Built on Dreams, Grounded in Reality: Economic Policy in the Philippines

That “politics matters” in development is canonical.  The challenge for development agencies and practitioners is how to incorporate this murky, complex, non-technical reality.  Based on case studies of seven major Philippine economic policy issues, a new book seeks to contribute to our understanding of how international and local organizations structure projects and implement activities to achieve transformative development outcomes.

The book recounts the political battles of five highly regarded reforms: introducing competition and liberalization in sea transport, civil aviation, and telecommunications; instituting the privatization of water service in the capital city; and passing a property rights law creating faster and more efficient titling of untitled residential lands.  The book also documents two long-running reform efforts to address enduring challenges: improving tax administration and reforming the National Food Authority, a government corporation responsible for the stability of supply and price of rice, the staple of the Philippine diet. 

Based on the case studies, the book presents an operational approach, called development entrepreneurship, that combines the technical and political dimensions of reform.  The book also features a foreword by noted development author, Dr. Adrian Leftwich.  

The book was published by The Asia Foundation with support from United States Agency for Internatonal Development and AusAID.