhilippines. We gained a lot of information and knowledge about various fields that the DOH deals with.
The following is a selection of the questions and answers following the lecture.
Q: Is it necessary to be a medical doctor (MD) to be a Secretary of Health in the Philippines?
A: Yes. A secretary of Health is appointed by the President, andtraditionally all the secretaries are MD.
Q: In the Universal Health Care (UHC), the DOH included the healthhuman resource management. As the biggest exporters of nurses,
how are you going to limit the brain drain of health professionals?
A: The problem is that the Philippines is producing much more nurses
than they need at educational institutions and there are not enough positions to accommodate them
all in the public and private sectors. That’s why the government allows them to go abroad. There isa need for the government to improve benefits, including salaries of health professionals, so thatthey will not be motivated to go abroad.
Q: Are there enough doctors and nurses in the rural areas?
A: Medical professionals are unevenly distributed in the country. Mostly, MDs prefer to work in urban
areas rather than rural areas because of working conditions. Besides, it depends on the operationand commitment of the Local Government Executives (mayors or governors) of Local Government
Units (LGUs). If mayors are committed to improving the health conditions of the area, they may do

76

so. Also, there is a program to send MDs to remote areas called “Doctors to Barrios” in whichthose MDs are guaranteed a salary equivalent to the DOH officers.
Q: What is the future of JICAs’ cooperation with the Health Care System in the Philippines?
A: JICA fully supervises the implementing of JICA projects especially for decreasing MMR. JICA also
contributed a lot in terms of technical assistance as experts in the development of policy system andprograms. The Philippines’ hope is that they will not have to depend on technical assistance as a
middle-income country in the future, through the ongoing technical assistances of international
agencies including JICA. However, the geographical conditions of the country are so difficult andthere are a lot of people who find it difficult to reach communities where health services areprovided. The problem could be solved through the help of Japan, which has a similar geographic
condition.
Based upon the above-mentioned discussions we came to realise that the evolution of healthreform initiatives in the Philippines is now moving towards a bright future. Our visit to the DOH was
beyond our expectations – we enjoyed it very much, and the officials were very helpful and willing toanswer our questions. It was a very fruitful and successful visit. The seminar at the DOH was over at
17:00.

Students in ChargeGroup Leader - Yuri Hosono
Note takers- Alisher Shukurov and Kazuho Sato

Photographer -77

Sayaka Hiratsuka

xi.

The Supreme Court of the Philippines
January 27, Thursday at 1400-1530

Participants: Timur Bektemirov, Yuka Hirabayashi, Momoyo Seki, Tun Tun Aung, Professor Araki.

Presentation(1)

The Overall Judicial System of the Philippines
By Mr. ACA JOSE MIDAS MARQUEZ
Spokesperson of Supreme Court

78

Since some of students’ academic background is related to the legal field, we were very glad to
get the opportunity to visit the SC and to learn the role of the SC and its implementation for thesustainable development of the Philippines and its people.
In the Session Hall of the SC, our group was given
the opportunity to watch a short movie entitled “Seed of
Justice”. This taught us not only about the overall judicial
system of the Philippines but also the historicalbackground of Philippines’ Justice System. Moreover, ourgroup saw that the Judiciary Department of the Philippines,
as one of the main branches of government, has been
taking its own role to be independent from other branches
and ensure the trust of the people by conducting itself in a manner in which everyone is equal before theeyes of the law.
After the presentation of the short movie our questions were answered by Mr. Aca Jose Midas
Marquez, a spokesperson of the Supreme Court. What we learnt from our visit is summarised as follows:
SC is the highest court in the land. It embodies centuries of national development and watches
over the nation constantly as an agent of justice. In 1901, the enactment of Act No. 136 guaranteedjudicial independence to the Supreme Court and other lower courts established under this Act. Since
then, this institution was adopted as one of three main branches of government under the 1935, 1973 and1987 constitutions.
The Philippines’ Judicial System is composedof four levels, namely:
1.

The First level (Metropolitan Trial Courts,
Municipal Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts inCities)2.

The Second Level (Regional Trial Courts andSharia’s District Courts)

3.

The Third Level (Court of Appeal, Sandiganbayan and Court of Tax appeal)

4.

The Fourth Level (Supreme Court)
79

Regarding sustainable development, SC focuses on long-term development mainly based on
three human rights. First, gender equality, secondly, social, economic and cultural rights of the people inthe country, and finally the right to live in a healthy and safe environment.
Regarding the first of these human rights, there are community-conducted regional forums andfamily courts around the country enabling an increase in the access to justice. For the second, there areseveral projects including the Justice on
Wheels project, which is part of thecourt’s efforts to respond to thedifficulties under the justice system that
limit poor people from seeking redressfrom the courts. To speed up the flowof justice, SC adopted rules andprocedures for small claim cases aswell. Small claim cases, civil cases
involving the poor, are designated to
the first level courts. According to thisnew procedure, the plaintiff can sue thedefendant by using a ready-made form. Judges act as interventionist because lawyers are prohibitedfrom appearing, and appeals are limited to the extraordinary appeal by way of certiorari to the Supreme
Court. Moreover, there is another rule for mandatory legal aid service. This rule was provided toenhance the duty of lawyers to society as agents of social change and to the courts as officers.
Mandatory free legal service by members of the bar supports the efficient and effective administrative ofjustice, especially in cases involving indigenous people and the poor in the Philippines.
Regarding the third human right, SC held a Forum on Environmental Justice in 2007 centring on
strategies for strengthening institutional capacity to adjudicate environmental cases. Currently, the firstand second levels of courts are exclusively handling cases violating environmental law.

80

Students in ChargeGroup Leader - Ray Wa Thar
Note takers- Timur Bektemirov and Momoyo Seki

Photographer - Yuka Hirabayashi

81

xii. Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
January 28, Friday at 0900-1030

Participants: Timur Bektemirov, Yuka Hirabayashi, Yuri Hosono, Akihiro Ishimoto,
Alisher Shukurov, Tun Tun Aung, Professor Araki, Professor Kabashima.

82

The group attended a meeting at the DTI in the morning. Our group leader on the DTI visit,
Timur Bektemirov, introduced our team members to the DTI officials and gave them a little information
about the study program and purpose of our visit. We were lucky enough to be welcomed by Attorney
Senen M. Perloada, Director IV of the Bureau of Export Trade Promotion, Attorney Ann Claire C.
Cabochan, Director of the Bureau of International Trade Relations and Attorney Luis M. Catibayan,
Director of the Bureau of Import Services of the DTI.

