New Era University

College of Arts and Sciences

A Study on the Initiatives of the Arroyo Administration for Advancing

Efforts for Sustainable Development in Response to the Rio Summit of
1992

A Thesis Presented to the

Faculty of School of Arts and Sciences

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirement
For the Course FS-Research 2

By:
Angel May Anis
Krystal Cruz
Jerizza D. Nery
 CHAPTER 1

A. Background of the Study

The researcher conducts this study to assess the study on the

Initiatives of the Arroyo Administration for Advancing Efforts for
Sustainable Development in Response to the Rio Summit of 1992. It
aims to develop awareness of the historical background of the
development of the national strategy for sustainable development also
to recognize the various efforts exerted by government to pursue
sustainable development before, during and after the Earth Summit at
Rio de Janeiro to familiarize the reader with the strategies formulated
for the country’s sustainable development efforts and to study in detail
the national plan for sustainable development and also to increase
awareness and better understanding on the issues address including a
systematic scrutiny of patterns of productions – particularly the
productions of toxic components, such as lead in gasoline, or
poisonous waste including radioactive chemicals, also the alternative
sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels which are linked to
global climate change, and the new reliance on public transportations
systems in order reduce vehicle emissions, congestions in cities and
The health problems cause by polluted air and smog. And another
agreement was not carry out any activities on the lands of indigenous
peoples that would cause environmental degradation or that would be
culturally inappropriate. The Earth Summit resulted in documents such
as Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Agenda 21,
Convention on Biological Diversity Forest Principles, and Framework
Convention on Climate Change. Both Convention on Biological
Diversity and Framework Convention on Climate Change were set as
legally binding agreements.
The U. N Commission on Sustainable Development was then
established to coordinate the implementation of Agenda 21 and to
further develop the principles and practice of sustainable development.
From the Philippine perspective, sustainable development is not a
modern day concept. Many Filipino indigenous cultural groups have
been observing sustainable practices and principles as evident in their
traditions, beliefs and way of life. A number of factors, for instance,
years of foreign domination of the country, have significantly
influenced many of these practices eventually resulting in
unsustainable patterns of development. Hence, while sustainable
development derives meaning from the global discourse, it must be
rooted in the context of the Philippine reality and aspirations.
Numerous initiatives have been undertaken in the Philippines
which attempted to address the related political, cultural, social
demographic human institutional and environmental problems plaguing
Philippine society in addition, the intensive national and regional
consultations on the Philippine Agenda 21 provide a mechanism for
and represent a critical part of the achieving genuine consensus on
how sustainable development should be conceptualize and
implemented. Therefore, Philippine Agenda 21 builds on the outcomes
of and provides an integrating conceptual and operational framework
for this consultations and initiatives in sustainable development. It also
builds on the Philippines commitments to the various global
conference called to focus on social development, population and
development, women and urbanization, all of each are inter related
with sustainable development. The objective of this economic
development is the improvement of human welfare. There is greater
recognition that the environmental and natural resources are scarce
economic resources which can impose severe constraints to economic
development if the natural environment is used at higher than socially
optimal rates. The natural environment serves several functions: it
renders waste disposal services, serves as an input to production and
consumption activities, either directly or indirectly and offers amenity
services. Spatial and temporal externalities characterize the use of
most environmental goods. The market may not fully reflect the social
value of an environmental resource. In particular, its indirect use
values in providing ecological services maintaining life-support
systems and its non use values such as option values and existence
values may not be reflected in the price of environmental good. Due to
market failures and policy failures, some of the environmental services
are unpriced or priced below their social values; this economic
condition has led to environmental degradation. Optimality can be
restored through appropriate government policy intervention, settling of
property negotiations. By this study on the initiatives of the Arroyo
Administration for Advancing Efforts for Sustainable Development in
Response to the Rio Summit of 1992 people can be aware of what
they can contribute to a better quality of life for all Filipinos through the
development of a just, moral and creative, spiritual, economically
vibrant, caring, diverse yet cohesive society characterized by
appropriate productivity, participatory and democratic processes, and
living in harmony and within the limits of the carrying capacity of nature
and the integrity of creation.

B. Statement of the Problem

The researchers will pose on the question,

What are the strategies of the Arroyo Administration to advance
the goal of sustainable development in the Philippines in response to
the Rio Summit of 1992?

Furthermore, the researcher will also attempt to go into details of

the main problem by elucidating on the following sub-problems:

1. Are there any specific policies or programs implemented by

the Arroyo Administration relevant to sustainable development?
 2. What are the indicators of the success of the programs
implemented by the Arroyo Administration to advance sustainable
development?

C. Objectives

This study will be conducted in order to

1. Develop an awareness of the historical background of the

development of the national strategy for sustainable development

2. Recognize the various efforts exerted by government to pursue

sustainable development.

3. To familiarize you, the reader with the strategies formulated for the
country’s sustainable development efforts and to study in detail the
national plan for sustainable development.

