Case Study In Philippines Research Articles

The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Turnover Intentions among Field Technicians: A Case Study in Philippines

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused several disruptions, necessitating adaptation to the current circumstances. The concept of the “New Normal” has been introduced to facilitate coexistence with the virus. Nevertheless, numerous industries saw significant impacts, both in terms of financial losses and personnel attrition. This development has a significant impact on the agriculture industry, particularly on field technicians (FTs). The present study seeks to understand the factors that influence the inclination to leave one’s job among field technicians. A purposive sampling strategy was used to choose fifty-three participants who were then requested to complete a survey-type questionnaire on various factors including perceived supervisor support, workload, perceived alternative jobs, perceived benefits, COVID-19, and job satisfaction. A SmartPLS structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis indicated that job satisfaction did not operate as a mediator in the relationship between turnover intention and its determinants, such as workload, supervisor support, benefits, and employment alternatives. Furthermore, this study verified that the restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 epidemic did not influence the connection between job satisfaction and turnover intention. This study represents one of the initial investigations conducted on workers in the Philippine farm sector during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, the discoveries could be utilized to assess the distinct circumstances arising from the current global COVID-19 pandemic.

The Good Corporate Governance: Case Study in Indonesia and Philippines

Good corporate governance is critical in reducing conflict between agencies in the workplace. Corporate governance is crucial in developing nations with lax law enforcement. The impact of governance on corporate performance is investigated in this article. This study uses quantitative data from manufacturing companies registered on the Indonesian and Philippine stock exchanges. This study relied on 655 observations from Indonesia and 220 from the Philippines. Corporate governance is measured using independent commissioners, the number of board members, shareholder ownership, and the use of Big Four auditors. This study discovered that independent commissioners, the board size, and block-holders ownership significantly affected the return on assets. Tobin's Q analysis revealed that only Board Size had a significant effect. Unlike Indonesia, the results of this study in the Philippines showed that independent commissioners and block holder ownership significantly impacted the return on assets. On the other hand, this study using Tobin’s Q showed that all independent variables, such as independent commissioners, the board size, block-holders ownership, and big four accounting firms, had a significant effect. The practical implication of the study's findings is that management monitoring by independent commissioners and all commissioners is beneficial in avoiding managers' acts that harm the organization. On the one hand, the number of commissioners sends an excellent signal to the market. Block holder ownership and the usage of big four accounting firms can also strengthen monitoring, improving corporate performance. Companies should have a high proportion of independent commissioners, a modest board size, and use big four accounting firms. Companies can increase their performance and investor trust by applying the above governance components.

Vulnerability in a Tropical Cyclone Risk Model: Philippines Case Study

Abstract The authors describe a tropical cyclone risk model for the Philippines using open-source methods that can be straightforwardly generalized to other countries. Wind fields derived from historical observations, as well as those from an environmentally forced tropical cyclone hazard model, are combined with data representing exposed value and vulnerability to determine asset losses. Exposed value is represented by the LitPop dataset, which assumes total asset value is distributed across a country following population density and night-lights data. Vulnerability is assumed to follow a functional form previously proposed by Emanuel, with free parameters chosen by a sensitivity analysis in which simulated and historical reported damages are compared for different parameter values and further constrained by information from household surveys about regional building characteristics. Use of different vulnerability parameters for the region around Manila, Philippines, yields much better agreement between simulated and actually reported losses than does a single set of parameters for the entire country. Despite the improvements from regionally refined vulnerability, the model predicts no losses for a substantial number of destructive historical storms, a difference the authors hypothesize is due to the use of wind speed as the sole metric of tropical cyclone hazard, omitting explicit representation of storm surge and/or rainfall. Bearing these limitations in mind, this model can be used to estimate return levels for tropical cyclone–caused wind hazards and asset losses for regions across the Philippines, relevant to some disaster risk reduction and management tasks; this model also provides a platform for further development of open-source tropical cyclone risk modeling. Significance Statement Landfalling tropical cyclones are devastating disasters for which the Philippines is particularly at risk. Here we develop a model for tropical cyclone risk, quantified as property losses, over the Philippines and demonstrate its effectiveness by comparing to historical damages. We find that capturing the difference in vulnerability between the largest city in the Philippines (Manila) and more rural areas is important to accurately represent this risk. Using this model, we can more accurately constrain the risk of very extreme tropical cyclone events in the Philippines. The model can also be straightforwardly adapted for emergency planning in other countries and for climate change scenarios using openly available information.