This meeting was different from the others in terms of its format and content. The session wasorganised in a business-like, official format, similar to a high-level official meeting. This atmosphere
contributed to a productive exchange of information, the acquisition of primary sources of informationfrom the directors, and a comprehensive understanding of goals and objectives of the DTI.
Ms. Cabochan welcomed us on behalf of the DTI and provided some general information about
the department. The DTI is the governmental agency with the mission of promoting business andensuring the welfare of customers. This remit includes assistance for economic development and theprotection of consumer rights. Furthermore she explained that the DTI has foreign trade services,
regional offices, agencies, corporations and service offices.
After the introduction all the participants, including the professors, asked questions regarding thePhilippines’ trade relations and policy.
The first question addressed was about accepting Filipino nurses and caregivers in Japan under
the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). We asked about the Philippines’
position or intention to reconsider and negotiate the provisions of the JPEPA regarding nurses andcaregivers. Ms. Cabochan replied that according to the Article 161 of the JPEPA, the agreement is83

subject to a periodical review and they will look at the review as an opportunity to improve theimplementation of the agreement in order to gain benefits from it. She confirmed the Philippines’
interest in nurses going to Japan. At the same time, she mentioned that the matter of nurses andcaregivers are coordinated by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
We then asked whether there are any consultation mechanisms concerning the operation of the
JPEPA. Ms. Cabochan answered that there is a Joint Committee, which meets once a year. So far two
meetings of the joint committee have been held, and a third meeting was supposed to be organised inTokyo on 27th of January, 2011. Otherwise, subcommittees consult regularly on specific matters ofbilateral trade.
We then asked about the Philippines’ traderelations with the Commonwealth of Independent
Countries (CIS), particularly with Kyrgyzstan, andtheir vision of the future of trade relations. Ms.
Cabochan replied that the Philippines is engaging intrade with more and more countries based on bilateraland multilateral trade agreements. The Philippines isalways looking for new markets to establish traderelations, regardless of scale. Mr. Perloada added that the Philippines has very little trade with
Kyrgyzstan. In the era of globalisation, there are always possibilities for moving goods and services. The
Philippines is working toward diversifying trade, improving logistics and looking for new possibilities totrade. Mr. Perloada suggested to Mr. Bektemirov that he should start exchanging information to promotetrade between Kyrgyzstan and the Philippines.
We continued by asking about export promotion activities towards the Japanese market. Mr.
Perloada told us that he was formerly a Commercial Attaché to Japan. He said that the Philippines is
active in promoting export of goods to Japan across a wide-range of economic sectors, for example,
agricultural products like bananas. Also, the Philippines exports high quality garments but only on asmall scale. The DTI is going to participate in Foodex Japan, where it hopes to establish trade networks.
The DTI works with ASEAN promotion centres and uses commercial offices for export promotion.

84

Professor Araki asked a question related to the coordination of different groups such as
investment groups, trade relations groups and export promotion within the DTI, since these groups arelocated in different places. He cited the example of thecoordination experience in Japan, and pointed out thatinteraction between groups is sometimes not a smoothprocess. Mr. Perloada replied that there are five groups
within the DTI – import, foreign trade, industry andinvestment, consumer welfare and trade regulations.
He also told us that there are thirteen regions and morethan seventy provinces in the Philippines and the DTI
has regional local offices. A lot of coordination has
been taking place between the main groups of the DTI. In addition, some people think that consumer
welfare group’s interests may contradict those of other groups, but the DTI always prioritizes consumer
welfare. Professor Araki added that in Japan a new Consumer Affairs Agency has been established.
We raised a question regarding the health sector and medicine. One of the objectives of the DTI
is to alleviate poverty in the Philippines. However, prices for some medicine are very high. We asked for
information about the importation of medicine or programs which help with medicine supply,
particularly generic medicines. Ms. Cabochan replied that currently multinational pharmaceuticalcompanies, which produce a significant part of the medicine, conduct this businesses, and that thePhilippines produces cheaper medicine. The Government of the Philippines has launched a programwith the objective of increasing access to cheaper medicine. In particular, there are some generic drug
stores that offer cheap medicine.
We asked about the origins of pharmaceutical production, and Ms. Cabochan replied that the
medicines are produced in the Philippines. Mr. Catibayan added that they conduct parallel importation,
which is carried out by the state owned corporation the Philippine International Trading Corporation(PITC). The Philippines imports some cheaper medicine from India and Pakistan.
Our next question was about the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, in which more and morecountries are becoming involved, and the Philippines’ strategy to complete the AFTA. Mr. Catibayan
answered that there are some highly competitive sectors in the Philippine economy, and they look85

forward to ASEAN 2015. The Philippines considers ASEAN as an opportunity to be engaged withgreater markets, as the whole area boosts 500 million consumers.
Environmental issues in the context of FTAs was the next question we raised. We cited
Myanmar as an example because the nation received a lot of investment last year, however, most of that
goes on natural resources extraction. Environmental requirements within the ASEAN are quite weakcompared to NAFTA and the EU. We asked what the Philippines’ opinion on these issues is. Ms.
Cabochan responded that regarding environmental concerns, the Philippines chairs the Committee on
Trade and Environment in the special session of the WTO, showing the Philippines’ special interest in
the environment. Moreover, through economic cooperation there are projects designed for protecting theenvironment. With respect to extracting industries, even under the free trade agreements each ASEAN
country has domestic requirements for environmental protection.
We asked a specific question about how the Philippines’s authorities deal with the problems ofcustoms valuation procedures and anti-dumping measures. Mr. Catibayan replied that customs valuation
is based on the customs valuation agreement of the WTO. According to generally accepted provisions
they use the transaction method as the basic method for customs valuation. They also request
information from other sources such as their overseas offices and commercial attaché for customs
purposes. Concerning anti-dumping, they adopted the law on anti-dumping after the Philippines’
accession to the WTO. They have had several anti-dumping cases in the WTO, but last year’s antidumping case was dismissed when it was deemed de minimis. In general the Philippines does not often
use trade remedies, however, there have been cases when domestic producers resorted to trade remedies
to protect themselves from dumped goods. The Philippines is among the top ten countries of active usersof anti-dumping measures. They cooperate with the EU in
anti-dumping measures. The EU has more experiences insuch kind of cases, taking various measures against
Chinese goods for example.
Professor Araki asked a related question about
whether they have a specific agency in charge of trade
remedies. Mr. Catibayan told us that there is a Secretaryfor Products and Tariff Commission.

