Toward an Adaptive Social Protection in the Philippines

Due to its geographic location, the Philippines is vulnerable to disasters, such as tropical cyclones and storm surges. As such, the adoption of an adaptive social protection (ASP), which intersects social protection (SP), climate change adaptation, and disaster risk reduction, is necessary to ensure the success of SP and poverty reduction efforts in the country. This Policy Note investigates the concept of ASP and recommends applicable measures to make the existing SP programs in the Philippines become more adaptive. It finds that some existing programs, such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program under the Department of Social Welfare and Development, can already serve as good starting points to promote ASP in the country. Given that ASP is a relatively new concept and very few studies have thus far documented its effectiveness, the study also recommends the documentation of good practices in other countries to strengthen our knowledge base concerning ASP.