Scenario-Based Multi-Objective Location-Routing Model for Pre-Disaster Planning: A Philippine Case Study

The demand for humanitarian supply chains grows daily as the incidence of calamities rises. Typhoons cause thousands of casualties each year. As a result, policymakers and governmental authorities must develop effective readiness and response measures as part of pre-disaster plans. This paper proposed a stochastic model for multi-objective location-routing for creating a humanitarian network for pre-disaster response. The model aims to minimize the overall costs of the network’s setup, the time required to travel through it, and the number of vehicles necessary for transferring affected individuals to evacuation centers. The model concentrates on pre-disaster scenarios in uncertainty. The provided model was implemented in an actual scenario in one of the Philippines’ provinces and solved using Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO), which is also contrasted with Multi-Objective Simulated Annealing (MOSA) and the ε-constraint approach. According to empirical findings, the model can be used to identify distribution hubs and evacuation centers and choose the best routes in unexpected and actual disaster scenarios. Given that the ideal number, location, and capacity of DCs and ECs are known in advance, government decision-makers can solve any potential shortages and problems during the disaster.

Understanding the corporate political activity of the ultra - processed food industry in East Asia: a Philippines case study

BackgroundEvidence is mounting that the ultra - processed food industry seeks to influence food and nutrition policies in ways that support market growth and protect against regulatory threats, often at the expense of public health. However, few studies have explored how this occurs in lower - middle income countries. We aimed to explore if and how the ultra - processed food industry seeks to influence food- and nutrition - related policy processes in the Philippines, a lower - middle income country in East Asia.MethodsSemi - structured key informant interviews were conducted with ten representatives from the Philippines government and non - government organisations closely involved with nutrition policy making in the Philippines. Interview schedules and data analysis were guided by the policy dystopia model, which we used to identify the instrumental and discursive strategies used by corporate actors to influence policy outcomes.ResultsInformants were of the view that ultra - processed food companies in the Philippines sought to delay, prevent, water - down and circumvent implementation of globally recommended food and nutrition policies by engaging in a range of strategies. Discursive strategies included various tactics in which globally recommended policies were framed as being ineffective or highlighting potential unintended negative impacts. Instrumental strategies included: directly engaging with policymakers; promoting policies, such as industry - led codes and practices, as substitutes for mandatory regulations; presenting evidence and data that industry has generated themselves; and offering gifts and financial incentives to government individuals and agencies.ConclusionsIn the Philippines, the ultra - processed food industry engaged in overt activities designed to influence food and nutrition policy processes in their favour. A range of measures to minimise industry influence on policy processes should be introduced, to ensure that implemented food and nutrition policies align with best practice recommendations.

Social media sensing framework for urban infrastructure management: a Philippine case study

PurposeThis study aims to use social media data mining to revitalize and support existing urban infrastructure monitoring strategies by extracting valuable insights from public opinion, as current strategies struggle with issues such as adaptability to changing conditions, public engagement and cost effectiveness.Design/methodology/approachTwitter messages or “Tweets” about public infrastructure in the Philippines were gathered and analyzed to discover reoccurring concerns in public infrastructure, emerging topics in public debates and the people’s general view of infrastructure services.FindingsThis study proposes a topic model for extracting dominating subjects from aggregated social media data, as well as a sentiment analysis model for determining public opinion sentiment toward various urban infrastructure components.Originality/valueThe findings of this study highlight the potential of social media data mining to go beyond the limitations of traditional data collection techniques, as well as the importance of public opinion as a key driver for more user-involved infrastructure management and as an important social aspect that can be used to support planning and response strategies in routine maintenance, preservation and improvement of urban infrastructure systems.

A Q-Methodology of Preservice Teachers’ Cognition of Digital Literacy: A Philippine Case Study in Resource-Rich and Resource-Limited Settings

A Q-Methodology of Preservice Teachers’ Cognition of Digital Literacy: A Philippine Case Study in Resource-Rich and Resource-Limited Settings

Barriers for multiparous women to using long-term contraceptive methods in Southeast Asia: case study in Philippines and Indonesia