86

The last question we asked was about the way that the DTI interacts with its regional offices. Mr.
Perloada told us that the DTI has sixteen regional offices, which are controlled and supervised by theheadquarters. Local governments do not have a direct influence on DTI regional offices. However theirregional operating groups closely work with LGUs. In addition, the DTI has programs for increasing theeffectiveness of interaction with local offices to promote exports.
We learnt much directly from professionals about trade issues in both the domestic andinternational context, and in the Q&A session we gained a wide-range of useful information about the
DTI, its groups and regional offices, ASEAN regional cooperation, export and import of goods,
authority regulations on trade, the Philippines’ position andactivities in multilateral and bilateral agreements, and theagricultural and pharmaceutical market. These discussions
showed us that the DTI makes a significant contribution toeconomic development, and that the Philippines is becoming
a more active player in international trade cooperation andmarket intervention.
Our visit to the DTI was beyond even our
expectations – we enjoyed it very much, and the officials were very helpful and willing to answer ourquestions. It was a very useful and successful visit. The main thing is that we had an opportunity to talkdirectly with high-level officials, and we are sure that it was a valuable experience for all of us.

Students in ChargeGroup Leader Note takers

Timur Bektemirov- Alisher Shukurov and Yuka Hirabayashi

Photographer - Tun Tun Aung87

xiii. Development Action for Women Network (DAWN)January 28, Friday 1000-1300

Participants: Anna Bogdanova, Sayaka Hiratsuka, Yusuke Kobayashi, Kazuho Sato, Momoyo Seki,
Ray Wa Thar, Professor Ueda.
Presentation(1)

Activities at DAWN
By Ms. Liza S. Garcia, Research and Advocacy Officer, andMr. Seiji Ishihara, Volunteer staff

88

January 28th was the last day of our stay in Manila. The students were divided into two groups,
one group visiting DTI while the other group visited DAWN. Those who visited DAWN consisted ofnine members including Ms. Inoue, who is one of the alumni of YNU. At DAWN, our group was
warmly welcomed by all the staff. We firstly listened to a presentation on the current activities of
DAWN, after which the staff answered questions from the participants. Afterwards, we met some of thewomen working there and had lunch together with them.

Brief Presentation
A presentation giving an outline of DAWN was given by Ms. Liza S. Garcia and Mr. Seiji
Ishihara. The presentation was about their vision, mission, and the activities they are currently
conducting.
DAWN is a non-governmental organisation created on February 6th 1996, to assist Filipino
women who migrated to Japan and their Japanese-Filipino Children (JFC) in the promotion andprotection of their human rights and welfare. They are planning to hold a 15th anniversary event in
February 2011.
A lot of Filipino women still immigrate to Japan in order to work as entertainers. The female
emigrants who work in Japan go through many difficult situations such as unemployment, difficulties
with visa renewals, and violence from employers or their husbands. DAWN hopes to enable such
women to have equal opportunities and rights to others.
DAWN focuses on three major programs: (1) Social Services, (2) Alternative Livelihood, and (3)89Research and Advocacy.
(1) Social Services
The Social Services program of DAWN has carried out many activities, particularly to improve
the health of women and JFC. In addition DAWN has provided legal aid consultants for solving social
issues and getting monetary funds. Furthermore, they have contributed to improving the education levelof JFC in terms of Japanese language and culture. The educational support was provided every Saturday
by Japanese volunteers, including Mr. Ishihara. One of the best-known activities of DAWN was the“AKEBONO Theatrical Company.” The women and JFC perform a play based on the real story of JFC's
experiences. Every summer, DAWN holds a workshop to prepare for the performance, and it isimportant for JFCs to share their experiences and feelings. They perform in Japan every year, andinteract with Japanese children. They can also experience aJapanese life-style. If they have they chance, they will beable to meet their fathers on these opportunities. To makethis a reality, many volunteers in Japan assist DAWN in
finding JFC's fathers. However, it rarely that they meet theirfathers again because it is extremely difficult for DAWN tofind the fathers, and even if they do some of them refuse tomeet their children.
(2) Alternative Livelihood
The Alternative Livelihood program consists of three sections. The first section is the SIKHAY
project, which encourages women to be independent by teaching them the technical skills of sewing,
weaving, and tie-dyeing, through which they can earn a livelihood. During this program, the women
produce products such as bags, blouses, aprons, and other products.
Another section is a training centre called the Wellness Center. The centre was organised by
DAWN and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2008 with the goal of "Economic and Social
Integration of Return Migrant Women". In 2009 the centre started training returning women. Throughthis training, women became able to perform some new skills such as haircutting, nail polishing, andfoot spa treatment.
The third section is the Non-Center Based Project for providing training and consultation. The
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project conducts its activities and training outside DAWN’s office. The women who have received
training will utilise DAWN’s advice for conducting their own small businesses such as small-scale
wholesales. They also organise some business opportunity seminars for them.
(3) Research and Advocacy
In the Research and Advocacy program, DAWN seeks to solve problems faced by returning
migrant women and JFC through organising conferences both at home and abroad, lobbying politicians,
meeting with public officials, and issuing publications.

Questions and Answers
All the participants asked many questions based on the presentation. We came to realise that the
migrant women and their children could get the love and kindness they need the most in their lives. The
following is a summary of the questions and answers.
Q: How do those migrant women and children feel about Japanese people?
A: Since the children are told by their mothers before they came to DAWN that they are the children of
Japanese and Filipinos, they already know their situation. However, those children are always
looking forward to meeting their Japanese fathers. Currently, the youngest child is about four years
old and the eldest one is twenty-three years old.
Q: How and what kind of legal assistance are provided for trafficked Filipino women?
A: DAWN has been trying to help trafficked Filipino women by registering them at organisations
including the DOH. However, they still do not have any lawyers to deal with these cases.
Q: How many cases of legal assistance have you worked on at DAWN?
91

