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Statement of the Philippines at the 59th Session of the Commission for Social Development

Posted on by NEDA Governance Staff, Subcommittee on SDGs Secretariat

STATEMENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

59th Session of the Commission for Social Development (Virtual Meeting)
Theme: “Socially just transition towards sustainable development: the role of digital technologies on social development and well-being of all”

11 February 2021

HON. ROSEMARIE G. EDILLON

Undersecretary for Policy and Planning

National Economic and Development Authority

Chair, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, all protocols observed as I greet you good morning from the Philippines.

That I am able to address you today, from the Philippines, amid the COVID19 pandemic is testament to the important role of digital technology.  And such innovation should be shared, in keeping with our commitment to prosperity but sustainable development and inclusivity: Leave no one behind.

The COVID19 pandemic has radically changed the way we live.  Work and learning environments had to be transformed, mainly because there cannot be many people inside a closed space.  And we had to rely on digital technology, whenever and wherever possible.

A study conducted by the World Bank in the Philippines entitled “Philippines Digital Economy Report 2020 : A Better Normal Under COVID-19 – Digitalizing the Philippine Economy Now”[1], observes that “the use of digital technologies such as digital payments, e-commerce, telemedicine, and online education, is rising in the Philippines and has helped individuals, businesses, and the government cope with social distancing measures, ensure business continuity, and deliver public services during the pandemic.”

The new challenge now is to expand the adoption of digital technology.  The same WB study suggests how this can be done:

  1. Governments should lead as examples

A number of business to government, public to government transactions and vice-versa have been migrated to online platforms.  Initially, it was a way of ensuring service continuity amid the pandemic.  Later on, other advantages became apparent; not the least of which is to avoid having crowds and long queues in government offices.  Technology was also employed in the delivery of services, like in the delivery of health care. Led by the Department of Health (DOH)[2], telemedicine has been promoted to alleviate the surge and minimize the risks posed by unnecessary traffic in hospitals. Hotlines and websites were set up and private service providers were tapped to extend free medical consultation services.  Telemedicine is also seen as an enabler for patient referral systems.

  1. Provide the enabling environment

The massive rollout of digital infrastructure, ensuring its quality and affordability require more than just the availability of finance. In the case of the Philippines, this was primarily hindered by the lack of market competition among service providers, as well as policies that hinder the fast rollout of new infrastructures and investments. These are urgently being addressed and along with ensuring a business climate that is conducive to investments, innovation and competition.

  1. Democratize access

The digital divide is real and has been amplified by the pandemic.  We have seen that while everyone had to bear the adverse consequences of COVID19, some were less able to protect themselves against its ill-health effects.  Some were at greater risk of infection because their work could not be done remotely.  Others had to stop working altogether, because their customer base is in high-interaction environments. Distance learning has become the primary mode of delivering instructions, but others could not attend classes. In fact, resilience depended on access and ability to use digital technology.

In the Philippines, government has been accelerating the implementation of the National Broadband Plan.[3] It aims to lay the backbone of connectivity network across the country through the deployment of fiber optic cables and wireless technologies, thereby, improving Internet speed and affordability.  This will also enable more public spaces with free Wi-Fi access.

Equally important are the hardware and software to complement the infrastructure.  And here is where we call on developed countries and tech companies to make apps, software and especially learning apps widely available and accessible.  These should cover a wide spectrum, from content-heavy subjects to technology and vocational education.  Currently, we pay a steep subscription fee for these learning apps, and therefore, access has been limited.

Finally, we also need to develop the necessary human capital that can build on digital technology.  And this brings me back to our plea to making the necessary hardware and software affordable and accessible.  Let us increase the pool of thinkers, scientists and, especially, innovators as we need to always come up with solutions to new problems.

Chair,

We firmly believe that we can work together so that digital technology can be a catalyst towards strengthening the ties within and among our nations, and finally bring us towards recovery, resiliency, and sustainability to realize not just a “new”, but a “better normal” for all.

Thank you.

[1] https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/10/05/harnessing-digital-technologies-can-help-philippines-overcome-impact-of-pandemic-hasten-recovery

[2] https://doh.gov.ph/node/20343

[3] https://dict.gov.ph/programs-projects/

Intervention by the Philippines at the Ministerial Forum on “Promoting multilateralism to realize inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development and its social dimensions”

Posted on by NEDA Governance Staff, Subcommittee on SDGs Secretariat

Ministerial Forum on “Promoting multilateralism to realize inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development and its social dimensions”

59th Session of the Commission for Social Development (Virtual Meeting)

9 February 2021

ROSEMARIE G. EDILLON

Undersecretary for National Development Policy and Planning

Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, good morning from the Philippines.

In attending this virtual meeting, we are reminded of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in our lives. Indeed, we live in a VUCA world. We knew this from way back, yet this pandemic has shown just how unprepared we were to this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous situation.

Engaging stakeholders, Building coalitions

On the other hand, this experience has shown how we can navigate through a VUCA world.  In the Philippines, we have adopted a whole-of society approach, even going beyond our borders, early on.