BackgroundMultiparous women are supposed to be able to end their reproductive cycle to decrease population growth. This study aimed to analyze barriers for multiparous women to use long-term contraceptive methods (LTCM) in the Philippines and Indonesia.MethodsThe study population was women aged 15–49 years old who have given birth to a live baby > 1 in the Philippines and Indonesia. The weighted sample size was 12,085 Philippines women and 25,543 Indonesian women. To identify variables associated with the use of LTCM, we analyzed place of residence, age group, education level, marital status, employment status, and wealth status. The final step employed multinomial logistic regression.ResultsIn both countries, the results showed that variables associated with non-user LTCM were younger women, living in rural areas with poor education. Women without partner and unemployed had higher probability to not use LTCM. Finally, low wealth status had a higher probability than the richest multiparous to not use LTCM.ConclusionThe study concluded that there were six barriers for multiparous women to use LTCM in the Philippines and Indonesia. The six obstacles were living in rural areas, being younger, poor education, single, unemployed, and low wealth.

Analysis of Islamic Education Policy: Philippines Case Study

This study aims to Analysis Of Islamic Education Policy: Philippines Case Study. This research includes qualitative research. The approach used is pure library research (library research). Data obtained from reading materials obtained by researchers from books, articles contained in print. Data were collected and sorted to fill in the answers to the formulated research questions. The analysis uses a content analysis approach that is adapted to the need to develop historical linkages and the dynamic context of madrasas in the Philippines. The conclusion of this study is that Islam in the Philippines has experienced ups and downs from a religion that was once great marked by the presence of Islamic empires such as Manila, Manguindanau and Sulu to become minority groups caused by colonialism carried out by Spain, America and Japan. Islamic education policies in the Philippines, the Philippine government is trying to include an Islamic education system such as madrasas in the national education system, accommodation for madrasa education in the Philippine education system has begun to progress since the Philippine government adopted DO 51 which includes teaching Arabic and Islamic values ​​in public schools, and testing the standard curriculum or what is often called the Standard Madrasa Curricula (SMC) in private madrasas; The impact of Islamic education policies in the Philippines, namely the Philippine government in developing madrasa education, has learned a lot from the development of madrasas in Indonesia.

How regulatory issues surrounding new breeding technologies can impact smallholder farmer breeding: A case study from the Philippines

Societal Impact StatementThe widespread use of patents on plants and plant parts in low‐ and middle‐income countries demonstrates the increasing privatisation of crop genetic resources and potentially limits the use of these resources in farmer breeding, increasing the dependence of smallholder farmers on the private seed sector. Use of genetically modified traits in farmer breeding poses biosafety issues. Adaptation of patent legislation to the benefit of smallholder breeding and development of alternative seed sources from the public breeding sector could contain these negative impacts on farmer‐breeder efforts and ultimately on food and nutrition security.Summary This paper explores the potential impact of increased use of digital sequence information (DSI) through new breeding technologies (NBTs) and its associated patent and biosafety strategies and policies on smallholder agriculture and breeding in low‐ and middle‐income countries. We performed a case study in the southern Philippines, involving multiple field visits and interviews, where smallholder farmers deliberately and successfully incorporated a genetically modified, patent‐protected trait into popular open‐pollinated varieties (OPVs) of both yellow and white maize, resulting in the wide‐spread dissemination of glyphosate‐tolerant open‐pollinated varieties (OPVs) called sige‐sige. The particular case poses a suite of questions regarding farmer producer health, biosafety and access to plant genetic resources protected by patent rights. Considering current trends, it is predicted that the rise of NBTs such as gene editing will lead to more patents on breeding processes and on gene‐edited crop plants, including in low‐ and middle‐income countries and emerging economies. Since in many jurisdictions NBTs may be regulated as genetic engineering processes and products, biosafety regulations and related management requirements need to be considered as well. By recognising and supporting the breeding efforts of farmers, governments can tap into the potential for creating a wider portfolio of varieties that are better adjusted to the needs of smallholder farmers. If the spread of GMOs in smallholder agriculture should be contained, alternative seed sources for farmer‐breeding from the public breeding sector will be highly needed.