A: There are more than 100 cases and most of them are regarding the procedures for contacting theirfathers in Japan.
Inspection
At first, we went to the room for SIKIHAY. There were four weaving machines, and two women
were weaving cloth on that day. The products made by them will be sold not only in the Philippines but
also in Japan. DAWN has various networks for selling these products. Some Japanese universities
support them by selling them in Japan. Members at DAWN will acquire opportunities to sell theirproducts in Japan through the “AKEBONO” theatre play. It was wonderful to know that all the products
were designed by the women working there. The designs are so beautiful that we wanted to buy all ofthem. It was very difficult to decide which product to buy. Every participant bought at least two or three
items.
Lunch at DAWN
They served our group with popular Filipino food bought at the Jollibee. Inside the box, there
was a package of rice and fried chicken. We were also given a banana, which is the Philippines’ most
famous fruit. Unlike the presentation, everyone was relaxed and felt free to make open conversation
with each other. During lunch, we heard about their lives and experiences in Japan. They told us how
they felt about Japan and we all had good conversations with them. It was also amazing that all of those
women started speaking in Japanese. We had a chance to meet and talk with one of the JFC, whose namewas Masami, and greeted us in Japanese. We had had an unforgettable lunch with the people at DAWN.
This meal brought us a moment of friendship and deepened understanding amongst us. It was a greathonour to have such a valuable time and we will surely never forget it.

92This visit was very fruitful for our group because we were able to see the real life of thosemigrant women and their children, and find out how they survive and raise their children. It is also truethat the projects at DAWN are not big enough to save every woman in the Philippines. However, no one
can deny the fact that what DAWN is doing now is dedicated to those families who are participating in
the project.

Students in chargeGroup Leader - Momoyo Seki
Note takers- Ray Wa Thar and Sayaka Hiratsuka

Photographer - Anna Bogdanova______________________
These group reports had been written by the four students who took charge at each
visited organisation. The role of the group leader was to make the appointment ofour visit, and coordinate the schedule. The contents of the above reports came fromthe notes each student took. Note takers were responsible for compiling the notes.
The photographer was responsible for taking snap photos at each organisation, andthe photos in these reports were taken by the students. The four role takers
coordinated with each other after the trip, and summarised our visit as above.
93VII. Individual Reports by Participating Students
Timur Bektemirov
The field study trip to the Philippines was my first experience of visiting a South-East Asian
country as a student. The team consisted of twelve students, four professors, and one administrator. It is
worth noting the international combination of team members, which made our interaction moreinteresting. The good results of our overseas study were due to our scrupulous and persistent preparation
before the trip. All members of the team were involved in the preparation process. What I noticed in theprocess of management was the high organisation, self-discipline and responsibility of the students, andthe credibility of the professors to support the students’ initiatives. I highly appreciated the fact thatstudents were authorised to lead groups in themeetings. Preparations and arrangement ofmeetings started far before the trip, andcontributed to its success. We had a regular
weeklymeetingtodiscussorganisation,

coordination and news from the Philippines. All
issues related to the trip were solved in advance,
including the itinerary, which was compiled indetail.
Each day of the trip was full of activities
and meetings. We were in the Philippines for more than one week, from 21st January to 29th January
2011. The professors always accompanied us in all official activities. On every meeting, theresponsibilities of the students was divided, with one student who was a leader coordinating the visit andour time at each organisation, two students responsible for note-taking, and one student who wasnominated to take photos. On the day after our arrival in Manila, we first of all had a joint seminar at the
UST, where professors from both UST and YNU gave us interesting lectures about the world financial
crisis between 2007 and 2009. The professors also emphasised the importance of the joint seminars that
promote exchange of knowledge and cooperation amongst students from both university. Students
exchanged presents and we were invited to the UST opera staged for its 400th anniversary, and making
it the oldest university in South-East Asia.

94

Our stay in the Philippines included not only
official meetings and seminars but also over-night trips
outside of Manila to Subic Bay, a resort place where we
stayed at a nice hotel. One of the moments during ourovernight trip was the visit to one of the project sites of
JICA, where I realised the scale of the project, and how it
had

great

value

and

importancefor

agriculturaldevelopment in the Philippines.
We visited a number of places in Manila, but one of them, ADB, was the institution where I wasaware of its impact and had always been interested in visiting. I can say that my dream came true. The
National Economic Development Agency (NEDA) is the main agency coordinating and responsible forthe economic prosperity of the Philippines. We gained comprehensive information about the economic
development strategies of the Philippines. The next seminar was in the well-known and respected United
Nation’s office for Development Programs (UNDP), where we became acquainted with UNDP’s
assistance to the Philippines’ development. The seminar at JICA demonstrated its contribution to thesociety of the Philippines. I would like to note especially JICA’s presentation about projects “On the
introduction of customs post entry audit” and “On thePhilippines’ customs intelligence system for the enhancementof its system environments and training of customs officers”,
which were made upon my request. As a customs official, I
would like to express my gratitude for this opportunity. The
SC and DFSs were organisations on our visit as well. The last
and the most important place for me was the DTI, as I was theleader and particularly interested person in that meeting. My
research thesis is connected to the business dealt with by DTI. To our pleasant surprise, we werewelcomed at the DTI on a high level. Directors of departments met us and answered all of our questions.
The trip was very useful, productive, interesting and enjoyable. Thanks to the active participationof students, the professors taking care of us, and the hospitability of the hosting Filipinos, all meetings
were held on a high organisational level. Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my gratitude
first of all to our professors, who accompanied us, all the students, participants and the hosts on thePhilippines’ side.
95

____________________________

Anna Bogdanova
I have never been to South-East Asia before, so for me this year’s study trip to the Philippines
was full of surprises and great experiences. During our stay we had many opportunities to deepen our
knowledge in development studies by attending
seminars in the different organisations and also
discovering the beautiful country of the Philippines.
My biggest impression was of the huge gap
between rich and poor in the Philippines. We heard at
many organisations, where we had seminars, that thePhilippines has the highest gap between rich and poor
people among all Asian countries, and we had an
opportunity to see that with our own eyes. Our hotel
was located in the rich part of Metro Manila, Makati, near to a big shopping mall, and on the first day of
our stay we didn’t feel much difference from Japan, except for the hot weather. But in the next week, as
we travelled to the suburb and other cities, we could also see how the poor Filipinos are living.
On the second day of our trip, after a fruitfull seminar at UST and a delicious luch there, wewent to the Payatas Dumpsite, which is also known as “Smokey Valley”. The Japanese NGO SALT
kindly accepted us there and organised for us a half-day study tour, which for me was probably thegreatest experience during our trip. We met there many friendly people, especially children. They were
happily playing on the streets, and when they saw our group they all welcomed us with “Hello!” and big
smiles. The gap between those conditions, in which they
are living, and their happy faces was really big, and thatmade me think once again about the poverty issues andthe discussions on how to measure it.

