Against the backdrop of the global financial crisis and rising food, fuel, and commodity prices, addressing poverty and inequality in the Philippines remains a challenge. The proportion of households living below the official poverty line has declined slowly and unevenly in the past four decades, and poverty reduction has been much slower than in neighboring countries such as the People's Republic of China, Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Economic growth has gone through boom and bust cycles, and recent episodes of moderate economic expansion have had limited impact on the poor. Great inequality across income brackets, regions, and sectors, as well as unmanaged population growth, are considered some of the key factors constraining poverty reduction efforts. This publication analyzes the causes of poverty and recommends ways to accelerate poverty reduction and achieve more inclusive growth. it also provides an overview of current government responses, strategies, and achievements in the fight against poverty and identifies and prioritizes future needs and interventions. The analysis is based on current literature and the latest available data, including the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey.

Cumulative author index in final number of each volume.

This book presents the protracted right to self-determination conflict between the Philippine state and the Bangsamoro group in Mindanao, Philippines. In the five decades of attempts to achieve peace, a key element is the Bangsamoros’ search for a kind of development that is compatible with their aspirations for freedom and their future. This book presents a study of the Bangsamoro communities and their social constructions of conflict, peace and development. It examines the viability of the sustainable human development framework for application in their challenging realities. The usefulness of the sustainable human development framework lies not only in its use of human development parameters like the Human Development Index. It also provides an approach towards development that synergizes with the sustainable peace framework – an imperative for Mindanao. At the centre of this approach is the Participatory Rural Appraisal and Participatory Learning and Action methodology for eliciting responses, stimulating discussion, documenting verbal and non-verbal ideas and carrying out small-scale projects to demonstrate community participation. The book concludes with two main points: that (a) both sustainable human development and peacebuilding are mutually reinforcing frameworks aimed at achieving the same human development goals, and (b) the pursuit of the right to self-determination is enhanced, as both frameworks are combined to provide a context for the attainment of peace in Mindanao.