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FF2023-34: 2022 Gross Regional Domestic Product
Growth of the economy at the national level, represented by the 7.6% year-on-year (YoY) growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, continued to translate to the regional level as the gross regional domestic products (GRDPs) of all 17 regions registered growth in 2022. -
PB2023-02: Underscoring the Mental Health Agenda in the Philippines
This paper aims to refocus attention on the mental health agenda, emphasizing the continued inadequacy in addressing the issue despite the issuance of the National Mental Health Policy in 2001 and the enactment of the Mental Health Act in 2018. It examines the current mental health situation, considers the initiatives undertaken by the Department of Health, identifies the issues and challenges confronting the mental health sector, and provides an overview of existing legislative proposals. The paper reveals that the country’s mental health situation, exacerbated by the pandemic, has not gained sufficient priority and attention even with its evident decline. The scenario was already worrisome pre-Covid 19, and then more so after. Social stigma, high treatment cost, limited primary care, low public spending on the sector, and lack of a national registry of cases present further complications. To underscore the mental health agenda, key recommendations include the passage of a telemedicine law, increased visibility for the Philippine Mental Health Council, reassessment of mental health integration in the education system, democratization of mental health service access through PhilHealth, and greater representation in the budgetary allocations, among other measures. -
FF2023-33: Profile of Philippine External Debt, 2019 to 2022
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) defines external debt (EDT) as the “amount of actual current, and not contingent liabilities, that require payment(s) of interest and/or principal by the debtor in the future and that are owed by Philippine residents to non-residents.” The reporting framework currently used by the BSP is in line with international standards, and in accordance with the International Monetary Fund’s latest External Debt Statistics (2014) and Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (6th edition) (BSP, 2022). -
CPBRD EVENT: INSTITUTIONALIZING THE PHILIPPINES' NATIONAL SINGLE WINDOW SYSTEM
The knowledge-sharing session emanated from the mutual recognition of the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) and its partners, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) of the importance of the National Single Window (NSW) system as a trade facilitation measure that simplifies, streamlines, harmonizes and automates trade processes. -
PB2023-01: An Empirical Analysis of the Factors Affecting Real Property Tax Collection in the Philippine Cities
Real property tax or RPT provides the most stable own-source revenue for local governments and an important resource to improve service delivery and finance infrastructure projects (ADB, 2017). However, data shows that this source of income for local governments has not been fully maximized. The Department of Finance (2019) reported that local governments are losing P30.5 billion in revenues to outdated real property valuation alone. In particular, cities could have collected as much as P23.1 billion in incremental revenues from real property taxes had their schedule of market values (SMVs) been updated and in sync with international standards.