96

It was also very interesting to visit the“Pinatubo Hazard Urgent Mitigation Project” and“PhilRice Institute” and see how the Japanese
ODA really works in the Philippines. The fruitfulseminarsatdifferent

governmental

andinternational organisations also gave us an
opportunity to gain a lot of information related toour circle of interest.
To sum up, our “quest for sustainable
development” was successfully finished and I think everyone found his own answer on this question. It
was a great achievement of this year’s study trip that we were able to visit not only governmental andinternational organisations, but also NGOs, so we could compare how they work and in what kind ofenvironment. We were also able to speak to the Filipinos who are receiving this help from NGOs, andhear their opinion and ask them about their needs.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone in our group (students, professors, office staff) for such afruitful and well-organised study trip. Everyone was really nice and supportive. It was such a pleasure toparticipate in this trip to the Philippines.
____________________________

Yuka Hirabayashi
This study trip to the Philippines was my first visit
to Asia. I had been very eager to travel to Asian countries
since I was an undergraduate student, however, I havealways chosen to go to Western and European nations thus
far. Western countries are very similar to Japan in terms of
economy, human rights, and the regime and so on. So I
never thought about the differences amongst democratic
countries. Perhaps they are not quite so different fromJapan as far as regime and religion are concerned. Although
90% of the population is Christian in the Philippines, it is an island nation and democratic like Japan.
97During our stay in the Philippines, we stayed in
Makati, the high-class residential area and a pivotal
location for businesses. I found Makati similar to Aoyama
or Roppongi in Japan. There is a mega shopping mallnearby where luxury brands stores are locates side by side.
I did not realise the difference between Japan and thePhilippines until I visited the Payatas dumpsite. People inPayatas are paupers in the Philippines, with large numbersof people living on mountains of garbage and foraging in it to make money as scavengers.
We went to Payatas accompanied by the NGO named SALT, which supports the people living in
Payatas. As we come close to Payatas dumpsite, the scenery from the car window changed little by little.
I felt distinctly different from when I was in Makati. The SALT staff gave us an orientation about
Payatas through which I understood the situation.
Hardly any of the children who live in Payatas can afford to go to school, even elementary
school, because, they need to pay a test fee when they take exams. Even though all the people in Payatas
are poor they said “hello” to us with a big grin on their faces whenever they saw us. I felt a slight senseof relief from their big smiles.
The Philippines has many issues. One of them is the gap between the rich and the poor. While
Payatas is one of the poorest areas and what we saw was one dimension of the Philippines, it also
possesses attractive aspects such as Subic Bay, which is considered as one of the most developed areas
with a beautiful view of the ocean. I hope the people in the Philippines, particularly the people inPayatas, can smile from their heart sincerely in the near future____________________________

98

Sayaka Hiratsuka
I believe my confidence has grown after I took
the lead to organise the tour to Payatas. The tour was
conducted successfully as I obtained much help bothprior and during the trip. I had a lot of valuable
experiences throughout the study tour.
Firstly, it was my first trip abroad and obviously
I had never been to a developing country. I only knew
these countries through lectures and literature. This study trip gave me an opportunity to observe adeveloping country at first hand. Furthermore, I actually realised that one single country contains many
diverse aspects.
The Philippines has serious problems in terms of political corruption, however, I discovered it
is much more advanced than Japan in terms of gender. Looking at some domestic organisations, there isa research institution that received foreign assistance and is equipped with advanced facilities.
Meanwhile, other government agencies cannot afford to maintain and repair their facilities because of
the budget deficit. On the other hand, looking at the lives of the people outside, some live on 200 pesos(400 yen) a day, though there were many expensive shirts (around 16,000 pesos, or 32,000 yen) on thestore shelves in the large shopping mall.
Participating in the study tour to Payatas dumpsite
was a great bonus. We were able to go inside the houses offamilies living there and directly hear about their lives andviews. It is the task of government to implement policies,
and by visiting Payatas we were able to see both the sides ofthe policy-makers and the people in need. It was a goodexperience for me to visit not only government agencies andinternational organisations, but also observe the lives of ordinary people as well. We would not be able
to have observed the lives of people unless we actually visited the houses of ordinary or less privileged
citizens.
I did not feel that the Philippines lags too much behind the developed countries. It certainly
needs improved governance, but I felt the other characteristics are only “differences”, not inferiorities.
For example, even though administrative support is insufficient in Payatas, people seemed to live with a99

set of daily essentials and there was an energetic
atmosphere there. Japan has a lot to learn from thePhilippines, such as gender consciousness andNGO activities.
After I came back to Japan, I thought once
again that I would like to work harder on mydevelopment cooperation studies.
____________________________

Yuri Hosono
This year was my third visit to the Philippines, yet every moment was full of excitement andnew discoveries. Riding on the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line was quite a new challenge for me. The
bird’s eye view of Metro Manila from the LRT encapsulated the contrast between the developing anddeveloped world. According to JICA, the government of Japan considers the Philippines as one of thegraduating countries for aid from Japan. The development of Metro Manila continues every year, andthis time we could see that the Philippines is still developing towards becoming a Middle Income
Country after the global financial crisis of 2008 .
During our stay an unusual bombing of a public bus occurred in Metro Manila, the suspects
being a rebel group from Muslim Mindanao. An organised bribery case by military officers was also
reported during our stay. Despite such political instability and some quality of life gaps among the richand the indigenous people the bureaucrats we met were quite confident of establishing a sustainable
society under the new Aquino administration.