D. Significance of the Study

This study will be value of Sustainable Development, to the

future Policy Making, to the Body of Knowledge and to the Future
Researchers.
To Future Policy Making
This paper is significant in future policy making because the
current wave of globalization is increasingly posing some threats to the
country’s sovereignty as the imperatives of global capital often cannot
be expected to attune the national interest. And for years, one of the
major problems of the Philippines was the continuous abuse of the
natural resources that one of the country’s engines and source of
employment, growth and national development. Philippines need
skillful diplomacy in dealing with those who can be responsible enough
to help attaining Sustainable Development for the future Generation.

To the Body of Knowledge

The importance of this paper to the body of knowledge is to
know the current concern about sustainability arises from the
recognition that environmental and natural resource degradation can
be a barrier to economic development. Holistic science and
appropriate technology and
the search for solutions to complex milieu of development problems
has to be undertaken with the perspective of specific problems in the
larger social and ecological context. This approach facilitates the
development and use of appropriate technology.

To Future Researchers
Through this paper, the future researchers will gain facts about
the capacity sustainability involve some form of conservation or
maintenance of the capital base by which the well-being of future
generations can be sustained. Self-determination, respecting the right
and relying in the inherent capacity of the country and its people to
decide on the course of their own development.

E. Scope and Limitations

The study is strictly limited to emphasis on the Initiatives of the
Arroyo Administration for Advancing Efforts for Sustainable
Development in Response t the Rio Summit of 1992. The study will
only concentrate on the Sustainable Development Indicators for the
Philippines. In order to develop public awareness of the
interdependence between environmental quality and economic
productivity and, in the process, create a strong constituency for
environmental protection.
 Conceptual Framework

A conceptual framework for sustainable development recognizes

the functional differentiation of modern society into three realms
interacting with, but independent from, each other. Those three
essential societal dimensions comprise economy, polity and culture
are the realms where business, government and civil society, the key
players in sustainable development. The issues address including a
scrutiny of patterns of production among global conditions. The
Republic of the Philippines and the U.N Commissions come up with a
plan to sustain the needs of society and this summit brings up the
Agenda 21, they established this to further develop the principle and
practice of sustainable development within the country. On the whole,
the Philippine Agenda 21 does not merely look at sustainable
development in its broad dimensions and it leaves with an outcome of
positive and negative. Its implementation will address three distinct
objectives which, if attained simultaneously, will virtually ensure
sustainable development on all fronts, the reduction and elimination of
mass poverty and the promotion of equity, the preservation of
environmental resilience, the promotion of efficiency, or the ability of
the market to price resources according to the structure of supply and
demand and the wider consequences of their depletion.
 CHAPTER 2
RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter will present the Related Issues to be used by the

Researchers in order to support the research with sufficient data in
conducting the study

EARTH SUMMIT
The United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, also known as the Rio Summit, Earth Summit was the
major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to
June 14, 1992. The issues address including a systematic scrutiny of
patterns of productions – particularly the productions of toxic
components, such as lead in gasoline, or poisonous waste including
radioactive chemicals, also the alternative sources of energy to
replace the use of fossil fuels which are linked to global climate
change, and the new reliance on public transportations systems in
order reduce vehicle emissions, congestions in cities and the health
problems cause by polluted air and smog.
An important achievement was an agreement on the Climate
Change Convention which in turn led to the Kyoto Protocol.
_______________
*Wikipedia.com Earth Summit held by the U.N.C.E.D to promote sustainable development on climate change
Another agreement was to “not carry out any activities on the lands of
indigenous peoples that would cause environmental degradation or
that would be culturally inappropriate”.
The Earth Summit resulted in documents such as Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development, Agenda 21, Convention on Biological
Diversity Forest Principles, and Framework Convention on Climate
Change.
Both Convention on Biological Diversity and Framework Convention
on Climate Change were set as legally binding agreements.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS FOR THE

PHILIPPINES

Socio-economic Welfare
Indicators of well-being include measures of major determinants
of the standard of living: productivity, unemployment and income
distribution (Krugman, 1992); and measures of the level of satisfaction
of basic human needs: education, health, housing, safe drinking water,
sanitation and clean environment. The two well known indices of well
being are human development index and the World Bank’s wealth of
nation index. These two indices, as most indices develop at multi
lateral institutions, have been calculated to facilitate cross-country
comparison
_________
Sustainable Indicators,p.17

While they may be helpful in setting national aims and targets vis-à-vis
other countries, this indicators need to be supplemented by the other
indicators for more Hence, ad hoc simplifying assumptions have often
been used in their calculation. Specific policy making at the national
level.

