Demand-driven evidence: The Philippine government in the driver’s seat

Since 2014, 3ie and the Philippines’ National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), with support from the Australian Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), have helped build capacity and demand among government departments for impact evaluations to inform decision-making on key policies and programs in the Philippines. As part of the program, we have supported evaluations of interventions implemented by the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and a series of judicial reforms undertaken by the Supreme Court.

Start Date: 18 February 2021 End Date: 18 February 2021

In this webinar on 18 February, we shared what worked and how such partnerships can amplify evidence-informed decision-making, focussing primarily on evaluation of livelihood programs.

Agenda

Welcome and introduction
Marie Gaarder, Executive Director, 3ie
Keynote address
Steven J Robinson AO, Australian Ambassador to the Philippines

Presentations: Using evidence to improve policy and programming: Reflections from evaluations of livelihoods support programs in the Philippines

  • Presentation 1: Impact Evaluation of the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) by Emily Beam, Department of Economics, University of Vermont
  • Presentation 2: Impacts of the Sustainable Livelihood Program’s microenterprise assistance on poor households in the Philippines by Aniceto C. Orbeta, Senior Research Fellow, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

Panellists:

  • Aniceto C. Orbeta, Senior Research Fellow, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS)
  • Carlos Bernardo O. Abad Santos, Assistant Secretary, National Economic and Development Authority, (NEDA)
  • Dominique R. Tutay, Assistant Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)
  • Nassreena Sampaco-Baddiri, Country Director, IPA, Philippines
  • Rhea B. Penaflor, Assistant Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
  • Yoonyoung Cho, Senior Economist, The World Bank
  • Marie Gaarder, Executive Director, 3ie (Chair)

Speaker bios

Keynote address
Steven James Robinson AO, Australian Ambassador to the Philippines

Mr Robinson is a Deputy Secretary-level officer from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who presented his credentials to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on 15 January 2019. Over his extensive career, Mr Robinson has developed and expanded Australia’s relationships with a broad range of countries, with a particular focus on the South East Asian region. He has served in Australia’s embassies in Jakarta, Yangon and Bangkok and has held a range of senior positions in Canberra across operational and corporate areas.

Dominique Rubia-Tutay, Assistant Secretary, Employment and General Administration Cluster, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)

Dominique Rubia-Tutay is the concurrent Director of the Bureau of Local Employment. She finished her Master of Development Planning Degree at the University of Queensland (UQ); Australia, Master of Arts Degree, Major in Development Education at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, and Bachelor of Mass Communications at Silliman University, Dumaguete City. She heads the Bureau responsible for promoting full and decent employment through policy and program development.

Rhea B. Penaflor, Assistant Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

Rhea Baladjay Penaflor is the assistant secretary for the Specialized Programs at DSWD. Prior to this, she was the Commissioner of the National Youth Commission. She has worked in several international and local government organizations over the last ten years, supporting their humanitarian, child rights, adolescent health, public health and development work. Her areas of expertise include public policy and governance, management and operations, program development, media and advocacy, stakeholder engagement and partnership building.  

Carlos Bernardo O. Abad Santos, Assistant Secretary, National Economic and Development Authority, (NEDA)

Carlos Bernardo O. Abad Santos is Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) of the Philippines. He was previously the Director of Governance Staff under the same office.  As Assistant Secretary, he has oversight and supervision on planning and policy formulation of the following Sector Staffs: (a) Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, (b) Governance, (c) Macro economy, (d) Social Development, and (e) Trade, Services and Industry. Before his appointment in NEDA on April 2014, Assistant Secretary Abad Santos has had 25-year experience in the area of rural development in both public and private sector.

Yoonyoung Cho, Senior Economist, the World Bank

Yoonyoung (Yoon) Cho is a Senior Economist at the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank. She has been working on issues related to labor markets and social protection in developing countries including skills, entrepreneurship, migration, and jobs as well as safety nets focusing on the poor and vulnerable. She has extensive experience in development work on several countries in multiple regions. She is currently leading the engagement associated with social protection and jobs programs in the Philippines.

Nassreena Sampaco-Baddiri, Country Director, Philippines, Philippines

Nassreena Sampaco-Baddiri holds a MA degree in Development Studies from the University of Manchester as well as a Masters in International Studies and BA in Political Science from the University of the Philippines. In 2013, she was chosen as one of DevEx Manila's 40 under 40 International Development Leaders and in 2014, she was named one of the United Kingdom's Education Ambassadors to the Philippines.

Dr. Aniceto C. Orbeta, Principal Investigator, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS)

Aniceto C. Orbeta Jr is senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. His research interests include education and labor market, impact evaluation, applied economic modelling, and information and communication technologies.

 

 

Marie Gaarder, Executive Director, 3ie (Chair)

Marie Gaarder is executive director of 3ie, leading the organization’s efforts to improve lives in low- and middle-income countries by supporting the generation and effective use of high quality and relevant evidence to inform decision-making. Gaarder has over 20 years of experience managing operational and research projects with a development focus. Her prior positions include manager in the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group, director of the evaluation department at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, and senior social development economist at the Inter-American Development Bank.

Emily Beam, Assistant Professor of Economics

Emily Beam is an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Vermont. She previously worked as a visiting assistant professor at the National University of Singapore. She received her Ph.D in economics and public policy from the University of Michigan in 2013 and her B.S. in economics, mathematics, and Spanish from the University of Michigan in 2006. Emily's research interests are in labor and development economics, with a particular focus on employment and education policy, migration, fertility and marriage, and the role of incomplete information and behavioral biases on individual decision-making