100Another exciting event was being given the chance to attend the opera Caballeria Rusticana,which was staged as a part of the UST’s 400th anniversary at the Medicine Auditorium on the 28th. We
would like to thank all the UST professors for giving us
this opportunity. Furthermore, we would like to thank the
UST students who organised and accompanied us on theovernight trip to Subic Bay.
It was a great honour that we had the chance tovisit the DOH. This gave me a chance to acquire thewhole picture of the current health situation in thePhilippines, and to find out about difficulties forachieving “Health for all Filipinos.” We would also liketo thank Ms. Nobuko Yamagishi, Public Health Coordinator of JICA, for arranging our visit to the DOH.
Last but not least, it should be noted that this year we had the first reunion of YNU in Metro
Manila. YNU graduates Mr. Alan Francisco MOLINA and his wife Tesa, Mr. Von Ryan FERRERA, Mr.
Hayato NAKAMURA and Ms. Hiromi INOUE joined our gathering. We also welcomed our guests
from the Asian Development Bank, Mr. Augustus MANGO and Ms. Anna ROPEZ. It was a memorable
final dinner. I hope that this kind of network will be broadened, and will strengthen our ties all over theworld.
____________________________

Akihiro Ishimoto
The participants of the Philippines study tour 2011 first gathered in the beginning of October2010. Since that time, all of us worked really hard, as we hadto organise our trip by ourselves. We constantly exchanged
email messages to organise the visit to each organisation,
and while some organisations took a relatively short time toconfirm appointments, others took longer. The faces of theparticipants were diverse and multi-national enough to makethe group unique. The time has passed so quickly since wefirst met in October.

101

The Philippines was the fifth ASEAN
country I have visited. I had some idea of thePhilippines from my previous experiences visiting
other ASEAN countries, however, what I discoveredin the Philippines added

extra value in terms ofunderstanding

culturesdifferentandcustoms.

Everything I saw was new, everything I felt wasdifferent from other places, everything I heard was
fresh, and basically every activity and incident in thePhilippines was a first-time encounter.
The first part of our study trip was relatively less intense in terms of pressure. In the afternoon
of Saturday 22nd, Jay and Christine, two of our friends in Manila, guided us to Fort Santiago in
Intramuros and the surrounding area, followed by the overnight trip to Subic Bay. However, the latter
half of the study tour was intense, and we visited two organisations each day to absorb ideas andknowledge through discussions with government officers. The visits were student-oriented but
accompanied by the professors. I believe our visit to each institution was well organised, andsuccessfully conducted.
Even though we had a relatively short time in the Philippines, the most valuable experiences I
obtained came from the presentations and discussions at each organisation I visited. However, equallyvaluable was the teamwork we continued to conduct both prior
to and during the trip. We all supplemented each other’s weak
points, and as a result we were able to absorb and think about asmuch knowledge of development in the Philippines as was
possible. I definitely learnt about a variety of ideas and issues. I
would like to seek and strive for a better and further
understanding of international development studies.
____________________________

102

Yusuke Kobayashi@Zoobic

During our 9-days field trip I was able to see how
the Philippines is developing in terms of NPOs that act
locally with people, the government side, and theoverseas aid side respectively. All of them recognize thatcomprehensive approaches are important in order toreduce poverty and to create a sustainable society.
Although they try to achieve the same goal, however, theroles and objectives these players set for the near future differ due to their capacity, budget andflexibility.
The ideas and demands of people who are living outside or under harsh environments in cities
rarely reach governments, while people really want support. NPOs operate in local areas to catch
people’s voices and empower them for safe lives. SALT is one of these NPOs. I visited SALT’s activity
site, Payatas, where lots of children and their families live at the foot of a trash mountain. Some of them
are still working as scavengers, but others have stopped picking up waste to sell for their living costs
after the disaster killed a large number of children and their neighbours. I met a child who had a SALT
scholarship for school education. He enjoys going to school and is studying with hope for his future. “Iwant to be a policeman and arrest evil men,” he said. SALT also supports mothers through providingthem opportunities for getting skills and earning money by themselves. I bought some book covers witha nice cross-stitch attached to them, which was crafted by the@SALT

mothers. The SALT activities have an impact on improving
people’s life sustainability and their futures. Nevertheless, there arelimits to action and the regions covered are expanding so themembers of SALT encourage the government to implement more
down-to-earth policies that can be carried out not only by thegovernment with its tight budget but also through government

support for NPOs and other local groups.
Public Private Partnerships (PPP) attract attention as a solution for filling the gap between local
needs and governmental needs. DFA provides OFWs with information about rules and words of caution
regarding their work and life abroad. Since the income of OFWs benefits their families and communities,103

adequate advice for OFWs is important in order to protect themand their relatives. One of the PPP programs provides
preliminary advice for OFWs, especially women. The officer ofDFA

the NPO DAWN, which is for supporting and empowering
women and their children when they return to the Philippinesfrom Japan, told us about existence of these kinds of seminars
for women considering working in Japan, but also pointed outthat there were not enough of them.
The collaboration between the government of the Philippines and local players has just started togear itself up for the implementation of effective and efficient programs serving the interest of both
weak citizens and government. On this field trip, I could see and feel the passion and powers of theseplayers. I was given a keyword for sustainable development from the Philippines’ activists –“Contribution”. Making people want to contribute to actions is absolutely essential for leaders who seek
big goals through sustainable development.
____________________________

Kazuho Sato
This field trip was my first visit abroad and everything wasa new experience for me. It was also my first time to take anairplane, and I enjoyed the view from the window with the sky soblue and the clouds looking so beautiful from above.
One of the most surprising things to me was the traffic in
the Philippines. Traffic in the Philippines was chaotic and I was
deceived when we took a taxi to the UST seminar. It usually costs
about 130 pesos (260 yen), but we actually paid 400 (800 yen) pesos
for the taxi. In addition, we had to check whether or not the drivers
keep the metres running when we took taxis. Even though I did not know the right price, surely I had alack of risk awareness and it was hard to imagine that kind of incident occurring in Japan. There werealso many street vendors who walked around parked cars to try to sell their goods, and even children

104were selling them. On the way to the hotel from DOH, I saw
a boy rap on the taxi window. Other passengers advised me
to avoid eye contact, and I felt uncomfortable about mysilent treatment of him.
I was helped many times by the other participants,
who had a lot of experience abroad. I also had time to drink
and talk with LPP students so I became closer with themthrough the trip. They had many experiences in their own
countries, much knowledge of international relations and, above all, they are still eager to learn. I felt I
was fortunate to study with them and I had much tolearn from them.
The trip itself was a wonderful experience forme, but at the same time left me with some challenges.
During the trip, I really felt the insufficiency of myEnglish skills. I had heard that Filipino English isdifficult, and actually I did not understand large partsof the Filipino people’s conversation. I was reallyshocked, but this is a fair reflection of my ability, and I
realised I will have to study English more than ever.
As mentioned earlier, this was my first trip abroad and it provided me with a valuable
experience. I would like to thank all the people involved in the trip and am sure I will make the most of
this experience in my future studies.
____________________________