Concepts of Sustainable Development

There is greater recognition that the environmental and natural
resources are scarce economic resources which can impose severe
constraints to economic development if the natural environment is
used at higher than socially optimal rates. The natural environment
serves several functions: it renders waste disposal services, serves as
an input to production and consumption activities, either directly or
indirectly and offers amenity services. Spatial and temporal
externalities characterize the use of most environmental goods. The
market may not fully reflect the social value of an environmental
resource. In particular, its indirect use values in providing ecological
services maintaining life-support systems and its non use values such
as option values and existence values may not be reflected in the price
of environmental good. Due to market failures and policy failures,
some of the environmental services are unpriced or priced below their
social values; this economic condition has led to environmental
degradation. Optimality can be restored through appropriate
government policy intervention, settling of property rights issues or
through Coaseian negotiations. There are various definitions of
sustainability concepts in the literature; a compilation of published
definitions is given by Pezzey (1992). It is helpful to first relate the
sustainability concept to those of economic growth and economic
development. Economic growth has been defined as increasing real
value of aggregate consumption or output; conventional measures of
economic growth are the GNP and GDP measures. Economic
development, on the other hand, has been associated with
improvements in human well-being. In the context of an optimization
with economic growth expanding the choice set of economic agents.
The basic model of optimal economic development posits the
maximization of the present discounted value of social welfare or
utility. Social welfare or utility sometimes referred to as “quality of life”-
may not be directly observable or easily measurable. Since the
concept of economic development requires a measure of aggregate
welfare, there are questions of interpersonal utility comparisons and
normative judgments on individual welfare weights. Whereas
economic growth can be based mainly on the concept of economic
efficiency, social welfare maximization depends on the distribution of
well-being. Hence, equity considerations have to be incorporated in
the formulation of policies for economic development.
_______________
*The Brundtland Commission (WCED) report Our Common Future (1987) when it defined sustainable
development as“ development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.”

Moreover, since optimal economic development is an

intertemporal problem, there are intergenerational equity
considerations and the social discount rate is a key feature. A
definition of sustainable development is nondeclining per capital utility
(Pezzey, 1992), that is, the quality of life should not decline over the
long-term future. Dasgupta (1993) notes two alternative definitions
which can imply different choices of development paths. Sustainable
development may mean that “the chosen consumption path should as
a minimum never fall short of some stipulated positive level”. For poor,
natural resource-based economies, the stipulated level may be some
subsistence minimum in which case the sustainability criterion reduces
to that of survivability. Munasinghe (1993) summarizes the essence of
the concept of sustainable development as “an approach that will
permit continuing improvements in the quality of life with a lower
intensity of resource use, thereby leaving for future generations as an
undiminished or even enhanced stock of natural resources and other
assets”. Sustainability is then a constraining criterion in choosing the
sustainable development path. The problem of optimal economic
development is choosing the sustainable development path which
gives the greatest present discounted value. The current concern
about sustainability arises from the recognition that environmental and
natural resource degradation can be a barrier to economic
development.. The economic perspective is based on the Hicks-
Lindahl concept of the maximum flow of income that could be
generated while at least maintaining the economy’s capital stock. The
ecological view focuses on the stability of biophysical systems to
preserve the resilience and dynamic ability of natural systems to
resists shocks and adapt to changes. The sociocultural aspect aims to
maintain the stability of social and cultural systems, for example, by
better use of knowledge of sustainable practices of indigenous groups
and the participation of community-based organizations and local
communities for a more effective decision making framework and
implementation of socially sustainable development plans. Variations
across countries in preferences and initial conditions suggest that
there is no universally “correct” approach to sustainable development
To obtain operational definitions and measurable indicators of
sustainable development, some salient elements in the sustainable
development debate are next identified. The interpretation of the
notion of maintaining the economy’s capital stock hinges on the
definition of capital. Generally accepted classifications are natural
resources, renewable and nonrenewable, man-made or physical
capital (machines and structures), and human capital (stock of
knowledge). Renewable resources have been noted to be relatively
more important in developing countries than in developed countries.
The optimal development plan with respect to the use of an
environmental or natural resource will depend, among other factors
________________
*Pezzey (1992) Sustainable development can also mean that “well-being must never be allowed to decline”,
*Dasgupta(1993)
*Munasinghe(1993),Hicks-Lindahlconcept

