Policy Pathways for Filipino Public School Teacher Migration to ASEAN: Mapping the Labor Supply Chain, Regulatory Frameworks, and Regional Protection Mechanisms

This project seeks to map the labor supply chain of Filipino teacher migration within ASEAN in order to identify critical points of intervention for education and governance. By tracing the flow of teachers from training institutions to overseas deployment, and by examining the Philippine regulatory frameworks, bilateral agreements, and ASEAN-level commitments that shape this movement, the study aims to generate actionable recommendations that balance regional opportunities with national priorities. Ultimately, the project envisions pathways that safeguard the dignity of Filipino teachers, strengthen the resilience of the domestic education system, and align migration governance with broader goals of social equity, institutional development, and ASEAN cooperation.

Understanding Elite Sport Systems in the Philippines and Singapore: Context Conditions, Governance, and Policy Directions

Elite sport systems operate within specific national context conditions, yet they are increasingly influenced by regional policy directions and competition structures. In Southeast Asia, elite sport development is not only guided by domestic priorities but also by regional expectations linked to ASEAN cooperation and multi-sport events such as the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. These regional dynamics influence national goal setting, investment decisions, and the selection of priority sports, particularly for countries seeking to balance international success, regional competitiveness, and public accountability.

In the Philippines, elite sport policy and funding decisions are shaped by both internal governance arrangements and external reference points, including regional performance benchmarks and participation in the SEA Games. However, there remains limited system-level evidence on how national context conditions align with, respond to, or diverge from these regional directions. This gap constrains the ability of policymakers and public agencies to assess whether existing elite sport priorities and resource allocations are fit for purpose within a regional environment.

A recent scoping review identified seven interrelated context conditions that affect how elite sport systems develop and perform internationally. Building on this conceptual work, the research team has designed the Elite Sport System Context Condition Questionnaire (ES-CCQ) as a multi-dimensional instrument to assess these conditions in a systematic and comparable way. In 2025, with support from earlier funding streams, the team completed key preparatory stages: expert content validation (including Item-Content Validity Index, Scale-CVI, Content Validity Ratio analyses) and initial cognitive interviews with elite sport stakeholders to refine item wording, reference unit, and timeframe. The proposed 2026 CIDS project builds directly on this completed groundwork to bring the ES-CCQ to full research and policy utility: pilot testing with elite sport stakeholders, large-sample field administration in the Philippines and Singapore, psychometric validation (i.e., exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, measurement invariance), and translation of findings into policy-oriented outputs for government, sport agencies, and education institutions. These activities align with the UP CIDS mandate to support integrative, development-oriented, and evidence-based policy research and will result in a tested tool that can inform national sport governance, funding criteria, and institutional coordination.

By developing and applying the ES-CCQ, this project provides a structured approach to examining how key context conditions influence elite sport in the Philippines, with comparative reference to Singapore. The inclusion of a regional policy lens situates national findings within broader ASEAN-related expectations, supporting more informed discussion on strategic alignment, prioritization, and cooperation in elite sport development.

The project also contributes to several priority agendas. By examining how legal environment, organizational capacity, and dominant interest groups influence athlete pathways and dual-career arrangements, the study is relevant to SDG 3 (Good health and well-being), SDG 4 (Quality education), SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth), SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities), SDG 16 (Peace, justice, and strong institutions), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the goals). It supports UP’s Flagship Programs on Academic Excellence, Research and Innovation, and Active and Collaborative Partnerships through collaboration among UP CHK, national sport agencies, and international partners such as Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) and the University of Surrey (United Kingdom). In doing so, the project positions the Philippines as an active contributor to international discussions on elite sport systems while directly informing domestic reforms in high-performance sport policy and governance. 

Guest Acceptance of Service Robots in Selected Hotels in Metro Manila

The research will assess whether service robots are used primarily for task substitution (replacing human labor) or task augmentation (supporting workers), and how this distinction influences worker well-being, skill requirements, and career mobility. Based on empirical findings, the study will propose policy recommendations on workforce transition, including: upskilling and reskilling pathways for displaced or re-tasked workers, guidelines for humane automation that protects labor standards, and institutional mechanisms for social dialogue among employers, workers, and regulators.

By doing so, the project aligns explicitly with SDG 8 and positions its outputs as relevant to labor governance and economic policy, not only hospitality management.

Also, in compliance with the Philippine Accessibility Law (RA 7277, as amended) and its implementing regulations, this study will assess whether the introduction of service robots in hotel operations enhances or impedes accessibility for vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities and the elderly. Service robots must adhere to universal design principles to ensure meaningful access to hospitality services, consistent with legal obligations under BP 344 and DOT accreditation standards. Where automation presents barriers, hotels must provide alternative human assistance in alignment with the law. Policy recommendations will therefore advance accessibility criteria for automated service systems, ensuring that technological innovation does not compromise equitable access or violate statutory rights of PWD guests.

