Disparities of poverty and wealth in the Philippines. An analysis of policy effect(iveness)

In contemporary times of globalisation the manifestations of disparities of poverty and wealth and the design and implementation of policy responses become ever more complex and challenging. It is the conventional task of the (national) government to promote socio-economic security and equality by reaching out to the peripheral regions, marginalised people, and most problematic issues of disparities of poverty and wealth. This Ph.D. thesis argues that governmental policy outreach and effect(iveness) are increasingly determined by whether and how policy-making considers and integrates liberalised market forces, societal stakeholders, and national and decentralised local governments. In the Philippines disparities of poverty and wealth particularly disadvantage rural, agricultural peripheries that show a high concentration of Muslim and indigenous minorities, and at local scales, of tenants and landless workers. Governmental policy-making (re)produces these disparities through spatial and sectoral biases on market growth and global integration for the most profitable yet volatile urban coastal centres of industries and services. Moreover, endogenous institutions of "traditional Philippine political culture" render policy-making ineffective as a means for a sustainable, locally-embedded, and -empowered form of development. The political elite is more interested in (corruptive) self-enrichment practices than long-term objectives of redistribution. Socio-cultural patronage relations towards them constrain participation of and partnership with local populations and non-governmental organisations in policy-making. In lieu of cooperating, stakeholders operate mutually exclusive or compete with each other, causing an institutional overload and chaos in the most profitable policy sites, while others are entirely neglected. Altogether, the interactions between spatial, sectoral disparities, social inequalities, and policy-making biases have triggered of persistent armed conflicts over "redistributive and recognitive justice" in the developmental peripheries. The conflicts work to exacerbate the developmental gap between centres and peripheries, weaken Filipinos' national cohesion in favour of regional and local identities, and threaten the legitimacy of government. Hence, this thesis depicts how imbalanced negotiations between state and globalised market on the one hand and a persistent endogenous political culture in policy-making on the other can work to continually (re)produce manifestations of disparities of poverty and wealth to eventually undermine government and nation-state.