,on the degree of substitutability among the different capital goods, the
state of technology and the rate of technical progress, the rate
of discovery of new sources of nonrenewable resources, the
regeneration rates of renewable resources, and the limits imposed by
the problem of irreversibility’s and uncertainties about the future. The
tradeoff between consumption and environmental quality can be a
function of the stage of economic growth, as illustrated by various
environmental Kuznet’s curves. Conditions required to satisfy
sustainability involve some form of conservation or maintenance of the
capital base by which the well-being of future generations can be
sustained. Through capital bequests, future generations are
compensated for any decrease in well-being caused by the activities of
the current generation. With respect to the optimal rate of extraction or
use of natural resources, sustainability paradigms vary according to
the assumed substitutability between different forms of capital
resources. At one end is the assumption of very weak sustainability
(Solow sustainability) which assumes perfect substitution between
natural and manmade capital; at the other extreme is the notion of very
strong sustainability (stationary state sustainability) which assumes
perfect complementarily or nonsubstitution among the various forms of
capital. Under very weak sustainability, natural resources and the
environment are considered as additional forms of capital in the
neoclassical production framework. The focus under the very strong
sustainability assumption is on the “scale effect”, that is the scale of
human impact relative to the global carrying capacity. From this
perspective, significance is given to the existence of thresholds and
discontinuities in the ecological system that can result in large-scale
damage once thresholds are exceeded (as can occur with the
greenhouse effect and ozone depletion problems). The very weak
sustainability rule, which assumes perfect capital substitution, requires
that the overall stock of capital assets remain constant over time. This
result has been modified under assumptions of more limited
substitution possibilities and the presence of an upper bound on the
assimilative capacity of the environment and a lower bound on the
level of natural capital stocks necessary to ensure ecosystem stability.
Under weak sustainability (WS, modified Solow sustainability),
constraints on resource use are required for ecosystem stability and
resilience. The objective is not the preservation of specific attributes of
the ecological community but to manage the system the possibility of
irreversibility and uncertainty about the impact of economic activities
on ecosystem performance has led to the precautionary principle and
the concept of safe minimum standards.
Philippine Initiatives for Sustainable Development
It aims to develop awareness of the historical background of the
development of the national strategy for sustainable development also
to recognize the various efforts exerted by government to pursue
_______________
* Turner (1993) Meet human needs, support species and genetic diversity, and enable the system to adapt
(resilience) to changing condition

sustainable development before, during and after the Earth Summit at

Rio de Janeiro to familiarize the reader with the strategies formulated
for the country’s sustainable development efforts and to study in detail
the national plan for sustainable development. Augmented with a
social component, this interplay of objectives was succinctly captured
in Brundtland’s Commissions (WCED) when it defined sustainable
development as “development that meets the needs of the present
without comprising the ability of future generation to meet their own
need. This definition provided the backbone for the discussions and
conventions embodied at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (1992). For this purpose, the UN
Commission on Sustainable Development was established to
coordinate the implementation of agenda 21 and to further develop the
principles and practice of sustainable development.
 1977 otherwise known as the Philippine policy which legal
institutionalized an urgent mandate of formulating an intensive and
integrated program of environmental protection, the subsequent
issuance of Pd 1152. 1977 which established the administrative
system for environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), a process in
which likely environmental consequences of development projects are
studied and predicted in order to allow counter measures to migrate or
enhance negative or positive impacts, respectively.

Developing a National Strategy for Sustainable Development

In the Philippines, environmental movements had been felt as early as
the 1970’s. With the initiatives were taken by the government to
ensure the interest of the environment among which were: (a) a
workshop on education and training needs for the Philippine
environmental programs in 1974; (b) Promulgation of Presidential
decree 1511,s. 1977 in which legal institutionalized an urgent mandate
of formulating an intensive and integrated program of environmental
subsequent issuance of Pd 1152 that stipulates the strategic
interventions needed to carry out these police protection; (c) issuance
of the Letter of Instructions 594, s. 1977 which established the
administrative system for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), a
process in which likely environmental consequences of development
projects are studied and predicted in order to allow countermeasures
to migrate or enhance negative or positive impacts, respectively.

THE PHILIPPINE STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The Philippines has drawn its own sustainable development strategy
even prior to the United Nation’s Conference on environment and
Development (UNICED). Its goals and strategies have in fact been
incorporated into the Philippine Agenda 21.
_______________
* Club of Rome’s Limits to Growth (1972), early stirrings of environmental consciousness triggered by the
bleak prophecies * Presidential decree 1511, s. 1977 otherwise known as the Philippine policy
* Pd 1152 or the Philippine Environmental Code

National and regional consultations were held to come up with a

common concept of sustainable development and how it should be
implemented in our country.

Although Philippine Agenda 21 (PA21) is an important part of our

commitment in UNICED, It also follows up on Sustainable
Development, the formulation of the Social Reform Agenda and the
Conference on Human Ecological Security. It also acknowledges
indigenous or traditional practiced as a heritage of sustainable
development in the Philippines. Balanced sectoral development can be
regarded as ultimate vision of sustainable development. This vision
adopts the development principal growth with equity among people,
generations and localities. Attaining the balanced development of
social, economic and environmental sectors in expected to result in a
stable growth and development of these three sectors. From the
Philippine perspective, sustainable development is not a modern-day
concept. Many Filipino indigenous cultural groups have been
observing sustainable practices and principles of evident in their
traditions, beliefs and way of life. Hence, while the sustainable
development derives the meaning from global discourse, it must be
rooted in the context of Philippine reality and aspirations.
_______________
*Philippine Agenda 21 or commonly known as the National Action Plan for Sustainable Development* This is
contained in the Philippine Strategy for Sustainable Development (PSSD) adopted in the Cabinet Resolution on
November 29, 1989

In addition, the extensive national and regional consultations on PA 21

provide a mechanism for and represent a critical part of achieving a
genuine consensus on how sustainable development should be
conceptualize and implemented .

