Joseph J. Capuno

Is Local Development Good Politics? Local Development Expenditures and the Re-Election of Governors in the Philippines in the 1990s

Abstract Are incumbent governors who put more weight on development spending likely to be re-elected? To answer this question, an economic model of a re-electionist local chief executive is introduced and validated with a panel data of provincial governors who ran for another term of office during the election years 1992, 1995 and 1998 in the Philippines. It is found that incumbent governors improve their re-election chances with higher spending on economic development services, other things being constant. Moreover, governors who are members of political clans also have higher development spending especially when faced with rival clans. Thus, elections are still an effective disciplining device, more especially when rivalry is intense among political clans. The policy implication then is to enhance political competition rather than just ban political dynasties to improve the performance of elected officials under decentralization.

Views and Values on Family among Filipinos: An Empirical Exploration

Abstract The Filipino family provides an interesting study because familism is embedded in its social sphere, translating its relational quality outside the family. Being family-centred, child-centric, having close ties, and a large family size (Medina, 2001; Miralao, 1994) are some basic elements of families in the Philippines. Applying regression on the data from the World Values Survey for the Philippines in 1996 and 2001, this study aims to explore the correlates of views on family values among Filipinos, specifically those concerning the traditional nuclear family set-up, the woman’s roles within family, and the reciprocal relationship of the parent and child. While the results show that Filipinos generally share family values, especially on those related to child rearing for both parents, and child-bearing, there are indications that such views also differ across educational attainment, geographic location, social class, and ethnic groups. Disparities in views could be reflecting shifting family values, which could then help explain current polarising policy debates on issues on the reproductive health, divorce, and migration.

Incumbents and Innovations under Decentralization: An Empirical Exploration of Selected Local Governments in the Philippines

Abstract Like in other developing countries, many local governments in the Philippines have become innovative under decentralization. We investigate here the drivers of local innovations, with focus on quality of incumbent leaders, their political incentives and fiscal resources. We applied Poisson regressions on a survey data comprising 209 innovations introduced in 48 cities and municipalities during the period June 2004–June 2008. The statistically significant factors are the mayors competence (age, educational attainment), re-election status and term in office. Innovations appear to increase with local fiscal resources but at decreasing rate. Access to information appears not to matter much. However, these factors, including poverty rates, vary in relative importance in explaining innovations in expenditure services, and in revenue and public administration services. Some policy inputs are suggested.

Can Information about Local Government Performance Induce Civic Participation? Evidence from the Philippines

Abstract The question of whether people are motivated to engage in civic activities once informed of their local governments performance is relevant to many developing countries that adopted decentralisation. Applying propensity score matching technique on a unique household-level dataset from the Philippines, it is found that the knowledge of an index of local government performance has positive and statistically significant effects on the likelihood of membership in local organisations and participation in local projects. Thus, the results support policies for greater transparency in local governance to deepen citizenship.

Do Piped Water and Flush Toilets Prevent Child Diarrhea in Rural Philippines

Similar to other developing countries, diarrhea in the Philippines continues to be among the top causes of child mortality and morbidity. In pursuit of its Millennium Development Goals, the Philippine government commits to reduce child deaths and provide water and sanitation services to more rural households by 2015. Applying propensity score matching on the 1993, 1998, 2003, and 2008 rounds of the National Demographic and Health Survey to estimate the average treatment effect on the treated, it is found that the incidence of diarrhea among under-5 children is lower by as much as 4.5% in households with access to piped water and 10% in those with their own flush toilets, relative to comparable households. These findings underscore the need to ensure the quality of drinking water from the pipe or from other improved sources at the point of use, and the provision of improved and own sanitation facilities.

