In this closing issue of the Philippine Journal of Development (PJD)’s 50th anniversary, we feature a retrospective article by Jan Carlo Punongbayan of the University of the Philippines School of Economics. This continues a tradition started in 2002 with the journal retrospective article by Fernando T. Aldaba for the PJD’s 27th anniversary. The commemorative article, the opening paper of this issue, provides an independent review of PJD issues over the past 21 years and offers recommendations moving forward. The second article reflects on the COVID-19 crisis and simulates its impact on poverty and on middle-income households in the Philippines. The third article explores the peace-and-development nexus through the lens of the government’s Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan program. A counterintuitive finding reveals that development interventions were associated with short-term bumps in insurgency incidents. The final article conducts a sentiment analysis of public opinion on globalization in the case of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnerships (RCEP), which the Philippines ratified in 2023. Contrary to the statements and campaigns of militant groups, social media users tend to express favorable opinion toward the RCEP.
With this PJD issue, we thank our loyal readers and look forward to a future filled with even more impactful and relevant articles to serve the research community.