The study will explicitly engage with the Department of Tourism’s National Accommodation Standards, recognizing that service automation affects not only operational efficiency but also regulatory compliance, service quality benchmarks, and national tourism branding.

While current DOT standards emphasize service excellence, safety, and guest experience, they were largely developed in a pre-automation context. This study will examine whether the use of service robots alters compliance with these standards, particularly in areas related to: guest assistance and responsiveness, complaint handling, cultural authenticity of service delivery, and safety and accountability in automated interactions.

Migration and Social Mobility Among Fishers in Southwest Panay, Philippines

The proposed study will investigate how the notion of social mobility is conceptualized and lived among fishers in the coastal municipalities of Miagao, San Joaquin, San Jose de Buenavista, and Anini-y in Southwest Panay. The fisheries sector forms an important part of the local economies of these municipalities, and because of their proximity to the Sulu Sea and Panay Gulf, the area has always
been an important landing point for migrant fishers. This proposal takes off from our previous project on ‘Migration and Identity in Four Coastal Municipalities in Southwest Panay, Philippines’, which examined the link between migration and the social construction of identity in the proposed research locales. We find that there remains a dearth of knowledge in terms of understanding social mobility within the fisheries sector and in the context of the Philippines, of how the notions of the community, belongingness, and the ‘Other’ shape the ability of fishers to move up the social ladder.

By using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, we aim to address the knowledge gaps in terms of understanding social mobility and migration in the context of the fisheries sector by drawing from the lived experiences of the migrant fishers in the region. We primarily aim to inform policy interventions and programs aimed at capacitating individuals and institutions that deal with issues of social mobility in the fisheries sector.

The research project is envisioned to have significant impacts in addressing gaps in the current state of knowledge about social mobility and migration in the context of the fisheries sector in the Philippines. It aims to contribute at the practical level through policy recommendations. First, much of the general social mobility literature covers research that is rooted in the methods and traditions of the West. This highlights the problem of the lack of clarity of concepts, properties, and  measures of the concept in the context of developing states (Fields, 2021; Torche, 2014). In studying the concept of social mobility, the manifestations of these gaps include: 1) the
lack of sufficiently granular and representative datasets; 2) methodological issues related to the usefulness of categories and classifications developed in the West for variables such as income, occupation, and education; 3) the under description of the phenomenon of downward mobility, where in the context of developing countries can mean descent into dire poverty; and, 4) the lack of robust literature on the determinants of social mobility in the developing state contexts (Iversen et al., 2021a, pp. 9-10). The study hopes to address these gaps by examining cases of fishing communities and the lived experiences of migrant fishers in the region.

Second, by studying conceptualizations and the lived experiences of the fishers themselves, the study aims to inform evidence-based policy interventions and programs aimed at capacitating individuals and institutions that deal with issues of social mobility among migrant fishers. Currently, migrant fishers are largely invisible at the policy level. Existing legislation, such as the Philippine Fisheries Code (Republic Act 8550) and its amendment (Republic Act 10654), is silent about migrant fishers and the migratory element of capture fisheries in the Philippines. Data on the current state of migrant fishers at the local and national levels are also nonexistent. By partnering
with local government units (LGUs), concerned national government agencies (NGAs), and other stakeholders, the project hopes to not only influence policymaking and programming at the national and local levels to address this policy gap but also to create a network of stakeholders that will advocate for the welfare and inclusion of migrant fishers. In addition, to support the University’s public service thrust, UP faculty members and students will be asked to conduct immersion and research activities in the project locales. The project
aims to achieve these outcomes by leveraging the interdisciplinary nature of the team and its members’ extensive networks and experience in working with migrant fishing communities.

Project Leader:  Ralph Andrew Ramos

Associate Dean/Asst. Prof. VII, College of Human Kinetics UP Diliman Head, UP CHK Sport, Health, Activity Research for Policy (SHARP) Group

Research Fellow Nicholas de Cruz, PhD

Lecturer, University of Surrey / Singapore University of Social Sciences 

Research Fellow Veerle De Bosscher, PhD

Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Convenor, Sport Policies Leading to International Sporting Success (SPLISS) consortium

Project Leader: Juhn Chris P. Espia, PhD

Associate Professor of Political Science,
Division of Social Sciences, CAS, UP Visayas

Collaborators:

Alice Prieto-Carolino, DSD

Professor of Community Development,
Division of Social Sciences, CAS, UP Visayas

Liberty N. Espectato, PhD

Associate Professor and Director, Institute of Fisheries Policy and Development Studies, CFOS, UP Visayas