J.E. Langomez

The executive institutions in the Philippines have development plans that usually become the backbone of the policy of the executive administration.

This is the same with the administration of Benigno Aquino III (PNoy), whose development plan consists of the Philippine Development Plan of 2011 – 2016 (PDP). But before a development plan is implemented, it first goes – in theory – into a thorough process of study and assessment before it is approved by the administration for implementation. This is where the study of the paper is aimed at; the paper is focused on the socio-economic planning system of the Philippine government, giving emphasis on the step-by-step process of how development plans are made in the Philippines from the National to Local levels.

The Philippines is said to have one of the slowest internet speeds not just in Southeast Asia, but also in the world. Through this, the Philippine Government under the Duterte Administration has mulled to revive the National Broadband Network (NBN) proposal that was conceptualized in the mid-2000s from the previous Arroyo Administration. However, the costs alone of financing the NBN may be considered cost-prohibitive, which may give the Duterte Administration no choice but to partner with big companies that have already cornered the broadband market. Such cost-prohibitive nature in terms of broadband servicing has limited internet servicing to only large corporations, leading to the creation of oligopolies where Filipino consumers are forced to tolerate slow broadband speeds and horrible customer service. This study argues that a public option for broadband can still be enacted via two means: a.) adopting the Municipal Broadband model present in several American cities where public access to broadband is guaranteed, and b.) for the Municipal Broadband model to utilize Mesh Network technology in order to provide cost-effective and universal internet access to consumers. Thus, this paper will be comparing the NBN proposal vis-à-vis the Municipal Broadband model in terms of technology, cost, consumer welfare, and social output. It will conclude with the argument that the study's proposed alternative is more advantageous for the Filipino consumer towards digitalizing the country free from oligopolies.

The question on federalism has reentered in mainstream politics due to the popular rise and election of President Rodrigo Duterte in the 2016 elections. One of the more famous models of federalism that's currently being mainstreamed by the president's political allies is centered on Senator Pimentel's federal-presidential form of government. However, viewpoints on establishing a federal-presidential form of government have been limited in the purview of political-institutional narratives, of which issues on federalism's impact on the environment is - if at all - rarely discussed. This creates a cause for political concern, as the Philippines is currently recognized by the United Nations as one of the most vulnerable countries in terms of climate change. This also begs the question on how a federal-presidential form of government in the Philippines will maintain its environmental policies with respect to Senator Pimentel’s prescription of autonomous state authority over environmental issues, and how this will deal with the scope of environment and climate change concerns which transcend local and even national areas. With that said, literature concerning on "Environmental Federalism" have been developed by several scholars abroad, of which many of these written studies are concentrated on best practices of India's merging of its shared federal authority (delineation of authority within India between central and state governments) and environmental policy. Considering these points, it is in the interest of this study to endeavor into a contextualization of Senator Pimentel's federal-presidential model, under current Philippine environmental conditions, using the lens of Environmental Federalism. From here, Environmental Federalism will also be utilized as a theoretical and comparative critique of Senator Pimentel's federal-presidential model vis-a-vis India's federal government set up. The aim of this study, therefore, is to understand the viability of a federal-presidential system in the context of urgent Philippine environmental and climate change issues, while looking at best practices from India in terms of its inclusion of environmental policy with respect to its federal set up.

House Bill No. 6078 seeks to revise Executive Order No. 209, otherwise known as the Family Code of the Philippines which will allow same-sex partners to be married under the law of the Republic of the Philippines. The particular articles to be amended in the Family Code are Articles 14, 96, 124, 211, and 225.

In international relations, “there are no permanent friends, just permanent interests”; and there are also epistemic communities which play an integral role in the pursuits of these interests. These interests are rallied to the government, and wherein the latter reconsiders in the formulation of its state policies. Having said these, it is thus asserted that epistemic communities are greatly influential; perhaps the driving force of the changes in the society and the world stage; but do they really help? And if they do, is it really for the common good?