PhilHealth SHInES: Videoconference

PhilHealth President & CEO Dr. Eduardo P. Banzon delivered a nation-wide educational campaign called PhilHealth SHInES: Social Health Insurance Educational Series last November 26, 2012 at Asian Institute of Management (AIM). The said campaign was simultaneously broadcasted with the six (6) Knowledge for Development Centers (KDCs) across the country via videoconference.

The participants from SPUP-KDC composed of administrators, faculty members, staff and maintenance personnel were further enlightened regarding the new policies as Mr. Buddy De Jesus, the Press Relation Officer of PhilHealth Regional Office 02, entertained their enquiries.  Mr. Ronaldo Sumait, Knowledge Facilitator of the SPUP-KDC served as local organizer of the videoconference.

Dr. Banzon emphasized the philosophy behind social health insurance – social solidarity and equity.  Through PhilHealth SHInES: all sectors are provided with the knowledge and understanding of social health insurance.  It is hoped that through the SHInES, all Filipinos will now participate in the National Health Insurance Program in a well-informed and responsive manner.

 The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation together with the Department of Health, envisions the country to attain Universal Health Care (UHC) or Kalusugang Pangkalahatan (KP).  Through the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP), PhilHealth seeks to provide financial risk protection to all Filipinos and ensure that no Filipino will be afraid of getting sick.

SPUP-KDC Attends SERP-P Network Members' Meeting

Mr. Ronaldo Sumait, the SPUP-KDC Librarian/Knowledge Facilitator, joined the 33 academic and research institutions from all over the Philippines in the SERP-P`s Third Network Members` Meeting last November 20 in Makati City.

The importance of making the fruits of socioeconomic research easily available to a wide audience to promote knowledge exchange and collaboration was highlighted in the event.

The SocioEconomic Research Portal for Philippines or SERP-P is an online knowledge bank which contains completed, ongoing and pipeline research studies related to socioeconomic development and policymaking in the Philippines. Since its inception in 2000, SERP-P has grown into a network of 48 academic and research institutions from all over the country and now hosts over 5,000 studies in different formats. Studies that may be downloaded from the SERP-P include working papers, journal articles and discussion papers, to name a few. SERP-P was initiated and is being managed by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), a government policy think-tank based in Makati City.

In his opening statement, PIDS President Josef Yap emphasized the important role of research and analysis in policymaking. He explained that one of the core mandates of PIDS enshrined in its charter is the establishment of a repository for economic research information and other related activities. He further stressed that SERP-P is an excellent platform that serves as a portal and one-stop repository for all socioeconomic policy studies in the country. Anyone who is looking for studies related to a particular socioeconomic issue can simply go SERP-P, do a search using keywords and browse through the studies available in the database. SERP-P is a valuable tool not only for policymakers in crafting research and evidence-based policies but also for researchers and students of the social sciences who are writing their theses and dissertations. SERP-P is currently linked to the Economic Resource Base for Legislators (ERBL), a website containing major socioeconomic bills filed at the House of Representatives.

Member institutions of the SERP-P can directly upload their studies into the database, provide keywords, abstract, and even the full text of the papers. In the future, the SERP-P will include an inventory of social science experts in the country. Experts will be classified according to their fields of expertise. This experts` database is intended to promote knowledge exchange and research collaboration among social scientists in the Philippines. For the general public, a moderated forum is available so that users of the SERP-P can raise questions, interact and share information with one another.

ACKGT: SERP-P