Momoyo Seki
This program was a short one, of nine days, but
we were able to experience and learn many things that
we could only have done on-site. Japan and thePhilippines are only 480 kilometres apart. It can be said
that the Philippines is one of the most familiar

105

countries for Japan, but I felt that we knew little about
the Philippines.
We arrived at Manila on January 21th . We hadworn coats, mufflers, and a lot of clothes, but after
only four hours after boarding the plane we sweated allover even in short sleeves.
We stayed in Manila's Makati district. The
buildings in Makati, unlike my expectations, were astall and developed as in Yokohama City. My
expectation prior to the visit was that because the Philippines is still considered as an under-developed
nation there would not be so many tall buildings and that level of development. On the other hand, thescene changed quite differently when we left the main road and visited a slum. As a part of this program,we went to the Payatas Dumpsite. It was shocking for us. We realised again that some parts of thePhilippines have developed more than other parts, and this country has many difficult problems.
Recently there has been a blossoming of transnational movements of people and cross-bordercorporate activities between the Philippines and Japan. For instance, there have been many migrants
who come to work in Japan, while many Japanese retired people have immigrated to the warm southern
climate of the Philippines. We could see Japanese companies everywhere in Manila. We found someproducts made by a company which has the Japanese name "Oishi" but is actually a Filipino company(or joint concern). At the same time, the Asian Economic Crisis of 1997 showed an example of the
deepening relationship between Southeast Asian
nations, and the problem that one nation can transmit
a problem to its neighbouring nations.
In order for Asia and Japan to achieve ahigher level of sustainable development, each nationmust pursue not only individual interests but also
consider various issues with a wider perspective.
Asian nations thoroughly need to build stronger
cooperation amongst nations to achieve region-wide
development.
____________________________
106

Alisher Shukurov
The YNU 2011 Philippines Study Trip “In Quest
for a Sustainable, Prosperous and Peaceful World” wasbeyond my expectations, we enjoyed it very much, and it
was a very profitable and successful visit. I would like toexpress my gratitude to Professor Ikeda, Associate
Professor Kabashima, Professor Araki, Lecturer Ueda andMrs. Kasumi Suto.
The study trip was for 8 days, the YNU group was warmly welcomed by the Graduate Students
and faculty of the UST led by Professor Lilian J. Sison, Dean of the UST Graduate School, and I would
like to express my appreciation to the people of UST who skilfully organised the Seminar and trip to
Subic Bay. Our joint-seminar at UST was successful thanks to the active and interactive efforts of both
Japanese and Filipinos representatives. The Seminar was divided into two sessions and three professors,
Professor Tomas Tiu, Professor Ichiro Araki and Professor Jaime Jimenez shared their views.
We also had a tour to Subic Bay for an overnight trip together with the students from UST.
During our trip to Subic Bay we had an opportunity to visit the Office of the Philippines Retirement
Authority and we saw the living conditions of some Japanese people with whom we had a chance tomeet and talk to. On the way back to Manila, our group visited the Philippines Rice Research Institute.
The institute helps the country attain rice self-sufficiency by increasing the productivity and profitabilityof rice farmers in a sustainable and competitive manner. The Philippines Rice Research Institute also has
been endeavouring to reduce the incidence of poverty and malnutrition by directing its efforts inincreasing the income of rice and rice-based farming households by developing technologies, systems
and services to improve rice quality and production
with reduced costs. After that, our group went toPampanga and observed the current project, thePinatubo Hazard Urgent Mitigation Project under the
Department of Public Works and Highways.
We had the opportunity to be greeted andwelcomed by representatives of such public bodies as
the National Economic and Development Authority,107

DFA, SC, DOH, and DTI of the Philippines.
We had an opportunity to attend lecturesand gained an overview of the activities of ADB,
UNDP, JICA and DAWN. In each department andinternational organisation our group could feel abenevolent atmosphere, and a desire to give us
completeinformation

andathoroughunderstanding.
From the Study Trip “In Quest for a Sustainable,
Prosperous and Peaceful World” our group gained
experience with international organisations, public offices and NGOs. It has helped us to gain expertisein both interviews and seminars.
The study visit to the Philippines has been very productive in terms of essential skills andknowledge in cross-cultural understanding, teamwork, sharing experiences and emphasising theimportance of the international experience we gained during our visits to different places.
____________________________Tun Tun Aung
The JL 462 landed at Narita Airport in the evening of 29th January. After collecting our baggage,
the professors and students left the airport inseparated groups. I felt the weather was colder than
before we departed for Manila. Actually, thetemperature in Japan was almost the same
compared to when we left. I felt a bit chilly
because I had just come back from a tropicalcountry with a temperature around 30℃. On theway home, I recalled the memories from the trip. I
thought about the things we did together, thelectures and presentations we listened to, and the108enjoyable experiences throughout the trip. In my
opinion, the field trip to the Philippines was
educational, enjoyable, and socially fruitful.
To begin with, the trip to the Philippines was
significantly educational. The main purpose of the trip
was to enhance our knowledge of sustainable
development.

Welearntdevelopment

effortspresentations.

The

many

through

informative

thingsabout

lectures

and

talks

the

and

presentations by well-informed professors, government officials and experts contained rich informationon the subject. We also studied by witnessing the actual situation in the country, where we saw a very
wide gap between rich and poor. The conversations with professionals and experts in the field ofdevelopment were also very productive. For instance, we had a very fruitful discussion over lunch withexperts from ADB. Therefore, the trip to the Philippines was one of the best educational experiences in
my YNU student life.
The trip was also productive in term of social interactions. Firstly, we were able to establish afriendly relationship with local people, and we made newacquaintances from the agencies visited in the country. We
still maintain contact by exchanging emails or on Facebook.
In addition, the social relationship between participants was
further strengthened on the trip. We occasionally had
conversations with the professors in the trip, and also learnt a
lot from them. We also spent more time with our classmates,
who came from diverse backgrounds, and from friendly chats we came to understood each other more.
The field trip was thus also fruitful in term of social interaction not only with local people but also
amongst participants.
Last but not least, the enjoyment we had was unforgettable. We visited a variety of interesting
places such as Zoobic Safari, where we found a diversity of animals, especially tigers in all sizes. The
visit to Fort Santiago was another thrilling experience, and we also enjoyed tropical fruits and delicious
local dishes. The Philippines has many tropical fruits that are not usually available in Japan. We spent109

many evenings together having conversations and eating the delicious foods. Our free time was also
pleasurable. There was a swimming pool with a tremendous view on the roof of the hotel we stayed at. It
was truly delightful spending some of our free time swimming and relaxing in the pool, thoughobviously we all had enjoyable moments during the field trip.
To sum up, the trip was one of my best experiences I have ever had. We have learnt a lot fromthe presentations by experts and officials involved in the development area in the Philippines. Besides
the study, we were able to establish a constructive social relationship throughout the trip with the local
people and further strengthened the existing friendships amongst the participants as well. Moreover, theenjoyment we all had throughout the trip will certainly be an everlasting memory. When I recalled thememories of the field trip, I could only think of all the great experiences we had together.
____________________________

