John Paolo Rivera, a senior research fellow at the ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ (PIDS), has urged Muntinlupa officials to move beyond department-by-department solutions and align policies, resources, and accountability across the city government to ensure that investments in people translate into lasting development gains.
"The upgrading will not be done by department; it will be done by city," Rivera said during his keynote address at the 4th ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ and Development Colloquium (RDC) organized by the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) of Muntinlupa on September 16, 2026, at the Museo ng Muntinlupa.
"Ang ekonomiya, edukasyon, at kalusugan ay hindi hiwa-hiwalay na kuwento (The economy, education, and health are not separate issues),” Rivera said. “They are part of one entire system, and the quality of our institutions…determines whether these parts reinforce one another."
"The problem is not the absence of reform; it is the absence of alignment," he said, stressing that these elements must line up for limited public resources to become productive.
With the economy growing, Rivera said, the more important questions are no longer how fast the country is expanding but what capabilities it is building and whether its institutions can sustain them.
He illustrated the connection between health and other development outcomes, saying, "Health policy is also labor policy, productivity policy and household resilience policy," Rivera said.
Workers who cannot access timely, affordable care may lose income and productivity, while students who are unwell may struggle to learn.
Rivera challenged the city's department heads to move from transactional to transformational governance. Rather than focusing on more programs and projects, compliance, and sector-by-sector fixes, he called for aligning incentives, building long-term capability, sharing accountability, and pursuing systems-level upgrading.
Mayor Ruffy Biazon said a city needs three things to build strong institutions and unlock human-capital potential: stability, continuity, and predictability.
"A strong economy does not merely grow around people. A strong economy grows through them," Rivera said, emphasizing the role of institutions in ensuring that investments in human capital contribute to sustained development.
The colloquium also featured four research presentations from Zhilanabell P. Tan of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa, Arian Clarence L. Caballero of the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University-Open University System, Jamaica R. Villamil of the Lyceum of Alabang, and Ronnel Franco G. Landrito of the Philippine Normal University.
PIDS ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Fellow Dr. Ritchelle Alburo also served as a panelist and reactor, providing insights on the presentations.
The colloquium was part of the 24th Development Policy ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Month (DPRM), an annual initiative that promotes the discussion and dissemination of development research and its implications for policy and practice. ### – NMT