Therefore, PA 21 builds on outcomes of and provides an

integrating conceptual and operational framework for these
consultation and initiatives in sustainable development. PA 21
envisions a better quality of life for all through the development of a
just, moral, creative, spiritual, economical vibrant, caring, diverse yet
cohesive society characterized by appropriate productivity,
participatory and democratic processes and living harmony within the
limits of the carrying of nature and integrity of creation.

CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY

This chapter will present the type of Scientific Techniques to be used

by the Researchers in order to support the research with sufficient
data in conducting the study.

Research Design
The research utilizes an Ex Post Facto design, because the Strategy
on how the data will be gathered and analyzed is planned after the
occurrence of the events. In here, the researchers have no opportunity
in manipulating exposure to the independent variable. Particularly, the
researchers further uses explanatory method, which attempts to offers
the exact strategy on how the researchers will treat the data that will
be gathered with efficiency.

Types of Data
The researchers conduct a study and will use the primary data, we will
gather through conducting interviews to personalities who savvy in
issues are concerning on the Initiatives of the Arroyo Administration for
Advancing Efforts for Sustainable Development in Response to the Rio
Summit of 1992. We will visit the Department of Environmental and
Natural Resources and Department of Tourism to interview reliable
personalities who can give information on the Sustainable
Development of the Philippines and it includes about the Philippine
Agenda 21. However, the researchers also make use of the secondary
data as we will also visit the Libraries that may have filed unpublished
reports concerning the Efforts of the Arroyo Administration for
Sustainable Development in Response to the Rio Summit of 1992. The
researchers will also gather data mainly from the articles, journals,
news clippings and other archives related to the study available on the
Department of Environmental Natural Resources and Department of
Tourism related to the Sustainable Development of the Philippines and
from other public libraries as further supports for the data foundation of
the study.. It can be drawn from annual reports, pamphlets, journals,
and articles for the updates on the status of the Summit. For the
purpose of updating the information gathered from non-field sources,
the researchers will cull that data from the readily available information
in the internet. Online articles that give sufficient current data that will
update the information incorporated in the study will be assessed and
eventually will constitute the data foundation of the study

Data Gathering Technique

After visiting the Department of Environment and Natural resources,

Department of Tourism and National Economic Development
Authority, the researchers, will allot ample time in visiting different
public libraries that have collection of written sources that can be a big
help in the pursuit of the study. Surfing the net will also be considered
as one of the option as a technique in data gathering especially in the
purpose of updating the information incorporated in the study.

Method of Analyzing Data

The different data was gathered by the researchers for this study will
mainly concentrate on study on the Initiatives of the Arroyo
Administration for Advancing Efforts for Sustainable Development in
Response to the Rio Summit of 1992. Thus, the method of data
analysis that will be used by the researchers will be the case study
method because it gives intensive, integrated and insightful method
investigating social phenomena on the Initiatives of the Arroyo
Administration for Advancing Efforts for Sustainable Development in
Response to the Rio Summit of 1992 mainly on strategies that focuses
on promoting on political, cultural and economical issues. That will be
the main foundation of the study in order to explain how in particular
change can take place in terms of Sustainable Development.

CHAPTER 4

Presentation, Analysis & Interpretation of Data

This chapter presents the data, which was collected from

Validated Questionnaire, interviews, observation and other reading
materials that were organized, classified and statistically treated. The
data presented analyzed and interpreted in the context of the problems
presented in chapter 1.
Results of the Study Conducted by the Researchers
Table 1: Strategies of the Arroyo Administration to advance the goal
of sustainable development in the Philippines in response to the Rio
Summit of 1992.

Table 1.1
Areas of Concern Arroyo Initiatives/Agenda in the Implementation of
Philippine Agenda 21

1. Conservation and - WWF lauds PGMA initiatives on climate change

Management of (Monday, 19 October 2009) The World Wide Fund for
Resources for Nature (WWF), an international non-government
Sustainable organization with a mission to halt and reverse the
Development destruction of environment, lauded President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo for calling attention to climate charge
and its effects on the environment. President Arroyo is
adopting policies and initiatives designed to raise public
awareness on the issue. The President encourage the
private sector’s participation in support of the Coral
Triangle Initiatives. The Coral Triangle is a geographical
Areas of Concern Country
term thatInitiatives/Agenda
refers to the waters in the Implementation
of Indonesia, PapuaofNew
Philippine
Guinea, the Philippines, AgendaIslands
Solomon 21 and Timor-Leste
that encompass 75 percent of all species known in the
- Coral
world. Triangle
PresidentInitiative
Arroyo, in(CTI)
May Summit
this year,(2007)-
signed the Coral
“ “ TriangleArroyo
President Initiatives
giveswith the other
her remarks andfive heads
signs of state of
the adoption
of Asia-Pacific
the CTI Summit.Nations to address
President threats toArroyo
Gloria Macapagal the marine,
coastal,the
continues and small commitment
country’s island ecosystems within
to preserve theasCoral
nature
Triangle region.
she goes international in protecting the marine resources and
coral reefs in the country.
-The 2004-2010 Medium Terms Philippine Development
Plan has devoted an entire chapter (Chapter 3) on the
Philippine Environment and Natural Resources. It describes
the rich bounty of our country being blessed with so much
natural resources yet also becoming vulnerable to both
man-made and natural factors. This covers the forest eco-
system and its resources, the alienable and disposable land
resources, biodiversity, coastal and marine ecosystem. It
also discussed the abundant minerals that can be
found in our country yet still not maximized due to obstacles
such as declining market price and policy inconsistencies.
- Green Philippines Agenda (2009) puts an emphasis on a
sustainable economic model that brings economic
opportunity and a concern for our environment, indeed, a
model of green industry. It is devoted to a sustainable
economic model that allows for growth, job creation, and
environmental stewardship."
Areas of Concern Arroyo Initiatives/Agenda in the Implementation of
Philippine Agenda 21