The World Health Organization helped us to better understand the dynamics of COVID19 transmission and how we could protect our citizens from its lethal effects.  We even reached out to development planners from our neighboring countries to find out how they are coping with the crisis.

We had to enlist the cooperation of everyone as we restricted mobility, social and economic activities, and observe public health measures.  National and local governments provided financial assistance, wage subsidies and regulatory relief to families, workers and small businesses.  We engaged the academe, and research institutions to provide timely information through data analytics on the COVID19 epidemiology and the impact of the quarantine restrictions. We have called on the business sector to catalyze investments towards healthcare, COVID-proofing of establishments, safe transportation, and digital transformation. Currently, we are building partnerships for vaccine procurement and the necessary logistics and facilities in preparation for COVID-19 immunization.

Equally important is the role of multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to help finance various initiatives – from increasing PPE supply, procuring test kits, and supporting adversely affected families.  And at this critical phase, we laud the WHO and the European Commission for its support to the Philippines and other countries through the COVAX facility. The facility has brought together governments, global organizations, manufacturers, scientists, private sector, and philanthropists in order to provide equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines.

The next big challenge is for multilateralism to work towards building the resilience of every individual, in every family and in every country.

The pandemic has resulted in tremendous social and economic costs for everyone.  But we have also seen the great inequality in the extent to which some peoples are able to protect themselves from the ill-health effects of COVID19.  Some were at greater risk of infection because their work could not be done remotely.  Others had to stop working altogether, because their customer base is in high-interaction environments. Distance learning has become the primary mode of delivering instructions, but others did not have access to the necessary digital technology and therefore could not attend classes.

As we begin the 10-year countdown to 2030, we face the grim reality that the COVID19 pandemic has resulted in a major setback.  We may not achieve the goals we have set as a community of nations, unless we all re-commit to making multilateralism and partnerships work.  We need to re-affirm our resolve to leave no one behind, beginning with ensuring equity in access to vaccines and medicines.  Being a globalized world, the health and well-being of everyone depends on everyone else.  We also need to improve access to information, knowledge, technology and development finance.  And finally, we need to harness all our creative and innovative minds to recover from this crisis and build resilience going forward.

We should, as one humanity, embrace this challenge of a VUCA world.

Thank you.

Intervention by the Philippines on “Consideration of the draft Asia-Pacific indicator framework for monitoring progress towards the implementation of the Programme of Action (PoA) of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and of the commitments contained in the Asian and Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population and Development (APMD)”

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Philippine Intervention on Agenda Item 3: Consideration of the draft Asia-Pacific indicator framework for monitoring progress towards the implementation of the Programme of Action (PoA) of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and of the commitments contained in the Asian and Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population and Development (APMD)

ESCAP Committee on Social Development, Sixth Session (Virtual Meeting)

Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH

Executive Director, Commission on Population and Development

 Madame Chair,

Recognizing the need to advance further the goals and objectives of the ICPD Programme of Action as a critical component of the 2030 Agenda, the Philippines endorses and supports the adoption and wide use of the Asia-Pacific indicator framework for monitoring progress towards the implementation of the Programme of Action and the commitments contained in the Asian and Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population and Development.  We affirm the relevance and importance of these indicators to guide initiatives in pursuing the ICPD agenda within the context of inclusive sustainable development.

Madame Chair,

 To ensure the alignment of our indicator system with the regional indicator framework, we just updated the Results Matrices (RMs) of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), which are substantially anchored on the SDG indicators.

More importantly, to ensure that these indicator frameworks are used efficiently and can effectively inform evidence-based planning and policymaking, we continue to enhance our statistical and database systems.  Currently, we are conducting our Census on Population and Housing to ensure updated demographic and socioeconomic data by early 2021.  To improve decision-making processes at the local level, we enacted the Community-Based Monitoring System Act which mandates all local government units to establish the CBMS or local database evidence-based development planning, program implementation and impact monitoring.

Our Government is committed to strengthen the capacity, foremost of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), and other national government agencies and academic institutions in generating, analyzing and disseminating reliable and disaggregated population data.  Greater investments are made for the conduct of various periodical surveys such as the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), the Labor Force Survey (LFS) and the National Migration Survey (NMS).

We continue to improve our administrative data collection such as the Field Health Service Information System (FHSIS) of the Department of Health (DOH), Civil Registration and Vital Statistic (CRVS), and other administrative database and information system at all levels.  We also have the Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), which is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are nationwide, and currently the system used for the selection of qualified household beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

Madame Chairperson,

 The Philippine Government is committed to champion the Asia-Pacific indicator framework.  We all recognize the impact of the pandemic that we are now facing, not only on the health and economic condition of our people, but also on their sexual and reproductive health and their ability to access much needed information and services in this regard.  Recent international and local studies have shown the serious impact of this pandemic on population processes and outcomes across vulnerable countries including the Philippines.  Without united and coordinated actions among various countries, this pandemic will definitely erode or reverse the gains that the Programme of Action has achieved over the long years of implementation.

Guided by this indicator framework, we will strive to protect the gains and advance the ICPD goals and objectives in the country. With a resilient economy, we shall continue to mobilize national and local institutions to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health information and services despite the restrictions imposed by community quarantines.

Thank you.