Interprofessional collaboration and barriers among health and social workers caring for older adults: a Philippine case study

BackgroundThere is limited information on how the barriers to interprofessional collaboration (IPC) across various professionals, organizations, and care facilities influence the health and welfare of older adults. This study aimed to describe the status of IPC practices among health and social workers providing care for older adults in the Philippines; investigate the perceived barriers to its implementation and perceived effects on geriatric care; and identify possible solutions to address the barriers limiting collaborative practice.MethodsA case study approach was utilized employing 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews and 29 focus group discussions with care workers from selected primary health care units, public and private hospitals, and nursing homes that are directly involved in geriatric care delivery in two cities in the Philippines. Overall, 174 health and social workers consented to participate in this study. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. An inductive thematic analysis using NVivo 12® was used to identify and categorize relevant thematic codes.ResultsInterprofessional geriatric care provided by health and social workers was observed to be currently limited to ad hoc communications typically addressing only administrative concerns. This limitation is imposed by a confluence of barriers such as personal values and beliefs, organizational resource constraints, and a silo system care culture which practitioners say negatively influences care delivery. This in turn results in inability of care providers to access adequate care information, as well as delays and renders inaccessible available care provided to vulnerable older adults. Uncoordinated care of older adults also led to reported inefficient duplication and overlap of interventions.ConclusionGeriatric care workers fear such barriers may aggravate the increasing unmet needs of older adults. In order to address these potential negative outcomes, establishing a clear and committed system of governance that includes IPC is perceived as necessary to install a cohesive service delivery mechanism and provide holistic care for older adults. Future studies are needed to measure the effects of identified barriers on the potential of IPC to facilitate an integrated health and social service delivery system for the improvement of quality of life of older adults in the Philippines.

Inert Resilience and Institutional Traps: Tackling Bureaucratic Inertias Towards Transformative Social Learning and Capacity Building for Local Climate Change Adaptation

ABSTRACT The institutional and political contexts of climate action matter. Planning and sustainability science have parallel interests in politics and institutions, particularly in institutional reforms that balance continuity and change. Our theorizing inert resilience highlights micro (individual) and meso (institutional) foundations of macro-state capacities for climate adaptation through social learning and transformative capacity building. Using survey, conversations, and participant observation in a Philippine case study, we discuss six inertia-inducing institutional traps shaping climate adaptation challenges in inert resilience contexts. Examining resource constraints, value conflicts, and colonial legacies influencing inertia, we propose pathways toward local capacity-building and social learning for climate adaptation.

The contribution of social capital on rural livelihoods: Malawi and the Philippines cases

This paper explores the efficacy of a development model designed to enhance social capital where social capital is seen as a catalyst to increased economic opportunities. The study covers smallholder livestock producers in Malawi and the Philippines. The key question examined in this paper is whether communities that received this specific development intervention significantly increased their access to social capital over time and whether this social capital is positively correlated with net farm income and improved livelihoods. We draw data from two case studies: Heifer International’s Malawi Smallholder Dairy Development Project (MSDD1) and the Philippine Raising Income of Families through Sustainable Agri-Business Project (RICSA). The examination of these two cases increases our understanding of how implementation and contextual variables may influence changes in social capital and livelihoods. The study applies social network analysis (SNA) to understand the connection between asset-based/human capacity interventions and social capital. SNA provides a quantitative measure of networks and households’ position within those networks as indicators of social capital. Real net income which includes the value of home consumption is used as a proxy for ‘improved livelihoods.’ A quasi-experimental design is used to determine whether social capital and income variables change significantly over time and whether social capital is correlated with income. The results revealed significant differences across the two cases. In the Malawi case, the intervention significantly contributed to social capital formation. In the Philippine case study, the social capital did not demonstrate a significant difference. The dissimilarity between the two cases shows that it takes time to deepen bonds of trust and reciprocity and to extend networks as conduits of knowledge, information and economic opportunity.

Addressing distribution equity in spatial conservation prioritization for small-scale fisheries.

Spatial conservation prioritization is used worldwide for designing marine protected areas (MPA) that achieve set conservation objectives with minimal impacts to marine users. People involved in small-scale fisheries (SSF) may incur negative and disproportionate impacts from implementing MPAs, yet limited available data often restricts their representation in MPA planning. Using a Philippines case study, we focus here on the systematic design of a MPA network that aims to minimize and distribute costs equitably for SSF whilst achieving representation targets for biodiversity conservation. The objectives of the study are to: (1) document a participatory mapping approach for collecting SSF data for prioritization using the local knowledge of fishers; and (2) examine how the completeness and resolution of SSF data may affect prioritization outputs in terms of biodiversity representation, spatial efficiency, and distribution equity. In the data-poor region, we conducted participatory mapping workshops with fishers in 79 communities to collect data on the spatial distribution patterns of different SSF fisheries and communities, and employed remote sensing techniques to define coastal habitats, which were targeted for inclusion in MPAs. The datasets were integrated within the decision-support tool Marxan with Zones to develop three scenarios. The SSF data incorporated in each scenario varied based on their completeness (considered all fishing methods or only dominant methods) and resolution (fishing methods itemized by community or municipality). All scenarios derived MPA plans that met representation targets with similar area coverage. The outputs, however, varied in terms of distribution equity, measured by the distribution of opportunity costs (loss of fishing grounds) across different fisheries and communities. Scenarios that did not include minority fisheries or variations between communities, led to inequitable costs. These results highlight the need to incorporate detailed data on SSF at appropriate resolutions, and how this can be achieved through participatory approaches.

