Reflections on PIDS and its Institutional Challenges at this Historical Juncture

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Research plays a major role in the crafting and implementation of government`s poverty reduction programs. As such, this year`s celebration of the Development Policy Research Month (DPRM) highlights the role of research in solving poverty with the theme "Pananaliksik at Talakayan tungo sa Pag-ahon mula sa Kahirapan." Eradicating, or at the least, reducing poverty, faces many challenges including institutional difficulties. In a similar vein, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), being at the forefront of policy research on poverty and other development issues, likewise faces various institutional challenges in the performance of its mandate. In this regard, it is apt and timely to feature a very insightful, thought-provoking, and challenging piece delivered by one of the country`s top social scientists on the need to have a strategic thinking and research-based policy interventions for the country and reflecting on how PIDS fits in in this vision.