Ray Wa Thar
Philippines Trip 2011 wasso wonderful that I cannot find theproper words to express its value
correctly.
The trip to the Philippines
provided

me

and

all

the

participants with an abundance ofknowledge. Since the theme of thistrip was to focus on sustainable
development, our students group had an opportunity to learn about development measures in thiscountry. We attended seminars and listened to presentations at several agencies and organisations likethe Asia Development Bank, National Economic Development Authority, United Nations Development
Program, Department of Foreign Affairs and Supreme Court etc. Through these activities, I understood
more about the efforts of the Philippines’ Government for their country and their people. We also visited
rural areas of the Philippines and saw projects being undertaken by local and international NGOs. The

110

projects are really supportive for the development of the Philippines. It was a trip through which one
could get a lot of ideas that can be applied in the development efforts of one’s own country.
The visit to the Development Action for Women Network (DAWN) was also an unforgettable
experience. I still remember the sweet smiles and hospitality of the people from DAWN. DAWN is a
non-government development organisation established on February 6 1996, which assists Filipino
women migrants in Japan and their Japanese-Filipino children in the promotion and protection of their
human rights and welfare. We found it very interesting to see the self-empowerment project for women.
That project consisted of three component activities, namely, sewing, handloom weaving and tie-dyeing.
On the visit, we witnessed the real lives of migrant women and their children. We had conversations
with them, and learnt how they cope with their lives and raise their children.
The social interaction between theparticipating

students

andprofessors

wasanother good experience. Since the student
group

was

composedoffour

different

nationalities we were able to learn different
cultural and traditional practices from each otherthroughout the trip. As a result, the friendshipamong the participants was enhanced, and evenbecame stronger than before. We all hoped that
this friendship will last forever. The UST
students who were involved in our study trip showed great hospitality. We established a good
relationship with these students as well as the local Filipinos. Moreover, the professors who
accompanied us on the trip showed care and kindness toward the students. I am very much thankful for
their kindness and their smiling faces. These made all of us feel more confident and encouraged us
throughout the trip.
Therefore, in my opinion the trip was really fruitful not only for the Japanese students but also
for the students from developing countries like us. The trip provided an excellent opportunity forstudents to learn about the development efforts of a country. Now we understand more about thedevelopment measures being undertaken by our neighbouring country, the Philippines. In addition, thetrip also promoted friendship among fellow students, and with the local Filipinos. I look forward tousing the experiences and knowledge acquired during the trip in the development efforts of my country.
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VIII.

Agencies and Organisations Visited

Organisation

Address

Contact Persons

Telephone/ EmailMs. Yumi Otsuki+63 2 332 8415

Salt Payatas

Unit 211 PM Apartment,

Foundation Philippines

24 Matalino St., Diliman,Inc.

Quezon City, 1101.

Asian Development

6 ADB Ave., Mandaluyong

BankCity, 1550.

National Economic and

12 Saint Josemaria Escriva

Ms. Aurora Collantes+63 2 631 2165

Development Authority Dr., Ortigas Center, Pasig

Ms. Rachelle Cerera

ATCollantes@neda.gov.phcontact@salt.or.tv

Mr. Tsuka Maekawa

tmaekawa@adb.org

City, 1605.
United Nations

30th Floor, Yuchengo

Development Program

Tower, RCBC Plaza. 6819

+63 2 632 5875

RCCerera@neda.gov.phMr. Danton R. Remoto+63 2 901 0239
danton.remoto@undp.org

Ayala Ave., Makati City,
1226.
Japan International

40th Floor, Yuchengo

Cooperation Agency

Tower, RCBC Plaza. 6819

Ms. Judie Anne

+63 2 889 7119
pp_oso_rep@jica.go.jp

Ayala Ave., Makati City,
1226.
Department of Foreign

2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay

Ms. Rhodora Joaquin +63 2 834 4000

Affairs

City, 1330.

Mr. Jay Alcantara

rhodora.joqaquin@gmail.com
jfa.dfa@gmail.com

The Supreme Court of

New Supreme Court

Ms. Sheena Mae+63 2 522 5090

the Philippines

Building Annex, Padre St.,

Tengson Dagum

eenatdagum@gmail.com

San Lazaro Compound,

Ms. Nobuko Yamagishi+63 2 889 7119

Tayuman, Sta. Cruz, 1003.

(Public Health(JICA Philippines)

Ermita, 1000.
Department of Health

Coordinator, JICA)

113

Department of Trade

375 Sen. Gil J Puyat Ave.,and Industry

Makati City, 1226.

Development Action

Room 514, Don Santiago

for Women Network

Building. 1344 Taft Ave.,

Mr. Jeremiah Jimenez+63 2 895 3993
jayjimenez@dti.gov.ph

Ms. Carmelita Niqui+63 2 526 9098
dawnphil@i-next.net

Ermita, 1000.
Philippine Rice

PhilRice Barangay,

Research Institute

Maligaya, Science City of

Ms. Teodora Briones+63 44 456 5389/ 0722

Muñoz, Nueva Ecjia, 3119.
Philippine Retirement

2/F DTI Region 3 Office,

Mr. Carlo Ponti T.

+63 918 448 0102

Authority

Angeles Business Center,

Zialcita

carloponti_zialcita@yahoo.com

Engr. Isabelita Manalo+63 45 255 2877

Teresa St., Nepomart
Complex, Angeles City,
Pampanga
Pinatubo Hazard

Department of Public

Urgent Mitigation

Works and Highway,

Project OfficePampanga, Sindalan, San
Fernando City, Pampanga.

114