Climate change and traditional upland paddy farming: a Philippine case study

Traditional agricultural practices, including paddy farming on terraced uplands, have garnered renewed interest in recent years in response to increasing concerns on environmental sustainability and the expected effects of climate change on global food security. However, little systematic research on the potential vulnerabilities of these traditional agroecosystems to future climatic change has been conducted as most are located in remote areas with limited data availability. This paper is a case study on the Ifugao Rice Terraces of the Philippines, a centuries-old farming system whose success is dependent on the year-round allocation of water resources following an intricate agricultural cycle. We developed a site-specific hydrological model coupling the similar hydrologic element response (SHER) model for surface and vadose zone processes and the modular three-dimensional groundwater flow (MODFLOW) model for saturated groundwater movement to evaluate baseline conditions in a selected first-order catchment within the Kiangan terrace cluster. Output from the SHER–MODFLOW model showed good agreement with in situ observations of stream discharge and hydraulic head measured in 2014–2016. To elucidate the impacts of climate change, we downscaled future projections from three global climate models, MRI-CGCM3, GFDL-CM3, and UKMO-HadGEM3, under greenhouse gas concentration pathways RCP-4.5 and RCP-8.5. We used these future climate projections with the calibrated SHER–MODFLOW model to evaluate the combined surface water and groundwater resources in 2041–2050 and 2091–2100. Results indicated trends of increasing temperature for all months, decreasing rainfall and increased risks of water deficits for future dry seasons, and increasing rainfall and increased risks of excess runoff for future wet seasons. These trends will be more pronounced at the end of the century. These results are important in evaluating the sustainability of this traditional agricultural system under climate change, and in designing appropriate local adaptation measures.

Philippines Case Study: Government Policies on Nutrition Education.

Government policies at the national and local levels are central to the promotion, protection, and implementation of sound food and nutrition concepts in the Philippines. According to the 2015 national nutrition survey, persistent malnutrition problems, such as protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies (anemia, vitamin A deficiency, and iodine-deficiency disorders), continue to afflict a major proportion of Filipinos. In the Philippines, nutrition education and promotion date back as early as 1900 with the conduct of educational campaigns directed towards the prevention and control of epidemic diseases and to the care and feeding of young infants. This presentation begins with an overview of the Philippine Government, nutritional status of children, the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition, then devotes substantial attention to nutrition program for school children, and examines other potential legislative actions that may have an impact on the community and industry. While various nutrition education initiatives, addressing malnutrition problems among Filipinos, resulted in an improvement in some of the conditions, much is still to be done to achieve zero malnutrition for the Philippines. Eliminating hunger and malnutrition is technically feasible. The challenge lies in generating the requisite political will, developing realistic policies, and taking concerted actions nationally and internationally.

Evaluating approaches for scaling-up community-based marine-protected areas into socially equitable and ecologically representative networks.

Marine-protected areas (MPAs) are vital to marine conservation, but their coverage and distribution is insufficient to address declines in global biodiversity and fisheries. In response, many countries have committed through the Aichi Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity to conserve 10% of the marine environment through ecologically representative and equitably managed MPAs by 2020. The rush to fulfill this commitment has raised concerns on how increasing MPA coverage will affect other elements of Target 11, including representation and equity. We examined a Philippines case study to assess and compare 3 MPA planning approaches for biodiversity representation and equitable distribution of costs to small-scale fishers. In the opportunistic approach, MPAs were identified and supported by coastal communities. The donor-assisted approach used local knowledge to select MPAs through a national-scale and donor-assisted conservation project. The systematic conservation planning approach identified MPA locations with the spatial prioritization software Marxan with Zones to achieve biodiversity objectives with minimal costs to fishers. We collected spatial data on biodiversity and fisheries features and performed a gap analysis to evaluate MPAs derived from different approaches. We assessed representation based on the proportion of biodiversity features conserved in MPAs and distribution equity by the distribution of opportunity costs (fishing areas lost in MPAs) among fisher stakeholder groups. The opportunistic approach did not ineffectively represent biodiversity and resulted in inequitable costs to fishers. The donor-assisted approach affected fishers disproportionately but provided near-optimal regional representation. Only the systematic approach achieved all representation targets with minimal and equitable costs to fishers. Our results demonstrate the utility of systematic conservation planning to address key elements of Target 11 and highlight opportunities (e.g., integration of local and scientific knowledge can address representation and equity concerns) and pitfalls (e.g., insufficient stakeholder considerations can exacerbate social inequalities) for planning MPAs in similar contexts.

