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A newly-released book by the global publisher Springer looks at global trends on what is called the ‘Circular Economy’ – this being ‘a model of production and consumption which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible.’ A chapter on the Philippines is featured here.

Co-authored by RCSSED Academic Researcher Dr. Arlen Ancheta and her colleagues from the Philippines and India. Book can be found here: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-16-0913-8…

Countries and their labor markets engage in measures to move forward from the debilitating impacts of the running COVID-19 pandemic. Migrant-origin country Philippines has felt the impact of the return migrations of her migrant workers, who may now want to return to their overseas jobs or go to new destination countries. Yet migrant-destination countries continue to contain SARS-CoV-2 given the emergence of new variants. These containment measures stun the recovery of these labor markets for migrant workers. This policy paper illustrates the cases of three migration corridors on how they respond to current levels of viral transmission, and try to re-open their labor markets to migrant workers. The cases illustrate ad hoc measures that have left destination countries stuck in continually containing the virus, thus rendering their labor markets feeble. If countries want to relaunch their economies, this aspiration may require bilateral, regional and multilateral approaches to protect human capital and meet shared labor needs beside this pandemic.

–published in an “International Migration Report” with the theme migrant workers and labor markets during the pandemic. This IMR was freshly released by the Centro Studi Emigrazione Roma (Italy) and the Scalabrini International Migration Network in Europe-Africa Region –both run by the Missionaries of St. Charles – Scalabrinians.

by former research center director Dr. Alvin P. Ang and RCSSED research associate Jeremaiah Opiniano

This study examined the effects that time and community assistance (in the form of donations) had on accrued recoveries from the novel coronavirus. This study examined donation transaction data from a community-based national virtual donation platform in conjunction with government released figures on populations and COVID-19 cases in the Philippines. Findings from a Generalized Linear Model showed that at a 0.001 level of significance, the passage of time affected accrued recoveries by about 14 (13.23) daily, while cumulative individual donations improved recoveries by about 2 (1.69) people. A series of simulations that visualized the effects of time and donations on recoveries evidenced that accrued recoveries were accelerated by donations. Results from the analysis generated a series of recommendations based on Resource-Advantage Theory, along with Disaster Management Theory as applied to supply-chains. The first recommendation was to allow broader access to the platform as an information exchange. An expansion of the crowdsourcing features on the platform was a second recommendation. A third recommendation was establishing a relief distribution network prior to the next disaster.

–published in the Journal of Computational Innovation and Analytics (Universiti Utara Malaysia), https://doi.org/10.32890/jcia2022.1.1.5

Bond markets have grown mature in many countries; however, the quality of financial integration varies across ASEAN economies. In the case of bond markets in the ASEAN +3, they experienced fast development; however, they are still less integrated. This study attempts to examine the ramifications of the ASEAN bond market integration and past crises to the Philippines’ inflation, credit, and growth and identify what impedes the development of the bond market for the period of 1992 to 2017. The study also aims to have a more in-depth analysis on preventing rises from happening and controlling both credit expansions and inflationary pressures. The Ordinary Least Square method (OLS) was used to examine the relationship of inflation, credit, bond market index, real interest rate, and integration to the Philippines’ growth. This led to this paper providing empirical insights that credit has a significant positive relationship with GDP growth; while, inflation has a significant negative relationship with GDP growth. However, the bond market index and integration showed insignificant negative results. This study provides possible reasons for the said conclusion and suggests ways not only to develop and grow the debt market in the Philippines but also to sustain long-run economic stability and growth to become on par with other ASEAN economies.

–published in the Journal of Economics, Finance and Accounting Studies. https://al-kindipublisher.com/ind…/jefas/article/view/2614

by RCSSED Research Associate Dr. Ronaldo Cabauatan and colleagues

Dr. Veronico Tarrayo presented his paper “Navigating the gender dimensions in English language teaching: Perceptions of senior high school teachers in the Philippine”s at the 41st Thailand TESOL International Virtual Conference (January 21-22). Dr. Tarrayo is a research associate of the Center.

Information dissemination on tuberculosis (TB) still hinders the community due to inadequate resources and knowledge provided by healthcare facilities. Literature suggested that health education and awareness might help empower the community for different aspects of disease management by connecting people with the right treatment at the right time. This study aims to identify the general feasibility of information dissemination through an information education campaign (IEC) among the caregivers of children living with TB. Informal community-dwelling settlements in Metro Manila served as the study sites. Printed materials like comics and calendars were developed based on the caregiver’s judgement, knowledge and practices. These were distributed in the three informal settlements. A video was also developed based on the comics, which were shown to the caregivers and mothers of children living with tuberculosis. Thematic analysis findings reveal that a majority of caregivers were confident in using calendars as a tool to guide medication intake for their children. Knowledge of TB was enhanced through IEC materials according to the common narratives of the caregivers. Comics were preferred over the video due to their accessibility of use.

–This policy-oriented action research was published in the publication ‘Compendium of Analytical Views for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community 2025.’ This publication was released by the ASEAN Secretariat (https://asean.org/…/06-Compendium-of-Analytical-Views…).

by RCSSED Research Associates Prof. Jay Jazul, Maria Carinnes Alejandria and their colleagues.