- The 2004-2010 Medium Term Philippine Development

2. Social and
Plan has devoted an entire chapter (Chapter 3) on the
Economic
Philippine Environment and Natural Resources. It
Dimensions
describes the rich bounty of our country being blessed with
so much natural resources yet alsobecoming vulnerable to
both man-made and natural factors. This covers the forest
eco-system and its resources, the alienable and disposable
land resources, biodiversity,coastal and marine ecosystem.
It also discussed the abundant minerals that can befound
in our country yet still not maximized due to obstacles such
as declining marketprice and policy inconsistencies.
- R.A 9593 or the tourism act of 2009 also known as the
National Tourism Policy Act 2009, was signed into law by
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the culmination
of the two-day One Visayas Summit on Climate Change.
RA 9593 is an act declaring a national policy for tourism as
an engine of investment, employment, growth and national
development. The law will give a boost the country’s
tourism industry, strengthening the Department of Tourism
(DOT) and its attached agencies to effectively and
efficiently implement tourism policies.
Table 1.1 This section consists of two major areas of concern, namely:
Conservation and Management of Resources for Development and
Social and Economic Dimensions. It also presents accomplishments
not necessarily falling under the country's commitments to Agenda 21
by the Arroyo Government.

Category Policies/Plans/Programs

1. the adoption and implementation of an integrated

Table 2: Policies or programs implemented
and comprehensive by eradication,
agenda for poverty the Arroyo
underpinned by a commitment to social reform and
Administration relevant to sustainable development.
the sustainable management of The country made
the environment and
Poverty,
significant
natural resources;
strides in the 2.development of ofpolicies,
the development a programplans and programs
on population within a
PRE framework;
to fulfill its commitments
Population, in the UNCED. Most significant of these
3. the development of a comprehensive action plan on
sustainable human settlements;
strides are: 4. the development of resource accounts in the fishery,
Natural
forestry, and mineral sectors, and the development
Resources of an operational framework for a Philippine system
(Fishery, of economic and environmental accounts;
Forestry, 5. the enactment of an integrated protected area
Table 2.1Mineral system and the implementation of a program for this;
6. the adoption of a biodiversity strategy;
resources) 7. the adoption and implementation of a comprehensive
master plan for forestry development; and,
8. the adoption of a National Marine Policy.
Table 2.1
These policies, plans, and programs are in various stages of
application. All these, in sum, represent substantial work put into
building the foundation for sustainable development in the country. On
top of these initiatives, a framework plan and action agenda has been
adopted by the Philippines to pursue its commitments to the Global
Agenda 21 and related international agreements more consistently
and systematically. Current initiatives by the country in the
development of policies, plans, and programs relating to sustainable
development suggest a shifting of the development framework toward
a more people-focused and ecosystem-based strategy.

Indicators of the success of the programs implemented by the

Arroyo Administration to advance sustainable development.

A. Productivity
Regardless of the state of development of a country,
productivity is a major, if not most significant, determinant of the
standard of living in the country. Hence, the productivity issue is
related to the efficiency aspect of sustainable development.
Economist have developed sophisticated multi factor productivity
indices which are basically ratios of an output quantity index to
an input quantity index (diewert, 1981; 1992)
__________
Sustainable Indicators,p.17

B. Income Distribution
Income distribution issue can be broken into the problems
of poverty and the problem of income inequality.

Underlying the analysis is the normative value judgment that

society wants the poor to be better off and the society with less
income inequality, all other things the same, is preferred. Hence,
indicators can be divided into measures of poverty and
measures of income inequality.

A. Indicators of poverty
The concerns of this set of indicators are the sources of
income and the role of the agricultural, forestry, and fishery
resources, the renewable resources, in income generation. The
analysis of these indicators can have the significant policy
implications of the implementation of the government Social
Reform Agenda. (SRA). The major source of income of 45
percent of families in 1994 is wages and salaries. Probably due
to increasing employment in the formal economy, there has been
a trend towards a greater proportion of a family having wages
and salaries as main source of income, away from
entrepreneurial activities. In absolute numbers, there I s a much
greater number of families in agriculture compared to fishing and
forestry; forestry has smallest number of families If the income
brackets are in constant pesos, then the figures indicate a
significant escape from the lowest income bracket to the middle
income bracket for rural families engage in these activities.