Clearing barriers to project finance for renewable energy in developing countries: A Philippines case study

Project finance (PF) is a powerful tool for mobilizing capital for renewable energy (RE) projects but faces challenges in developing countries. This paper examines factors driving the financing method choice between project finance (recourse exclusively to project assets) and corporate finance (recourse to parent company assets), including the feed-in tariff (FIT), using the Philippines as a case study for a developing country. After the RE Law was approved in 2008, RE capacity increased but RE share in energy mix decreased. FIT resulted in increased investments in RE, primarily in solar and wind. Results show that PF incidence is higher for baseload, high-capacity utilization, non-intermittent technologies; non-FIT projects with revenue contracts; and larger projects owned by public companies. Contrary to expectation, PF was less utilized for FIT-eligible RE, and projects owned by private or small investors. PF was utilized primarily by well-capitalized investors, and mostly by power and financial companies. The Philippine FIT's tight deadlines and low technology-specific capacity caps increased revenue uncertainty, resulting in high concentration of project ownership and potential erosion of public support. Given the intrinsic uncertainty of RE and developing countries, policymakers need to design policies to minimize revenue uncertainty, enable PF and broaden the investor base.

Duplicity: Heated Tobacco Products Strategy in Low - and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs): A Philippine Case Study

Duplicity: Heated Tobacco Products Strategy in Low - and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs): A Philippine Case Study

Right-sizing as a strategy for allocating fishing effort in a defined marine ecosystem: A Philippines case study

Over the last four decades in the Philippines, a range of management tools such as marine protected area (MPA) establishment and coastal resources management (CRM) that includes localized species-specific management, marine habitat rehabilitation, and organizing communities for increased participation in planning and decision-making have led to improvements of marine habitats and fish stocks in areas where such tools were applied. In spite of these management advances, fishers particularly in the municipal fisheries sector continue to observe declines in either the quantity or quality of their catch, and attribute this not only to the continued use of highly efficient and ecologically destructive fishing gears, but also, the unregulated numbers of fishers and gears within municipal waters. Recognizing this as a pivotal challenge, the USAID-funded Ecosystems Improved for Sustainable Fisheries (ECOFISH) Project developed a process for the right-sizing of fishing effort as a potential application of the ecosystems approach to fisheries management (EAFM) to directly address the issue of unregulated fishing effort in Philippine municipal fisheries. The objective is to determine via a participatory process a configuration of fishing effort that can be sustainably supported by the ecosystem, and at the same time, can provide adequate fish catches to support the livelihood needs of fishers in a defined marine key biodiversity area (MKBA). The ecosystem and livelihood tradeoffs are investigated using the Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) modeling and simulation tool. The entire process adopts a multi-stakeholder set-up that featured highly participatory learning activities, consensus-building negotiations between local government units (LGUs), and science-based decision-making workshops. All in all, it consists of strategically tailored yet adaptive sessions to effectively engage stakeholders in understanding the concept of fishing effort right-sizing, to acquaint participants with the basic biological and ecological principles governing the fisheries, and subsequently, to raise the participants' confidence in the decision-making and negotiation processes. The consensus-based MKBA-wide fishing effort targets considered both the system-scale and the diverse localized management priority objectives of the different user representatives. Across the 8 ECOFISH MKBAs, improving equity in the access of fisheries resource benefits emerged as a principal priority objective. Improving the ecosystem structure as evidenced by large, predatory fishes and minimizing fisher displacement outweighed maximizing catch and incomes as overriding priorities in the decision-making. The project envisions that the consensus-based fishing effort allocation will ultimately serve as basis for the regulated issuance of fisheries licenses by the respective LGUs and for the right-sizing process to serve as a model for determining fishing effort allocation options in other municipal fisheries systems in the country.