Abstract of My PhD Application Dissertation Proposal

Conceptualized every time I commute between home and school, between the cities of Caloocan and Manila.

Today, I hereby lay copyright claim to the research and coining of "Displaced Settlers", dwellers who have no capacity to live a decent life in where they currently reside, because they do not have a real house but live in the streets or public areas. 

I also lay claim to the theorem premised that a single local government's action is not enough to help these people.  Founded on principles of my Masteral thesis "Federalism and its Potential Application to the Republic of the Philippines" (2011), I posit the alternative (the future Ronald's Law) that "the dynamics of local government networks is needed to solve the problem of displaced settlers".  This is done by giving them means to live a decent life in the scattered islands of the various regions of the Republic.  Instead of giving them fish in the metro, give them the capacity to fish or till the soil in the Philippines lush provinces.

University of Santo Tomas – Graduate School

New Student Research Proposal: Ph.D. (Political Science)

Ronald M. Castillo

Deep Currents and Displaced Settlers: Philippine Intergovernmental Policy Analysis

The Philippine Republic uses a unitary system of geographic allocation of power.  Being an archipelago, the country is composed of more than 7,000 islands, most of which are crisscrossed by mountains and dotted by forests, which pose strategic problems for national management of the country.  Yet, even with such political geographic hindrance, these islands are rich in natural resources, beautiful and are undiscovered havens for residence, commerce, and tourism. 

Currently, Metro Manila has a proliferation of street settlers.  This phenomenon is an endemic governance concern both in the national and local levels of the Philippine government.  This issue touches on areas of human life such as rights, crime increases, spread of diseases, and the swelling of the metropolis’ population. 

This dissertation proposes a two tiered approach in relation to the said situation.  First, it will analyze political institutions and political culture blockages to policy making and implementation using deep current set method as applied to a single country comparative study of the Philippines.  On the second stage, it will test bottom-up institutional dynamics theory as embedded in the writings of Robert J. Rotberg.  Through these, the dissertation aims to establish the grassroots level of local government as the true foundation of a stable unitary state.

Keywords:  unitary system, displaced settlers, deep current set, political institutions, local government