Cooking and coughing: Estimating the effects of clean fuel for cooking on the respiratory health of children in the Philippines

ABSTRACT Household air pollution (HAP) arising from the use of solid fuels for cooking is known to have adverse health effects including acute respiratory infections in children, which remains a major public health concern in developing countries. Hence, various interventions to reduce HAP have been advocated or piloted in many countries. To provide additional evidence on the effectiveness and applicability of the interventions in various settings, we investigate the effects of clean fuel for cooking on the risks of respiratory illness of children below five years old in the Philippines. We apply the propensity score matching method on a subsample of households culled from the 2013 round of the National Demographic and Health Survey to account for the systematic differences in their characteristics that could influence their choices of cooking fuel. We find that the use of electricity, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas or biogas can lower by 2.4 percentage points the incidence of severe coughing with difficulty in breathing in young children. Our results support worldwide initiatives to promote the household use of clean fuels for cooking and heating to reduce HAP and its undesirable impacts on population health.

Public-Private Service Delivery Arrangements and Incentive Schemes in Developing Asia

In many countries, public agencies or private firms are gradually moving away from being exclusive providers of goods and services that traditionally were assigned to the state or markets, respectively. Instead, state agencies, both at the national and the local level, and private organizations, both for-profit firms and nongovernment organizations (NGOs), increasingly coordinate, collaborate, or partner to finance, produce, or provide public services. This paper attempts to identify the factors that account for the successes or failures of such public–private service delivery arrangements, with a focus on the role of monetary andnonmonetary incentives used in selected case studies in developing Asia. It finds that such arrangements are a viable service delivery mechanism where there is a state or market failure. While governments now increasingly enter into such partnerships, they appear to do so more with for-profit firms than with NGOs. A key lesson is to mobilize potential private sector partners, match the partner’s mission with the appropriate type or level of service provision, and then motivate them with the right incentives but also monitor them for performance accordingly.

Information, Incentives And Practice Patterns: The Case Of Tb Dots Services And Private Physicians In The Philippines

To explain divergent physician practices, studies focus on either differences in education and training or in financial incentives. The policy challenge is to identify the most cost-effective interventions to encourage adherence to practice guidelines. Utilizing private physician data in major cities in the Philippines, we show the effects of training and financial incentives in physician adoption of the TB DOTS protocol. Training seems to be more important when the new protocol is a significant departure from the old know-how, while financial incentives seem to work better on those who are already clinically competent. These imply that uniform application of information-based and incentive-based interventions may not be cost-effective.

Awareness of health insurance benefits in the Philippines : what do people know and how?

In recent years, the Philippines has seen a rapid expansion of health insurance coverage, especially among the poor. In particular, the implementation of the 2012 Sin Tax Law, which increased tobacco and alcohol excise tax and earmarked most of the incremental revenues for PhilHealth premium subsidies for indigent households, contributed to an increase in the number of families receiving government-subsidized health insurance from 5.2 million to 15.3 million poor families and senior citizens between 2012 and 2015. This paper assesses how people who are eligible for government-subsidized (free) health insurance through Philippines Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) find out about their eligibility and their benefits, and also how well people know the PhilHealth benefits.

Expansion of health insurance in the Philippines : evidence from panel data

In December 2012, the government of the Philippines passed the Sin Tax Law (RA 10351) which restructured and raised tobacco and alcohol taxes, while earmarking 85 percent of the incremental revenues for health. Of this 85 percent, 80 percent was intended to be used to provide free health insurance for poor and near-poor families through the National Health Insurance Program managed by PhilHealth, programs intended to speed progress of the health Millennium Development Goals, and programs to promote health awareness. The remaining 20 percent augments the financing of the Medical Assistance Program of the Department of Health (DOH), which is a hospital-based fund (in the name of mayors, congressmen, and DOH officials) that can be used at the discretion of the facility to cover the medical costs of those who cannot afford to pay, and also the DOH’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program which allows the DOH to supplement the local governments’ investments in health facilities. This reform was important from a health financing perspective.In November 2014, free health insurance coverage was also extended to the elderly. This paper assesses the extent to which the automatic enrollment of a large number of poor and elderly people into health insurance programs, as a result of the Sin Tax Law, has been associated with an increase in self-reported health insurance coverage, especially among the poorest quintiles and households living below the poverty line.