Browsing by Subject "Philippines"

Background: According to the WHO 2020 NCD report, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted diabetes care in 49% of countries. eHealth emerged as a solution to disease management challenges during the unprecedented outbreak. Due to the rapidly expanding nature of eHealth use during the pandemic, this study aimed to determine 1) the sociodemographic factors associated with eHealth during COVID-19 and 2) whether eHealth was associated with diabetes management and clinical outcomes. Methods: Using quantitative data from cross-sectional surveys from Kunshan and Taicang, China (n=309) and Manila, Philippines (n=150) (data sets uncombined), we performed Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests and univariate logistic regressions to determine the relationship of eHealth use and sociodemographic characteristics. We then performed logistic and linear regression to determine the association of eHealth use with diabetes disease outcomes. Results: In China, younger age (p=0.02), higher education level (p=0.001), married marital status (p=0.03), suburban residence type (p=0.001), and higher household monthly income during COVID-19 (p=0.004) were associated with using eHealth. In the Philippines, younger age (p= 0.009) and higher education level (p=0.01) were associated with eHealth use. eHealth use was associated with undergoing FBS testing in the last three months (OR = 2.19, 95%CI = 1.00, 4.78), undergoing HbA1c testing in the last three months (OR = 3.64, 95%CI = 1.01, 13.15), and reporting disease control per their last HbA1c test (OR = 9.98, 95%CI = 3.41, 29.18) in the Philippines, adjusting for various demographic characteristics. Conclusions: Our data indicated eHealth use could positively affect diabetes clinical and management outcomes for people with diabetes in China and the Philippines. We posit more research is needed for the impacts of eHealth on clinical outcomes as well as the methods for eHealth implementation and integration in LMIC.

This dissertation is a preliminary attempt to define and theorize Spanish literature of the late nineteenth century from the perspective of the colonized. I take as my starting point the novels of the Filipino writer José Rizal: Noli me tángere and El filibusterismo. Although these novels are considered to be the foundational texts of the Philippine nation, I will instead focus on their relationship to Spain and the literature produced there around the same period. This analysis will be contrasted with a reading of Benito Pérez Galdós's novel Doña Perfecta, which, as many critics have claimed, bears a resemblance to Rizal's first novel. I will show how Galdós's novel demonstrates a colonizing mentality despite being nominally about an internal Spanish conflict. In conclusion, I will argue for the necessity of an understanding of Rizal's novels in order to better grasp the total context in which peninsular Spanish novels were produced.

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This dissertation is comprised of three essays on the political economy of the Philippines. It combines a variety of methods---historical and qualitative analysis, interviews, and statistical analysis---to examine various aspects of the interaction of politics and economics in the country. The first chapter examines the relationship between horizontal political dynasties and economic outcomes. I argue that horizontal dynasties---more than one member of a political family holding office simultaneously---allow members of the dynasties to coordinate over policy by circumventing veto points in the policy processes. This leads to higher spending on public goods. I further show that this increase in spending is not associated with improved development, suggesting that the increased spending is used inefficiently. The second chapter examines the interaction of rank and gender norms in dynastic politics. I argue that male candidates are more likely to replace higher ranking female, candidates, but the inverse is not true. This rationalizes existing strategies by dynasties such as benchwarming. The third chapter argues for the positive long-run effect of the colonial Catholic mission. Municipalities that had a colonial mission are more developed and have higher levels of state capacity today. This is because missions functioned as de facto states and vehicles for the establishment of local government. This chapter emphasizes that missions were not merely religious or educational institutions but vehicles for governance.