Table 1.19
Urban Median Income as A proportion of overall Median Income
1985, 1988, 1991 and 1994
 1.60

1.55

1.50

1.45

1.40

1.35

Year 1985 1988 1991 1994

Figure I.20
Urban Median Expenditure As A
Proportion of Overall Median
Expenditure
1985, 1988, 1991, and 1994
 1.54
Urban median
1.52
expenditure as a
1.50
proportion of
1.48
average median
1.46
expenditure
1.44

1.42

1.40

1.38
Year 1985 1988 1991 1994

Figure I.21
Savings to Median Income Ratio
1985, 1988, 1991, and 1994

Savings to median 0.16

income ratio
0.14

0.12
 0.10

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.02

0.00
Year 1985 1988 1991 1994

Total Urban Rural

Figure 1.22
Percentage of Families By Main Source of Income
1985, 1988, 1991, and 1994

50.00
45.00
40.00
35.00
30.00
25.00
 20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
1985 1988 1991 1994

Wages and Salaries Entrep. Activities Other

sources

C. Employment
Employment generation or creation of jobs has been a
major concern to policy makers. Except likely for those in the top
income group, labor services are major source of income for most
people. The export of labor services through overseas contract
workers has also played a significant role in the Philippine economy
since the 1980s particularly during periods of poor economic
performance. The following are some indicators useful in analyzing the
labor institution.

Domestic employment statistics

The data for these set of indicators are given in tables 1. 31-
1.32 and illustrated in figures 1.51 and 1.52. Labor force participation
has increased from 61.7 percent in 1981 to 65. 6 percent to 1995; the
increased can be interpreted as an increased in the potential
productive capacity of the domestic economy. However, an analysis of
the change in the productive capacity of the economy has to include
also the change in the quantity and quality of the country’s capital
stock (man-made, natural and human) and the nature and effects of
technical change. Hence, a desirable indicator is a measure of the
quality of the labor force. The analysis of the labor situation must also
take into the account the population growth rate (section 1.3) and the
real earnings per worker.
Except for the 1984- 1986 economic recession period, the official
unemployment rate has settled in the 8.0- 9.0 percent range during the
1981- 1995 period. The reported unemployment rates may
underestimate the actual unemployment because of the nature of the
question asked in the labor force survey. Some measure of the
strength and performance of the informal economy has to be taken
into account. The National statistics office also reports the
underemployment rate.
Without productivity increases, inflation erodes the purchasing
power of the incomes of the people and results in a lower standard
living.

D. Basic Needs
Social concerns about the poor in particular lead to the setting of
minimum standards for basic needs. For developing countries with
severe financial constraints, minimum standards may be more realistic
targets for government intervention. Indicators of satisfaction of basic
needs requirements must then be compared against the minimum
standards. The government defined minimum basic needs are food
and nutrition, health, water and sanitation, and clothing for survival;
shelter, peace and order and income and livelihood for security; and
basic education, participation in community development, and a family
care for enabling capacity

Forest/ Upland ecosystem

Deforestation of tropical moist forests as found in the Philippines is a

major concern, not only locally but also globally. Forests are a source
of timber and non- timber products, perform ecological functions, offer
amenity services, and provide a habitat for diverse biological
resources. The forest ecosystem is then a direct source of livelihood;
some of its products such as fuel wood gathered by mostly
subsistence families and other non timber products are none
marketed. Ecological functions include protection against soil erosion,
soil enrichment, natural regulation of the hydraulic cycle, flood control,
regulation of watershed flows of surface water and groundwater,
carbon sequestration and microclimate regulation. Amenity services
include recreational and aesthetics services. Tropical moist forests are
also known to be the richest land ecosystems in biomass and
biodiversity. Major causes of deforestation are excessive logging and
conversion of forest lands to agricultural and other uses.

Ecosystems

1.1 Economic Contribution

The data for this set of indicators are given in tables II.1-II.8 and
illustrated in figures II.1-II.9. Since 1991, the forestry sector has
contributed less than 1 percent to annual GNP. Partially, due to the log
in ban policy an old growth dipterocarp forests, the production volumes
of log, lumber, plywood and veneer have been declining since 1989;
the corresponding proportions of production that is exported have also
declining. With the decline in domestic production and increasing
domestic demand due to population and income growth, it is expected
that the export performance of the sector will also suffer. There have
been substantial increases in the imports of log since 1989 and of
lumber since 1993. By 1989, the Philippines have become a net
importer of logs. The behavior of the prices of forest product need to
be explained also it must be clarified with the department of
environment and natural resources (DENR) whether the performance
of the forestry sector is consistent with their master plan and an
anticipated outcome in line with their overall forestry strategy.
Illustrative data for 1992 and 1993 are given in table II.6 for this year
though there have been increases in value of output and value added,
employment and total compensation have decline.

