The first issue of the Development Research News (DRN) this 2017 primarily focuses on persons with disabilities (PWDs). Researchers from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), through a research project conducted with the Institute of Developing Economies-Japan External Trade Organization, found that women and children PWDs are still suffering from the same dire conditions as before. The banner story deepens the discussion on this matter and presents the key recommendations that PIDS researchers are offering to improve the situation of the PWDs. This issue also covers the major events of PIDS during the period. These events include the PIDS forum on food security, where PIDS Senior Research Fellow Roehlano Briones attributed the increase of rice prices to government's policy on self-sufficiency, and the roundtable discussion on the future of the ASEAN Community, which PIDS organized with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
