Angely L. Mercado, September 17, 2015
http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/2791442475670/pids-leads-policy-research-month-celebration

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Sept. 15 (PIA) - - The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) will again lead the nation this September in celebrating the Development Policy Research Month (DPRM) with lined up activities to include series of fora, press conferences, policy dialogue, among others.

Dr. Marife Ballesteros, PIDS senior research fellow, said the month-long event, with the theme "Tamang Regulasyon para sa Patuloy na Pag-ahon (Effective regulations for Sustainable Growth)”, aims to promote and draw public awareness on the importance of policy research in nation-building.

She said the celebration calls for improving regulatory quality in the country to ensure that our policies and laws are facilitating competition, innovation, productivity, and growth.

“There are regulations in the electricity, transport, and water sectors that are not responsive to both economic and social objectives and business regulations that are detrimental to the investment climate,” Ballesteros, in a press conference held at the Philippine Information Agency here, said.

She explained that these issues stem from poor regulatory vetting processes that neglect the importance of research evidence and systematic assessment of proposed policies and regulations before they are implemented.

Through the DPRM, Ballesteros said they hope to influence policymakers to take action in building a formal regulatory management system that adopts explicit standards for regulatory quality and ensures the integrity and quality of new regulations through the use of regulatory impact analysis, systematic public consultation procedures, and effective regulatory coordination among concerned agencies.

She added that it is essential to review and reform existing regulations and to establish a coherent and quality regulatory management system. (ALM/PIA-2/with reports from PIDS)//