As a source of fuel wood, the forest is a major energy source of

subsistence families in upland areas. Estimates of the quantity of fuel
woods gathered in upland areas are provided by the ENRAP accounts
(see table I.3) the economic contribution of the forest ecosystem
includes the provision of ecological services which are usually non
marketed or price below their social values. Hence, in addition to the
indicators above, indicators for the performance of the ecological
functions of the forest ecosystem are needed. Examples are indicators
for water supply, flood control, soil erosion, sedimentation and drought
control.

1.2 Tenure and Management

The data for this set of indicators are given in table II.18-II.25
and illustrated in figures II.17-II.18. Reforestation is a major problem of
the government in light of the perceived state of the forest ecosystem
using sampling scheme, the DENR can device a rating scheme to
evaluate the state of areas reforested in the previous period of, say,
five or eight years. Because of the externality and public good aspect
of the services of the forest resources, the property rights issue is
important in addressing the problems of this sector. The management
of forest resources have various actors among which are the
government, the private sector and the community, including
indigenous people.

• Low land/ Agricultural Ecosystem

The major function of the agricultural ecosystem is food

production. A national concern is food security which does not
necessarily means self sufficiency. The joining of Philippines in
the world trade organization is expected to expose the
agricultural sector to fiercer international competition: it is one of
the sectors expected to need substantial adjustment to greater
and freer global trade.

2.1 Economic contribution

The data for this set of indicators are given in tables III.1-
III.6 and illustrated in figures III.1-III.5. The shares of the various
sectors in GDP through their value added contribution indicate
the structure of the economy. By 1995, the renewable resource
sectors, agriculture, fishery and forestry, contributed 22 percent
of GDP while industry and services contributed 35 percent and
43 percent, respectively (table III.2). In 1993, the gross value
added of the agricultural sector was 18 percent of GDP, fishery
was 4 percent, and forestry was 0.5 percent. For the 1994-1996
periods, the per capita agricultural production (including
livestock, poultry and fishery products) remained fairly constant.

2.2 Land use and Land Productivity

The data for this set of indicators are given in Tables III.7-
III.10 and illustrated in figures III.6-III.9. About 8.57 million
hectares, or 28.6 percent of the total land area of the country, is
suitable for cultivation or limited cultivation. The land use
percentage changes reported in Table III.8 are from the FAO
Production Yearbook. The BAS of the department of Agriculture
reports annual data on agricultural area, production and value by
kind of crop. Hence, changes in land area used for agricultural
crops can easily be monitored. Land productivity can be
indicated by the ratio of the quantity (measured in metric tons) of
a crop produced to the area used in its production (Figure III.8
and Table III.10). Since the crop classification ‘cereals’, ‘major
crops’, and ‘other crops’.
 CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND

RECOMMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents a summary of the findings established from the

data gathered in the study. It answers the specific problems

enumerate in Chapter 1. It also gives conclusions derived from the

summarized findings and recommendations.

Summary of Findings
The following are the summary of findings which are the answers to
the Statement of the Problems:

1. Arroyo administration builds projects and programs concerning of

Sustainable development such as north wind Bangui Bay project which
produce an annual electricity generation of approximately 86.7 GWh.
The project is expected to displace greed electricity generated from
fossil fuels, the ASIA CDM capacity building initiative which is posted
in Chapter 4.

2. Green Philippines Agenda is one of the programs implemented by

the Arroyo government that relevant to sustainable development.

3. Sustainable economic model that brings economic opportunity and

a concern for our environment, indeed, a model of green industry is
one of the indicators of the success of the programs implemented by
the Arroyo Administration.

Conclusions
This is the conclusion drawn by the researchers from the findings of

the researchers.
 The objective of this study was to analyze the issues concerning
the Initiatives of the Arroyo Administration for Advancing Efforts for
Sustainable Development in Response to the Rio Summit of 1992. The
findings from the data gathered by the researchers were the
Conservation and Management of Resources for sustainable
development. Furthermore, the National sustainable development
action agenda with a perspective and framework that places people
and nature at the centre of development initiatives. Since it builds on
the existing and on-going initiatives, PA21 serves as the country's
mechanism for paradigm shift in the pursuit of a better quality of life for
the Filipino people.

Recommendations:

Following are our recommendation for Initiatives of the Arroyo

Administration for Advancing Efforts for Sustainable Development in
Response to the Rio Summit of 1992:

1. Use Waste Materials for New Products

2. Replace or convert carbon-intensive-generating technologies with

low-carbon, carbon-free, or high-efficiency technologies such as
combined-cycle natural gas, renewable sources, more advanced clean
coal and clean distributed generation in ways that ensure reliability of
the electricity supply.

3. Enhance development, commercialization, and introduction of, and

capital flow towards new climate friendly technologies.

4. Enable and enhance markets for retail energy services that

encourage energy efficiency and the use low carbon and carbon-free
energy technologies.

5. Eliminate or lower grid exit fees for cleaner power sources

6. Recognize the environmental characteristics of existing carbon-free
power generation.
7. Increase Coordination within Government and Between
Government, Public, and Private Stakeholders

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